How To Create and Share Docs

To create a doc:

Step 1:  From the docs page select "New" from the upper left corner of the page.

Step 2:  Select which kind of doc you would like to create: document, spreadsheet, presentation, or form (surveys).

Step 3:  A brand new document of the selected type will open ready to be edited and shared.

To share a doc:

Step 1:  From within the doc you would like to share, click the "Share" button in the upper right hand corner.

Step 2:  Enter the email addresses you would like to share with.  Select " As collaborator" if you would like someone to help edit and revise your document; select "As viewer" if you want someone to view your paper without the ability to make changes.

Step 3:  Click "Invite collaborators".

Step 4:  If you would like, you can write a short message describing your document.  Whether or not you send this email, your document has been shared.

For more information on editing and organizing documents

Creative Commons

Illustrated and Narrated Explanation of Creative Commons
The nuances of Copyright and Creative Commons and the differences between them can be confusing. Richard Byrne offers a video on his site that does a good job of explaining Creative Commons and what Creative Commons licenses allow or do not allow people to do with your works. A PDF of the images in the video can be found if you click here.

Applications for Education
If you find yourself trying to explain to students or colleagues the differences between copyright and Creative Commons licensed works this video and PDF could be helpful to you and to them.

For meaningful multimedia projects that do not infringe on copyright laws, have your students develop familiarity with Creative Commons.  Students can use these sites to gather sound and imagery that enhances the finished product and adds depth, but make sure you remind your students to ask themselves why they select their media.  Who is your audience?

Some Creative Commons Sites:

http://creativecommons.org  (original site)

www.macjams.com  (Music)

www.imagechef.com (Images- blocked?)

www.flickr.com/creativecommons  (Images)

www.zoo-m.com/flickr-storm/(Images you can gather and save)

www.bighugelabs.com  (Finished products)

 

Be wary of general searches- use portals (See More, etc.)

Try keyword searchers with adjectives, IE. Lonely/Haunted/Persistent, etc.

Optional Idea: Have your students study the Code of Best Practice and Terms of Service for the various sites.

For an in-depth exploration of Creative Commons created by a teacher, visit http://isteatncte.wikispaces.com/creative+commons

 

Google Docs Survey

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dExkb3BkYzNRRXBsM2lJem1ULU1NOFE6MA

How to Show YouTube Videos In Your Classroom

What should you do if YouTube videos are blocked by your school district?

Try "Kick" YouTube!! (This has been disabled and is no longer in service)

Instead Try Keep Vid. Click here for link: http://keepvid.com/ and simply cut & paste the URL code into the search box and choose preferred formatting options.

Catch YouTube is a free tool for converting and downloading YouTube videos. Catch YouTube offers eight formats for video conversion. The video conversions are fairly quick depending on the length of the video.

Convert My Tube is a free service that allows you to convert a video to your choice of eight different formats for use on your local hard drive. To use Convert My Tube, simply enter the url of the video you want converted, select your desired format, and then download the video.

YouTube Snips is another good tool for downloading YouTube videos for use offline. To use YouTube Snips simply enter the the url of your chosen video and download the video in your preferred format. YouTube Snips gives you the choice of three formats, MP4, 3GP, and FLV. In my test of YouTube Snips the download was very quick.

Miro is an open source media player available for Mac and Windows. Miro is kind of like iTunes for user generated video websites. After you install Miro you can download videos from YouTube and other video sharing sites directly from Miro. If there is a particular video producer that you like you can subscribe to the video channel. Each video is saved in your media player until you decide to delete it.

Disclaimer: Downloading content from YouTube can be interpreted as a violation of it's terms of service.

How To Add Hyperlinks To Your Blog

Step 1: Make sure your "New Post" is on the tab "Edit Html" NOT on "Compose"

Step 2: Write the word/phrase/sentence etc. that you want to hyperlink.

Step 3: Highlight the word/phrase/sentence etc. that you want to hyperlink.

Step 4: Click on the small green icon with a chain link on the top menu bar of the space where you are writing your new post.

Step 5: A new window will pop up with "http://" highlighted

Step 6. Add the url coded information that you want to link

Step 7: Publish Post to check if your link works


Check out the link to our SDAWP Multiple Literacies Blog below:

San Diego Area Writing Project

Personalize Your Blogs Using Animoto Videos

Turn your photos & videos into pure amazing.

Animoto automatically produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your photos, video clips and music.

Fast.

Free.

And shockingly easy.

Trust me on this one!

Step 1: Go sign up for an Animoto account.

Step 2: Complete a video using the steps provided on the Animoto video site.

Step 3: Once your video is complete hit the blue button: "Video Toolbox"

Step 4: Hit the "Embed" button

Step 5: Select Size (432 x 240)

Step 6: Hit blue "Copy" button

Step 7: Return to your blog and hit "New Post"

Step 8: Title your post & write your entry

Step 9: Embed your video by "pasting" (Control V) the code you copied from animoto on your new blog post (make sure the tab is set on "Edit Html" not "Compose".

Step 10: Publish your new post.

Check out our SDAWP: National Day of Writing (10/20/09) Animoto Videos:

Teachers Bringing Glogs into the Classroom

The original site at for Glogster at www.glogster.com is generally blocked by school districts because it is listed as a social-networking site.

In order to allow teachers the opportunity to use Glogster the company created an educational site.

www.edu.glogster.com

At the Educational Glogster site you can create accounts for up to 200 students to log in under your main account. As the teacher you retain the accounts under your main account which provides you access to their accounts too.

Here is a brief tutorial:


Here are a few examples of how teachers are utilizing Glogster with their students in the classroom: