Free Resources from the Net for EVERY Learner » multimedia

Blurb: Multimedia iPad/iPhone App For ALL Learners To Show What They Know

Paul Hamilton — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:14:22 +0000

It is important that all learners become skilled in using multimedia tools to show what they know. It’s even more important for learners who struggle with written output!

Blurb Mobile is an app for iPhone and iPad that makes it easy to combine images with text and/or voice narration to create multimedia presentations. I have tried Blurb on an iPad, and it has done exactly what I wanted it to do. It has created a slide show with both text captions and audio narration attached to each slide.

I used the iPad to find and download 5 copyright-friendly images. Importing images from the iPad’s Camera Roll into Blurb worked smoothly, and it was extremely easy to add text and to record the audio narration. As illustrated below, when in edit mode, click on the mic to bring up a recording box, or on the T to bring up a box for entering text.

There are several ways of sharing presentations or stories created with Blurb Mobile. Of course, a story created on an iPad looks great on the Blurb Mobile app on an iPhone. Presentations can be shared with anyone on Blurb’s website, in what it calls its ‘Story Stream’. Each presentation has its own URL, so that link can be shared. There is a convenient way to post a Blurb presentation to a Tumblr blog. Or, you can upload a Blurb directly to your Youtube account. Unfortunately, the Youtube version does not show any text that has been added to images.

Click on the image below, and you will see my sample project as hosted on the Blurb website.

Now here’s what the same project looks like on Youtube.

Now here it is again on my Tumblr blog.

I would be remiss if I did not add that there is more that you can do with Blurb Mobile. You can include a brief (up to 30 second) video clip, and import audio files. With an imported audio file, you could add a musical background to play throughout your story or presentation. You can choose from different “themes” that determine the look of your finished project. Multiple images may also be added to a single slide in a variety of different layouts

There is nothing you can’t do with the basic version of Blurb Mobile, and the app is not ad-supported. If you wish, for $0.99, you can upgrade to Blurb Mobile Plus. The upgrade offers more themes to choose from, additional audio recording time, the option of including more video clips, etc. For example, the free version lets you include up to 8 images and 1 video clip. The ‘Plus’ version allows up to 15 images as well as 3 video clips.

Aviary — Tools that Facilitate Essential 21st Century Fluencies

Paul Hamilton — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 16:01:52 +0000

“The 21st Century Fluencies are not about technical prowess, they are critical thinking skills, and they are essential to living in this multimedia world.” (Ian Jukes) The “fluencies” of the “digital citizen” referenced here are:

solution fluency
information fluency
collaboration fluency
creativity fluency
media fluency

An underlying goal of the 21st Century Fluency Project is to “…assist in transforming learning to be relevant to life in the 21st century.“ For the majority of learners there has long been an unbridged chasm between what has been taught in the classroom and life outside of school.

Prior to the digital era, the problem of irrelevance was compounded by the reality that success in school required a strong aptitude for reading, writing and test taking. With the advent of digital text, along with accessible multimedia tools, there is realistic hope for meaningful change in the learning enterprise. This is especially critical for learners who have hitherto underperformed or failed at school.

Learners who will never succeed in predominantly text-oriented schools, now have numerous options for receiving information. Likewise, varied media and combinations of media are available for using that information to problem solve and for creative expression. Learners can show what they know without having to express it in essay format. Within a meaningful and often engaging process, all learners now have the opportunity to develop skills that have the power to inform and enrich their personal and working lives.

Aviary is a free online suite of extremely powerful multimedia tools that can be used by learners to help gain 21st century fluencies. The suite includes a sophisticated image editor that can be used to create from scratch or for modifying exiting images, a vector editor, an effects editor, a color editor, an image markup tool for screen captures, a Firefox extension for doing quick screencapture, a versatile audio editor, and even an amazing music creator.

Aviary has to be experienced to be fully appreciated, and they make it easy to take a quick look. There is an introductory page with accompanying video for each tool. Aviary also provides numerous video tutorials for its tools. Tutorials are rated beginner, intermediate or expert. It is still in beta, but Aviary now offers Aviary Education for the classroom. They claim it is “100% school safe”, and it contains features to facilitate classroom use. You have to request an account for your classroom.

