Your Class Web Page

Having a classroom web page is a great way to keep parents informed, to showcase your students work and to make links for lessons easily accessible. Setting up a web page can range from simple to very daunting based on what your goals for the page is, the control you want over the page, and the tools you use. Based on these factors the best solution for you and your class could vary greatly. In this and the next several articles I will try to give guidance on the many options available to enable you to make the best choices for your classroom.

Later in this post I will try to give you a little guidance in planning your web site, we will then look at a variety of hosting options. Hosting simply refers to where your site will be on the web. We will then look at software tools to make your site and talk about maintenance. We will also take some time to discuss legal issues regarding posting student work.

Planning:

Our first task in designing a web page is to make a wish list. What thing’s do you want your page to do? For example do you want it to have a calendar, an assignment list, a gallery for student work, downloadable forms and worksheets, or a web link list. At this point it’s OK to dream without worrying about how to do these things. Your final web page may be limited by the tools you use, but you are capable of a lot more than you think so have fun.

Second we need to look at structure. My preferred method of determining site structure is using Inspiration 8. It is a visual mapping tool I reviewed last year and has many powerful capabilities. I simply create a web starting with my home page with a list of things I want on it, and then link all of the other characteristics I want on my site and I outline what each page will contain. Then I can move around and change my links to my hearts content until I find a logical structure. This can be done in a lo-tech way with index cards. Just write a description of the content of each card, and arrange in a logical order.

With a site structure finalized or at least planned with the option to change, we are ready to consider hosting options. In the next few posts we will consider hosting options, first free hosting, and then paid hosting options. What you choose at this point has a big impact on what you are able to do in the future with your site.

Your class ought to be in pictures (Part 3 of 3)

When looking at professional level software there are many things to be considered because the investment is large. First I would not suggest professional level software for elementary students; the free software mentioned in part 1 is more on there level and should be ample to meet any of their needs. When working with professional level software there is a rather steep learning curve that will require some training even to do a basic editing project. That is the downside; the upside is that when you jump into this level of software there are no boundaries to what you or your students can create. They can produce everything from a basic video to Matrix like special effects. The only limit is time and imagination. I will discuss three programs that I think are worthy of and budding professional. Yes there are many capable options out there; I spent a day in Las Vegas this spring looking at hundreds of very powerful and very capable products at the NAB show (National Association of Broadcasters). But in my opinion these are the only three that I would recommend and I will explain why as I discuss each.

First and my favorite because of price and capability is Vegas 6 from Sony Media Software. Could you guess that that was coming from the previous post? Vegas is a very capable and powerful editor. It has a very effective visual format that is easy to use and follow. I can often do things in one quick step that take two or three steps in other programs. When it comes to audio editing most other applications are not that capable so professionals turn to specific audio software, but in Vegas there is no need. Vegas has the best and easiest to use audio capabilities of any video software available. Yes that even includes software that is priced thousands more. For a reasonably priced software package that will do almost anything you need, Vegas is a great choice.

The next option is with a program that is very established in the movie and television industry. Avid Xpress Pro is a great solution. Avid is the industry standard with there many lines of products, and they have products that span the full range on the price scale, from Avid Free mentioned in part 1 to hundreds of thousands of dollars. They have obtained this market dominance by doing what they do very well. They create very powerful and amazing software and hardware that makes magic happen on the screen. The biggest advantage to using avid is that if you have students that have potential to move into the Movie or TV industry they will be learning and perfecting there skills they can use to get a job. Special effects are no problem, and editing workflow is very smooth. If you started using Avid Free, and are ready to step up to a professional product this in the natural program.

My third option is Adobe Premiere Pro 2. Adobe is a great program but its real strength is when it is paired with it’s many other studio partners. It integrates seamlessly with Photo Shop, After Effects, Audition, and even Acrobat. When paired together you have a program that can do anything, and you have many stand alone products that are very useful for much more than editing. One really cool feature is that you can export movies including the timeline to a .PDF file. This can then be saved to a disk or emailed. As a teacher you can open the file and view it. You can pause at any point and add comments or suggestions to a student project and the student can import you comments directly to the timeline. I personally am considering making the switch to Premiere but am waiting to see what Vegas 7 has to offer when it is released later this year.

As you start to shop around you will quickly find that these professional solutions are not cheap they range from $500 to well over $1000 just for the editing application. The Premiere bundle mentioned is $1699. You can save significantly by purchasing your software at an education reseller, that can offer educational discounts. My favorite is
Academic Superstore. I have also included links to some other options. One example is the Adobe Premiere bundle mentioned before that retails for $1699, at Academic Superstore for $589. There are other academic resellers that I have used and have been very happy with there service. I have included links to those sites below.

