It is time I invest in some hard drive backup protection.
Why: Because of the amount of time I am investing in my files.... Especially the video files themselves.... Rough estimate for the next couple years: 30 minutes of video per lecture. x 4 lectures per Unit. x 10 Units (at least!) x 1 hour (on average) of production time per 1 minute of video produced = 1,200 hours of my hard-spent time on this computer. Just to create my videos. (Does not count time for programming and planning, and testing...)
THAT.... Is a LOT of time and effort.... personal sweat..... at cost to myself and my family....
That could be lost if my laptop suddenly stops working.
One little virus... or hardware hiccup.... and its all gone. (With only the rough, final edits, stored on my website.)
That is almost frightening.
To that end, I have decided to purchase TWO, smaller-sized, portable USB hard drives that are completely different models. My plan is to alternate them... Every couple of weeks I will swap drives for backup. This will help in a couple ways: (1) I will have THREE copies of most of my files at any time. (2) If I get a virus on my computer it might only take out ONE of the back-up drives. Also, every set of hard drive reviews I look at have SOMEONE claiming that their portable hard drive stopped working after only a month or two.... Even a "better" (read, more expensive) drive has no guarantee of working.
So... Two, relatively inexpensive drives instead of one, larger, more expensive drive. It might be more of a hassle to have two backup drives, but I feel safer that way.
Here are the two I have settled on:
(1) Toshiba Canvio 500GB USB Basics Portable Hard Drive - It has backup software, software encryption, and is a relatively simple drive. $59.99 (free shipping)
(2) BUFFALO Ministation Extreme 500GB USB 3 Portable Hard Drive - Military Spec Drop Protection, integrated cable management, and hardware encryption. $78.24 (free shipping)
Cost: $148.77
Time: 1 hour
I want to flip my high school classroom. What does that mean? How do you do it? How will this affect my students? Come find out!
Monday, August 5, 2013
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Camtasia Studio 8
Screen Capture/Recording Software
TechSmith is the company that created the screen capture software that is used in my current InterWrite software. It worked alright and it was simple but I was having two major problems (and one minor problem) with it....
(1) Major - It would only record at 15 frames-per-second.... which was just too slow for source videos. I want to record at 30 fps and maybe save the FINAL at 15 fps.
(2) Major - I could not get it to effectively record in a video format that would go directly into Adobe Premiere. For whatever reason I would find that (a) either it encoded in a form that was HORRIBLE for editing in Premiere.... or (b) I had to feed it through Windows MovieMaker to get it into a format that might work.... which required an extra step and extra time... (also, if you read my post a month ago, this method stopped working anyhow)
(3) Minor - When you set up the recording window it was TOO simple.... The user basically draws a box around what they wish to record...... And whenever you record you had to draw a new box.... It was not very precise (my recording windows are exactly 900 x 600 pixels.... Click-and-drag a box sometimes ends up 887 x 602 which adds distortion in the source video files.... ack!)
After searching for options... (and, almost QUITTING my project all-together!) I went back to the company (TechSmith) and tried out one of their newer, somewhat costly, products...
Camtasia Studio
In short:
This software DOES MORE THAN I NEED IT TO DO and I ended up paying $$$ for it... (although, with an 40% educator's discount)
However, the EXTRA may be useful in its own right. ESPECIALLY FOR OTHER TEACHERS WHO MAY WISH TO HAVE AN EASIER METHOD OF POSTING THEIR LESSONS ONLINE.
First: What it DOES do for ME:
It RECORDS (in an .avi video format) THE SCREEN FOR ME.
Here is a first ever, complete snapshot, OF MY ENTIRE COMPUTER SCREEN.
What you see here is mainly the InterWrite software (the blue controls down the middle and along the bottom of the screen). I use InterWrite to do most of my live DRAWING and ANIMATION images. The BLACK RECTANGLE on the screen is my video recording backdrop. That is my "stage" upon which I diagram all of my notes to be recorded. For those of you who are familiar with InterWrite (I could write an entire BLOG on that itself!) I basically have ten frames that look like you see here, with blank, black, pre-drawn rectangles....
Camastia runs OVER InterWrite (and any other software I might be running.) In the image above I have it set to a 900 x 600 pixel "frame" which is indicated by a green dashed-line border with eight gray little boxes/handes. You can move your video recording window by grabing one of those handles and dragging it. (There is also a "center point" in the middle of the recording window but that is NOT a handle.) Right below this you see a set of Camastia recording controls. There are other options, such as recording sound or simultaneous recording of YOURE FACE using your computer's web cam.
