Life-Long-Learners

Educators looking to engage their students in a fun, educational activity should consider having their students create a collaborative lip dub video of a favourite song. For those unfamiliar with the process, Wikipedia states:

A lip dub is a type of video that combines lip synching and audio dubbing to make a music video. It is made by filming individuals or a group of people lip synching while listening to a song or any recorded audio then dubbing over it in post editing with the original audio of the song.

Having joined the Educational Technology & Media’s Massive Open Online Course (#ETMOOC), I was invited, with other participants from around the world, to participate in a collaborative lip dub.

[ETMOOC Lip Dub: http://www.youtube.co/watch?v=cxwbdLMt_Bo]

I admit that my knowledge of the lip dub process was limited. In early March 2011, Andy McKiel and Darren Kuropatwa hosted a professional development session entitled “Social Media: Challenges & Opportunities for Education”. Not only were they willing to motivate their own teaching staff, they also extended an invitation to educators outside their Division. As this previous link indicates, I left this P.D. session reflecting on the power of one’s Personal Learning Network (PLN). This focus was the result of Dean Shareski’s lip dub video in which he invited 75 friends from around the world to help create a 40th birthday video entitled “Happy Birthday Alec Couros”.  I envied the organizing strategies together with talented movie editing and the commitment of hours that went into creating this masterpiece. It was evident that Alec’s friends were having so much fun engaging in this collaborative lip dub that I knew that the process had potential for students. 

I was delighted when Dean Shareski took the time to share the important “behind the scenes” processes involved in his “Happy Birthday” lip dub. Although his blog post entitled “So I started this Google doc..” shared many of the critical steps, I still felt that the steps outlined were still somewhat theoretical for me because I had not invested my energies or passion into the process. The key part that was still missing in my learning journey, was to be more actively involved in either participating or making a lip dub.

Imagine my delight when I signed up for the Educational Technology & Media’s Massive Open Online Course (#ETMOOC) to find that Alec Couros was planning to create a lip dub, with collaboration from people around the world. I decided to sign up. as a participant, so that I could get a better understanding of the mechanics involved in organizing and creating a lip dub.

To help my readers gain a better appreciation for the steps involved in organizing and creating this #ETMOOC lip dub, I’ll outline the steps below:

• Alec first invited #ETMOOC participants to consider taking part in this crowd source lip dub activity. Information was sent to participants by both email and through Twitter. Members were given ample time to consider how they might like to participate.
• Using a Google Docs spreadsheet, Alec invited members of the #ETMOOC community to suggest the name of a song whose lyrics promoted or provided meaning to this special collaborative “singing” experience.
• Once several songs were suggested, Alec used the “Poll Everywhere” survey process to gain feedback as to which of the 10 most popular suggested songs would become the actial audio track. All members of the #ETMOOC community (regardless of whether they wished to actively participate or not) were encouraged to vote for their favourite. Through continuous tweets, Alec kept the ETMOOC community aware of the the voting results.
• Once Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” was chosen as the most popular, Alec then provided the #ETMOOC community with a specific YouTube video of a Queen performance so that participants could practice singing along with the performer or refining guitar solos.
• I found Alec’s “Lip Dub Project” instruction document to be a key ingredient and insight in the organizational requirements of a lip dub with so many participants, from so many different locations, with so many different combinations of hardware and software. This is a “must read” for teachers who are considering creating a lip dub activity. True, you may not need all the extras that Alec has considered (in that his participants are from around the world), but Alec has identified key items that all teachers will find beneficial.
• In his instruction manual, Alec printed line by line the lyrics to the  song “Don’t Stop Me Now”. After each line, a space was left where a participant could add his/her name indicating that they would sing this specific line. Alec even suggested lines where he encouraged more participation that just one individual. Furthermore, participants were encouraged to engage others  (as well as pets) in creating their video segment so that the fun and laughter could be shared.
• Participants were encouraged to showcase images to represent the community where the individual was located. If you look closely, at my participation in this #ETMOOC lip dub, you will note that I am wearing a red jacket with the letters CANADA displayed across the front, with a Manitoba flag hanging in the background with an NHL “Jets” cap positioned proudly on my head.
• Alec suggested that participants make a video of them singing their selected lines(s) of “Don’t Stop Me Now”. To facilitate merging the individual participant clips, Alec suggested participants capture themselves singing their selected line as well as the previous and next lines to allow for trimming during the challenging editing process.
• The key to working with so many different video segments is to determine a file-naming code or convention. Alec insisted that each individual name his/her video as a combination of the participant name/twitter, geographic location, and the song line number. Following this important advice, my video file contribution was named:

