Local District 4 Instructional Technology News

Are you new to video editing?  Are you up to date on the new features of iMovie ‘08?   Have you started to wonder if you have out grown iMovie and are looking for something more robust?  Are you uncertain about which type of video camera your school should buy this year?  This seminar is designed to provide you all the information you need to get up to speed on video editing on your Mac. Attendees will be exposed to the latest trends in video editing software, new camera technologies, and Tips & Tricks for new and intermediate user.  This 90 minute seminar will cover the following topics:

State of the Union on Video Editing

MiniDV Tapes dead or alive?
Standard Def vs HD vs ????
Camera Formats
Choosing your finished file format
Distributing your video to a diverse audience

Introduction to iMovie 08
Totally revamped User Interface
Access to advanced editing features
Working with HD and other new forms of video

When it’s time to step up Final Cut
Slip Edits
Roll Edits
Video Layers
Freedom with Text

Who Should attend:

Video Teachers
Macintosh users that have a copy of iMovie 08
Macintosh users that are considering upgrading to Final Cut

When:

February 19, 2009 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm

Where:

Local District 4 Office

SIgn up for this workshop through the Learning Zone.

• Go to http://lz.lausd.net
• Click on the tab for Courses
• Click on Class Offerings
• Select “Local District 4 Professional Development” as the Program
• Set the field, “Classes for the next” to display 6 Months
• Click Search

Tags: Antonio, Class, iMovie, LAUSD, LD4, Technology, video editing

Are you a BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support & Assessment) participant?  Do you need to fulfill Standard 16?  Not sure how to create a lesson infused with technology?

Sign up for the Click! Digital Photography to Enhance Instruction class.  This class will meet BTSA requirements for Standard 16, give you a salary point, and you’ll walk away having learned something new.  Plus, it’s FREE!

To register for the class and for more information, go to the Learning Zone and follow these instructions.

• Go to http://lz.lausd.net
• Click on the tab for Courses
• Click on Class Offerings
• Select “Local District 4 Professional Development” as the Program
• Set the field, “Classes for the next” to display 6 Months
• Click Search

Tags: Antonio, BTSA, camera, Class, LAUSD, LD4, Technology

For those of you who use a Mac and would like to use a Timer, try the 3-2-1 Widget.

3-2-1 is a Free countdown timer for Dashboard (OS X). It displays hours, minutes, and seconds, includes a lap function and is resizable. You can label each countdown (useful if you run more than one at a time), enter your own messages (to appear when a countdown has finished) and choose any sound to play.

You can download it from the Apple website or from BaldGeeks.com

Tags: Antonio, apple, free, LD4, timer, widget

I recently attended an Apple Seminar titled Think Ahead in which participants learned how to use an iPod Touch for instruction. We were shown how students, using 21st century skills, can work collaboratively in real world classroom projects and publish their work to be viewed on an iPod Touch.

Podcast/Vodcast

Instead of creating a basic power point presentation, where the power point slide show takes precedence over the students oral presentation, students can create a podcast or a vodcast.  When students create power point presentations, they usually just repeat what is on the slide.  Students don’t really get to internalize what they have learned.  Most of the time, students just copy and paste what they find in text or on the web and put it in a bulleted list with a picture and they are done.

With the podcast, or vodcast, students need to understand and take ownership of the content before they can create the product.  They need to write out a script and chunk it into sections.  Each section also needs to have an appropriate image to accompany it.  Because the product is going to be published and synced to the iPod Touch to be shared with the class or made available online, students are going to put more effort into their work in order to put out quality work.  And because it is going to be synced to the iPod, students will be able to listen to their work over and over.

iTunes

Another benefit for using iPods is the ability to get “just in time learning.”  Teachers and students can use iTunes to log into the iTunes Store and access thousands of free educational podcasts. iTunes also has a number of Universities participatng in iTunesU, which offer free college level course material in the form of podcasts.

Fluency

Want to record your students fluency readings?  With the use of a Belkin microphone for the iPod, you can record your students as they read and track their progress.  Think about the impact this will have on your EL students.  This will give them the opportunity to practice speaking and reflect on their ability to pronounce words correctly and improve their fluency.

Recording their fluency is just one of many uses of an iPod.  How about having students record the sound spelling card sounds and publishing it on a CD for others to use. How about digitizing stories so that students can listen to them on a CD or iPod?

If you have any other ideas or suggestions, post them here to share with others.

Tags: 21st century, Antonio, collaborative, Education, instruction, iPod, iPod Touch, LD4, podcast, reading, vodcast