I like this recording window because it lets me set it to EXACTLY whatever window size I wish AND it REMEMBERS it for next time. Whenever I start recording it is RIGHT where I need it, precisely centered on my 900 x 600 stage.
EXTRAS: But Camastia is so much more. SOME day I may get into those other options which I, for better or worse, paid for. Basically it is designed as an ALL-IN-ONE ONLINE presenter. Once you record your screen demos, you can use Camastia to EDIT VIDEO, add text, markers, and, yes, EVEN ADD AN ONLINE QUIZ that can EMAIL you the individual results from your students! <-- I plan on using some of this in the years to come as supplemental material for my online lectures. MORE ON THESE OTHER FEATURES SOME OTHER MONTH!
Cost: $185.95
Time: 30 minutes
TechSmith is the company that created the screen capture software that is used in my current InterWrite software. It worked alright and it was simple but I was having two major problems (and one minor problem) with it....
(1) Major - It would only record at 15 frames-per-second.... which was just too slow for source videos. I want to record at 30 fps and maybe save the FINAL at 15 fps.
(2) Major - I could not get it to effectively record in a video format that would go directly into Adobe Premiere. For whatever reason I would find that (a) either it encoded in a form that was HORRIBLE for editing in Premiere.... or (b) I had to feed it through Windows MovieMaker to get it into a format that might work.... which required an extra step and extra time... (also, if you read my post a month ago, this method stopped working anyhow)
(3) Minor - When you set up the recording window it was TOO simple.... The user basically draws a box around what they wish to record...... And whenever you record you had to draw a new box.... It was not very precise (my recording windows are exactly 900 x 600 pixels.... Click-and-drag a box sometimes ends up 887 x 602 which adds distortion in the source video files.... ack!)
After searching for options... (and, almost QUITTING my project all-together!) I went back to the company (TechSmith) and tried out one of their newer, somewhat costly, products...
Camtasia Studio
In short:
This software DOES MORE THAN I NEED IT TO DO and I ended up paying $$$ for it... (although, with an 40% educator's discount)
However, the EXTRA may be useful in its own right. ESPECIALLY FOR OTHER TEACHERS WHO MAY WISH TO HAVE AN EASIER METHOD OF POSTING THEIR LESSONS ONLINE.
First: What it DOES do for ME:
It RECORDS (in an .avi video format) THE SCREEN FOR ME.
Here is a first ever, complete snapshot, OF MY ENTIRE COMPUTER SCREEN.
What you see here is mainly the InterWrite software (the blue controls down the middle and along the bottom of the screen). I use InterWrite to do most of my live DRAWING and ANIMATION images. The BLACK RECTANGLE on the screen is my video recording backdrop. That is my "stage" upon which I diagram all of my notes to be recorded. For those of you who are familiar with InterWrite (I could write an entire BLOG on that itself!) I basically have ten frames that look like you see here, with blank, black, pre-drawn rectangles....
Camastia runs OVER InterWrite (and any other software I might be running.) In the image above I have it set to a 900 x 600 pixel "frame" which is indicated by a green dashed-line border with eight gray little boxes/handes. You can move your video recording window by grabing one of those handles and dragging it. (There is also a "center point" in the middle of the recording window but that is NOT a handle.) Right below this you see a set of Camastia recording controls. There are other options, such as recording sound or simultaneous recording of YOURE FACE using your computer's web cam.
I like this recording window because it lets me set it to EXACTLY whatever window size I wish AND it REMEMBERS it for next time. Whenever I start recording it is RIGHT where I need it, precisely centered on my 900 x 600 stage.
EXTRAS: But Camastia is so much more. SOME day I may get into those other options which I, for better or worse, paid for. Basically it is designed as an ALL-IN-ONE ONLINE presenter. Once you record your screen demos, you can use Camastia to EDIT VIDEO, add text, markers, and, yes, EVEN ADD AN ONLINE QUIZ that can EMAIL you the individual results from your students! <-- I plan on using some of this in the years to come as supplemental material for my online lectures. MORE ON THESE OTHER FEATURES SOME OTHER MONTH!
Cost: $185.95
Time: 30 minutes
Thursday, August 1, 2013
"Educational Death By PowerPoint"
There was an interesting little article that came out this week in the Arizona Daily Star (actually, I read it first in my local Modesto Bee.... but then tracked it down to its source online)
The article itself is titled "If Johnny can't communicate... blame PowerPoint"
Here are some quotes that might relate to my "flipping the classroom" project:
(a) "The trainer bemoaned the skull-numbing effect that an endless stream of bullet points and images has on a listener."
