Instructify

BY NICK YINGLING

Lately, during my lunch break, I usually sit at my desk and drop crumbs of food into my keyboard. That’s a terribly boring way to pass your lunch hour. So, naturally, I started watching my favorite show, The Golden Girls, on a streaming TV site. The main problem now is that most sites don’t have full episodes, just the excerpts. So I dug deeper. One site that streams shows is based somewhere in Asia. There are all sorts of foreign characters bannered across the top of the screen and the subtitles can sometimes take up one-third of the screen. How cool would it be if I managed to learn to read Chinese from passively exposing myself to the subtitles on my streaming episodes of The Golden Girls during my lunch break?!

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BY NICK YINGLING

In the comments for Bill’s posting about the Stuff You Missed in History Class Podcast, I mentioned that people who enjoyed that show might also enjoy Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History. It’s a little dry and demands some attentive listening, but can be pretty rewarding if you find that you enjoy it.

Dan Carlin brings a really unusual perspective to looking at history. In one of his more sensational episodes, “History Under the Influence,” he explores how drugs and alcohol might have played a role in history. For example, have you ever considered the possibility that certain historical figures were tweaking on amphetamines or strung out on painkillers? How about asking who was drunk and possibly bi-polar? It definitely sounds irreverent, but remember that history is often written by the winners.

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BY BILL FERRIS

This week’s MBTN features larger file attachments for Gmail users, following your favorite authors on Twitter, and how to shoot better video. Read more after the jump.

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Now that ScreenToaster has rolled out a truckload of features for free, older screencasting apps are doing what they can to keep up. Screencast-o-Matic was the first screencaster we wrote about on Instructify, and they’ve added a bevy of bells and whistles to work their way back into our hearts. Now you can upload your screencast straight to YouTube and choose between more capture sizes.

The best new features, though, are the improved audio and video quality, and the ability to export your screencast to Windows Media Player (AVI), Quicktime (MOV) and Flash (FLV) formats (no exporting in sight for RealPlayer, which I can only hope the folks at Real take as a hint and just bury their player already). That means you can download your screencast and edit it later, so if you flubbed your lines and want to overdub new audio for your electronic sub plan, or you want to add credits or a title screen to a demonstration, you can do so with the video-editing software you probably already have on your computer.

As companies keep adding features to their screencasting apps, I have a hunch these tools won’t remain free forever. For the time being, though, you can create some high-quality screencasts without spending a cent. -BILL FERRIS

Screencast-o-Matic

Tutorial showcasing new features

Related stuff:

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Record your screen for free with ScreenCastle

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Effortlessly Create Video Demonstrations with Screencast-o-Matic

3 Challenges to Wiki Use in Instruction
Every teacher’s got a wiki these days. So what do you do with it in class? Integrating a piece of technology doesn’t lend itself to flying by the seat of one’s pants. THE Journal presents 3 Challenges to Wiki Use in Instruction, discussing what factors must be overcome to get the most out of wikis in education.

The World of 100
Imagine if the world were condensed into a village of 100 people. Now imagine if these villagers’ lifestyles were documented in the form of snazzy-looking charts. Toby Ng Design has created The World of 100, an illustration project in which demographic information such as population, literacy and air quality are depicted in striking graphic representations.

Learn 35+ Languages for Free in iTunes
LifeClever presents this list of free language courses available on iTunes. Good for your language students, or for anyone who’d like to converse in another language.

100 Free Online Lectures that Will Make You a Better Teacher
As a dedicated teacher, you’re always looking to improve professionally, right? A good tip at the right time can make a world of difference. This list of online videos will give you knowledge and ideas for getting even better at what you do. These videos deal with instructional suggestions, technology demos, and rules of the road for new teachers. -BILL FERRIS

Photo credit: One Good Bumblebee on Flickr.

Another free service is going the pay route. Gcast sent out an email recently announcing that in order to call in, users will need to pay a $99 fee to make mobile podcasts (Gcast still hosts podcasts for free, however). Twitter and Plurk were abuzz with talk of this. While I respect Gcast’s right to make a buck on this deal (and not to go broke in the process), it’s not a “mission critical” service for me at this point, and there are other options that I can switch to that will not involve a big investment. I had only done a handful of podcasts on Gcast at this point anyway. So what are my other options?