Brian Metcalfe-@bkmetcalfe-WinnipegCanada-Line5.MOV

• Alec set up a mechanism so that the respective video clips could be sent to him using the Dropbox and DropitTome services. An alternate email process for sending video files was also included so that all participants could send their song snippet to Alec by the stated deadline.
• Alec then shared the collected video files in Dropbox with Josh Stumpenhorst (@stumpteacher).  Josh volunteered to use his “magic” with Pinnacle Studio to create the resulting #ETMOOC Lip Dub.
• Once the video was created, it was shared on YouTube with the #ETMOOC community and the world.

I think that Alec summarized the intent of this lip dub project when he stated:

Let’s have fun with this! Show some of that joy and exuberance that many of you have shown thus far. I hope that this results in a great bonding experience, more familiarity with community members, and an artifact that helps to represent the experience of #etmooc.

Although many would consider the uploading of the lip dub to YouTube as the final process in this creative endeavour, I am so thankful that Alec took a most important additional step. Alec found the time to reflect on this lib dub project in his post “Making of the #etmooc Lipdub”. I find that I always learn so much from educators who are willing to share tips and strategies to improve projects with the benefit of hind-sight.

I encourage readers to check out Alec’s reflective post to learn how using a file-name convention starting with the line # (rather than at the end) allows one to automatically sort video clips in order of the songs lyrics. In addition, I particularly liked Alec’s reminder of how he added a “+” sign alias to his Google mail “couros+etmooc@gmail.com” so that he could more easily filter email related to this innovative project. However, without Alec’s reflective post, I would not have realized that my “Don’t Stop Me Now” video clip (which was my first video attempt on our iPad Christmas gift) was suffering from the dreaded “Vertical Video Syndrome”.

In conclusion, I was so delighted to be an active participant in this engaging and fun activity. Furthermore, having the flexibility and freedom to choose which of the Queen lyrics I would sing was very important to me. I felt that as a Life-Long-Learner and recent MOOC participant, I was proud to sing “Don’t stop me now … don’t stop me … ’cause I’m having a good time … having a good time!”

Take care & keep smiling

You might ask, like my wife, why am I enrolling in the DS106 course again. Didn’t I get my “fill” of on-line learning a year ago? The simple answer is that there are gaps in my learning that I want to try fill. I have found that through the on-going support, comments, and instructional blog posts of the DS106 community, I can take ownership for my own learning and professional development.

In the previous post, I alluded to the fact that GIF animation had become so much more sophisticated over the past dozen years. Certainly, I was actively engaged in the Spring 2012 DS106 course and I was extremely pleased at the skills and knowledge I had gained. However, as I continued to read other DS106-related blog posts, during the remainder of 2012, I realized that my GIF animation was quite limiTed.

So now that I have “dotted my “T”s … we’ll now cross our “I”s”

[Animated GIF reflecting "The eyes are the windows into the soul"]

The Back Story
As an educator, I am so grateful to the DS106 individuals, who not only share their assignments, but also take the time to provide insights and instructions into their creative process. Sometimes when we attend Educational Technology conferences or professional development sessions, we are exposed to perfect, polished activities or projects. However, on returning to our classrooms, we may become discouraged when we attempt to replicate the process ourselves. Some of the reasons for this failure might include lacking the necessary hardware, software, or more importantly, the skills that the sharing educator took for granted. I welcome the DS106 model in which participants are encouraged to share their insights into their creative process.

