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Images in Student Reports

Submitted by Site Administrator on Mon, 05/21/2012 - 8:40am
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The problem

Certain image format settings may break the display of student reports on the website and slow down printing.

The reasons

Very large images take a long time to print.

Objects that "float" in Word do not display correctly when converted to web format.

The solutions

1. Reduce image size before inserting into reports.

In iPhoto, use File -> Export and select the Medium size.

     

In Windows 7, right-click the image and select Resize Pictures. Select the Small size.

  

2.  Set the default text wrap setting in Word.

Mac:

   


Windows:

     

 

3. Ctrl click or right click any image to set it to wrap inline with text.

Mac:

Windows:

4. Avoid using text boxes, which also have text wrap settings.

Workshops: Improve Your Tech

Submitted by Site Administrator on Wed, 04/11/2012 - 3:55pm
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edCampPDX

Various Portland schools, quarterly, free
Participant-led discussions and demonstrations include strategies, tools, and pedagogy

Instructional Technology Strategies Conference (ITSC)

Portland, February
Focus on strategies for teaching with technology, thoughtfully selected keynote speakers

Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE)

Alternates between Portland and Seattle, February
Sessions include instructional strategies and emerging technologies, good for beginners and intermediate users.

Association for Computer Professionals in Education (ACPE)

Welches, OR, May
Focus on new hardware and software, network infrastructure, and vendor-client relationships

Center for Innovative Teaching (CIT)

San Francisco, June and New York, August
Focus on subject-specific uses of technology

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

Rotates among different cities, June
The motherlode of educational technology conferences

Lab School @ Punahou

Honolulu, July
Focus on teaching, learning, and technology tools

PNAIS TechShare

Seattle, July
One track for teachers, one track for technology integrators, led by peers at PNAIS schools

Building Learning Communities

Boston, July
Thoughtful focus on teaching and learning, founded by Alan November

 

Subscribe to a Blog

Submitted by Site Administrator on Wed, 04/20/2011 - 3:07pm
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You can receive email notifications each time someone creates a new blog post.

Navigate all the way to an individual blog post

Find a list of blogs (for example, all blogs, global trips, senior projects)

You may have to click on an article title to get to an individual blog post, not a list of many blog posts (example).

Open the Subscribe link

Review the subscribe options

Select the appropriate option

Example: a senior's blog posts

Example: a global trip blog

Save your subscription selection

You should now receive email notifications of new blog posts.

If you wish to unsubscribe, follow the instructions in one of the notification email messages.

 

Tools For International Trips

Submitted by Site Administrator on Tue, 02/24/2009 - 10:39am
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What electronic tools may be useful to enrich an international trip?

 

You may communicate and produce media before, during, and after a trip. Here are some available tools and ideas. Always, the key to a powerful experience lies in the human component. With whom are you communicating? What experiences are you capturing? Who is your audience? What is the purpose of the communication? Once you have selected your goals, then pick the tool that matches best.

Blogging

Examples: Cloud Forest Blog, Max in Haiti

Blogging provides a quiet space for students and teachers to record and reflect on their experiences at length. This can be helpful for students to process their experience by retelling it, and for students to have a record of their experience to refer to later (like a diary). Parents and other interested community members can follow the blog from a distance, helping us understand the travelers' experiences. You may invite comments if you want to facilitate a discussion of each post.

If you choose to blog on the Catlin Gabel web sites, then we may keep a record of the experience for others to easily find and view in the future.

Discussion Forum

Example: Martinique chat

Discussion forums are organized around topics, whereas blogs are organized around individuals. A forum may be more useful for getting two whole classes of students together.

Photo Pages

Example: Costa Rica '08

Photo galleries help people get a visual idea of your trip experience. You may add photos from your computer through the Catlin Gabel web site. Ask Kitty or Richard to explain how.

Podcast By Phone

Example and instructions: Costa Rica '08

This can be useful to report back on a trip to an audience at home. Let Kitty know so that we may link interested people to a podcast page. Podcasting limits the ability of people to reply, preserving the isolation of the foreign experience.

