Monkey See, Monkey Do

I just read about a new screencasting tool (free) from Microsoft, called Community Clips. The Lifehacker post mentions recording PowerPoint presentations. Sounds like it is brand-specific, but still... cool.

Mashed Video

Check it out.... mashup youtube videos with an online video editor called Omnisio. As a premium feature you can show slides and video simultaneously. Here's an example. Nothing to download, nothing up my sleeve. Works with youtube, bliptv, and google video.

TeacherTube

With the new semester right around the corner, I've been hard at work figuring out how to include new technologies into my course. I really wanted to include some audio & video to help my students learn how to use tools like the SmartBoard, Videoconferencing, Audacity & Podcasting. So, I was searching the Internet & came across TeacherTube. What a wonderful resource that I can use. It works just like YouTube but has a focus on education so it's easier to find the videos I want.

In searching for an Audacity tutorial, I found not only several tutorials but examples of how Audacity is used in lessons to meet the needs of diverse learners! I'm so excited...I hope to find additional content to add to most of the units we cover in the course (Production & Utilization of Instructional Technology). I'm hoping to embed the videos in a blog that we'll be using throughout the course.

I'll have to keep you posted on our progress!

Bargains Galore!

I recently attended the Computers in Libraries conference and have about 10 pages of notes to share. (Jane and Leigh, I will send those along as soon as they are legible.) Among the many amazing free and open source resources discussed were the following three FREE versions of very expensive multimedia applications:

Wink: Create screencasts, tutorials, add text boxes and voiceovers. Wink is perfect for creating a little software demo to place online, to clarify and illustrate a procedure.
CamStudio: Create streaming desktop video with audio, text boxes, etc.
Audacity: Audacity is a free sound editor and recorder, perfect for podcasts, can manipulate multiple tracks.

Hell, I'm feeling generous--here's a fourth, PodOMatic, which creates audio and video podcasts, uploads and stores on their server, and creates an RSS feed. Don't say I never bring you anything!

Video Downloader

Looking to record, convert, download streaming video or video from Google or YouTube? I found a great service to do all of these! It’s Video Downloader. Using the tools available I captured a video from YouTube and converted it so that it could be embedded in a PowerPoint presentation. The Video Downloader can be used on the web or you can download an extension for Firefox. I used the Firefox extension and found it to be quick and easy to use.