Utterli is a nice service that allows you to post pics, video, and phone calls from your mobile phone. They have recently dropped providing international numbers, due to the expense. I’ve posted a question on the forum about their revenue stream. They do carry Google ads on their site. Since I tend to embed in other sites, that’s not a big deal. Here is a sample phone cast from Utterli. It has a player that you can embed as well.

You may know about drop.io, for “dropping” files (dead simple), but one of the “extras” they’ve added since I started using it is a call-in number. This will create a phone cast, and like Utterli, there is a conference-call option. Here’s a sample from drop.io.

There are no ads on drop.io. They do have a premium service, but I don’t know if that’ll pay the freight for all of this. My suggestions are this:

1. If you use a phone-casting service a lot, you should pay for it with a provider that looks like they can last for the long haul — there’s no sense moving around all the time. Buy yourself some peace of mind, and pony up the bucks, or have your school, a donor, etc. do it.
2. If you are conducting mobile podcast activities more intermittently, go the free route as long as it lasts. See about getting a portable digital recorder (the sound quality is better).
3. If you go the “free” route, understand that, without a revenue stream, the service won’t be free — or around at all — forever. Use the download option to “save” your work. Consider posting to your own server, or somewhere that will be in business for at least a while, for peace of mind. Both Utterli and drop.io will let you download in MP3 format. -ALICE MERCER

Utterli

drop.io

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Top 6: Using cell phones in school

Photo credit: Ocell on Flickr.

Let’s say that one day you reserve the clunky and complicated audiovisual cart with the laptop and projector and wheel it painfully to your non-electronic classroom so that you can give a live demonstration to your students of how to do something absolutely crucial that can only be done on a computer: how to use a particular library research database, how to make a PowerPoint presentation for their final class project, exactly where to go in the learning management system to check their grades. One wheel of the cart was apparently possessed, heading north when its brethren were heading east, just like a wheel on any given shopping cart. You hate that A/V cart. You’d be willing to deal with anything, anything, never to have to use it again. Even video codecs. Yes. Even those.

CamStudio is for you, then. It’s open source, Windows-only software that will allow you to make a video recording of whatever’s happening on your computer screen; it outputs video in .avi or .swf formats. CamStudio lets you add captions to your screencast, but if you’d like to add a voice-over, you can get a little PC microphone such as the Logitech USB Desktop Microphone for under $20, and there are some mic models that sell for under $10. Record your lesson, post it online, tell your students to watch it, and there you go. No more cart.

CamStudio is a fairly easy program to use, as long as you don’t count the settings. Video recording settings can be very confusing, which certainly isn’t CamStudio’s fault, but the default settings in CamStudio aren’t going to give you the high-quality, small-size, easily shareable files that you want. I therefore recommend watching this helpful CamStudio tutorial on YouTube — and yes, the YouTube tutorial was itself made with CamStudio. It’s been viewed over 150,000 times as of this date, so hey, that tells you something. — AMANDA FRENCH

CamStudio

Related Links:

Make awesome screencasts with Jing

Effortlessly create video demonstrations with Screencast-o-Matic

How often have you had the urge to make a salad from office plants? How long have you secretly wanted to play the Theremin? How much better would your life be if you could describe the weather in Japanese?

WonderHowTo.com will help you satisfy hypothetical urges, fulfill unidentified wishes, and perhaps even improve your life. The site advertises itself as the largest collection of free how-to videos anywhere. From the main page, you can search for a specific how-to, browse by category, or check out recommended videos. Each clip comes with a short description and a letter grade assigned by other viewers. The collection runs the whole gamut of instructional video, covering everything from an explanation of the U.S. Presidential election process to how to draw and color a cartoon.

Of course, some of WonderHowTo.com’s content may not be suitable for children. A glance at categories ranging from Alcohol to Weapons may raise a few educators’ eyebrows. However, the site does at least make an effort to separate potentially objectionable videos by designating them 18+ and requiring an account to view them. The bottom line is that adult supervision may be a good idea, depending on the age and relative maturity of the student. The rest of us will only wonder how to describe the amazing instructional video we watched last night on WonderHowTo.com. –JIMI RADABAUGH

WonderHowTo.com

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All Educational, All the Time–TeacherTube

Being educators, we are often conservative, especially when it involves the law, as copyright does. This has led to a growing concern about missed learning opportunities due to caution because teachers are avoiding doing anything with copyrighted materials, or not allowing their students to produce content using copyrighted material.