(b) "Then he told us that the newest trend in high-level salesmanship is to perform important presentations without electronic aids. Apparently, top sales professionals have started learning to sketch so they can hand-illustrate their most important concepts on whiteboards in front of clients.
Such an effort demonstrates two things, the trainer said. 'First, it shows the customer that you know your stuff, that you're not just regurgitating strings of facts because you need to have slides and fill them. And second, it shows your audience that you are tailoring how you impart information in a way that is relevant to them in the moment.' "
(c) "Well, that's how it used to be a long time ago when teachers were masters of their subject areas and they shared their wisdom by lecturing and maybe making a few notes on a chalkboard. Back when students were - gasp! - expected to listen and take notes."
(d) "I sat in classroom after classroom - in both urban and rural, affluent and low-income schools - where entire class periods consisted of a dimmed room, a clip-art heavy 80-slide PowerPoint deck, reams of printouts of the same presentation (the "notes") and the monotonous drone of an instructor faithfully reciting bullet points."
(e) "Our biggest concern about integrating technology into schools should be that even as we provide students with mastery of the standard tools of business - whether it be slide presentations, email or social media - we risk forgetting a vital piece of the educational puzzle: the ability to communicate for understanding."
These are all interesting points for me to keep in mind... which is why I have stuck them here in my blog so that I can come back and reference them in the future.
First, I am always trying to figure out how these thing relate to MY OWN DELIVERY OF CONTENT to my students... HOW to best TEACH my students. Second, there is that "other level".... of... HOW to get STUDENTS to LEARN these skills.... "the ability to communicate for understanding."
I'll save that second part for somewhere else... because THIS blog is more about "flipping the classroom" than anything else... So... How can I use the information in this article to help with my "online lectures"....
I agree with the author... I never really liked PowerPoint as a form of information-delivery. Mostly because it was not "fluid" enough. In my classroom I rather use InterWrite software because it is much easier to just "step out" of the presentation to go off on a tangent, if need be.... Or, more importantly, to step IN to the presentation.... zoom in, start writing an impromptu diagram that will focus on some key idea... Every class period seems to have its own pacing... Some classes have questions and time to go into details... Other classes (example: right after lunch!) I am just happy to get through the basic lesson in one piece!
The comment in (c) is worth tackling.... "Back when students were - gasp! - expected to listen and take notes." - Well.... Things change. Just because that was the way it WAS done.... doesn't mean that is the best way to do it. Obviously students are expected to LISTEN. (Although, it is not that simple... during the information age the use of video games and smartphones has had an impact on people's ability to just SIT and LISTEN. As teachers we HAVE TO FACE THAT FACT.) The idea that students are expected to TAKE NOTES.... That has never proven to be an effective/efficient means of learning. The act of COPYING STUFF off of the board only has a minimal imprint on the student's brain compared with the TIME it takes to actually copy the information. Also: students do not often have the best handwriting (I was one of those.... sloppy handwriting). Even when students copy stuff off of the board "all notes are not created equal!". I have been convinced by my wife (a fellow educator) that it MIGHT be worthwhile to just GIVE the student's their notes, printed neatly, and organized nicely.... and then just JUMP RIGHT IN TO TEACHING them about the notes. So... that is what I am beginning to do... This year.... I am printing up notes.... and just leaving areas BLANK for students to fill in information/diagrams/examples. Again: it is a question of the TIME involved. I would rather spend that time in other ways in my classroom. I want kids to get down to processing information and working with it.
I found the comment (b) to be particularly interesting... about "top professionals learning to sketch so they can hand-illustrate their most important concepts".... If you watch any of my "video lectures" you will notice immediately that everything on the screen is hand-drawn by me. The main reason I did this was because of COPYWRIGHT issues.... It might be ok for a teacher to "borrow" images and put them in their own classroom presentations... (who's going to know?).. but that would simply NOT BE OK to do online in a video that is accessible by the public. I knew immediately that I would have to produce my own work. As a side benefit, according to this article, the hand-written work might add a certain quality to the presentations that not only might help hold the attention of the audience, but possibly demonstrate that the presenter does know what he is talking about.
The idea that lectures should be "tailored" for that particular moment.... Well.... that is hard to do with an online video. However, teaching lessons DURING CLASS TIME is still fraught with these challenges because, alas, teachers do not often have an audience of ONE student..... In California we often have 30 or 35 students in the classroom. It is basically impossible to "taylor" a lecture to each-and-every-student under those conditions...
