Week 1: Setting Objectives

Task Discussion

• 
  karen   Oct. 19, 2011, 3:19 p.m.

  I'm excited about the syllabus and content of this course.

  I think I have fairly good skills in terms of technical preparation of multimedia and am very strong in terms of curriculum, but I have almost no knowledge in the research on how multimedia and graphics can most effectively be used to encourage learning. That is what I am hoping to gain here with you all.

  As far as my project, I have two ideas. One is to take a couple PPTs I use often and improve them. Another is that I am working on a collaborative project to build a Moodle course on fractions (very preliminary at this point) that is a remix of an open textbook with multimedia. Applying the information in this course to that project would be a natural fit.

  Btw, if  anyone is interested in collaborting on this fraction unit, let me know. There are a few of us working on it, but we are just beginning. We're planning a Skype call about it for sometime next week.

• 
  Steve O'Connor   Oct. 21, 2011, 4:17 p.m.
  In Reply To:   karen   Oct. 19, 2011, 3:19 p.m.

  I am intereested in collaborating on the unit in fractions. From what I have learned so far, I understand the Common Core means some big shifts with fractions. It's a little off the topic here, but check out this article if you are intersted in the ramifications of CC in math. In my spare time, I have been reading Hung-hsi Wu's book Understanding Numbers in Elementary Mathematics  for a deeper understanding of how to fractions should be taught.

• 
  karen   Oct. 21, 2011, 4:37 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Steve O'Connor   Oct. 21, 2011, 4:17 p.m.

  Yes, I've been following your tweets on Hung-hsi Wu a bit.

  We're trying to put together a Skype call on the fractions thing. Any chance you'd be available either of these times:

  Tues., Oct. 25 - 3:30pm Pacific/6:30pm Eastern
  Thurs., Oct. 27 - 4:00pm Pacific/7:00pm Eastern

  Others welcome too! Just let me know.

• 
  Patricia Mosset   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:14 p.m.

  As an on-line instructor, education videos are my greatest multi-media need.  Trying to create professional videos for students that are also interesting and educational can be time consuming and challenging.  My goal for this course is to gain knowledge in other multi-media tools to help save time and increase the quality of the videos. 

  As you may have already guessed I hope to produce a short educational video for my upcoming project in this course.

   

• 
  Steve O'Connor   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:48 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Patricia Mosset   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:14 p.m.

  Have you ever used slideware such as PowerPoint to create instructional videos? I know that Keynote and PPT Mac 2011 can export videos. I have a Window virtual machine, but only PPT 2007 which appears only to be able to create self playing slideshows. I'm not sure what PPT 2010 can do, but I'm sure another participant may be able to help. Just thought I'd mention it as another way to create online multimendia that might be a bit less time consuming.

• 
  karen   Oct. 19, 2011, 2:57 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Patricia Mosset   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:14 p.m.

  I agree that creating videos has enormous value. You are right that saving time is a big priority. Over time, I've learned that often video that is "good enough" is just fine. I used to spend a lot more time trying to get to a higher quality, but now I find that getting more done and done in a timely way is a higher priority.

  Anyone else feel that way?

• 
  karen   Oct. 19, 2011, 3 p.m.
  In Reply To:   Steve O'Connor   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:48 p.m.

  Steve, I use Windows but am not up to PPT 2010 yet. :) The way I create movies from PPT is to export jpgs of each slide and then import into a video editing program. That works well for me since I don't usually have audio in my PPTs but add it later in the video.

  I'm wondering now, though, if there's a better way to do this. Anyone know?

• 
  Steve O'Connor   Oct. 19, 2011, 4:29 p.m.
  In Reply To:   karen   Oct. 19, 2011, 2:57 p.m.

  As a classroom teacher who has spent endless hours converting lessons to multimedia (of varying quality), it's about workflow and delivering the goods. I find myself tweaking less for slick high quality production. My focus has become more on making quality instructional multimedia in terms of student learning—not polish.

• 
  karen   Nov. 5, 2011, 3:49 p.m.
  In Reply To:   karen   Oct. 19, 2011, 3 p.m.

  So I've been asking around about this and someone showed me iSpring which includes a PPT to Flash converter. I haven't tried it yet, but thought I'd pass it along.

• 
  Steve O'Connor   Nov. 5, 2011, 4:55 p.m.
  In Reply To:   karen   Nov. 5, 2011, 3:49 p.m.

  That makes me wonder if something is available on the Mac platform. I'm extremely comfortable with Keynote and would welcome any way to extend it.

• 
  Steve O'Connor   Oct. 16, 2011, 6:25 p.m.

  I'm most accustomed to using Keynote in the classroom. I've also created screencasts, puzzles, and games to extend learning on-line.

  One of my goals is to create effective multimedia for learning over the Internet. Building this class has been a challange, but I have established a workflow. To be honest, some of the difficulties have appeared because as I explore this topic more deeply, I grow less content with my craft.

  My goal is to grow with all my co-learners. I want to improve my instruction in the classroom and find a practice on-line using well conceived multimedia.