American and Temple Universities have been working on this and have a report coming out about the cost of copyright confusion in education. I recently attended a session at NECC given by Kristen Hokanson on this topic. This discussion brought up a concept that is really central to educational use of copyrighted material, and that is transformation. A big part of what makes it fair use is that you’re not just “copying” the work of others, but remaking it into something of your own. One of the best examples is the Fair(y) Use Tale video produced by Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society. This video takes snippets from Disney cartoons to teach about fair use. Because it’s both education AND satire, it’s covered by fair use.

I was first introduced to this concept when I did a case-study discussion (a favorite way for lawyers to discuss and educate about legal points) about a potential fair use I had in a classroom project. Transformation is not often discussed, but it’s an important concept for fair use.  Get to know more about it. -ALICE MERCER

Transformative use resources

Stanford University guide to Fair Use in Education check out the section on the “transformative factor”

Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society Fair(y) Use Tale

It’s Elementary: Copyright–It’s the Law

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Photo credit: PugnoM on flickr

15 Awesome Tutorial Websites You Probably Don’t Know About
A couple weeks ago I decided to take up juggling. Right away I was amazed at the high quality tutorials I found online. If you have a random hobby you’d like to try, or you’re looking for a project during these summer months, check out this list of sites.

100 Unbelievably Useful Reference Sites You’ve Never Heard Of
Here’s a great big list of sites you can use to find everything from literature to library references to health care. You can also find fun stuff like the Dialectizer, which can translate your text to sound like Elmer Fudd. Who doesn’t need that?

10 Brain Training Tips To Teach and Learn
Keep your brain fit for optimum learning potential. The folks at SharpBrains have these ten tips to turn you and your students into efficient thinking and learning machines.

Video Toolbox: 150+ Online Video Tools and Resources
Need to edit a class video project? Want some advice on how to create a video podcast? Or do you need to convert video to a different file format? Mashable has all that and more in this great post. -BILL FERRIS

Photo credit:  zen on flickr

Have you ever needed the answer to some pressing question, but found yourself no where near a computer and yielded only a cell phone to get your answer? I know I’ve been there many times, especially when traveling, and while you can sometimes text message search engines (or call a web-savvy friend), you can’t always get the answer you need. After being in such a predicament, I’ve often resolved to finally getting a smart phone, but now I don’t have to!

ChaCha  is a service that allows anyone with a mobile phone to text 242 242 (CHACHA) or call 1-800-2CHACHA and ask any question in conversational English and receive an accurate answer as a text message within a few minutes. It basically makes any cell phone a “smart phone,” and the idea is genius really: they don’t use a search engine algorithm with automatically generated responses, but rather a network of knowledgeable human “guides.” And since ChaCha uses people to respond with answers, you can easily reply with follow-up questions as if you are exchanging messages with a friend.

So let’s say you can’t remember who Gabriel falls in love with in Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd (it’s Bathsheba Everdene, by the way), or you need a quick weather update, or you just need to find the closest vegetarian restaurant to your current location, you can just call or text ChaCha and get a great answer quickly.

The service is totally free, too (except for any text message or minute fees  that may apply based on your cell phone plan), so you don’t have to worry about encountering any hidden costs when you get your phone bill. So make your cell phone a bit smarter, and maybe make yourself a little smarter while you’re at it! -LAUREN FROHNE

ChaCha

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I know, we’ve all seen ugly examples of cell phones being used to message in class, start fights, and film teachers behaving badly, BUT you can use cell phones for the forces of good in education. I’ve recently upgraded my cell phone to a “smarter” model, so I’m discovering lots of cool things, many of which are not limited to smart models.

Instructify has compiled a list of educational uses for your cell phone. Today we’ll look at how to turn your phone into a mobile podcasting studio.

Mobile podcasting (recording audio from your cell phone) is great on field trips, or any time you’re away from your computer. To get started, you’ll first need to find a podcasting service.