To illustrate the importance of this “Back Story” process, I urge educational readers to view Dean Shareski’s K-12 Online Conference keynote video entitled “Sharing: The Moral Imperative”. Here, Dean suggests that “the ability to teach and share beyond our classrooms is moving from ‘nice to do’ to ‘necessary to do’”. Although this keynote was extremely powerful and the message is still just as important today as it was in the Fall of 2010, it was Dean’s “Back Story” that I appreciated. Later in the conference Dean shared a remarkable, instructional “behind the scenes” video to help educators better understand why and how his original “Sharing” video was created. Here, I learned a number of tips including how Dean set up his scrolling iPad (above the video camera) to function as his teleprompter.

In the past, the vast majority of individuals were content to be “consumers” of information from sources such as Internet web sites. Only a few were “producers” who created animated GIFs and learned to craft web pages using HyperText Markup Language (HTML). However, there has been a dramatic shift!. Today, the vast majority of students, particularly those in the DS106 community, learn best as “producers of knowledge”, be it their own blog or crafty, video-based, animated GIFs. In order to encourage such production, I recommend that one strive to include insight into how each assignment was crafted through a “back story” process. Through providing such “teachable moments” your learning will improve and perhaps, more importantly, you will provide a learning legacy for others.

My “Animated” Learning Journey
My motivation to begin was the realization that many of the creative “GIF masters” (that I referenced in the previous post) were starting with video rather than a static image to create their animated GIFs. As I was unfamiliar with the process for capturing video, I searched the DS106 website for  information on “animated GIFs”. I was delighted to find a DS106 wiki, which was a veritable gold mine of tutorials. The one that I explored was:

•  Creating Animated GIFs with MPEG Streamclip and GIMP

Based on this information, I jumped in “with both feet” and started searching YouTube for possible videos. I selected a video entitled “Judyism: Judge Judy At Her Best”. I thought that the expression in Judy’s eyes might not only help me learn more about animating from a video clip but might also qualify my work for the “GIF Me Again About My Eyes” assignment worth “two points”.

My next hurdle involved finding a reliable mechanism for downloading YouTube videos. I still use an older Windows computer running the XP operating system so my choices of free downloading options may be somewhat limited. I investigated the Fastest YouTube Downloader, Freemake Video Downloader (for Windows) and the Pwn YouTube process.  Gizmo’s Freeware  posted “Finally a Free, Flexible Youtube Download That Works” which recommended Freemake Video Downloader. I had previously installed this software during last year’s DS106 class. However, during a more thorough investigation this year, I became rather concerned when it was revealed that Freemake Video Downloader used the “Open Candy” system during installation. I admit that when I install software, I always read each page and opt-out of any additions of other products or new toolbars. I pay a yearly license fee to run commercial, up-to-date virus protection and regularly run Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware to remove any potential unwanted threats. So with this latest information, I utilized the Pwn YouTube process, which appeared to be the least invasive approach, to downloading video from YouTube.

Once I had captured the “Judge Judy” video, I downloaded MPEG Streamclip to trim the frames that displayed the eye movement. I found by using the arrow keys on my keyboard, I could advance along the timeline and select video frame-by-frame. These frames were then exported into the GIMP image manipulation program which I had downloaded and installed.

I admit that I do not know very much about making animated GIFs from video. However, I found that by viewing Michael Branson Smith’s excellent “Animated GIF” video and following the detailed steps in the DS106 wiki tutorial, I was able to produce my first animated GIF from video.

The Last Important Question
My wife, who was also a teacher, was very involved in her school divisions “Science Fair”. When judging student projects, one of her most important questions near the end of her interview with students was “If you were to do this over again, what would you do differently?” Such a question is one that I think we, as professionals, should continually ask ourselves.

In my case, I know that there are three things that I would like to attempt:

1. Explore the process for adding an additional “reverse string” of selected video frames to the exported images  to make a smoother, cyclic animated GIF. Michael Branson Smith explained this process do well in his video “GIFFing Video Clips with Photoshop”  (starting at approximately the 5:00 minute mark). However, I’m not sure that my copy of “Photoshop Elements 6″ has all the necessary features.
2. Explore different YouTube download processes and conversion to different formats. I would like to find the best combination to not capture quality video clips but also display the resulting animated GIF in the best format in my blog.
3. Most importantly, I’d recommend that DS106-ers use as their primary resource “The DS106 Handbook”. I believe the renovations to the DS106 web site have been spectacular. The format is so much more inviting and is organized in an efficient manner with all the tools you need identified in the handbook. Therefore, don’t search for “Ds106 animated GIFs” like I did, which brought up the older wiki-based information; rather check out the ever-evolving and updated links in the handbook such as:

• Creating Animated GIFs the Modern Way
• Creating Animated GIFs with (free) Open Source Software
• Downloading YouTube Videos

I admit that this post is rather lengthy but I hope that by modelling the “Back Story” process, I can encourage others to share their tips and tricks along their learning journey.

