Mining for Treasures Archives: tools
·
15 October 2008
Web 1.5 + Inspiration = A Product Worth Watching
One of the tools that I have and enjoyed is Inspiration. I have used this product since 1989, when a forward thinking local school system purchased it for its teachers and I had to train them on how to use it. I have always been a visual thinker, which is one of the reasons that I loved my Macintosh computers and why I think that tablet technology is an increasingly interesting tool for users. The ability to create diagrams and then simply create outlines, the ability to export a series a diagram into a web site were some of the great innovations.
With the advent of Web 2.0 technologies led me to begin to look for an equivilent solution so that multiple people could work on the same project. Many offered some of the tools and functionality of Inspiration, none of them had the full sets of features available.
At NECC, I heard the rumors that Inspiration was coming out with a web 2.0 edition of their product. I was excited about the possibilities and anxiously awaited its arrival. This morning, while scanning my reader, I saw a post by Kevin Jarrett (Inspiration comes to the web: meet MyWebspiration.com!) and I became excited.
Over the course of the day, I have begun to play with myWebspiration.com. Truly a beta product, it does not have full Web 2.0 functionality. It does have the ability for a group to collaborate, but unlike the Google products that I have been using, only one person can be editing the document at a time. There is not the ability to embed the document. The only way to access the document is to save a copy to your local hard drive and further manipulate it in Inspiration 8.
It does allow for all of the features I have come to love, such as rapid entry and the ability to switch between visual mode and outline mode. From Leigh Zeitz, I hear that this product will stay in beta and available for free for an undetermined amount of time while they are testing the waters.
It is a solid start and I look forward to seeing enhancements in the upcoming months. It is a something to watch develop and grow.
0 Comments
16 October 2007
Gabcast – Podcasting using a Phone
One of the highlights that I have listened to at the K12 Online Conference is a presentation by LizKolb on the use of cell phones as data acquisition tools in the classroom. Two of the new tools that she highlighted were Gabcast and GCast. After setting up accounts at each site, they allow you to create a podcast using a phone call, from either a cell phone or a land line. Here are two examples of podcasts that I created today. The first is a Gabcast podcast what I believe the uses of this application could be in a classroom and the second is a podcast with my reflections from our Diversity Workshop, plus how this can be used in the classroom. Both are rough cuts and unedited.
Just beginning to work with these tools, one of the advantages that I can see using Gabcast is that I can download the mp3 file easily to edit, allowing for this be be used in the field and then podcast at at a later point. From a quick examination, I cannot find the same features using GCast, which is the older program.
Gabcast:
GCast:
Technorati Tags: k12online07 k12online07nt02
2 Comments
1 October 2007
Creating Tutorials using Jing
Yesterday, Monday, October 1st, we held our first Brown Bag Monday Technology Lunchtime training. We were treated to a wonderful presentation on how to use Microsoft Journal given by our Chemistry teacher, Roderick Mobley, who has been using a Tablet PC for the past four years. Due to other commitments, some of our teachers who were interested were unable to attend this session.
Enter Jing, software from the Jing Project created by TechSmith software. Downloading and installing the appropriate software for either a PC or a Macintosh, a user now has the capabilities to capture either a screen image or create a video of what they are doing on the screen. Using a microphone, this now enables a user, either teacher or student to create a small tutorial. Once you are done, you have the capability of either saving the file to your computer or uploading them to TechSmith’s Screencast.com site. Screencast.com is currently a free site for the first 200 MB of storage space. Once uploaded, you can then share your movie via your blog or wiki.
At this point in time, it is an experimental project and there is no cost for using the software or for the storage. At some point in time, this may change. But a way to get around this is to make sure that you save all of the files that you create locally, so you can upload them to another host at a later point in time. When creating a movie, it creates a flash video file, which keeps file sizes reasonable. You are also limited to a 5 minute file, which should be fine for many tutorials.
To show you what can be done, I am posting two videos which I created which highlighted two concepts Roderick shared with us.
Adding an image and annotating it in Microsoft Journal
10_01_2007 10_23 PM
Importing a Word doc and annotating it in Microsoft Journal
10_01_2007 10_28 PM
Several of my colleagues have given positive reviews and this software bears further experimentation.
0 Comments
1 October 2007
Getting Ready for Global Collaboration – Time Converter
Invariably, if you begin to network with individuals who are not on campus, you will want to schedule time to have a voice or text chat do do some planning. I know that I am pretty good about remembering what cities are in what time zone and when daylight savings time starts and ends for areas in the United States, but when planning for people who are outside the country, well that’s when I get lost.
Enter time and date.com (timeanddate.com). This useful web site allows a user to find out what time it is anywhere in the world, display the calendar for any year and country (complete with full moons and including holidays), and a useful utility that allows you to enter a day and the cities where people are located, and it will display times which are normal awake times so you can pick a time which may be more convenient for all of the parties.
I have found this site to be indispensable. I hope that you will too.
0 Comments
27 September 2007
Concept Mapping with Gliffy
I am a visual learner. When taking notes growing up, I was forever creating boxes to hold the ideas and draw arrows to connect the ideas that were forged in classroom lectures and conversations. It is for this reason that I loved Inspiration when I first saw it back in 1990. A great program to begin to visually brainstorm and think.
Inspiration is limited in that it does not allow for site licensing and you cannot collaborate on a document or easily share it with others. Enter Gliffy (gliffy.com), a web 2.0 application which allows you to create concept or mind maps via a web browser, allow others to collaborate, and share the results with other users. Like many web 2.0 applications, you can take view and revert to older versions of the document if someone makes changes that you do not like. It allows you to create floor plans, flow charts, and use basic symbols.
Gliffy does not have the wide range of symbols and icons. It does not have a rapid fire mode which is great for group brainstorming. It also does not have the ability to turn your diagram into an outline. However for the value ($0 vs. $45 per license), the ability to run it on any computer with Internet access, and the ability to collaborate, it is a viable alternative to consider.
0 Comments
25 September 2007
File Conversion Using Zamzar
Did you ever receive an attachment or a file from someone that you could not open because you did not have the correct application loaded on your computer? Ever need to change the file format of a video or audio file so that you could import it into another application?
If you have answered yes to any of the questions above, then Zamzar (zamzar.com) is the web site for you. This site is a virtual Swiss Army knife to allow you to convert from one file format to another, for free.
To convert a file, you start with step one and locate your file. You then proceed to step two, where you select the file type that you want to change it to. Supported types include:
Image - bmp, gif, jpeg, tiff,
Document – Word, html, Rich Text, pdf, PowerPoint, Text, Word Perfect, Excel
Music -iTunes, mp3, ogg, Windows Media
Video - avi, mpeg4,Flash Video, iPod, iPhone, Windows Movie, Windows Media
Complete step 3, entering in your email address and click on the button in step 4 to convert. When it is done, you will receive an email with instructions on how to download the new file.
It is that easy.
They also have a new service which I have not tried, which will allow you to save and convert a YouTube video, so you do not have to be online to show it.