Skype

Example: Gaza chat

Skype allows you to have a video-enabled live chat with people in another country for free. Improvements in bandwidth now allow us to Skype to developing nations or politically unstable places (like Gaza city). The visual, interactive experience is extremely powerful for kids, who keenly want to know what people are like at the other end.

Audio Journaling

Example: Costa Rica '08 (ask Spencer)

Take a set of ten portable audio recorders on your trip and encourage students to keep their own audio diary and capture the sounds of the world around them. Students may then assemble these into a presentation upon return or just keep them for later reflection. The capture of primary source materials during the trip can be a powerful memory trigger later on.

Video Journaling

Take a set of ten portable video recorders on your trip and encourage students to keep their own video diary and capture the images of the world around them. Students may then assemble these into an individual or group presentation upon return or just keep the footage for later reflection.

Internet Research

Blogs, live cameras, and foreign newspapers can be a valuable source of pre- and post-trip information.

70 Intelligent YouTube Channels

Submitted by Site Administrator on Mon, 07/07/2008 - 7:23pm
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You may find the following videos useful in your courses. This list originally appeared on OpenCulture.

General

  • @GoogleTalks
    • Google has lots of famous visitors speaking at its headquarters, and they're all recorded and neatly presented here.
  • Al Jazeera English
    • The Middle Eastern news service, which has generated its share of
      controversy, now airs broadcasts in English and presents them here.
  • Amnesty International
    • The leading human rights organization brings you various videos
      outlining human rights concerns across the globe, and the work they're
      doing to improve conditions.
  • BBC
    • A series of videos promoting programs coming out of Britain's main
      media outlet. Unfortunately many of these videos are short and not
      entirely substantive. A missed opportunity.
  • BBC Worldwide
    • Ditto.
  • Big Think
    • This collection brings you videos featuring some of today's leading thinkers, movers and shakers.
  • BoingBoingTV
    • These videos are brought to you by the makers of the very popular BoingBoing blog.
  • Brooklyn Museum
    • A fairly rich lineup of videos exploring the collections at Brooklyn's main art museum.
  • Charlie Rose
    • PBS interviewer Charlie Rose presents segments of his nightly interviews.
  • Citizen Tube
    • YouTube's own channel presents videos dealing with the American political process and the 2008 election.
  • Computer History Museum
    • A good number of videos that delve into computers, networking, and semiconductors.
  • Council on Foreign Relations
    • A resource designed to provide insight into the complex international issues challenging policymakers and citizens alike.
  • CSPAN
    • Videos that keep a close eye on the inner-workings of the American political process.
  • FORA.tv
    • Delivers video presentations from the world's great writers, leaders, activists and thinkers.
  • Guardian Unlimited TV
    • The Guardian brings you videos that make the television world its focus.
  • Gizmodo
  • Google Tech Talks
    • The name kind of says it all.
  • HBO
    • Provides outtakes from new HBO productions. The videos are all short and largely promotional. Give us some beef, sirs.
  • KQED on Demand- San Francisco
    • Media provided by the public broadcasting company in the San Francisco Bay Area. I drink at this well daily.
  • MoMA
    • Videos highlighting the art collection, public programs, and temporary exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
  • National Geographic
    • The collection is rich, but the videos are short. Another instance
      where the provider could use the medium to offer more substance/depth.
  • New Scientist.
    • Videos and vodcasts covering science, technology, space, the
      environment and a whole lot more. An international team of expert
      journalists brings you the latest innovations and ideas in science and
      technology, from the wonderful to the worrying to the weird.
  • NOVA
    • Short video outtakes from PBS's popular science program.
  • PBS
    • Promotes new PBS programming with painfully short videos.
  • PoliticsTV
    • Political videos with a progressive bent.
  • Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
    • The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting's mission is to promote
      in-depth coverage of international affairs, focusing on topics that
      have been under-reported, mis-reported - or not reported at all.
  • ReelNASA
    • Videos show the latest happenings at NASA and new developments in space exploration.
  • Reuters Video
    • The latest video from Reuters.
  • Sundance
    • Provides video clips from original series and films airing on the Sundance Channel.
  • The Commonwealth Club (San Francisco)
    • Videos coming out of the nation's oldest and largest public affairs
      forum, presenting topics ranging across politics, culture, and society.
  • The Commoncraft Show
    • The Common Craft Show is a series of short explanatory videos by
      Lee and Sachi LeFever. The goal is to fight complexity with simple
      tools and plain language.
  • The Davos Question
    • Every year, global leaders attend the World Economic Forum in
      Davos, Switzerland to discuss how to better the world. Here you get to
      see what they have to say.
  • The New York Times
    • All the news that's fit to stream.
  • The New Yorker
    • The official video channel of The New Yorker magazine.
  • The Nobel Prize
    • Brings you fascinating insights into the minds of current and past Nobel Laureates.
  • The Onion News Network
    • A good dose of funny videos from The Onion. Good for when you need some comic relief.
  • The Real News
    • The Real News Network is a global online video news network that
      listens to and is dependent solely on its audience. No ads. No
      government subsidies. No corporate sponsorship.
  • The Research Channel
    • Based out of the University of Washington, the ResearchChannel
      brings together content from leading research and academic institutions.
  • The World Bank
    • Videos coming out of the institution whose goal is to rid the world of poverty..
  • The YouTube Screening Room
    • Provided by YouTube itself, this collection presents high quality,
      independent films to web users and promises to roll out four new films
      every two weeks.
  • TED Talks
    • Generally engaging videos coming out of the annual TED conference. Features important thinkers from different walks of life.
  • WNYC Radio
    • Videos provided by WNYC, New York Public Radio, the largest public radio station in the US.
  • World Economic Forum
    • The World Economic Forum is an independent international
      organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging
      leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
  • Yad Vashem
    • Containing the world's largest repository of information on the
      Holocaust, Yad Vashem is a leader in Holocaust education,
      commemoration, research and documentation.
  • 92nd Street Y
    • Pretty much anyone and everyone on the cultural radar passes through the 92nd Y in NYC.