Services to use:

1. Record by phone with Gabcast.com -Use your cell to call Gabcast’s toll-free number and start talking. It’ll save your call as a podcast, which you can upload to your blog or website. Gabcast lets you record conference calls, too, so you can do remote interviews, or get your whole class involved.

2. Gcast - Another service we’ve previously reviewed that lets you call their toll-free number to record your podcast

How and why:

Still not sure about this podcasting stuff? Check out these links to see how other teachers are using mobile podcasts in their classrooms.

1. Intelligenic » Post Topic » Kidcast 53 - Podcasting and Fieldtrips
2. Wendy Goodwin of R.A. Mitchell Elementary School in Gadsden, Alabama students’ GCAST podcasts about their field trip to Space Camp in Huntsville Alabama
3. Wes Fryer shows how to do it

Hopefully now you have an idea of how to use your phone for podcasting. Next time we’ll talk about how to use your cell to take photos and record videos for class. -ALICE MERCER

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Photo credit: Steve Roe on flickr

The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill is in the process of launching Carolina on iTunes U, which uses iTunes software to provide a common platform for the entire University to share digital media.  When the project launches, the entire campus community can share lecture podcasts, video tutorials, and other media-based course material for free.

The initiative blurs the boundaries between the classroom and the campus at large, and allows students to get their neuroscience lectures from the same place they get the latest top ten hits.  It’s an extension of iTunes U – a part of the Apple iTunes store filled with free educational audio and video content.  The material is available to anyone with iTunes software, allowing Joe Schmoe and Joe College alike to access fascinating material from museums, PBS stations, and universities.

The Apple website proposes iTunes U as a way for students to “go right on learning while they grab a meal, walk to class, or work out at the gym.”  When I’m on the treadmill, I need something with a more forceful beat than a dactylic hexameter – but if Longfellow’s Evangeline really gets your heart pumping, knock yourself out. Workout preferences notwithstanding, the possibilities offered by iTunes U are nearly limitless, for colleges and K-12 communities.

Bonus: Warner Music won’t sue you for sharing that French and Indian War lecture with your friends. -EMILY JACK

Carolina on iTunes U

No longer will you take hours and hours to put together picture presentations for Open House, awards ceremonies, or end-of-the-year graduations. Liven up any presentation with the use of Photo Story 3 and your digital pictures. The program is so easy you can have a professional-looking presentation in just moments.

Photo Story 3 is a free download for Windows users. All you do is import your digital pictures into the program with the click of the mouse and you are ready to go. The program instantly assigns a different transition to each photo to give it that made-in-Hollywood look, and you’re done. The small file size makes it easy to send your photo story in an e-mail.

If you’re not happy with your initial story or need to edit something, it’s not a problem. The program allows you the freedom to move pictures around once you have imported them to help tell your story or sequence your presentation just right. With just a click of the mouse you can touch-up, rotate, change the assigned transition, or crop your pictures. You can also liven up your presentation by adding music or personal narration. You can help tell your story by adding titles or captions. Once you have completed your photo story you can view it on your computer, TV, or a Windows Mobile-based portable device.

Throw out those boring old book reports and let your students use this program to create movie trailers to tell about the books they’ve read. Initiate lessons and inspire students in the areas of science, social studies, and reading. Allow your students to create a multimedia project to present what they have learned from thematic units you have taught.  You don’t need to spend a million bucks to make your presentations look like a million bucks. -MONIQUE ST. LOUIS

Photo Story 3

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Do your students need help pronouncing a tricky or unfamiliar word while doing research? Or are you an ESL teacher helping kids with their English pronunciation. If you use Firefox (and you definitely should), you should add the Pronounce extension. Just highlight the word that’s giving your kids trouble, right click and choose “Pronounce” from the menu. Firefox will then speak the word out loud with correct English pronunciation.

We’ve covered pronunciation tools before, such as howjsay. The Pronounce extension has a slight edge for two reasons: since it’s integrated into your browser, you don’t have to go to another website to look up the word, thereby saving you time. And second, the pronunciations come from Merriam-Webster OnLine, so you get the the definitive American pronunciation, as opposed to howjsay’s British pronunciation of words like “aluminum” or “blueberry.” -BILL FERRIS

Pronounce
Pronounce Tells You How to Say It via Lifehacker

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