So, my online solution may not be perfect. But it does have its own strengths. My plan for each lecture is to have a series (5 to 7) of short (1 to 5 minute) videos in which each student sits, wearing headphones, in front of a computer, watching the videos at their own pace.... sometimes re-watching.... interrupted by "check for understanding/knowledge" questions.... This will help personalize the experience for each of them, in a way. One thing I have tried to do is to cram a lot of information into those little, 2-minute, mini-lectures.... The voice-over information is going at a fairly quick pace.... and their are usually a couple different information streams being DRAWN on the screen at the same time.. And, let's not forget the notes themselves, which the student has printed out and is holding in front of them. A student can watch a video clip a second time and get something NEW out of it, by paying attention to some of the details. Some students will get the main ideas by only watching a single time... other students may need to watch some of the videos a second or third time.
These "video lectures" are not intended to be THE main format for teaching of my students.... I think the SAME "video lecture" will be useful for various times in a student's learning curve throughout the year: First, for initial learning, to give them an IDEA of what the vocabulary and main thoughts are going to be (followed by days of relevant practice in the classroom). Second, a couple weeks later as a review prior to taking the Unit quiz. Third, as a review months later to clarify and focus the ideas that the student has already learned but is now in a better position to absorb the details of.
Of course.... What do I know!? I have not actually DONE any of this yet! I have spent many many hours working on the MECHANICS/technology.... but I have yet to have a single student USE these online lectures.... I can't hope but think that my classes can only be made BETTER by having these video lectures available to the students..... What the effect on my classroom teaching will be is yet-to-be-determined.
The article itself is titled "If Johnny can't communicate... blame PowerPoint"
Here are some quotes that might relate to my "flipping the classroom" project:
(a) "The trainer bemoaned the skull-numbing effect that an endless stream of bullet points and images has on a listener."
(b) "Then he told us that the newest trend in high-level salesmanship is to perform important presentations without electronic aids. Apparently, top sales professionals have started learning to sketch so they can hand-illustrate their most important concepts on whiteboards in front of clients.
Such an effort demonstrates two things, the trainer said. 'First, it shows the customer that you know your stuff, that you're not just regurgitating strings of facts because you need to have slides and fill them. And second, it shows your audience that you are tailoring how you impart information in a way that is relevant to them in the moment.' "
(c) "Well, that's how it used to be a long time ago when teachers were masters of their subject areas and they shared their wisdom by lecturing and maybe making a few notes on a chalkboard. Back when students were - gasp! - expected to listen and take notes."
(d) "I sat in classroom after classroom - in both urban and rural, affluent and low-income schools - where entire class periods consisted of a dimmed room, a clip-art heavy 80-slide PowerPoint deck, reams of printouts of the same presentation (the "notes") and the monotonous drone of an instructor faithfully reciting bullet points."
(e) "Our biggest concern about integrating technology into schools should be that even as we provide students with mastery of the standard tools of business - whether it be slide presentations, email or social media - we risk forgetting a vital piece of the educational puzzle: the ability to communicate for understanding."
These are all interesting points for me to keep in mind... which is why I have stuck them here in my blog so that I can come back and reference them in the future.
First, I am always trying to figure out how these thing relate to MY OWN DELIVERY OF CONTENT to my students... HOW to best TEACH my students. Second, there is that "other level".... of... HOW to get STUDENTS to LEARN these skills.... "the ability to communicate for understanding."
I'll save that second part for somewhere else... because THIS blog is more about "flipping the classroom" than anything else... So... How can I use the information in this article to help with my "online lectures"....
I agree with the author... I never really liked PowerPoint as a form of information-delivery. Mostly because it was not "fluid" enough. In my classroom I rather use InterWrite software because it is much easier to just "step out" of the presentation to go off on a tangent, if need be.... Or, more importantly, to step IN to the presentation.... zoom in, start writing an impromptu diagram that will focus on some key idea... Every class period seems to have its own pacing... Some classes have questions and time to go into details... Other classes (example: right after lunch!) I am just happy to get through the basic lesson in one piece!
