The Chalkwell Mystery - MGS Science Transition March 23, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized, digital imaging, edubuzz, social media , 3comments
The Chalkwell mystery is the name of the science transition project produced by Musselburgh Grammar science department.
The project entails P7’s from our feeder primaries getting to solve a mystery through forensic science.
Before visiting school pupils watch a short film starring 1st year pupils who themselves solved the mystery last year.
On their visit to the science department the pupils carry out various scientific experiments to determine who carried out the ghastly deed.
Previously, the film had been placed on to a DVD and a copy sent to each of the feeder primaries. This year I suggested it may be an idea to use social media and place the clip on google video so that each of the primaries could view it that way. This was somehow interpreted as “yes I will film it, edit it and upload it to google video”. Not that i minded, it was great fun.
The excellent script and direction were provided by Ms Moore of our English department and the whole project was overseen by Mrs Goodbrand our head of science.
After filming yesterday, I edited and added the titles last night then uploaded it onto google this morning. You can see a couple of the screenshots on this page.
As its East Lothian policy to have parents/guardians permission before posting images on the internet, until all the slips have been returned the Chalkwell mystery will remain private and unlisted by google.
The permissions forms for East Lothian are available from the edubuzz website by clicking HERE
Many thanks to all who took part especially the actors who played their parts splendidly.
As soon as its ready for release I’ll post a link so that you too can have the opportunity to see what happens in the Chalkwell mystery.
Phixd March 8, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized, blogging, phixr, social media, web 2.0 , 2commentsI had an email this morning from Thomas Winischhofer of Phixr.
I had reported in my last post that here in East Lothian I had encountered a problem when using Phixr, an online photo editing application.
He wanted to get to the root of the problem and fix it so that it could be utilized in the schools so asked me a few things about the set up of our computers.
After exchanging a series of emails the result is that Phixr is now functioning.
Its an excellent example of the power of blogging, the spirit of web2.0, and even though the application is free to use, absolutely amazing customer service.
Many thanks Thomas its much appreciated. I will certainly be recommending its use.
Digital Image Editing March 6, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Exc.el BLogs, GLOW, Uncategorized, digital imaging, social media, teachmeet, web 2.0 , 5commentsAt the last GLOW mentors in service day I was part of a team with Dr Robin Strain and Tess Watson tasked to come up with an in service on digital imaging.
The idea of the course is for staff to acquaint themselves with the hardware and software needed to start working with digital images.
Part of the course will cover basic editing of images. Not all the PC’s in East Lothian schools have editing software installed therefore for everyone to be able to carry out this function a good online editor had to be found.
There are a few out there so I thought I would run through the features of some of them and ask for any others that people would recommend.
A very basic picture editor that lets you resize, crop, rotate, adjust brightness, saturation and hue. Its advantages are that
- no registration required
- it has unlimited undo and redo.
- can handle large files (up to 10mb).
- imports from anywhere on the web.
- handles all file formats.
- can save edited photos to your own flickr account.
With its large, easy to use, buttons this could come in very handy in primary schools and will definitely merit a mention in the final in service presentation.
PXN8 is a very feature rich photo editing application and whilst it may not have the same visual appeal as Snipshot it does let you do a bit more.
- zoom in and out.
- use filters to enhance photos i.e remove red eye, whiten teeth.
- spirit level function to straighten up pictures.
- fun features such as snow, text and charcoal effects.
This is another excellent online application that should make the cut. It offers a bit more than snipshot and may be popular with those wishing to experiment with photo editing.
Phixr is an application that we came across on the day of the GLOW mentors in service and it seemed to tick all the boxes but recently I have had difficulty in getting it to work. It now works well due to the hard work and excellent customer service from the guys at Phixr.
- no need to register with session time of up to 2 hours.
- preview effects before applying.
- variety of effects and photo overlay option.
- email the photo from Phixr itself, or upload it to Flickr, FotoPic, Photobucket, Fotolog, Buzznet, DropShots and LiveJournal.
This was the leading contender. Problems with the website may, however,put this one on hold for the time being.
This is the leading contender thanks to the hard work put in by the guys at Phixr who have managed to get it working in our schools. Excellent customer focus.
If you want to try any of these site out then just click on their logo. Let me know what you think of them and which you think would be most apt for use in schools.
Also if you have come across a good photo editing site then please again let me know and the team will evaluate it for its inclusion in the forthcoming Teachmeet roadshows.
Happy editing.
Vod Pod, collect all your videos in one place February 13, 2007
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized, social media , 5comments
I came across Vod Pod today whilst fine tuning fiddling with the settings on my blog. It allows you to keep all your favourite videos from google, youtube, myspace etc etc in one place and either post them to your blog or send them to friends.
It was very easy to sign in to and took only a few moments to locate my favourite videos and upload them to my “pod”. As schools increase their use of social media it looks a good way of keeping everything in one place and enabling them to be shared easily with others that are interested.
I also added google video to the sidebar to the right of this main blog column. It will display, in a random order, videos that I have taken that are relevant to my blog. It was easy to install and adds a little more functionality to the blog page.
Just click the play button and it should spring into life.
Social Media / Web 2.0 Whats that then ?? January 24, 2007
Posted by Brian in : GLOW, Uncategorized, social media, web 2.0 , 4comments
I noticed a story in the Edinburgh Evening news about a guy who had posted a video compiled from pictures of burnt out cars in Craigmillar on youtube. He did it to highlight the problem of joyriders in an attempt to get action from the council.
Its unusual in the fact that it’s a story about social media being used in a positive way to effect change. So often the press portrays social media as the harbinger of doom, with stories usually revolving around groups of youths videoing themselves misbehaving or a “celebrity” arguing that their civil liberties have been infringed after being caught on camera in a compromising situation.
Commentators that don’t understand the whole web 2.0 / social media “thing” choose to highlight the negative, and, alongside kneejerk reactions from the general public, call for it to be banned and shut down immediately.
If those concerned who wished social media sites closed looked a little past the hype they may be pleasantly surprised by what they see. They would see people sharing ideas, situations and information, to mention but a few things, in an infinite variety of ways that could not even be conceived of fifteen or twenty years ago.
GLOW, the Scottish schools national digital network, will be a gateway, ushering staff, pupils and anyone else with a vested interest in education into a new era. One of its underpinning philosophies and, for me, one of the most exciting aspects of it, is the inclusion of social media / web 2.0 applications.
In East Lothian, pupils and staff currently showcase and share their work on flickr,
a free website where you can upload and share your images with families and friends (or simply just search for images that you cant find on google).
Videos of fun experiments in science have been posted on google video, also free, enabling friends and families to experience modern science from the front line.
Policies are being developed via wiki’s, which allows anyone to comment on or change online documents.
Bubbleshare is being used in exciting ways to present information within classrooms.
These are just a few examples how the power of social / media web 2.0 applications is being harnessed by one relatively small local authority.
With GLOW providing a safe, secure web 2.0 learning environment, the use of social media will become commonplace and the experiences of staff and pupils in schools will begin to reflect the multimedia environment that we all live in these days.
If you are unsure what its all about, then please click on some of the links above and have a look for yourself. An excellent place to start would be the flickr account of Musselburgh Grammar School and see just what kind of images we have been posting recently.
elcouncil, glow, edu.blogs.com , web 2.0, social media, youtube, bubbleshare, flickr
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