Your Class Ought to Be in Pictures (Part 2 of 3)

For mid range (under $100) products there are a wide variety of choices available. I can not say that I have tested them all and therefore there may be many choices not listed here that are great products. I only hope to provide a program that I can recommend as a great product.

My personal favorite is Sony Vegas Movie Studio + DVD Platinum Edition primarily because of its ease of use to learn, and it’s very powerful editing features. I’m a little biased because in my very extensive search for professional video editing software I selected Vegas Video. Vegas Movie Studio has a similar interface and features yet it is somewhat scaled down from it’s big brother. The biggest strength that Vegas has over the other formats is that it was designed from the start to be an effective computer based editor, whereas many of the other software packages were initially designed to be used by people familiar to the old style linear editing for film or from tape to tape editing. These programs then try to add features but are still tied to this archaic structure that just doesn’t make that much sense. The downside to this or any other advanced software is that when you add specialization features you also increase the level of difficulty involved in learning the program. I highly recommend that you get a book or training course to teach you the basics. Getting a solid footing will help you unleash the power of this amazing program. The best book I could recommend is by one of my favorite Vegas Video Trainers Douglas Spotted Eagle Instant Vegas Movie Studio +DVD

In part 3 we will look at professional level tools, as well as training options.

Your class ought to be in pictures (Part 1 of 2)

As we approach the New School Year we may think of the many new ways that we can approach curriculum. One great activity made possible by advanced technology is movie production. Movies can be made on a specific topic in the form of a report, or as a culmination of a screen play writing unit. One thing is certain, that you can create a learning activity that your students will never forget.

So if we decide we are going to make movies as a class what software should we use? Although there is not one single answer to this question, I hope that in this post I can shed some light on this subject so that you can make an informed choice. We will first look at free solutions, and then a few paid solutions for more advanced needs.

For basic easy to use video editing software the choices are pretty clear. Movie Maker 2 for the PC and iMovie for the Mac are both very capable programs for basic editing and fairly easy to use. They both allow you to drag and drop clips in the time line and add music and titles. Although they lack in composting special effects aside from a few transitions, you can learn to create a simple movie in minutes. For Elementary grades it is likely to meet most of your needs. Although basic operation of these programs is straight forward there are some advanced capabilities that with a little know can really improve the movies and the learning experience. I recommend reading Microsoft Windows Movie Maker 2: Do Amazing for Movie Maker 2 and iMovie HD and iDVD 5 for Mac OS X for iMovie

If you want to start your students on the right foot but still need a free solution Avid Free DV is feature-streamlined, standalone software which includes basic video and audio editing capabilities, up to two streams of real-time effects and support for both Windows XP and Macintosh OS X platforms. Although it is a stripped down version of it’s professional sister software it introduces students to a professional interface that is very effective. Avid also provides you with some downloadable training videos that get you up and running quickly at http://www.avid.com/freedv/tutorials/index.asp

Visit us tomorrow as we look at commercial software choices.

Edubunto the Linux Solution for teachers.

In a previous post I mentioned that I would share with you what I thought was the best distribution of Linux for schools. I expected to try a few that had been recommended to me and perhaps look at a few others to determine the best. As you can see by the time that has been since the previous post that this has been a time consuming process. And you can see by the title Edubuntu won. Rather than doing a side by side comparison of the vast array of possible Linux choices I will focus on what features sold me.

The fist key that was a requirement for me is that I could load it on a PC machine or a Mac Machine. Edubunto loads easily on either machine, and runs well on both systems. There is a downside however because some software that is written for Linux does not operate on both platforms. The other issue is dealing with a dual boot machine. I’m pretty tech literate, but I did have some trouble loading Linux on my PC while still wanting to preserve my windows so that I could boot to both. I must admit that it is easier than some, however I only recommend loading this software if you intend to commit the entire machine to it.

The second factor is ease of use. Edubunto was easy to figure out quickly. Within minutes of loading I was opening applications and working with files with ease. It is not piggy backing of Windows or OSX but it is very intuitive.

Third is bundled software. This program comes with many applications that cater directly to the needs of teachers and students. It includes Open Office Video Applications, Learning Games, Graphics Application, 3d Animation software, and more. It has everything you need for the creative and intuitive to create and explore. One Note although the operating system is easy to use many of the applications are very powerful, and require some time to learn.

If you are looking for something to load on student computers, and Windows or Mac software does not meet your needs, or is just plain to expensive, then Edubuntu is a powerful and viable solution.