The comment in (c) is worth tackling.... "Back when students were - gasp! - expected to listen and take notes." - Well.... Things change. Just because that was the way it WAS done.... doesn't mean that is the best way to do it. Obviously students are expected to LISTEN. (Although, it is not that simple... during the information age the use of video games and smartphones has had an impact on people's ability to just SIT and LISTEN. As teachers we HAVE TO FACE THAT FACT.) The idea that students are expected to TAKE NOTES.... That has never proven to be an effective/efficient means of learning. The act of COPYING STUFF off of the board only has a minimal imprint on the student's brain compared with the TIME it takes to actually copy the information. Also: students do not often have the best handwriting (I was one of those.... sloppy handwriting). Even when students copy stuff off of the board "all notes are not created equal!". I have been convinced by my wife (a fellow educator) that it MIGHT be worthwhile to just GIVE the student's their notes, printed neatly, and organized nicely.... and then just JUMP RIGHT IN TO TEACHING them about the notes. So... that is what I am beginning to do... This year.... I am printing up notes.... and just leaving areas BLANK for students to fill in information/diagrams/examples. Again: it is a question of the TIME involved. I would rather spend that time in other ways in my classroom. I want kids to get down to processing information and working with it.
I found the comment (b) to be particularly interesting... about "top professionals learning to sketch so they can hand-illustrate their most important concepts".... If you watch any of my "video lectures" you will notice immediately that everything on the screen is hand-drawn by me. The main reason I did this was because of COPYWRIGHT issues.... It might be ok for a teacher to "borrow" images and put them in their own classroom presentations... (who's going to know?).. but that would simply NOT BE OK to do online in a video that is accessible by the public. I knew immediately that I would have to produce my own work. As a side benefit, according to this article, the hand-written work might add a certain quality to the presentations that not only might help hold the attention of the audience, but possibly demonstrate that the presenter does know what he is talking about.
The idea that lectures should be "tailored" for that particular moment.... Well.... that is hard to do with an online video. However, teaching lessons DURING CLASS TIME is still fraught with these challenges because, alas, teachers do not often have an audience of ONE student..... In California we often have 30 or 35 students in the classroom. It is basically impossible to "taylor" a lecture to each-and-every-student under those conditions...
So, my online solution may not be perfect. But it does have its own strengths. My plan for each lecture is to have a series (5 to 7) of short (1 to 5 minute) videos in which each student sits, wearing headphones, in front of a computer, watching the videos at their own pace.... sometimes re-watching.... interrupted by "check for understanding/knowledge" questions.... This will help personalize the experience for each of them, in a way. One thing I have tried to do is to cram a lot of information into those little, 2-minute, mini-lectures.... The voice-over information is going at a fairly quick pace.... and their are usually a couple different information streams being DRAWN on the screen at the same time.. And, let's not forget the notes themselves, which the student has printed out and is holding in front of them. A student can watch a video clip a second time and get something NEW out of it, by paying attention to some of the details. Some students will get the main ideas by only watching a single time... other students may need to watch some of the videos a second or third time.
These "video lectures" are not intended to be THE main format for teaching of my students.... I think the SAME "video lecture" will be useful for various times in a student's learning curve throughout the year: First, for initial learning, to give them an IDEA of what the vocabulary and main thoughts are going to be (followed by days of relevant practice in the classroom). Second, a couple weeks later as a review prior to taking the Unit quiz. Third, as a review months later to clarify and focus the ideas that the student has already learned but is now in a better position to absorb the details of.
Of course.... What do I know!? I have not actually DONE any of this yet! I have spent many many hours working on the MECHANICS/technology.... but I have yet to have a single student USE these online lectures.... I can't hope but think that my classes can only be made BETTER by having these video lectures available to the students..... What the effect on my classroom teaching will be is yet-to-be-determined.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Completed four lectures...
Now I am getting a more accurate look at the time involved in creating the LECTURES themselves. (It looks like this first year I am "only" going to be able to TRY to publish a working set of Video Lectures..... The interactive Flash files and Puzzlers will likely have to wait for NEXT year/Summer)
Here is what my lesson screen looks like so far:
Time spent since last blog entry:
15.5 hours on Lecture 3.3
20.5 hours on Lecture 3.4
8.66 hours on OTHER related stuff (such as online testing and adding some features to the lessons, after getting recommendations from people who are trying out the lessons)
Here is an example breakdown of where the time goes:
Lecture 3.3 is a 5-section, 22 minute lecture:
(1) Writing the script - 74 minutes
(2) Record and Edit Voice Over - 1hr 50 min
(3) Screen Capture Rough Video (on Intewrite) - 6 hrs total
(4) Video Edit in Premiere & After Effects - 5hrs 20 min
(5) Flash programming, Web page update - 2hrs 20 min
I have been recording my work time with a stopwatch (cellphone) to get an accurate idea of just exactly how much time I am spending. I only record time that I am actually sitting in front of the computer and diligently working.... I do was not counting thinking time, discussing time, or time that I walk away from the computer while it is batch processing the video files.
