Multimedia Apps & Tools
Create a personal blog.
Essay: What is Multimedia?
Discussion Forum: Introductions
"Computing in the Cloud"
Blog: A discussion about where we are, individually, in the cloud.
Essay: "The Dark Side of the Cloud".
Discussion Forum: Create a picture of my interpretation of the things I do in the cloud.
Student Q&A: Plagiarism & Copyright Law. We read and researched copyright laws, creative commons and plagiarism. I still don't get it totally, but it was interesting anyway.
Project: What the cloud means to me. This was an exercise in using online resources to create the picture of where I see myself in the world of cloud computing.
Blog: A discussion about where we are, individually, in the cloud.
Essay: "The Dark Side of the Cloud".
Discussion Forum: Create a picture of my interpretation of the things I do in the cloud.
Student Q&A: Plagiarism & Copyright Law. We read and researched copyright laws, creative commons and plagiarism. I still don't get it totally, but it was interesting anyway.
Project: What the cloud means to me. This was an exercise in using online resources to create the picture of where I see myself in the world of cloud computing.
"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Web Design."
Blog: "The Internet is only 5000 days old...what's next?" about video on Ted.com.
Student Q&A: "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Web design." We looked at poorly designed websites first, "ranted" about what was wrong with them, then found sites that gave the same type of information and were designed much better.
Started building this ePortfolio.
Project and Essay: Exploration & Evaluation of Website Design
Review of three websites offering free webpage design.
Blog: "The Internet is only 5000 days old...what's next?" about video on Ted.com.
Student Q&A: "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Web design." We looked at poorly designed websites first, "ranted" about what was wrong with them, then found sites that gave the same type of information and were designed much better.
Started building this ePortfolio.
Project and Essay: Exploration & Evaluation of Website Design
Review of three websites offering free webpage design.
Blog about Creative Commons
Student Q&A: "Consensus Web Filters, Tagging and You." We read an article by Kevin Kelly about consensus websites and used them to find articles of interest. The article I really like the most is HERE.
Drawing Tools Project: We had to find a website to create a drawing with. I chose an online drawing program called "Brushter". It is on the National Gallery of Art website in the NGA's kid's section. It requires the shockwave player to run, which is a free, easy and quick download available right there on the page. It's a really wonderful, interactive application.
There are many different ways to draw and different types of brush strokes to choose from. I used mostly "box sprayer" strokes of different sizes and a tool called the "small spiral" to create the moon. It also gives the artist the ability to save what they are doing off to the side which helped me not have to start over so much. When the painting was done, I saved it to my computer. I enjoyed this so much, I made another one as a header for my home page.
All in all it was a fun and easy process. It didn't take a lot of playing with it to figure it out.
Adding a Toy or Game to Your Site: This was a pretty quick, and easy, assignment. We were given the option of adding either a toy or game to our site. Although it was optional, I added a game.
Student Q&A: "Consensus Web Filters, Tagging and You." We read an article by Kevin Kelly about consensus websites and used them to find articles of interest. The article I really like the most is HERE.
Drawing Tools Project: We had to find a website to create a drawing with. I chose an online drawing program called "Brushter". It is on the National Gallery of Art website in the NGA's kid's section. It requires the shockwave player to run, which is a free, easy and quick download available right there on the page. It's a really wonderful, interactive application.
There are many different ways to draw and different types of brush strokes to choose from. I used mostly "box sprayer" strokes of different sizes and a tool called the "small spiral" to create the moon. It also gives the artist the ability to save what they are doing off to the side which helped me not have to start over so much. When the painting was done, I saved it to my computer. I enjoyed this so much, I made another one as a header for my home page.
All in all it was a fun and easy process. It didn't take a lot of playing with it to figure it out.
Adding a Toy or Game to Your Site: This was a pretty quick, and easy, assignment. We were given the option of adding either a toy or game to our site. Although it was optional, I added a game.
SQ&A: Tech Toys. We discussed the latest in tech toys and searched for some more.
Blog: Mini Art and Micro Fiction. The iPod Touch art of David Lanier.
Project: Elements of Photographic Composition / Photo Editing Tools and Assignment
The assignment was to edit two photographs using an online photo editing program. I chose Pixlr.com for both of my photos.
It is time to make some more pages for our ePortfolios.
Blog: Copyright and street art. We read articles about copyright infringement and President Obama's 2008 Campaign poster and related articles on MSNBC.com and paidcontent.org. There was also an interesting article about street artist Shepard Fairey on obeygiant.com.
SQ&A: Learning how to make animated gifs (graphic interface format). My first animated gif image is a compilation of six original photos formatted on Lunapic.com using the Kaleidoscope tool.
SQ&A: We also watched a YouTube video about Plagiarism that is directly related to policies at CCV.
Photo Journalism: We could write an essay about the similarities and contrasts of the proponents of "straight photo journalism" and "the art of photo manipulation", or take part in remixing a predetermined photograph, describing the process and reference materials. I chose to do the remix on the photograph and write a short essay about it.
Rasterbate Your Photo: First we did some reading about tiled printing on Wikipedia. We were then instructed to turn the photo into a poster. I chose to use Posterazor, a free software download, and made a poster of the bug pic you have seen me use so often for this class. I loved it!
Also, a friend wrote some custom musice and another animated Mylo to the same music for a very brief, yet entertaining video.
Blog:
"Kindle me a Story, please." This week's topic is about a controversy
between the Writer's Guild and audio books that are accessed using a
Kindle e-book reader.
SQ&A: Fonts and Web Design. After reading about the web and typeography on Wikipedia, we discussed the history of fonts and how we felt about different types of fonts. One of my favorites is comic sans.
Animated text gifs: The assignment was to create two animated text files and write a review of three different animated gif sites. The links in the document are no longer valid because as I have progressed with my ePortfolio, I have moved just about everything around. The links provided here on this page will go where they are supposed to.
My first gif was created at textanim.com. My second gif was created at marqueetextlive.com. I created a third gif at cooltext.com and a fourth gif at webestools.com. I had so much fun with this assignment, I could have created gifs for days! All of my text GIFs are located HERE.
SQ&A: Fonts and Web Design. After reading about the web and typeography on Wikipedia, we discussed the history of fonts and how we felt about different types of fonts. One of my favorites is comic sans.
Animated text gifs: The assignment was to create two animated text files and write a review of three different animated gif sites. The links in the document are no longer valid because as I have progressed with my ePortfolio, I have moved just about everything around. The links provided here on this page will go where they are supposed to.
My first gif was created at textanim.com. My second gif was created at marqueetextlive.com. I created a third gif at cooltext.com and a fourth gif at webestools.com. I had so much fun with this assignment, I could have created gifs for days! All of my text GIFs are located HERE.
Blog: This week we blogged about Hans Rosling's presentation on Ted Talks. It is really an awesome presentation!
SQ&A: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of presentations. We read articles on Trainsignal.com blog about what NOT to do, and things one SHOULD do when creating presentations and discussed our views in the forum.
The assignment was to create three two-page test presentations, using three different presentation creating websites, then to write a review about the process and ease of use or lack of on each site.
Partner Web Review: We were assigned partners and instructed to critique each other's ePortfolios. This lesson helped me critique my own site a little better, and hopefully I made some good changes as a result to make it look good and easy to navigate.
SQ&A: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of presentations. We read articles on Trainsignal.com blog about what NOT to do, and things one SHOULD do when creating presentations and discussed our views in the forum.
The assignment was to create three two-page test presentations, using three different presentation creating websites, then to write a review about the process and ease of use or lack of on each site.
Partner Web Review: We were assigned partners and instructed to critique each other's ePortfolios. This lesson helped me critique my own site a little better, and hopefully I made some good changes as a result to make it look good and easy to navigate.
Blog: Rather than writing a blog, we learned about vlogging. That is, blogging via video. The instruction was to make a video teaching how to do something. I chose to make my video about how to make floral pens. It's a hobby I really love and I enjoyed sharing it. I'm not good at being the subject of a video so it took a while to get it done, but I'm glad I did it.
We researched shooting video and had some links provided to look at:
Tips on Shooting Better Video on the Web
9 Telltale Signs of Amateur Video
Online Video Shooting Tips, by Prof Dickinson
Shooting Video: Digital Journalism (How to Put Your Readers at the Scene)
CreativePro Web Tips: Shooting Video for the Web
We also were given a few ideas about video editing software that is available online. Here are the links we started with:
Reviews of 30 Online Movie Editing Tools
Vreveal: organize, fix, edit and share your videos for free
We researched shooting video and had some links provided to look at:
Tips on Shooting Better Video on the Web
9 Telltale Signs of Amateur Video
Online Video Shooting Tips, by Prof Dickinson
Shooting Video: Digital Journalism (How to Put Your Readers at the Scene)
CreativePro Web Tips: Shooting Video for the Web
We also were given a few ideas about video editing software that is available online. Here are the links we started with:
Reviews of 30 Online Movie Editing Tools
Vreveal: organize, fix, edit and share your videos for free
More Vlogging: This week's vlog was about "taking it on the road" and recording an event or place we go to, then posting it on our vlog page. I worked at a local craft fair during this week so this assignment came at the perfect time! I made the video, uploaded it to my computer, used Windows Movie Maker to put it together, uploaded it to YouTube, then embedded it on my blog page for this week.
SQ&A: This discussion was aimed at sharing our video processes for last week and this week; the production, planning and editing. It was a little overwhelming for those who have little or no video experience, but I think we all learned quite a bit anyway.
Project: Screencasting. This type of video is made usually for educational purposes. It showed us how to use online software, or free downloadable software like Jing, to record our action on the computer screen in a tutorial fashion. This was difficult, but I don't like to let any software program get the best of me...I Win! I made my screencast, and finally by the end of the week, managed to get it uploaded and embedded on my website. This was the most challenging week of all...so far.
SQ&A: This discussion was aimed at sharing our video processes for last week and this week; the production, planning and editing. It was a little overwhelming for those who have little or no video experience, but I think we all learned quite a bit anyway.
Project: Screencasting. This type of video is made usually for educational purposes. It showed us how to use online software, or free downloadable software like Jing, to record our action on the computer screen in a tutorial fashion. This was difficult, but I don't like to let any software program get the best of me...I Win! I made my screencast, and finally by the end of the week, managed to get it uploaded and embedded on my website. This was the most challenging week of all...so far.
Blog: "Podcasting For Dummies": We were instructed to go to iTunes and search for "how to make a basic podcast" and listen to Episode One (more if we wanted to). Of the three choices given, either write, vlog or make an actual podcast, I chose the latter. I used a downloadable, free, shareware program called Audacity to make it. It is available for your listening pleasure on this page.
SQ&A: We spent time looking for podcasts and finding some we liked, posting links to them in the discussion forum and commenting on each others finds. My favorite podcasts are anything created with, or by, Dennis Miller.
Podcast Project: I made my first draft of a podcast, once again using Audacity. A good friend wrote the music I used. Another friend decided to animate one of Mylo's photos and created a short, but very entertaining, animated presentation.
Essay: I wrote about my audio recording process this week. It was really fun once I decided on a topic.
Blog: The assignment was to watch a video on "Ted Talks" by Chris Anderson about "The Long Tail" and comment about what it means to me. It was very enjoyable and informative even thought it is a few years old.
My Movie: We learned how to make a movie on a site called Xtranormal.com. The assignment was to create a public service announcement and post it to my ePortfolio. I decided to make one based on a small piece of our environment.
Essay & Critique: I wrote about my movie production process. The process was very easy and I enjoyed it very much.
We were given information about "tweaking" our podcasts and videos, which could be done from now until we are finished with our ePortfolios and they are submitted for grading. I feel pretty good about the podcasts and videos I have put together and probably won't change them much, if at all.
Some resources given for "tweaking" are pages with content by Alex Ambrose (instructor for Summer Multimedia Apps & Tools classes).
Windows Movie Maker tutorial
FREE video editing tools
How to screencast
Making titles from stills
iMovie tutorials for MAC users
There was no discussion required for this week as it is Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 22, 2012.
My Movie: We learned how to make a movie on a site called Xtranormal.com. The assignment was to create a public service announcement and post it to my ePortfolio. I decided to make one based on a small piece of our environment.
