Podcasting

Creating Dynamic Presentations with Prezi

Posted in Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Podcasting, Synchronous Learning, Visual Aids, Web Tools on May 24th, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment

Last week I led a hands-on workshop for the Faculty Summer Institute at the University of Illinois on how to create a presentation in Prezi. If you have never heard of Prezi, think of it as an alternative to PowerPoint that is not only free, but offers a lot of viewing and display options that PowerPoint doesn’t.

View the “slides” from this workshop here:

Creating Dynamic Presentations With Prezi on Prezi

One comment, now that I have worked with Prezi’s embed feature: the publicly viewable step-by-step version of the presentation (what you see here) doesn’t allow for zooming in on certain text in the same way as in the live presentation mode. When I was presenting from my online account I could zoom in on smaller text that wasn’t already included in the “path” (the order in which information is shown in the slides”). That meant I could include the photo credits in a tiny font under the photos and zoom in on them when necessary. In the embedded version, you can see these citations very briefly in passing from one slide to another, but you can’t select that text like it’s possible to do in the presentation mode.

While this would be a disadvantage to Prezi, the application has been evolving in the past year since it was first released. There are still a few bugs. However, it’s come a long way since I last worked with it in December 2009. There are enough clever features to it that I am optimistic that it will continue to get better and better in the next year.

Archiving the Feed: March 2010 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on April 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, Chicks, by nickgraywfu via Flickr

cc-licensed photo, Chicks, by nickgraywfu via Flickr

Each month, I post a list of @wisepedagogy Twitter posts from the previous month. If you missed them the first time, you can find them here.

Not included in this list are posts related to the Spring 2010 ELI Focus Session on Mobile Learning. You can find those in this post: Mobile Learning: Educause ELI Focus Session Recap

Archiving the Feed: September 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 2nd, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, Sprinkles, M&Ms and Chocolate Crunch, via Flickr by Sister72

cc-licensed photo, Sprinkles, M&Ms and Chocolate Crunch, via Flickr by Sister72

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

September 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

I have left out a few tweets that related to dated events, such as webinars and calls for participation. I’m guessing that the people who would read this archive would be most interested in resources that still have a chance of being available.

Archiving the Feed: October 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, P1060127, via Flickr by jessicareeder

cc-licensed photo, P1060127, via Flickr by jessicareeder

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

October 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

Archiving the Feed: November 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, DSC00948, via Flickr by godutchbaby

cc-licensed photo, DSC00948, via Flickr by godutchbaby

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

November 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

Archiving the Feed: December 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Uncategorized, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, Lunch Time! via Flickr by AR Nature Gal

cc-licensed photo, Lunch Time! via Flickr by AR Nature Gal

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

December 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

Avoid “Death by PowerPoint” with the Pecha Kucha Method

Posted in Fun Miscellany, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids on November 2nd, 2009 by Anne – Be the first to comment
Death by PowerPoint: image from Pundit Kitchen

"Death by PowerPoint": image from Pundit Kitchen

The invention of PowerPoint software made it possible for great strides in the way people present information to others. Unfortunately, it’s also borne the reputation for great snores when lecturers are allowed to blather on from slide to slide ad infinitum.

A technique that is being practiced to prevent “Death by PowerPoint” is the pecha kucha method of presentation delivery. Named after the Japanese word for “chit-chat”, pecha kucha (pronounced “peh-CHA-k-cha”) sets specific perimeters for slides and presentation: 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide.

To give a pecha kucha presentation, you will need to set your slides to self-advance every 20 seconds. This frees you from the need to click to advance each slide so you won’t have to pay attention to the clock — but you will need to keep up with the slides. The result is a paced presentation style that leads the presenter to get to the point expeditiously and think critically about selecting the best slides to carry that point. Not all presentation topics can or should be delivered in this method, but for speakers who are concerned about audience engagement or staying within a limited time allotment, it might be worth practicing.

This lecture method would be especially useful for online learning, both for synchronous and asynchronous lectures. In addition to aiding bandwidth issues, the frequently changing slides would ensure closer attention from students who are at greater risk of distraction online.

The following video is an example of a lecture presented using the pecha kucha method by Daniel Pink. He begins the presentation with a brief explanation of pecha-kucha before launching into his intended topic, Emotionally Intelligent Signage. The topic itself is interesting enough to merit viewing, but if you only have time to investigate the lecture technique you can turn it off after the first minute or so:

(Thanks to ProfHacker for introducing me to both pecha kucha and Daniel Pink’s presentation!)

The PechaKucha website provides more information as well as several uploaded presentations following this method.

Have you ever taught a lecture using this method? Share your experiences in our comment thread!

