Welcome! I hope you enjoy this session of using FLIP cameras in your classroom.
Please refer to my previous post for the looong version of using the FLIP cameras in your classroom.
Our Agenda:
Intro to the FLIP
Use the FLIP cameras – each member of your group should practice recording, zooming, and deleting videos. By the end of the time allotted, please have at least one video on the camera.
Upload your videos
Convert the video files
If time permits – Import your videos into Windows Movie Maker (you only need this option if you are going to be editing the videos or combining multiple videos or video and pictures)
The Basics:
FLIP cameras are small video cameras that allow you to record 30 or 60 minutes of video. When finished, the camera plugs into your computer’s USB port and videos are quickly uploaded. The videos can be opened in a video editing program, uploaded online, or burned to a DVD or CD.
In the past, many teachers haven’t utilized the amazing opportunities that using video cameras in a classroom provides because of the expense of video cameras and the difficulty level involved with getting the footage onto your computer and into the hands of the kids.
The FLIP camera (or similar handheld USB cameras) are inexpensive and easy to use. They allow you to let go of the reigns and let the students do the work!
I’ve got the cameras, now what? Determine how the cameras can enhance a lesson you already do, or inspire you to create a new activity. The goal is to get the cameras into the kids’ hands! Have them demo a lab experiment, create a how-to video, record a PSA or commercial, mock interviews, record a poetry jam, have students act out “how to survive in Mr. Smith’s class for new students, and so much more (my previous post lists a ton of ideas).
The Software:
The FLIP software will install automatically in about 2 minutes upon plugging the camera into the computer. Click here for FLIP software instructions.
Converting the files: The video files are automatically saved as .avi files, which are high quality video files. However, if you want to post them on my.ccsd.net you will need to convert the file to a .mov file. Use Jodix, a free video converter – instructions for using jodix.
Thank you!
Please post a comment letting us know how you see yourself using FLIP cameras in your classroom.
I wanted to thank those who were at the NW ECS training last Wednesday for your participation in the blog training! There were some great comments and ideas posted to my blog. Hopefully you learned something new and went away with an idea of how you can use blogging on your campus to enhance the curriculum.
For those of you who weren’t in attendance, hopefully this info will get you started if you were looking to add blogging as one of the tech integration tools you use on your campus.
I am currently working on a set of training modules that will walk you and your teachers through the process of setting up classroom blogs, but until then I wanted to give you some instruction sheets that will get you going. **See the box.net widget at the end of this post for handouts**
I also wanted to send you all a few helpful links:
1. I don’t know if any of you get THE Journal, but the issue I got in my mailbox last Friday has an article on blogging (great timing!)..anyway, here is the link to the article.
2. A few elementary ECSs were concerned about how blogging could be used in the elementary setting…I have seen some amazing stuff done on elementary blogs. Here are a few examples:
3. There is a woman named Sue Waters who is known as http://theedublogger.edublogs.org. She posts helpful tidbits on using edublogs in the classroom. She currently is compiling a list of educational blogs broken down into categories. Check out the post with her list of blogs here, there are over 100 blogs listed. This may help you see how blogging can ‘fit’ for your school. If you have teachers that already have blogs, have them leave a comment with their blog information here so that The Edublogger can add them to the list.
good luck and please email me if you have any questions!
The goal of today’s training is to leave you with a basic knowledge of how edublogs.org works and the technology integration possibilities that blogging opens up to you and your teachers. Also, with an idea of how to go about implementing blogging with your teachers. Most of the session will be hands on, so I will post more information than what is covered and some other tidbits here for you to look at later and refer your admin and staff to.
Getting your teachers to ‘buy into blogging’:
1 No papers to grade. The teacher reads the comment and assigns the grade.
2 Discussions that could never be completed during class can be done with a blog.
3 A blog gives the students a voice. It is escpecially powerful for the students who are too shy to share during class. You will see these kids come out of their shells online.
Getting your admin to ‘buy into blogging:
1 No money needs to be spent, the only investment needed is time for professional development.
2 The communication lines between home and school widen.
3 Blogging extends the school day…the discussion doesn’t have to end when the bell rings.
Next Steps:
*Once your admin is on board, get a core group of teachers that are willing to jump in and get blogging with their classes.
*The teachers need to determine how blogging will enhance their curriculum when deciding how to use it. It has to be authentic.
*After you get your core group of teachers blogging, start touching base with someone in their department. Show them what their colleagues are doing.
*You now have a small group of teachers who can now help train others.
Your job: once you have teachers blogging, you will need to check their blogs periodically to see how they are utilizing them. If a teacher is not posting regularly, help them find a way to integrate their current concepts/standards into a new post.