Essay & Critique: I wrote about my movie production process. The process was very easy and I enjoyed it very much.
We were given information about "tweaking" our podcasts and videos, which could be done from now until we are finished with our ePortfolios and they are submitted for grading. I feel pretty good about the podcasts and videos I have put together and probably won't change them much, if at all.
Some resources given for "tweaking" are pages with content by Alex Ambrose (instructor for Summer Multimedia Apps & Tools classes).
Windows Movie Maker tutorial
FREE video editing tools
How to screencast
Making titles from stills
iMovie tutorials for MAC users
There was no discussion required for this week as it is Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 22, 2012.
Blog: Web-based Social Values and "Generation F". The assignment was to write an essay, vlog or podcast our opinions about the Facebook Generation. I chose to write a short essay.
SQ&A: "The Future of Communication: Multimedia?" We discussed the future of communication and how it has, or does, affect our daily lives. We watched three videos by teacher and anthropologist Mike Wesch. It was very interesting and I think he possesses a profound vision of the future of communication and learning.
Video #1: The Future of Communication
Video #2: The Machine is Us/ing Us
Video #3: "The Vision of Students Today" project
It is now time to spruce up ePortfolios and finish up the presentation that was started during week 8. I decided to set mine up so there is background music throughout. A friend of mine wrote a music track just for this assignment. I used the Audacity software to expand the music track to it would play throughout the presentation and put a link to my podcast near the end. I want the people who come to my website to have a look around and enjoy doing it.
SQ&A: "The Future of Communication: Multimedia?" We discussed the future of communication and how it has, or does, affect our daily lives. We watched three videos by teacher and anthropologist Mike Wesch. It was very interesting and I think he possesses a profound vision of the future of communication and learning.
Video #1: The Future of Communication
Video #2: The Machine is Us/ing Us
Video #3: "The Vision of Students Today" project
It is now time to spruce up ePortfolios and finish up the presentation that was started during week 8. I decided to set mine up so there is background music throughout. A friend of mine wrote a music track just for this assignment. I used the Audacity software to expand the music track to it would play throughout the presentation and put a link to my podcast near the end. I want the people who come to my website to have a look around and enjoy doing it.
To-Do List: We posted lists showing what we needed to accomplish for the week, and follow-up responses about what got done and what still needed completion.
Blog: The blog for this week was about re-mixing and copyright laws associated with it.
Project: Use online software to create photo slideshows. The choices were Animoto or TripWow. I chose TripWow because it allowed more time for slideshows and I like having more than the thirty seconds of content allowed by Animoto. Both were equally simple to use.
The suggested reading was an article about the guys who created Animoto. It is an inspiring story.
I created an additional slideshow as a tribute to the class, and another with more pictures from my trip to Washington, D.C. in 2011. What a blast! I could play with this for hours!
Essay: This is the final essay for this course. It is a summation of everything we learned, talked about and participated in outside of the projects.
Blog: The blog for this week was about re-mixing and copyright laws associated with it.
Project: Use online software to create photo slideshows. The choices were Animoto or TripWow. I chose TripWow because it allowed more time for slideshows and I like having more than the thirty seconds of content allowed by Animoto. Both were equally simple to use.
The suggested reading was an article about the guys who created Animoto. It is an inspiring story.
I created an additional slideshow as a tribute to the class, and another with more pictures from my trip to Washington, D.C. in 2011. What a blast! I could play with this for hours!
Essay: This is the final essay for this course. It is a summation of everything we learned, talked about and participated in outside of the projects.
Blog: Last chance to rant! I have also included some comments specifically for the instructor and my fellow classmates. I hope they will all read it.
SQ&A: Review the sites of two other classmates as designated by the instructor. Make comments about what is good and suggestions about possibilities that could help them make their sites a little better and/or more organized. The two I was assigned to review both needed some work and I hope the comments and suggestions I made were helpful to them both.
This was an awesome class! If you are viewing this page and considering taking this course, I highly recommend it! Even if you are technologically challenged, you are sure to come away from it knowing so much more than you ever thought possible! Lisa is a wonderful instructor!