Take care & keep smiling

As the end of the school year fast approaches, some students and teachers begin looking for inspiration and ideas to include in graduation and valedictory speeches. I admire individuals who can craft powerful and passionate messages using few words. The late Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, was one such person.

Teacher Feature #19 – Steve Jobs – May, 2012

The following links provide insight into this amazing individual:

• “A Collection of Inspirational Steve Jobs Quotes
  About Life, Design and Apple” by Federico Viticci
• “Best Quotes of Steve Jobs” by Abdullah Çetin Çavdar
• “Steve Jobs’s Best Quotes” by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries
• “The Top 20 Most Inspiring Steve Jobs Quotes” by Courtney Boyd Myers
• “Steve Jobs Quotes: the man in his own words” from The Guardian

However, if you are looking for a powerful message to share with graduating students, I encourage you to invest 15 minutes to view Steve’s “three little stories” that he shared at the Stanford University Commencement in 2005:

YouTube video: “Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

Readers may also review Steve Jobs’ Commencement address in transcript format as well. Such powerful ideas need to be shared so that they may inspire others.

Take care & keep smiling

Credits: iPhone artwork displayed with the kind permission of Patrick LaMontagne from his “Cartoon Ink” blog post entitled “The Genius Next Door“.

Larger Image: Brian Metcalfe’s Teacher Feature “photostream”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/life-long-learners

My previous two blog posts alerted teachers to the unique educational opportunity afforded students on Thursday, April 26th. For the past few years, the last Thursday of April has been designated as “Pay It Forward Day”.

Teacher Feature #18 – Charles de Lint – April, 2012

Teachers should investigate the wealth of educational resources that are available on the Pay It Forward Day web site. Furthermore, the inspiring YouTube video entitled “Watch this…. You will definitely share this……mp4 is one that can be used to stimulate classroom discussion about the “pay it forward” process.

When I reflect on my youth as a Wolf Cub and Boy Scout, there are two important phrases that I still remember. They are both simple ideas that, if practiced by many, can have profound impact on both the environment and people in general.

The fist scouting phrase that I do my best to practice is “Always leave your campsite in better condition than you found it.” The second phrase is the final line in the Cub promise and states ” … do a good deed to somebody every day.”

It is this idea of “doing a good deed” or “paying it forward”, without expecting thanks, that has such potential and power. I hope that you as an educator share this important “pay it forward” message with your students and that they take action to become better citizens through doing a good deed.

Take care & keep smiling

Larger Image: Brian Metcalfe’s Teacher Feature “photostream”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/life-long-learners

All educators need to belong to a Personal Learning Network (or PLN). I am so much richer because I am able to connect, either in person or online, with like-minded colleagues who so willingly share and/or provide constructive feedback.

The power of the PLN was reinforced again last week. Although I am retired, I still enjoy attending regular meetings of the Manitoba Association of Educational Technology Leaders (MAETL). I was attending a meeting last Thursday when I took advantage of the collective knowledge of this professional group.

Knowing that I was in the process of writing a blog post about the upcoming “Pay It Forward Day” on April 26th, I needed to find a video that demonstrated the power of the pay it forward process. Six months ago, someone had sent me a link to a YouTube video suggesting that I might enjoy its message. I recall that it started with a young boy who falls off a skateboard onto the sidewalk. A construction worker takes the time to see if the young lad is injured before continuing on his way. The boy appreciates the caring gesture and pays it forward by helping carry groceries across the street for an elderly woman. This woman passes alongside someone who is looking for change to put into a parking meter and she provides the coins, and this “good deed” process continues throughout the video. Each recipient of these small acts of kindness pays it forward in turn. Unfortunately at the time, I did not bookmark the video or save this YouTube URL for later use.