Universities

Spotlighted Collections

Other University Collections

 

Post Audio Online

Submitted by Site Administrator on Wed, 11/14/2007 - 5:57pm
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Preparation, posting, and playback of audio files on insideCatlin

 

Background

Many audio formats exist -- MP3, WMA, AIFF, AAC, MOV, OGG. Computers are still not perfect at playing all of these different formats. Additionally, copyright and proprietary control complicate the audio format landscape. To reach the broadest range of users, you should take care to properly prepare your audio files. This guide shows you how. Although dozens of different audio applications exist, we focus on a few that work well for current users at Catlin Gabel.

MP3 is currently the most universal format for publishing audio. However, most devices record in a different format, due to MP3 licensing requirements and encoding speed. So you must convert the file. For example, an Olympus digital recorder records in WMA format (Windows Media Audio). Windows computers can play WMA files by default, but Macintosh computers require either Flip4Mac (preferred) or Windows Media Player for Mac, both free products. If you use the built-in recording capabilities in Garageband, you may end up with an AAC file (Apple Audio Codec), which Apple computers can play by default, but Windows players require iTunes (free).

Editing

If you want to edit your audio file before publishing it, try Audacity (Windows/Mac) or Garageband (Mac only). Save your project in the application's regular format as you work. When you finish, export the file. If you use Audacity, select Export as MP3. If Export as MP3 is not available, download and install the LAME MP3 encoder. In Garageband, Send Podcast to iTunes. Read further on to see how to convert iTunes files to MP3 format.

