This week, I explored two sister projects for wikimedia. That is wikiquote and wikispecies.
Wikiquote is a database of quotes from notable persons in various forms of media including print and movies. Wikimedia does understand the importance of setting up a scalable tool so that the masses and keep adding content, but I found that using their subcategories features a bit confusing. It's still growing so it's not full, per se. Individual pages are interesting with quotes of the day, a brief summary of the media in question and dialogue from the media.
Wikispecies talked a bit over my head with its scientific terms but it did find its search structure easier to use that wikiquote. It also had a species of the week feature (like the quote of the week feature) with links to the different kinds of specifics. LOTS of great information and resources lies in this site.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Find a image that you can legally use
This photo is called, "Jayatii Laughing" used with permission via Creative Commons from Premasagars' Flickr Photostream.
One of my tasks this week was to find an image that I can legally use and explain how I know that I can legally use it.
This image came from www. flickr.com. I searched for the word, "laugh". The next page showed me many images. I clicked "Advanced Search" and ticked the boxes at the end of the search for "Creative Commons" and "Adapt and build on".
Once I found the image itself, I clicked on the link on the right called, "Some rights reserved". This link told me that I could copy and distribute this image legally.
Personally, I love the dynamic nature to information on the Internet. I freely post images, media and documents that I create for both work and personal uses and allow anyone to copy, distribute and alter it to their liking. I do this since I am a happy consumer of media on the Internet as well. So, I should be willing to share what I create in order to use freely the works of others.
Now, some things are off base with me. For instance, I do not share my quizzes freely with others for security reasons. If I create a tailored message to my students about their past activities in class, I keep this type of information in our classroom. Information about how my students are doing in class and any media that I create to comment on it is not for public consumption, in my opinion.
Woices
This week, I was asked to record three sample audio clips on a free audio repository site. For photos and videos, I knew exactly where I needed to go - Flickr and YouTube. I use these sites so much and force them on my students. Audio - no clue. I embed all of my audio clips directly into my Moodle site.
So, I explored the blogs of my classmates to see what they were using for ideas. I followed Kelly's lead and used Woices for the first time. In fact, I followed her example to experimenting with the speech-to-text abilities. Thank you Kelly for the great ideas.
Woices is an interesting tool. In just a few clicks, I created my account and updated my profile with my photo and information. Click "Create" and "New Woice or Echo" and I was ready to record. It links your "Echo" to a specific location, so you have to link your "Echo" to a spot on the map. At first, I found this strange and a small invasion of my privacy, but then you realize that you are not giving an exact address.
Recording was super easy. Click the large circle and it starts once it gets permission to use your microphone. Since I was using the Text-to-Speech feature, I had to struggle a bit. If you are not talking within five seconds of clicking record, everything stops. It takes me longer to click "Start Speaking" on my Mac! I had to get creative and verbally introduce my clip.
Overall, I am pleased with the abilities and approach to Woices. I am sure with more playing that I will see the real potential of this tool and its need to connect all "Echos" to a geographic region.
So, I explored the blogs of my classmates to see what they were using for ideas. I followed Kelly's lead and used Woices for the first time. In fact, I followed her example to experimenting with the speech-to-text abilities. Thank you Kelly for the great ideas.
Woices is an interesting tool. In just a few clicks, I created my account and updated my profile with my photo and information. Click "Create" and "New Woice or Echo" and I was ready to record. It links your "Echo" to a specific location, so you have to link your "Echo" to a spot on the map. At first, I found this strange and a small invasion of my privacy, but then you realize that you are not giving an exact address.
Recording was super easy. Click the large circle and it starts once it gets permission to use your microphone. Since I was using the Text-to-Speech feature, I had to struggle a bit. If you are not talking within five seconds of clicking record, everything stops. It takes me longer to click "Start Speaking" on my Mac! I had to get creative and verbally introduce my clip.
Overall, I am pleased with the abilities and approach to Woices. I am sure with more playing that I will see the real potential of this tool and its need to connect all "Echos" to a geographic region.
YouTube
I choose to look at YouTube this week mainly because it's something that I force upon my students every other week. It's only fair that I use the resource on a regular basis so that I know what my students are going through to use the resource.
Overall, the look and approach to YouTube is easy to use. Create an account and you are ready to go. Most users go directly to the videos for viewing. Uploading videos and making adjustments to your profile is not the most intuitive approach. The "Upload" button needs to be easier to find. It's multiple chicks to edit your profile that seem unnecessary. Once it's uploading you are at the mercy of the "upload gods" when it comes to the speed.
YouTube does not play nicely with .mwv video formats. If you read their FAQs about the subject, YouTube knows that it is happening and recommends that you use a .avi file format if you are going to pre-record your video before you upload it. What happens with a .mwv file is that the audio and video become out of sync. Most webcams with software for recording does offer the ability for you to export as an .avi file, but warning, these files are HUGE meaning longer upload time.
