Creating Lifelong Learners

2008 has turned out to be one of the most significant in my life.  It was a year of great loss as as well as great joy.  Although I didn’t write so much about the latter, I became engaged to my long-time girlfriend, also a teacher, in September.  And we will be beginning 2009 in a new home.

As I review the year, I thought it might be appropriate to recap some of my favorite posts from the past year.  Here are the ones I am most proud of:

• Mr. Winkle Wakes
  Between Youtube, Teachertube, and the Spanish language Dotsub version, Mr. Winkle has been viewed approximately 18,765 times this year.  The movie my attempt to add something to the “eduporn” medium that didn’t take itself too seriously and made its point with visuals and not just text.  It was also my excuse to learn Apple’s Motion.
• Film School for Video Podcasters
  I had a lot of fun getting to play a detective and create this how-to movie for the K12 Online Conference on making better videos in the classroom.  I enjoyed the reactions to the project and being a part of the whole K12 Online experience as a presenter and participant.
• Classroom Mangement:  Appropriate Consequences
  This post had 42 comments, more than any other post I’ve written though most of them were more about differentiating instruction than the original topic.  The comments inspired my differentiation series.
• The Digital Storytelling (aka Video in the Classroom Carnival)
• I hosted seven editions this year of examples of video work from around the blogosphere.

And my three most popular posts of the year (based on Feedburner item use):

• Royalty Free Music and Images
• A Curriculum for Working with English Language Learners
• Whose Classroom Would You Rather Be In?

I thank you for reading and for the inspiration provided by the blogs I read on a daily basis.

On Using Music in Video Podcasts

It’s important that the music you choose to use in your video productions matches the mood of your project. Some of the K12 Online sessions had funeral dirge music during moments of inspiration and it kind of killed the mood for me.

If you want good music you have to move beyond the built in music on your computer. It used to be extremely hard to find music you had permission to use but no more. It does take a little searching to find the perfect piece but plenty of royalty free music is now available to teachers and students.

Do be sure to credit the artists of every piece you use

Royalty Free Music Sites

Kevin Macleod
This guy has great movie music that’s easily searchable by mood and style. I don’t know how he makes a living cuz he’s giving good stuff away for free.

CC Hits Ning
Quite a few good tunes though the site is not easy to search and a little buggy when it comes to previewing songs

Podsafe Audio
good stuff, great variety

Moby Gratis
Recording artist, Moby, makes some of his discarded tunes available free to filmmakers
If you listen to the tracks, they’re mostly ambient, ephemeral pieces though I did find one I liked for my Film School for Video Podcasters project.

Jamendo
royalty free stuff, though I sometimes suspect some of the “public domain” material really isn’t

Jonathan Roberts
interesting stuff that I didn’t use for my last project but might use in the future

Jimmy G
I didn’t find anything that I used from here but it’s another option. Requires registration.

Archive.org
This site contains music and video that is supposedly in the public domain…I have found a few examples on the web site that are not in the public domain and so I’m a little bit hesitant about using some of the material in video projects.  Nevertheless, this is a great web site with tons of material.

OpSound
I haven’t used this site yet, navigation is not entirely intuitive

Sound Effects/Foley

Sound Effects
great site for sound effects

Soungle

Absolute Sound Effects Archive

Free Sound Project

Royalty Free Images

Pics4Learning.com
a free product of Tech4Learning—these are images donated for classroom use
I always start here in the classroom because there are no inappropriate images and the site is simple enough so that I have taught first graders to navigate it.

Free Images Donated by Photographers
This is my second destination when I can’t find what I’m looking for on pics4learning. They are not necessarily for educational use but are available free and taken by real photographers who are willing to share their images.

Flickr Creative Commons Images
has images taken by photographers of different abilities (amateur and professional) which you can use according to their Creative Commons license.

PlinkMe
free images for web pages

iStock Photo – only $1 a picture
If you still can’t find what you want or are going to use your images in commercial projects, why not pay $1 per photo and use the image legally? These site has pictures of almost anything you would want.

Use the challenge of respecting copyrights as a teachable moment for students. How can we ask students not to illegally download music if we steal images?

Free Clip Art

http://openclipart.org/

http://www.school-clip-art.com/

Related Posts:

Fair Use Resources

I spent a couple of hours this weekend hopping in and out of the K12Online Chat Room and listening to all the reasons why we should integrate technology in the classroom.  Someone in the room proposed that if only every teacher in the world would watch just one session from the K12Online Conference, we could change the world.  I think that’s a bit of hyperbole (unless it’s my session that the teachers watch).