As I started writing the former blog post, I remembered that I had seen a YouTube video that would be a great resource to stimulate class discussion on the pay it forward process. However, no matter what search terms I used to try to retrieve this video, I was unsuccessful.

However, at the end of our formal MAETL meeting, we have a “Short Snappers” agenda item, where anyone can share quick tips or web site resources that might benefit others in the group.

During “Short Snappers”, I used a process call “crowd sourcing” when I described the video that I was hoping to find to members in my professional learning network.

Some of my colleagues had seen the video and thought that it might have been part of a commercial.

However, within three minutes Joan Badger, a Curriculum Coordinator with St. James-Assiniboia School Division, had searched YouTube and had located the following powerful “pay it forward” video. I urge readers to follow this link to see how they might incorporate this powerful YouTube video into their “Pay It Forward” activities:

Watch this….
You will definitely share this……mp4

Take care & keep smiling

Credits: Thanks to Justin Tarte for granting me permission to use the above Professional Learning Network image from his June 27, 2011 blog post entitled “The value of a PLN …“

Each morning I am confronted with a task that causes me to look at things in a new way. I can either visit “The Daily Create” entry on DS106 web site or I can check my incoming Twitter feed to see what new challenge is posted. Last week, our 69th Daily Create caused me to do some serious thinking:

If you has 3 more hours to live,
what would you do,
where would you go,
and why?

Certainly I had become used to “The Daily Create” (TDC) tasks which engaged me in creating and sharing visual images (Flickr), audio files (SoundCloud), and now video creations (YouTube). In fact, some of TDC tasks listed below have stretched my imagination and caused me to explore new and different ways to express myself or “tell my own story”:

• Create an audio of two sounds not normally heard together. (TDC6)
• Compose a photograph that include a “finished product” and at least one of the “raw materials”. (TDC13)
• Record a video of yourself telling a joke. (TDC19)
• Take a picture of confusion. (TDC33)
• Using your voice as the only instrument, create a recoding of a verse and/or chorus from your favorite song. (TDC44)

True, some of The Daily Creates were so challenging that I was unable to attempt them or complete the task to my satisfaction and upload it by midnight on the day that it was posted. However, it was the above “3 hour bucket list” that caused me to do some real soul-searching as I prepared and uploaded my “Three Hours to Live” video.

Teachable Moment

When I reviewed my DS106 colleagues videos describing what they would do in their last three hours of their lives, it became quite clear that most, like me, expressed a common theme of wanting to spend this important time with family and/or close friends. It was at this point I realized that most of us wanted to tell our family and fiends how much they meant to us, how grateful we were for their on-going support, and how much we loved them. Undoubtedly, it was very important that each of us make a conscious effort to tell our family and friends NOW just how important they are to us. Let’s not wait until the end of their, or our life, to do so because we may not have that opportunity or be able to express ourselves appropriately. I remember attending a funeral with my father who suggested it was so much better to praise and thank the individual while s/he was living rather than offer flowery eulogies at the actual service. So I suggested in my video that this “Three Hours to Live” Daily Create task provided us with a “very important Teachable Moment”. We, who valued our family and close friends, were provided with a timely incentive and opportunity to thank these individuals now rather than later.

 
I urge our readers to take time out of your busy schedules and make a effort to connect and thank those who mean so much to you. You’ll feel much better and so will your deserving recipients.

Take care & keep smiling

Credits:
-   Flickr – Creative Commons image “egg_timer”
by openDemocracy – http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifijay/6871951719/

Background and Balance
As I write today’s analysis of certain scenes in a favourite movie, I am worrying about “blog balance”. This is a condition that I continue to wrestle with as I progress on my learning journey with the online digital storytelling course DS106. In past, I have posted articles that I felt were of interest to students and teacher in K-12 classrooms. True some activities might have been immediately applicable and some readers might have said “Yes … I can use that resource or strategy with my students next week”. Others may have been shared more for information and the content may not have direct impact and or adaption by teachers. However, as I progress through the 8th week of my 15 week DS106 course and move into the video production segment, I worry that my required blog reflections may have little impact on most K-12 educators unless they are teaching a film study course.