My LEAST favorite thing about YouTube is the limitation of 10 minutes or less on the videos. I struggled with my assignment this week to upload three videos. I record tons of videos and tried to upload a good number of them, but YouTube blocked my actions since my videos were over the 10-minute mark. NO! I understand that the average person listens for less than 10 minutes, but sometimes a longer video is warranted. Please of this limitation, I would not recommend YouTube is a primary solution as your media repository.
Overall, the look and approach to YouTube is easy to use. Create an account and you are ready to go. Most users go directly to the videos for viewing. Uploading videos and making adjustments to your profile is not the most intuitive approach. The "Upload" button needs to be easier to find. It's multiple chicks to edit your profile that seem unnecessary. Once it's uploading you are at the mercy of the "upload gods" when it comes to the speed.
YouTube does not play nicely with .mwv video formats. If you read their FAQs about the subject, YouTube knows that it is happening and recommends that you use a .avi file format if you are going to pre-record your video before you upload it. What happens with a .mwv file is that the audio and video become out of sync. Most webcams with software for recording does offer the ability for you to export as an .avi file, but warning, these files are HUGE meaning longer upload time.
My LEAST favorite thing about YouTube is the limitation of 10 minutes or less on the videos. I struggled with my assignment this week to upload three videos. I record tons of videos and tried to upload a good number of them, but YouTube blocked my actions since my videos were over the 10-minute mark. NO! I understand that the average person listens for less than 10 minutes, but sometimes a longer video is warranted. Please of this limitation, I would not recommend YouTube is a primary solution as your media repository.
Flickr
I have had a flickr account for several years. Besides my Facebook page, it's my preferred method to share images with others.
Why do I prefer flickr? Here is just a small list of reasons.
1. Most of the people that I know are already on Flickr and my accounts are linked to them. When you have been using a service like this for several years with lots of content, it makes it difficult to move to another resource.
2. Uploading images is streamlined and easy. I can highlight several images on my computer at one time and have Flickr upload them with one click. I don't have to select the images individually.
3. I am allowed to type the labels and descriptions of the images from a bulk upload all at one time. I can give them all the same labels with one click.
4. Flickr has a search feature that allows you to look for Creative Commons content.
Flickr is popular for a reason, it works beautifully and is very intuitive.
Why do I prefer flickr? Here is just a small list of reasons.
1. Most of the people that I know are already on Flickr and my accounts are linked to them. When you have been using a service like this for several years with lots of content, it makes it difficult to move to another resource.
2. Uploading images is streamlined and easy. I can highlight several images on my computer at one time and have Flickr upload them with one click. I don't have to select the images individually.
3. I am allowed to type the labels and descriptions of the images from a bulk upload all at one time. I can give them all the same labels with one click.
4. Flickr has a search feature that allows you to look for Creative Commons content.
Flickr is popular for a reason, it works beautifully and is very intuitive.
CopyLeft
This week, we read and watched some resources about copyleft and the Creative Commons. This is not my first experience with creative commons. In fact, I use several images from flickr in my online classroom that I found with a Creative Commons license. Flickr actually allows you to search for images searching content with a Creative Commons license.
I was first introduced to Creative Commons thanks to a copyright expert that GTCC hired to talk to our faculty about four years ago. He scared us to death which is his job, but one of the solutions that he suggested was looking for resources with a Creative Commons license.
I think this concept of "right to distribute copies", make changes and allow those changes to be protected by the same license agreement as the original is overdue. The Internet is full of data and "stuff". Find the owner to ask permission can hinder the creative process. Plus, many of us, myself included do not create things with the intent of making money on them. Information is dynamic. I find it excited, for example, that someone can download a tutorial that I created and make it better.
My way of thinking is not commonplace at community colleges. Some instructors get nervous about this concept since they also write textbook or create resources for sale. The old model of one person creating, altering and controlling the text has made them money. If it becomes more dynamic and anyone can add and alter it, their abilities to make money change. And we all know how much people love change.
I do agree with Lawrence Lessig that the ability to read-write using the content on the Internet is the literacy skill of the 21st century. My students want to turn in their projects as a webpage instead of a Word document. They need to learn how to collaborate with others online to be effective workers of tomorrow.
I was first introduced to Creative Commons thanks to a copyright expert that GTCC hired to talk to our faculty about four years ago. He scared us to death which is his job, but one of the solutions that he suggested was looking for resources with a Creative Commons license.
I think this concept of "right to distribute copies", make changes and allow those changes to be protected by the same license agreement as the original is overdue. The Internet is full of data and "stuff". Find the owner to ask permission can hinder the creative process. Plus, many of us, myself included do not create things with the intent of making money on them. Information is dynamic. I find it excited, for example, that someone can download a tutorial that I created and make it better.
