Weekly Tech Tip - Downloading and Converting Online Video

Since we recently (temporarily) blocked YouTube at school it poses a particular problem for teachers who rely on it for content. There are ways to get around this by downloading the videos before and after school or at home. In this week's tech tip I show you two different methods of doing this. I also built a new teacher training module on this topic that includes these tech tips and links to the necessary tools.

Weekly Tech Tip:

How to Download and Convert Online Video Files using Desktop Tools from Carl Anderson on Vimeo.

Download and Convert Online Video using Online Tools from Carl Anderson on Vimeo.

6.6 - Extracting and Converting Online Media Content (3pts)

Link Stew:

• Dear Map - this is a tool that lets you annotate Google Maps with your own landmarks and share them with others. They also let you view your custom map in Google Earth and even create a drivable virtual road trip. (Cool factor - 9.5)
• Slide Finder - Slide show search engine with an academic focus.
• N Building on Vimeo - Augmented reality is the next big thing in tech. This is a video of a building in Japan that has built QR codes right into the architecture (QR codes are kind of like visual bar codes
• Format Factory - Free media file format converter
• Sheet Music Editor - Create new original music or refine and polish hand-written compositions
• app.itize.us - Directory of the "best designed" iPhone and iPod Touch apps
• Cell Phones: The 7th Form of Mass Media - Interesting speech by Tomi Ahonen on Fora.tv
• Primary Pad - web-based word processor that allows students and teachers to simultaneously work on documents at the same time.
• Interesting statistic from MNSCU regarding Online Enrollment:
• MnOnline growth rate this year is 22% - over 19,000 FYE in online courses. Online now makes up 12.8% of total enrollment.
• Transfer songs from iPod to computer http://bit.ly/4wyISJ
• Digital Equity in Education: A Multilevel Examination of Differences in and Relationships between Computer Access, Computer Use and State-level Technology Policies by Jonathan D. Becker, J.D., Ph.D., Hofstra University

Blog Carnival:

• Blind Men, Elephants, and Cognitive Tools from Technology in the Middle Blog by Patrick WoessnerFacebook's Zuckerberg Says Privacy No Longer A 'Social Norm' (VIDEO) From the Huffington Post
• School Teaches Its Students Almost Entirely Through Video Games from NeatORama

Free Online Technology Training Modules

This past spring I added some new training modules to Goodhue Public School's Online Teacher Technology Training program. I also spent quite a bit of time updating the existing modules. The following are free training modules anyone can use. Goodhue Teachers get a stipend for completing a set amount of these modules. So far this model of technology training has been fairly successful. However, I get far more feedback and replies about these training modules from teachers outside our small little district than from teachers who I actually work with. Feel free to use and share:

1.1 - Understanding File Properties (5 pts)

1.2 - File Formats & File Extensions (5 pts)

1.3 - Hooking up a Periphials (3 pts)

1.4 - Burning CDs and DVDs (5 pts)

1.5 - Backing Up Your Files (5 pts)

1.6 - Wireless vs Ethernet (5 pts)

1.7 - Dealing with a frozen computer (2 pts)

2.1 - Search engines (7pts)

2.2 - Language Translators (5pts)

2.3 - Databases – ebsco, Google Scholar (5pts)

2.4 - Anatomy of a URL (5pts)

2.5 - Netiquette & Internet Safety (3pts)

3.1 - Fair use (5pts)

4.1 - Google Docs & Spreadsheets (7pts)

4.2 - Zoho (7pts)

4.3 - Presentation Programs (6pts)

4.4 - Online Storage (5pts)

4.5 - Emailing Large Files/Batch Files (3 pts)

5.1 - Digital Cameras + Digital Image Basics (5pts)

5.2 - Digital Image Software (Gimp, Photoshop, Picassa, Splashup, Picnik, etc.) (10pts)

5.3 - Image sharing – Flickr, Photobucket, etc. (5pts)

6.1 - Capturing Video (6pts)

6.2 - Digital Video Content (7pts)

6.3 - Video Editing (10pts)

6.4 - Publishing video online – YouTube, TeacherTube, etc. (7pts)

6.5 - Online Broadcasting (5pts)

6.6 - Extracting and Converting Online Media Content (3pts)

7.1 - Podcasts (5pts)

7.2 - Audacity (5pts)

7.3 - Creating a podcast (10pts)

8.1 - Concept Mapping Software (5pts)

8.2 - Wikis (10pts)

8.3 - Self Publishing (5 pts)

8.4 - Building a Custom Search Engine (6pts)

9.1 - Blogs (7pts)

9.2 - Social Bookmarking (del.icio.us) (4pts)

9.3 - RSS (4pts)

9.4 - Power of the comment (3pts)

9.5 - Skype (5 pts)

9.6 - Educational/Social Networks (10 pts)

9.7 - Microblogging (5pts)

9.8 - Virtual Meeting Rooms (5pts)

10.1 - Updating your website (basics) / webpage design considerations (5pts)

10.2 - HTML tricks to enhance your webpage (5pts)

10.3 - Embedding Video (2pts)

10.4 - Widgets (5pts)

10.5 - Online Quizzes and Worksheets (5pts)

10.6 - Digital Drop (3pts)

10.7 - eFolio (10pts)

11.1 - Rubistar (4pts)

11.2 - Online Lesson Plan Sharing (3pts)

11.3 - SMARTtech lessons and teacher toolkit (5pts)

11.4 - WebQuests (3pts)

12.1 - Open Source vs. Proprietary Software (5pts)

12.2 - Serious Games (5pts)

12.3 - Virtual Worlds (5pts)

Screencast-o-Matic

I have been frustrated lately. Part of my contract states that I will offer weekly morning technology mini workshop sessions for teachers in our district. I have been planning these and offering them every Thursday morning all year long. Unfortunately I am lucky if I get just one or two people in attendance. I know it is not that teachers don't want or feel they need this training, it is a time issue. If you are strapped for time you are going to cut out everything that is not essential. Attending an optional training session is usually viewed as something that can be cut out if there is no time unless what is being offered is crucial to what is happening in your classroom today. I find my position is far more effective as an on demand resource that teachers can call in when they need something NOW or if they have specific projects they want to work on and need advice.

I am going to try a new approach. Instead of always planning a session, showing up, and having all that planning time and energy wasted I am going to make these sessions available in small snippits that can be viewed when teachers have time or when they are at home. Hopefully this will help. For this I am going to use a combination of Screencast-o-matic and Ustreamtv. I have set up a training blog that I will post these to for our district teachers.

I believe this approach to professional development is in keeping with what we are trying to accomplish with these new 21st century tools and is a step toward developing a new 21st century pedagogy. If teachers are going to alter their teaching methods they need to experience alternatives from the learner's perspective. Hopefully this method of content delivery will be more effective, reach more of our staff, and in turn have an effect on how these tools are utilized in the classroom.