It also took me 3 hrs and 30 minutes to create/transcribe notes for Unit 1 that I am going to start recording TODAY (hopefully).... Transcribing notes means making these two .pdf files from my hand-written notes. (1) (2)
Total Time: 45 hrs
Here is what my lesson screen looks like so far:
Time spent since last blog entry:
15.5 hours on Lecture 3.3
20.5 hours on Lecture 3.4
8.66 hours on OTHER related stuff (such as online testing and adding some features to the lessons, after getting recommendations from people who are trying out the lessons)
Here is an example breakdown of where the time goes:
Lecture 3.3 is a 5-section, 22 minute lecture:
(1) Writing the script - 74 minutes
(2) Record and Edit Voice Over - 1hr 50 min
(3) Screen Capture Rough Video (on Intewrite) - 6 hrs total
(4) Video Edit in Premiere & After Effects - 5hrs 20 min
(5) Flash programming, Web page update - 2hrs 20 min
I have been recording my work time with a stopwatch (cellphone) to get an accurate idea of just exactly how much time I am spending. I only record time that I am actually sitting in front of the computer and diligently working.... I do was not counting thinking time, discussing time, or time that I walk away from the computer while it is batch processing the video files.
It also took me 3 hrs and 30 minutes to create/transcribe notes for Unit 1 that I am going to start recording TODAY (hopefully).... Transcribing notes means making these two .pdf files from my hand-written notes. (1) (2)
Total Time: 45 hrs
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
I must be INSANE!
It has been 18 days since I posted on here last. In short: I have been WORKING my tail off and, to be honest, I have considered QUITTING this whole project..... I went through a week where I thought, seriously, every day, I would just QUIT.
Here were the two main problems:
(1) Programming/software problems: (a) I came to a point where I was unable to video record my screen and get it into Adobe Premiere correctly. The format on my Interwrite Pad didn't exactly work directly... I had to feed it through Windows Moviemaker to get it into a .wmv format to THEN feed into Premiere.... but... suddenly... THAT format just STOPPED working... Adobe Premiere wouldn't take it..... also (b) I had my sister try to "log on" to my video with the password and, for some reason, THAT did NOT work for her..... (c) and, the video player I had created using Adobe Flash Professional.... had hic-ups.... Basically: it would often, and randomly, just STOP being able to play videos..... My first video has 7 mini-videos.... and the player would get to the 3rd or 4th one and then just STOP working.... And the "student" would have to RELOAD and TRY AGAIN from the beginning.. and, then, it often would happen AGAIN the next time! <--- very frustrating.
(2) TIME TO BUILD IT ALL: Even IF/WHEN I might happen to SOLVE these problems... it was going to take me a WHOLE LOT OF TIME to make EACH of these video lessons correctly. A RIDICULOUS amount of time..... My first video (about 22 minutes long) took something like 40 hours to complete, from script-writing, to sound recording/editing, video recording, and editing the whole thing together and getting it into the Flash video player .swf file..... (took more than 40 hrs to to the programming, but that was not all just the fist video).... So.... That ended up being about TWO HOURS of production time per 1 MINUTE of video lecture produced. (And that doesn't count the time required to create the NOTES in MS Word and LESSON DESIGN itself.... Just the details for the video.... just translating what I ALREADY HAVE in my classroom into a video format.)
Well.... Let's just say that I am NOT quitting.... Not yet....
More to come in the weeks to come (I think).... but the short version is that (a) I solved all of those problems, except the last one, but at least I got the FREQUENCY of the last problem to occur much less often.... and (b) I completed a complete SECOND video file (Lecture 3.2) and it took me "only" three work days, from beginning to end.... It was a 25 minute video, with CFK questions, and took me about 30 hours to do the entire thing. I am getting better at it all. (Plus I am trying out yet another piece of software which is making things a bit easier for me... more on that later
TIME SPENT: I really don't know...... I will put down something MUCH less than I am sure I spent... 50 hours.
Here were the two main problems:
(1) Programming/software problems: (a) I came to a point where I was unable to video record my screen and get it into Adobe Premiere correctly. The format on my Interwrite Pad didn't exactly work directly... I had to feed it through Windows Moviemaker to get it into a .wmv format to THEN feed into Premiere.... but... suddenly... THAT format just STOPPED working... Adobe Premiere wouldn't take it..... also (b) I had my sister try to "log on" to my video with the password and, for some reason, THAT did NOT work for her..... (c) and, the video player I had created using Adobe Flash Professional.... had hic-ups.... Basically: it would often, and randomly, just STOP being able to play videos..... My first video has 7 mini-videos.... and the player would get to the 3rd or 4th one and then just STOP working.... And the "student" would have to RELOAD and TRY AGAIN from the beginning.. and, then, it often would happen AGAIN the next time! <--- very frustrating.