I’ve developed list of reasons why we’re not integrating technology in school.  At one point it was just a lady from Ireland in the chat room and myself and we talked about our respective schools.  I mentioned that I was often the only techie at my school and she said “me too.”  I told her we have a prescribed curriculum and she said “me too.”  So this list, naturally, is focused on the United States but I get the sense that it might apply other places too.

It’s not that I wish to be pessimistic.  However, unless we can come up with solutions to these problems, we’re not just going to be change the educational landscape.

• Technology is expensive.
  The way we fund education, it is clear that education isn’t a priority.  It seems even less money makes its way to the classroom as much of it is funneled into central offices district bloat.  We can’t pay teachers enough and now we want computers in addition.  Not only is there a cost to buying computers there is also a hidden cost of tech support that districts must provide when putting computers in classrooms.
• Technology is broken or unavailable.
• Technology use isn’t tested.
  I’m not proposing we implement standardized computer-use testing.  However, let’s face it, if NCLB mandated such a test we’d all have computers.  As long as we want standardized test results from students we’re going to have standardized teaching that attempts to align with those tests.
• Technology lessons often aren’t well planned.
  Student engagement isn’t enough.  I know of several great technology using teachers who are terrible teachers. They can get their computers to work during a lesson but they don’t seem to know the first thing about having a learning objective or know how to assess whether students have learned what they’re trying to teach.  The fact that students have fun is just peachy but it doesn’t justify the expense I’ve already talked about.  Technology use needs to be aligned with standards and the appropriate tool for the job—and not simply be based on the availability of particular equipment.  If you have limited equipment then you have to find a way to get that equipment to fit your lessons and not the other way around.
• Fear of losing control.
  It’s not so much a fear of using the technology but a fear of allowing students to teach their teachers how to use that technology.  For the same reasons that teachers could never live without Xerox machines and worksheet companies stay in business, that inquiry and research, independent work time, and workshop are the least components of our prescribed curriculum, many teachers don’t want to risk giving up control to integrate technology.

Please add to my list and/or provide some solutions.

I watched all of the presentations from Week Two that were available as movie files.  I skipped any wiki presentations and audio podcasts.  I’ve heard from other teachers who prefer the latter kind of presentation but I feel like I can see wikis and download podcasts any time.  What’s unique about the conference in my mine is the opportunity to see movie versions of teachers’ presentations.

Backchanneling in the Classroom by Scott Snyder
presentation link | Scott’s blog
This presentation was one of my favorites because the idea presented was totally new and novel to me.  Mr. Snyder has students chatting with each other on laptops at the same time that they have a class discussion in his English class.  This allows all students, even those who rarely participate orally, to participate and increase engagement.  It’s like a high tech version of pair sharing that we do in the elementary grades but better since it involves the whole class together.  He uses it also as assessment tool by examining the text of the chat at the end of class sessions. The biggest obstacles for most of us is not having enough computers for everyone and the intense classroom management.  Scott wisely included interviews with students in his presentation.  One thing I would’ve liked to have seen is the text of some of the chats perhaps intercut with the class discussion.  I wonder how it supports and enhances the regular class discussion.

Monsters in Bloom in our Wiki by Ann Oro and Anna Baralt
presentation link | Ann Oro’s blog | Anna Baralt’s blog
Teachers had second graders create monsters and then write detailed descriptions of them using adjectives.  Students at another location had to recreate the monsters using only the written descriptions reprinted on a wiki.  I liked this presentation because it was directly applicable to early elementary students, age appropriate, and not too technically difficult.  They also went out of their way to plan their project to align with Bloom’s taxonomy and higher levels of thinking and connect the technology to writing and the inclusion of sensory details.  Teachers often skip this planning piece.

Games in Education by Sylvia Martinez
presentation link | Sylvia’s blog
I’m already a fan of Sylvia’s but she did an effective job in this presentation of making the case for games by linking game playing to learning through the ages (and even in animal behavior).  At the same time she takes a hard line on traditional educational computer games which basically replicate paper flash cards on the screen and yet remain the most popular type of classroom games.  She shares LineRider a physics type game which I wasn’t familiar with and Phun, a virtual physics sandbox.  If you’re interesting in using video games in the classroom, check this out.

Changing Disabilities:  Using the MacGuyver Approach by Beth Lloyd
presentation link | Beth’s blog
I will never forget Beth’s story of a student with selective mutism who was scared of saying hello to school personnel in the hallway.  Beth recorded people like the school nurse and principal saying hello to the student on a voicethread.  By playing the voicethread for the student and having the child get used to the voices and faces of the different personalities, he was able to say hello when he saw them in the hallway.