Screenr: Create quick, free screencasts online

Posted in Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Podcasting, Social Networking, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on October 13th, 2009 by Anne – Be the first to comment

Screenr looks like one of those new web 2.0 resources that could possibly skyrocket in popularity and use for educators. Time will tell in the end, but the following are some of its advantages and disadvantages –

Advantages:

  • Free
  • Online recording cuts out the need to convert a hard disk file to mp4 format and upload to a website
  • Simple to use: record, speak, pause when you need to, then stop and save
  • Works on both Mac and PC
  • Works with Twitter

Disadvantages:

  • 5-minute maximum recording length (for the purposes of downloading and audience retention, however, this is secretly an advantage)
  • No editing features
  • Doesn’t specifically work with Linux (unless a savvy Linux user could get around this somehow)
  • Works with Twitter

The Twitter factor is listed here as both an advantage and a disadvantage, as it would be useful for instructors who are already using Twitter and a headache for those who have been trying very hard to avoid it. There does not appear to be anything to register for an account with Screenr itself; users sign in with a pre-existing Twitter account.

While it’s designed for instant sharing via Twitter, screencasts can be embedded into other websites. The official screencast demo does not offer embed code for some reason (which is why I’m not including it here) but I’ve embedded my own test of the system here, using the opportunity to show my online pedagogy / elearning links on Delicious:

After I recorded the screencast about online pedagogy links on Delicious, it created both a web version and iPhone version of the video. A page with the finished video and my “tweet” came up on the Screenr site. Unfortunately, I didn’t see it in my Twitter feed, even after refreshing a couple times (so of course I had to tweet about the Screenr tweet!).

Its simplicity makes Screenr geared toward instructors who are willing to sacrifice advanced features for the sake of ease and speed of use. If it gets someone who has shied away from screencast technologies to record short screencast lectures or explanations to students, it’s earned its sticker price (have I mentioned it’s free?).

If you start using Screenr and decide you are willing to purchase software that will give you more power to edit and share your screencasts, you might want to check out Camtasia, as it’s widely considered the best at what it does. There are, however, other free online screencast recorders with varying functionality. You can also find more resources and how-to guides for screencasting here.

Screenr

Myna: online audio editor

Posted in Podcasting, Web Tools on September 17th, 2009 by Anne – Be the first to comment

Myna is a free online audio editor that might give Audacity some stiff competition. As a multi-track device it doesn’t have quite as many features as Audacity, but it doesn’t require a software download and the finished recording can be linked to from their website or embedded onto your own.

Users first set up a free account, then they can record, arrange, and mix audio tracks for fast and simple podcasts. In the classroom, this could make it easier to record short assignment instructions or spoken feedback to students on graded work. The following video gives a demonstration of some of the ways you can mix spoken recordings with underlying music tracks:

Possible Downsides: Unless you already have some familiarity with audio recording software, it might be difficult to master some of the functions in Myna. The product is still in beta and there was no easy-to-find Help section. It also operates in Flash, so if you have trouble with Flash then this might not be for you, either. After futzing around for a while, I recorded the following audio clip:

There’s probably a way to combine multiple spoken recordings into one longer audio file, but I was just testing to see how quickly I could throw something together. I uploaded a song off my computer, but then it wouldn’t drag-and-drop into a track, so I used one of the pieces in their “library” instead — this worked fine for combining with my spoken recording, and after some trial and error I could copy it and paste it until it repeated throughout the spoken part…but after listening to this hyper-fast “jazz” synthesizer I cut it out at the last minute because it felt too jumpy and distracting as background music.

Anyway, if you’re already comfortable with Audacity you may find no reason to change. If you’re feeling creative and want to experiment, give it a try.

Myna

Online Resources for the Library of Congress, eLearning, & more

Posted in Fun Miscellany, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Podcasting, Video on July 1st, 2009 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc licensed photo via Flickr by Gwens River City Images: book sculpture by Donald Lipski

cc licensed photo via Flickr by Gwen's River City Images: book sculpture by Donald Lipski

Three announcements in one post today:

1. The Library of Congress is making its audio and video content freely available through iTunes U. These include original Edison films, slave narratives, interviews with notable authors, and more, with new content to be added over time. Of course this content has already been available for free downloads through the main Library of Congress website — but this move may reach a new audience of iTunes U users. The LoC is apparently also reaching out with a blog, Twitter feed, and YouTube channel.

2. eLearning Learning — This popular network dedicated to online pedagogy (of which the blog is a member) has recently added a “Best of” feed. Anyone can now subscribe to this feed via email or an RSS reader. eLearning Learning aggregates blog posts from dozens of blogs that represent a wide spectrum of online learning, from academic courses to corporate training and individualized learning systems. The eLearning Learning Blog offers more information on how to subscribe to this feed.

Computer Tutor: Atari, a title book from Awful Library Books

Computer Tutor: Atari, a title book from Awful Library Books

3. A fun blog for librarians (and everyone else) is Awful Library Books. Each update features a library book which really needs to be removed from its library’s shelves. Most of these are nonfiction resources that might have been great inclusions when they were first published, but have become outdated or lost relevance over time. Old computer manuals, “teenage survival” guides by hair-metal musicians, 20-year-old medical advice, and (my personal favorite) hot new careers for go-getting feminists of the past get the spotlight on this website.

Some of these titles are as interesting for historical or cultural context as for personal amusement. The title I’ve copied to the left here is dated 1983. Then again, what goes around, comes around — maybe it’s not too late to find a way to incorporate Atari games into online teaching!

Thanks to Diane Kovacs for turning me on to this site!

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