(2) TIME TO BUILD IT ALL: Even IF/WHEN I might happen to SOLVE these problems... it was going to take me a WHOLE LOT OF TIME to make EACH of these video lessons correctly. A RIDICULOUS amount of time..... My first video (about 22 minutes long) took something like 40 hours to complete, from script-writing, to sound recording/editing, video recording, and editing the whole thing together and getting it into the Flash video player .swf file..... (took more than 40 hrs to to the programming, but that was not all just the fist video).... So.... That ended up being about TWO HOURS of production time per 1 MINUTE of video lecture produced. (And that doesn't count the time required to create the NOTES in MS Word and LESSON DESIGN itself.... Just the details for the video.... just translating what I ALREADY HAVE in my classroom into a video format.)
Well.... Let's just say that I am NOT quitting.... Not yet....
More to come in the weeks to come (I think).... but the short version is that (a) I solved all of those problems, except the last one, but at least I got the FREQUENCY of the last problem to occur much less often.... and (b) I completed a complete SECOND video file (Lecture 3.2) and it took me "only" three work days, from beginning to end.... It was a 25 minute video, with CFK questions, and took me about 30 hours to do the entire thing. I am getting better at it all. (Plus I am trying out yet another piece of software which is making things a bit easier for me... more on that later
TIME SPENT: I really don't know...... I will put down something MUCH less than I am sure I spent... 50 hours.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Video Lecture Start Sequence
I have spent the past couple of days making the default start-up sequence for all of my videos (using Adobe Flash Professional CC... but also using Adobe Audition for the sound recording/editing, Adobe Premiere for the Video editing, Adobe After Effects for the "green screen" alpha channel effects, and Intewrite Video Capture to capture my pen/graphics in raw form to import into Premiere)
I am very happy with it all so far.
After logging on with the "colbysworld word of the day" there is a little "get ready" screen to remind the students to get out there supplies. Click "play" to preview/print notes.
After clicking <play> a screen appears that gives a preview of the notes that the student will be taking. The preview screen shows blue areas where the student will be adding notes. It also has a "download your notes" icon in the bottom/right corner that students can click on to open a new browser window that will display the correct .pdf file for the students to print.
DOWNLOAD TIME: At first I thought that the ENTIRE set of videos would have to download BEFORE the Flash file would even open... which WOULD HAVE BEEN tough because that would mean that a student would be staring at a completely white square for up to a few minutes (time it takes for 20+ minute videos on a slow internet connection to download).... HOWEVER, that is not exactly the case.... The program will "play" up to the point where it needs to download a video... and THEN the screen will stop with whatever is on the screen while the video downloads...
This is actually pretty nice because NOW I can place an animated icon that gives the student the indication that SOMETHING (ie: a video download) is happening.... I created a mini-image of my colbysworld log with an animated satellite flying around it.
The first little video that will download is going to be the "colbysworld splash" video... This is a 24-second, animated snipped that shows me sketching the colbsworld logo in time-lapse, fast speed, and then other things are added and cheaply (meaning, I did it on the fly and not very professionally) animated... In the background my daughter is saying "colbysworld" in various ways.... I made a "sound mix" that gave it a sort of "rhythm".... I like it.
The main program that is allowing me to do all of this is Adobe Flash Professional. It uses timelines in a similar way that Adobe Premier (video editor) does to control events on the screen. HOWEVER, it also uses ActionScript 3 for programming buttons and such. For example: I put VIDEO CUEs in the colbysworld splash video that tell the Flash program when to STOP the "video downloading" image and, later, when to START downloading the NEXT video to watch.
Time used: 10 hours
I am very happy with it all so far.