Audacity Garageband

Conversion

You may choose to publish your audio files without editing. In this case, convert directly to MP3. For Windows, first set your iTunes import format to MP3. Go to Edit menu -> Preferences ->
Advanced -> Importing and select the MP3 format (you only have to do
this once). Select File menu -> Add to Library to display your MP3 files. Select the files that you want to convert to MP3, then select Advanced menu -> Convert to MP3. Now, you will see two copies of each audio file, one WMA and one MP3 for each file. To tell them apart, right click on the column headers in the view and display the Kind column.

The Mac version of iTunes cannot read WMA files, so you should use a different conversion utility. Switch is an excellent choice, built to quickly process large numbers of files. Download the free version.

Posting

Both Moodle and Drupal allow you to post audio files directly, but you will achieve greater compatibility with more users if you embed the files using the systems' audio tools.

Moodle

You may embed audio into any Moodle web text region, for example on your site's home page, on a new web page, or in a forum post.

Select some text, then select the link tool.

Browse and select the audio file from your filesystem.

Select the file that you just uploaded.

The resulting audio player.


Drupal

Select Create Content -> Audi.

Tag your audio to one or more divisions.

Browse for the audio file.

The resulting audio player.

Depending on your audio file, you may have to specify the Artist and Title on the next page.

Drupal Podcast Feeds

If you publish audio in Drupal, you gain some nice podcast URLs. To direct people to the web page for audio playback, use the format /ls (or ms, bs, us). To subscribe directly in iTunes, use itpc://inside.catlin.edu/ls/feed (or ms/feed, bs/feed, us/feed). Give it a try.

 

Does Email Distract? Not if You Take Charge.

Submitted by Site Administrator on Sun, 11/04/2007 - 2:00pm
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The following NY Times article provides some helpful tips:

Does Email Distract? Not if You Take Charge.

Confused About Fair Use?

Submitted by Site Administrator on Mon, 10/15/2007 - 1:00pm
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Are you confused about fair use copyright law? According to a new report, you are not alone!
 

In an age when digital images and recordings to supplement and enhance education are abounding, unnecessary restrictions and a lack of understanding about copyright law are compromising the goal of using such technology in the classroom, says a new report. After interviewing educators, educational media producers and media-literacy organizations, the report's researchers conclude that educators have no shared understanding of what constitutes fair-use practices, and that teachers face conflicting information about their rights, and their students' rights, to use copyrighted works.

source: eSchoolNews Online - link

In my experience, most uses of copyrighted material I see at Catlin Gabel qualify as fair use. You are in the clear if you meet the following four conditions.

  1. You are using the material for educational use. We nearly always meet this criterion.
  2. The work is already published, nonfiction, and serves an educational purpose in your class. Copying fiction is less likely to be considered fair use.
  3. You are using a relatively small portion of the complete work. In other words, don't copy an entire book or magazine!
  4. Your use does not preclude you or your audience from purchasing the work. This is why we have a password-protected community web site. Also, student performance of a copyrighted work will not generally preclude a person from purchasing a professional copy of that work.

Here are three more useful links:

Stanford Copyright & Fair Use: The Four Factors

 

Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use

Copyright & You: Fair Use Checklists

Six Principles Of Effective Presentation

Submitted by Site Administrator on Sat, 09/01/2007 - 1:00pm
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Garr Reynolds reiterates six principles from Made to Stick.

Simplicity
Unexpectedness
Concreteness
Credibility
Emotions
Stories

Assess your next presentation against these six principles.

Presentation Zen: Make your presentations stickier

Computing Safely

Submitted by Site Administrator on Thu, 08/30/2007 - 1:00pm
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Click through the following presentation from the 2007 Safety Fair.

Found History

Submitted by Site Administrator on Wed, 07/18/2007 - 1:00pm
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Found History: Unintentional, unconventional, and amateur history all around us. Author: Tom Scheinfeldt, Assistant Director of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Scheinfeldt also co-produces the Digital Campus podcast, which provides a biweekly look at issues of new technologies in universities and libraries. I just listened to episode 2, in which Tom provides two compelling examples of how YouTube can provide you with hard-to-find, historical video footage from public domain and amateur sources.