In past, I have warned readers that my required DS106 assignments and reflective blog posts would make my learning more transparent. However, I still worry about “blog balance” since I want to try and ensure that there is some information that might apply to K-12 educators in the vast majority of my posts. I believe that I may have a possible solution. When I am writing a post that focuses heavily on a DS106 assignment which I feel may not have as wide appeal to my K-12 readers, I will try to provide some additional relevance to K-12 educators my inserting a “Teachable Moment” into the blog. This way readers who are not interested in the details of my DS106 reflection can look for my “light bulb” icon and quickly read the related “Teachable Moment” information which may be more meaningful or applicable to them and their students. Undoubtedly in today’s post where I look, through a new lense with a much more critical eye, at one of my favourite movies, I will attempt to provide better blog balance by inserting a later “Teachable Moment” in this lengthy post.

Bridge of the River Kwai
In past I have watched movies for their entertainment value and, I must admit, rather superficially. More recently, I have enjoyed looking at the “Extra Features” often included in DVD movie rentals. For example, while listening/viewing the director’s comments about certain scenes (together with the number of “takes”), seeing the attention to detail on an actor’s uniform to make it appear authentic, or watching how a certain special effect was created, all helped me to better appreciate the amount of work and detail that happened “behind the scenes” in the making of a particular movie.

In my DS106 video pre-production assignment, I have been challenged to pick a favourite movie, identify key scenes, and analyze the movie using some of the elements identified by Roger Ebert.

The movie that I selected was “The Bridge on the River Kwai” which won seven Oscars in 1957. Although fictionalized to some extent, this movie is based on historical reality in which British POWs were forced by their Japanese captors in 1942-43 to build a bridge on the “Death Railway” to link Bangkok, Thailand to Rangoon, Burma.

Undoubtedly the acting between the two adversaries, Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness), – the senior officer of the British POWs and Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) – the POW camp commandant, was superb. Add to this the musical theme of the River Kwai March (sometimes referred to as the Colonel Bogey March) and you have a powerful movie that I remember every time I hear someone whistling this unforgettable tune.

It is obvious that “The Bridge of the River Kwai” fits quite nicely into the War or Adventure genre but the Drama between the two protagonists should not be overlooked.

DS106 has revealed so many new aspects of storytelling to me. I must admit that the following quote from Roger Ebert’s “How to Read a Movie” has caused me to view movies in an entirely new manner:

In simplistic terms: Right is more positive, left more negative. Movement to the right seems more favorable; to the left, less so. The future seems to live on the right, the past on the left. The top is dominant over the bottom. The foreground is stronger than the background. Symmetrical compositions seem at rest. Diagonals in a composition seem to “move” in the direction of the sharpest angle they form, even though of course they may not move at all. Therefore, a composition could lead us into a background that becomes dominant over a foreground. Tilt shots of course put everything on a diagonal, implying the world is out of balance. I have the impression that more tilts are down to the right than to the left, perhaps suggesting the characters are sliding perilously into their futures. Left tilts to me suggest helplessness, sadness, resignation. Few tilts feel positive. Movement is dominant over things that are still. A POV above a character’s eyeline reduces him; below the eyeline, enhances him. Extreme high angle shots make characters into pawns; low angles make them into gods. Brighter areas tend to be dominant over darker areas, but far from always: Within the context, you can seek the “dominant contrast,” which is the area we are drawn toward. Sometimes it will be darker, further back, lower, and so on. It can be as effective to go against intrinsic weightings as to follow them.

I admit that the above quotation, caused me to look at the following YouTube video excerpt of “The Bridge of the River Kwai” through a new lense:

 Bridge on The River Kwai – 1957 – Clip 1

As the whistling British POWs march into camp, they travel from the right to the left side across the picture. This subtly indicates that they are moving towards a much more negative environment demonstrated by the harsh treatment of the soldiers by the Japanese. A box or platform is brought out for Colonel Saito to address the POWs and this repeated action throughout the movie allows the camera angles to point down on the insignificant POWs while looking up on the superior commandant who controls the prisoners’ very existence.