Leverage Points for Insping Change by David Warlick
presentation link | David’s blog
There’s a reason why David keynoted the conference the past two years.  He has a charming down home personality and although I can’t say I learned anything new from his presentation, he effectively makes the case for educational change and I loved his use of Leopard’s Quicklook feature (which allows you to click on a file and press the space bar to bring up a preview), and found the twenty minutes I spent with him thoroughly enjoyable.  Stealing the show is his son’s cover version of a Ben Fold’s song, created in Garageband using overdubs of a euphonium.

Current Leadership Models are Inadequate for Disruptive Innovation by Scott McLeod
presentation link | Scott’s blog
Scott presents the ideas of Dr. Clayton Christensen’s work on Disruptive Innovations and argues that in the same way cassette tapes overtook vinyl, CD’s overtook cassettes, and mp3s overtook them all, education is on its way to be overtaken by a new model that he predicts will take over in 2019.  It’s fascinating stuff although I don’t see what in education is going to cause this disruptive innovation and undo the well established infrastructure of real estate and ideology that is thoroughly established.  The whole structure of schools needs to change and I really don’t see how the advent of the internet alone is going to facilitate that.

I thank everyone for their entries into the K12 Online Conference.  I like this model of professional development and would love to see a literacy conference, a math conference, how to help English Language Learners, etc. presented in a similar online format.  I think technology for technology’s sake may not be the answer but if we really want to change education we might have to look at the total picture.

My session for the K12Online Conference, Film School for Video Podcasters, is now online.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page to download for your iPod or to watch on your computer.

The sixteen minute presentation is a series of short vignettes framed by a film noir detective story in which I play the detective (of course).

The inspiration for the project was being a video judge in an internationally known technology contest and seeing the poor quality of submitted projects.  Even though the topic of the projects were very noble, the student use of the medium of filmmaking was horrendous.  What I was judging were powerpoints that moved and not movies.

I maintain that video is not the language of the twenty-first century.  It’s the language of the twentieth century and we’re just now catching up.  So, I do consider it important for teachers and students to have a basic knowledge of the language of film.  This movie is an attempt to help teachers gain that knowledge.  After sixteen minutes you won’t be an expert but I hope you will begin to think a little bit more strategically about your work with video in the classroom.

In the movie I discuss:

• Storyboarding
  Almost everyone knows that you have to storyboard but there aren’t many models for teachers on how to storyboard.  Here I try to show you step by step.
• Shot selection
  I talk a little bit about the meaning behind certain shots as well as how to set them up to be aesthetically appealing.
• Equipment
  In a nod to my hero, Jim Cramer, I present Mad Moviemaking in which I answer questions on what kind of equipment to buy (because these are the questions I get most often about videomaking)

Woven in between those sections is my opinion on the importance of teaching media literacy via media production.

I plan on posting a bit more about my process of making the movie later but suffice it to say that it was a lot of work.  I welcome your feedback below.  Enjoy! 

The first week of the free K12 Online Conference is over and it has been great fun to download four presentations each morning and have the chance to watch them later in the day.  I also participated in the live chat at the conclusion of week one.

I am in awe of the thinking, planning, and creating that has gone into creating the K12 Online presentations and I know first hand how much work goes into creating and producing a twenty minute short film for the conference.  My presentation, Film School for Video Podcasters, goes live on the last day of the conference.  I spent several days putting my trailer together and then several more days putting together filming and editing the actual presentation (I ended up getting sick at the end of it so I don’t necessarily recommend it).   I am honored to be a part of this conference.

I must admit, however, in the spirit of NotK12Online’s request for critiques, to some disappointment in some of the presentations that suffer from what I dub powerpoint-itis. The same text heavy visually lacking powerpoints that make much professional development unbearable has made its way to some of these downloadable movies.  While the conference allows for any type of presentation, I would suggest that a slideshare might be a better format for what is essentially a powerpoint with narration.  Although I recognize the work that goes into creating an audio podcast or a wiki, I must confess that I didn’t check out any of those.

On the live chat, someone mentioned that video editing is a twenty-first century literacy.  While the technology to create movies has certainly gotten cheaper and more readily available, moviemaking as a medium has been around for over a hundred years and the concepts of editing and shot composition have had a long time to develop.  Keynoter, Dr. Stephen Heppel, says “It Simply Isn’t the 20th Century Any More…So Why Would We Teach as Though It Was?“  When it comes to videomaking I say, “It Simply Isn’t the 20th Century, Why Are We Teaching as If the 20th Century Didn’t Come Before the Century We’re In Right Now?”

