Tip:
Online videos were big in 2007—so big that videos played an important role in the presidential primary debates. It doesn't take a crystal ball tpredict that videwill be even bigger in 2008. You can be part of the digital viderevolution and create videos using some of these techniques:
- Webcams - sit in front of your computer with your webcam on and share your thoughts. Check out a cute webcam from Dave Cormier who does a daily video for his blog. Here he introduces his son in a helmet - very cute! Just think about introducing your students or giving a principal message using the camera built into your computer. Some tips when you do this:
- Presentations - typically a Powerpoint presentation converted to video. Karl Fisch's Did You Know was really done well to make a point about globalization. You can use slide show programs to produce online videos where you gather pictures and add narration and music to create a digital story. Here's one called True America shared by David Jakes. He shares digital storytelling by students - many who used Photostory and then saved the output as a video. Check out Pecha Kucha, which I wrote about it in my blog:
- Movies - You can capture video with your camcorder or even small clips with your digital still camera and then edit them in iMovie or Movie Maker. Of course the best form of these movies is when you plan, script, and then edit your moving images. Check out a great example of a digital storytelling lesson on Apple's Learning Interchange: Chasing Metaphors. Another site that has videos that you can use for education is Next Vista. You can link to videos on this site.
- Podcasts - share your movie on your website or blog. When you click share in iMovie, you can convert it for the web as a .mov. Apple explains it well at Podcasting in Education.
- Screencasts - You can use tools like Jing and Camtasia to make how-to videos, tours, and other innovative videos.
- Cellphones - People are capturing live events with their cellphones. You can capture some pretty exciting videos if you are in the right place at the right time. Usually the video captured this way is more about the event than the quality of the video. What most people using cellphones are doing is sharing their video with the hope that others share it. check out a claymation made with a cellphone called Sliced and one that might make you dizzy called Carscapes.
- Mash Ups - This takes advantage of existing footage where the creator remixes content to tell a new story. Check out GorillaSpot for ideas to work with students.
- Be careful that you do not ramble.
- Use a script or keyword prompts that you have on your computer.
- Keep it short.
Next Tip: Make your own Newspaper
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