Finally, Aviary offers a forum for sharing work that has been created with Aviary. This means there are plenty of sample products to examine. In the gallery, you can see the sources for a created work, along with alternative versions and derivitatives that have been created by others. I’ve included below a sample of work created in the image editor, and ‘symphony’ that was put together in the audio editor. Please take time to click the play button and listen to some of the amazing music.

EdibleArchitecture.egg by meowza on Aviary

Symphony of Swords.egg on Aviary.

PhotoPeach – Terrific Online Multimedia Option

Paul Hamilton — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:31:33 +0000

All learners benefit from having a range of options available when it comes to showing what they know or presenting what they’ve learned. Some learners may benefit more than others. That’s because some learners will never do well when limited to the traditional option of pen and paper, or even when using a word processor.

In our digital era, all learners benefit from developing proficiency with multimedia presentation tools. For some learners, especially those who struggle with using text to share thoughts and ideas, multimedia tools may be essential. This is why I am so eager to promote effective applications for multimedia presentation.

As I’ve used it recently, PhotoPeach has emerged as one of my favorite online multimedia applications.

It is extremely easy to use.
Photos upload relatively quickly.
Photos automatically pan for dramatic effect.
Text captions can be added to any slide.
Full screen viewing works well (if resolution of originals is high).
Music available from PhotoPeach library or Youtube video.
Easy to share via email, Twitter, facebook, MySpace, embed code, or URL.

I particularly like the way that adding text captions has been facilitated. Music does not have to be added, but the choices here are interesting. If you don’t wish to use any of the selections from PhotoPeach’s library, you can search for the sound track from an appropriate Youtube video to be played along with the slide show.

If you wish to view a sample, I took some slides from our recent road trip to Mexico and used them to create the PhotoPeach show that I’ve embedded below. You can jump easily to a full screen view. (This does not who up in Google Reader, so you may need to click HERE, or go to my original post if you wish to check it out.)

Kerpoof (Online Resource)

Paul Hamilton — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:53:22 +0000

I’ve been aware of this terrific resource for a couple of years, but I’ve never written about it here. I’ve held off because it is not 100% free. There is more than enough that is free, however, to make it well worth sharing. In the language of Universal Design for Learning, this engaging resource facilitates multiple options for learners to express themselves.

Kerpoof offers children between the ages of 4 and 14 endless opportunity for creative expression in a variety of formats. Kerpoof is an online multimedia “studio” that facilitates drawing, story writing, creation of animated movies, and card making.

Tutorials are available for getting started with using Kerpoof to make pictures and movies. An extensive library of scenes and objects is available for use in stories, pictures, and movies. User interfaces in Kerpoof Studio are intuitive and easy to use, as illustrated below in the screen shot of the drawing palette.

With paid Kerpoof memberships there are additional features–more objects for use in Kerpoof projects, chat, group galleries, buddy drawing, etc. Some of the features available with memberships are also available on free teacher accounts. Teacher accounts include administrative tools that support use of Kerpoof with an entire class. Helpful classroom ideas and lesson plans are also provided on the Kerpoof site.

HippoCampus (Online Resource)

Paul Hamilton — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 16:43:17 +0000

Here’s one of many resources that I’ve been aware of for a while, but that I haven’t had a chance to explore and write about. Larry Ferlazzo has mentioned it a couple of times recently and jogged my memory about it. This one is definitely worth exploring and then bookmarking!

HippoCampus “…offers multimedia lessons and course materials to help you with your instruction, homework, and studies. You can browse multimedia lessons, or complete courses, and find help with the topics covered in popular textbooks.” Regardless of one’s learning style, or specific learning challenges, I believe that all learners benefit from the sort of interactive multimedia learning resources offered by HippoCampus.

HippoCampus targets secondary and post-secondary learners. The range of subjects covered is extensive, and subjects are addressed systematically. Major subject headings include: Algebra; American Government; Biology; Calculus; Calculus (Spanish); Environmental Science; Physics; Psycholgy; Religion; Statistics; US History. For visual learners, here’s a screenshot of the same list. It shows the Albebra heading expanded to include sub headings.

Although there is some variation, the screenshot below shows how material is typically presented. The overall quality is excellent, and there is audio with human voices, to go along with the visual presentation. In some lessons, learner input is required.

There is considerably more to HippoCampus than I’ve mentioned here, so it is definitely worth checking out.