My way of thinking is not commonplace at community colleges. Some instructors get nervous about this concept since they also write textbook or create resources for sale. The old model of one person creating, altering and controlling the text has made them money. If it becomes more dynamic and anyone can add and alter it, their abilities to make money change. And we all know how much people love change.
I do agree with Lawrence Lessig that the ability to read-write using the content on the Internet is the literacy skill of the 21st century. My students want to turn in their projects as a webpage instead of a Word document. They need to learn how to collaborate with others online to be effective workers of tomorrow.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Course So Far
Courses like this "force" me to explore tools that I haven't used yet. Force is a strong word, I know. I really want to learn these tools but I never find the time with my tight schedule. Being here is making me do this. Thank you.
Now, what I am learning. I am forming a preference for some tools over other ones. It's only natural, I guess. We seem to be using a great deal of them in this class. Some of them are natural for me to check often (Moodle, blogs, links to tools in profile) while others I need to discipline myself to go there (NING, Google Groups, CMSimple).
Blogging - This is my favorite. I have blogs of specific classmates that I read religiously. They introduce the topics in such an interesting way.
Wiki-ped/tion/versity - I use these resources more than I ever care to admit and I will continue to use them, but I still will not encourage my students to use it as a primary source. Maybe one day. I did enjoy seeing how easy it was to add information to these sites, but like several students have mentioned in their comments this week, I did not feel like I should be adding anything to the sites. I am a jack of many trades, but an expert in just a few.
Second Life - I met DI and several of my classmates there one night after work to explore how Second Life works. It's an interesting place and has a lot of potential, but I still have some profound concerns. It has a steep learning curve. DI came to our school and taught a 2-hour session on Second Life. It took us 2 hours to learn how to create our avatar, move around and create some basic things. You will not grab the masses with this tool if it takes that long to learn the interface. If a 8-year-old boy can put a video game in a console and learn it in less than 30 minutes, Second Life has some issues regarding its learning curve. Also, you do need a healthy computer with a strong connection to the Internet to make this work. The background is constantly rendering. If your computer is not up to par, you will struggle a bit on Second Life.
Wordles - These things are addictive. They have a pretty end result but not sure how I could incorporate it in an online classroom except maybe an interesting approach to summarizing the class topics for the students at the beginning of the semester.
Google Image Labeler (and tools such as that) - Yikes. I am completely addicted. I played Tag a Tune to the point that I was the top of the high score board. It was a moment of complete pride and immediate "oh no, I am that person"! The resource provided before the exercise talked about human computation and the number of work hours people spend on these tools. That was striking, but what got me was how Google solved a problem with an opportunity. They found a way to get other people to provide them information freely with systems in place to verify the information.
The resources have been very interesting and I have already passed several of them to other people to share what I have learned. I am enjoying this class. Unfortunately, my work schedule is tight and I can only log in extensively on the weekends.
Now, what I am learning. I am forming a preference for some tools over other ones. It's only natural, I guess. We seem to be using a great deal of them in this class. Some of them are natural for me to check often (Moodle, blogs, links to tools in profile) while others I need to discipline myself to go there (NING, Google Groups, CMSimple).
Blogging - This is my favorite. I have blogs of specific classmates that I read religiously. They introduce the topics in such an interesting way.
Wiki-ped/tion/versity - I use these resources more than I ever care to admit and I will continue to use them, but I still will not encourage my students to use it as a primary source. Maybe one day. I did enjoy seeing how easy it was to add information to these sites, but like several students have mentioned in their comments this week, I did not feel like I should be adding anything to the sites. I am a jack of many trades, but an expert in just a few.
Second Life - I met DI and several of my classmates there one night after work to explore how Second Life works. It's an interesting place and has a lot of potential, but I still have some profound concerns. It has a steep learning curve. DI came to our school and taught a 2-hour session on Second Life. It took us 2 hours to learn how to create our avatar, move around and create some basic things. You will not grab the masses with this tool if it takes that long to learn the interface. If a 8-year-old boy can put a video game in a console and learn it in less than 30 minutes, Second Life has some issues regarding its learning curve. Also, you do need a healthy computer with a strong connection to the Internet to make this work. The background is constantly rendering. If your computer is not up to par, you will struggle a bit on Second Life.
Wordles - These things are addictive. They have a pretty end result but not sure how I could incorporate it in an online classroom except maybe an interesting approach to summarizing the class topics for the students at the beginning of the semester.
Google Image Labeler (and tools such as that) - Yikes. I am completely addicted. I played Tag a Tune to the point that I was the top of the high score board. It was a moment of complete pride and immediate "oh no, I am that person"! The resource provided before the exercise talked about human computation and the number of work hours people spend on these tools. That was striking, but what got me was how Google solved a problem with an opportunity. They found a way to get other people to provide them information freely with systems in place to verify the information.
The resources have been very interesting and I have already passed several of them to other people to share what I have learned. I am enjoying this class. Unfortunately, my work schedule is tight and I can only log in extensively on the weekends.
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