Like any blog, you can read Found History by periodically visiting the site or by subscribing using a feed reader or by email. Instructions are presented on the site.

Greatest Living Writers Project

Submitted by Site Administrator on Wed, 07/18/2007 - 1:00pm
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The Greatest Living Writers Project is an ongoing video series featuring exclusive poetry readings and writing advice from over 50 of the world’s top writers – U.S. Poet Laureates, Pulitzer Prize-winners, National Poetry Slam Champions, best-selling novelists, playwrights, singer-songwriters, and more. The Greatest Living Writers Project not only preserves the voices, writing and teachings of our literary icons, but also brings these top writers into the classroom through on-demand mobile video to inspire and educate students worldwide. (source: Student Publishing Program)

You can play any of the videos in your web browser or subscribe in iTunes on the project page. You might find an individual video from the site useful in your class, you might follow the series for you own interest, or you could direct your students there.

This site requires free registration.

Wikis In Plain English

Submitted by Site Administrator on Tue, 07/17/2007 - 1:00pm
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This video is about wikis, but it really applies to most Web 2.0 tools, blogs, forums, podcasts, wikis, and social networks. Users collaborate to create content.

Our two main insideCatlin tools, Moodle and Drupal, both provide wiki-like functionality. To create a course wiki in Moodle, Turn Editing On -> Add Activity -> Wiki. In Drupal, most items can be edited by anybody, especially the page and book content types.

Digital Photography Resources

Submitted by Daisy Steele on Tue, 06/12/2007 - 1:00pm
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These digital photography resources include digital camera reviews to help you select the best digital camera for you, tips and techniques for getting the most out of your digital camera, and numerous ways to manipulate and share your photos once you've taken them. Please add your favorite sites!

Digital Photography Tips and Tricks
http://www.searlstudio.com/digital-photo-blog.htm
http://eosrebels.com/101/ (if you own a digital SLR)
http://www.photographyreview.com/
http://www.photoworkshop.com/ (lots of links to other great websites)
http://www.tipsfromthetopfloor.com/101-ways-to-improve-your-digital-photography/
http://www.photoshare.org/phototips/digital101.php (some good basics on digital photography)
http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/
http://www.photonhead.com/ (This site has neat camera simulator where you can experiment with different settings on a camera and see the results)

Digital Camera Review Sites
http://www.dpreview.com/ (great digital camera review site)
http://www.steves-digicams.com/ (another great camera review site)
http://www.imaging-resource.com/

Digital Photography Lessons
http://my101.learningcenter.sony.us/campus.jsp?campusId=1101&courseSessionId=6650&webPageId=1000000 (Digital Photography 101, several online courses)

A Comparison of Online Digital Print Services
http://www.bestwebbuys.com/photo_print_service_comparison.html

Photo Sharing Sites
http://www.flickr.com/
http://photobucket.com/

Podcasts In Schools

Submitted by Site Administrator on Wed, 05/02/2007 - 1:00pm
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Podcasts have caught the popular imagination, because they have so many different uses and take advantage of portable audio players that every kid seems to have. How do teachers and students use podcasts in schools?

1. Listen to free podcasts. Subjects run the gamut, including lectures, commentary, music, readings, and language learning. Browse or search OpenCulture or the iTunes store to get started. Improve your own content knowledge or assign listening assignments for homework.

2. Record student presentations. If you currently ask students to present work orally or through musical performance, publishing this work online is a great way to expand its audience. Borrow or purchase a small audio recorder and capture presentations you already include in your courses. Depending on where you choose to publish the work, you can make it available to other students, parents, or the whole world. Both Moodle and the Catlin Gabel website support publishing audio files in forum and blog posts. Example: Sixth Grade Poetry Box

3. Record school events such as guest speakers, assembly announcements, or parent evenings. This can make these special events available to dozens of parents and other community members who were not able to attend the actual event in person. We are capable of recording amplified audio in Cabell or using a portable audio recorder elsewhere.

Let us know if you have any other questions about creating podcasts!