Making movies is not a new medium and so I do expect a bit more from some of the great minds in educational technology in terms of being literate in the visual medium in which they’re working. If you’re able to watch a movie without the visuals or if the visuals actually take away from the audio, it’s a sign that visuals aren’t very effective. It’s a shame if the meaning of a project is obscured or unsupported by the visuals.

These are the highlights of the conference’s first week for me.:

Steven Kimmi – Traveling Through the Dark
I’m a bit biased because I feel as though I’ve been present with Steven on his journey through the dark since he reached out to me via a link to my blog from his early on on his journey. Steven pinned his presentation on an effective metaphor supported by visuals and even his chosen (albeit too loud) music. He provides a great starting point for teachers just beginning to use educational technology and not knowing where to start. If you’re brand new to the using technology in the classroom, I might start with this presentation.  Steven’s just a regular guy so he makes you feel that if he can do it, so can you.

Brian Crosby – Video Conferencing, Easy, Free, and Powerful
If you want to use Skype in your classroom, Brian’s presentation wisely starts with practical applications of the technology and he shows examples but then he also includes includes how the technology works in a concise and well organized thirteen minute presentation.  It takes restraint to stay under the twenty minute conference limit.

Kathy Cassidy and Patrick Lewis – We Like Our Blogging Buddies
This presentation shows a high tech way to conduct what we call dialogue journals in our kindergarten classes where students have an adult respond to their writing and ask them questions. In this case, pre-service/intern teachers interacted with first graders via blogs. The presentation uses children speaking in their own words about the experience. It’s hard to go wrong when you use students. I really appreciated the presenters insights they shared when they said they might focus in the future on the content of student writing and not so much on punctuation, spelling, and conventions as they did. As someone who has to constantly remind teachers to separate their teaching of proofreading from revising, I concur.  Surely the power of blogging can go beyond teaching students to use periods.  Kathy correctly identifies that the power as in giving students an audience beyond the classroom.  What a great way to have young students develop a sense of themselves as writers.

Alec Courus – Open, Social, Connected: Reflections of an Open Graduate Course Experience
I first discovered Alec when he left a comment on my Mr. Winkle Movie on Youtube. I found his clever grad school class trailer by following a link to his profile and downloaded it to my iPod. I don’t know much about this guy but I think we have mutual feelings for each other’s movie work. The content of his presentation (about open source curriculum for college courses)  isn’t entirely applicable to my work as an elementary teacher but I think it speaks to the power of visuals to make a presentation compelling. Alec didn’t make a powerpoint, he made a movie. Check out the Forest Gump/Zelig like insertions of Alec into famous situations at the end.

Sara Kajder – Promise into Practice
I had never heard of Sara before and I was sorry she wasn’t online for the live chat. Sara presents on action research, like I completed recently with Antioch University, where teachers implement a teaching strategy and collect data to see how it’s working. Although I felt like her visuals probably didn’t go beyond the level of typical powerpoint and it’s hard to read some of the text, her honesty and insights made the presentation worth listening to. Of particular interest was what she said about the struggles of implementing technology in middle school because of students reluctance to any tool used by teachers. Students felt like teachers would take what was fun and mess it up and even asked to go back to worksheets. I wished that we could have seen examples of the student work she talks about.

If you’re still with me, H Songhai’s What Did You Do in School Yesterday, Today, and Three Years Ago? is also worth checking out. Mr. Songhai has a great voice (I mean, the guy could do voiceovers) and a compelling personality that elevates his presentation to the level of poetry. He also skillfully uses pacing of his movie to allow you to reflect and absorb.  It reminds me of one of my favorite films, Sans Soleil.

I’ll be posting more on the conference and my own presentation as the week goes on.

Now in its second year, the free K12 Online Conference 2008 will be held the last two weeks of October.  There will be forty presentations which will be released two per day.  However, once the presentations are available you can view them at any time.  Indeed, the presentations from previous years are still online and available for viewing (see right side of page).

There will be some live conversations as part of the conversation.  However, not only is this conference free, it is also one you can attend on your own time at any time.  As before, the new presentations are available as downloads you can watch on your computer or put on your iPod.  If you are the least bit curious about what’s available in educational technology, there is no excuse for missing out on this.  You don’t even have to register for this kind of conference.

Since you’re not watching the presentations live, you can even “walk out” in the middle and no one will know if you find one that you’re not interested in.  It’s all about exploring and seeing what’s out there.

I will be presenting a session called “Film School for Video Podcasters.”  More on that later…