After logging on with the "colbysworld word of the day" there is a little "get ready" screen to remind the students to get out there supplies. Click "play" to preview/print notes.
 |
| The "get ready" screen that reminds students that they need to have the notes/pencil in hand |
 |
| Preview screen for the notes to be taken (the notes are scrolling on the screen) |
This is actually pretty nice because NOW I can place an animated icon that gives the student the indication that SOMETHING (ie: a video download) is happening.... I created a mini-image of my colbysworld log with an animated satellite flying around it.
 |
| A little, animated icon that tells the student a video is loading |
The first little video that will download is going to be the "colbysworld splash" video... This is a 24-second, animated snipped that shows me sketching the colbsworld logo in time-lapse, fast speed, and then other things are added and cheaply (meaning, I did it on the fly and not very professionally) animated... In the background my daughter is saying "colbysworld" in various ways.... I made a "sound mix" that gave it a sort of "rhythm".... I like it.
 |
| A scene from the 24-second, animated, "splash video" |
 |
| Adobe Flash Professional - Timeline for first part of interactive video play |
Time used: 10 hours
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
PASSWORD PROTECTED! (nice)
Today I was able to figure out how to use Flash and ActionScript to make a simple password protection for my video lectures. (This was one reason I wanted to use Flash as a video player for my lectures.... because I can control who gets to view/use the videos.)
I can't explain ALL of the details. But here are the basics of how I am "forcing" students to follow certain steps to progress through the tutorials with "minimal cheating"
When a student opens up a video lecture they might get a screen like this:
Then they are asked to type in today's password. If they do this WRONG they will be given the following screen and the program will end.
Of course, if they have the current password (from their teacher) then they will have access to the lesson.
Here is an outline of how I am controlling access to all four types of programs:
(1) To log into a video lesson the student needs the current "daily password", which they can only, theoretically, get from their teacher. I am able to change this password as frequently as I wish and it will instantly affect every one of my video lessons. [REMEMBER - The video lesson gives the students the notes and initial learning to pass the quizzler.]
(2) To log into an interactive lesson the student then needs the four digits that they obtain by completing the video lessons for the specific unit. In other words, they need to do #1 above to gain access to the interactive lessons. [REMEMBER - The interactive lessons give students the guided practice to pass the quizzler.]
(3) In order to do the puzzler they need to obtain the two LETTERS that go with their log-in name. In other words, they need to complete #2 themselves (or, they can have someone log in with THEIR user name and have THEM complete the interactive lessons for them.... to give them their own two letters.) [REMEMBER - The puzzler gives the students the independent practice to pass the quizzler.]
(4) Finally, in order to do the quizzler the students will need to be able to do the same thing they do to log into the puzzler above PLUS they need a separate "daily password" that I type in for them as they are sitting down with me at a school computer terminal. [REMEMBER - The quizzler is where the student finally gets their GRADE.]
NOTE DIRECTLY RELATED: I also did a BUNCH of work on learning the basics of Adobe Premiere (video editing) and some After Effects tricks. I also figured out how I am going to save raw video captures of my screen and get them in the correct format into Adobe Premiere so that I can MAKE my video lectures.
I lost track of how much time I used in the past week... I'll just give a lowball guess.
Time: 10 hours
I can't explain ALL of the details. But here are the basics of how I am "forcing" students to follow certain steps to progress through the tutorials with "minimal cheating"
When a student opens up a video lecture they might get a screen like this:
 |
| Here the student is typing the word "football" as a password |
Then they are asked to type in today's password. If they do this WRONG they will be given the following screen and the program will end.
 |
| Apparently "football" was not the correct choice. (although, it COULD be someday) |
Here is an outline of how I am controlling access to all four types of programs:
(1) To log into a video lesson the student needs the current "daily password", which they can only, theoretically, get from their teacher. I am able to change this password as frequently as I wish and it will instantly affect every one of my video lessons. [REMEMBER - The video lesson gives the students the notes and initial learning to pass the quizzler.]
(2) To log into an interactive lesson the student then needs the four digits that they obtain by completing the video lessons for the specific unit. In other words, they need to do #1 above to gain access to the interactive lessons. [REMEMBER - The interactive lessons give students the guided practice to pass the quizzler.]
(3) In order to do the puzzler they need to obtain the two LETTERS that go with their log-in name. In other words, they need to complete #2 themselves (or, they can have someone log in with THEIR user name and have THEM complete the interactive lessons for them.... to give them their own two letters.) [REMEMBER - The puzzler gives the students the independent practice to pass the quizzler.]
(4) Finally, in order to do the quizzler the students will need to be able to do the same thing they do to log into the puzzler above PLUS they need a separate "daily password" that I type in for them as they are sitting down with me at a school computer terminal. [REMEMBER - The quizzler is where the student finally gets their GRADE.]
NOTE DIRECTLY RELATED: I also did a BUNCH of work on learning the basics of Adobe Premiere (video editing) and some After Effects tricks. I also figured out how I am going to save raw video captures of my screen and get them in the correct format into Adobe Premiere so that I can MAKE my video lectures.
I lost track of how much time I used in the past week... I'll just give a lowball guess.
Time: 10 hours
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