Teachable Moment

I realize that, at present, not all educators have access, due to school or Divisional filtering, to YouTube videos to enhance their teaching. However, this “Teachable Moment” tip will save time when attempting to efficiently cue YouTube videos for viewing at home and/or school. For example, the previous “Bridge on The River Kwai” (Clip 1) contains 6 minutes and 34 seconds of video. However, if you wished to focus only on Colonel Saito’s address to the POWs, you might want the YouTube movie to start at the 4 minute and 25 second mark. This can easily be accomplished by adding the “&t” time (in minutes and seconds) parameter to the YouTube video URL. The above clip can be found on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcIehms6u5M If this entry was copied and pasted into one’s browser, the video would begin at the regular default start position of 0 minutes and 0 seconds. However, if “&t=4m25s” (without quotes) is added to the end of the above URL so that the new address is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcIehms6u5M&t=4m25s then the video display will automatically start 4 minutes and 25 seconds into the particular YouTube video. For those who find this to be too technical, I recommend you view the easy-to-use web interface found at: “Cut to the Chase at YouTube Time“. To help readers better understand this process, I will demonstrate linking to a specific YouTube video starting time throughout the remainder of this blog post. I trust that this tip provides some balance for my K-12 educators to offset this rather lengthy DS106 video assignment post.

This DS106 assignment introduced me to the term “trope”. As a former Mathematics and Computer Science educator, I must admit that I was unfamiliar with this term and was unaware that movies use a host of tropes or “metaphors” to convey their messages. Using the TV Tropes as a reference, I have identified the following tropes in “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and provide appropriate links to YouTube videos to illustrate their use:

• A Father to His Men & An Officer and a Gentleman & Face Death with Dignity – Colonel Nicholson demands that, according to the Geneva Convention his officers do not have to work along side their regular soldier prisoners building this bridge. He withstands torture in the iron box rather than issue a command to have his officers work on this bridge.
  - Advising Colonel Saito of Geneva Convention – Clip 2 (1:30)
• Real Song Theme Tune – The Kwai River March or Colonel Bogie March, popularized by Mitch Miller, is a very powerful audio connection to this movie.
  - Whistling prisoners enter POW compound – Clip 1 (0:18)
• Deadpan Snarker – Commander/Major Shears questions superiors as to whether he should jump … with , or without a parachute.
  - Discussion of parachute training – Clip 5 (0:16)
• My God, What Have I Done? – At the end of the movie, Colonel Nicholson realizes that his pride has driven him to build a railway bridge that ultimately will befit the enemy.
  -  The brigde (sic) on the river Kwai ending – (0:51)

To the reader who has read to the ending of this rather lengthy post, I congratulate you.

Take care & keep smiling

Teachers are always looking for resources that can aid them in the teaching process or engage students in their own leaning. Some may be familiar with a free web-based tool called Wordle which can be used to create generate “word cloud” images from text that the user supplies. Although many educators and students have embraced the use of Wordle, one of its big limitations was that users coluld not easily print their word cloud creations. In early January, I created a “DS106 word cloud“, and like many of my colleagues, I had to use a screen capture process to save my Wordle creation as an image or to print out the design.

However, today I wish to share with readers a new word cloud tool, called Tagxedo, which has a built-in print feature as well as other options that will excite educators. This free web application is unique because it can create complex portraits like the one of Steve Jobs. I encourage readers to click on the thumbnail at right to see the detail and words used to describe this industry game-changer. However, rather than focus on the advanced portrait feature, I will share ways this product might be used, with a minimum of time and effort, by students or teachers.  The Tagxedo web site describes this application as follows:

Tagxedo turns words — famous speeches, news articles, slogans and themes, even your love letters — into a visually stunning word cloud, words individually sized appropriately to highlight the frequencies of occurrence within the body of text.

Tagxedo which is pronounced as [tag-SEE-doh] can, like Wordle, create simple displays in which word sizes are based on the frequency of the words provided in a list or web site address. However, teachers and students will appreciate the added features of this educational tool in that users can display Tagxedo word clouds in different shapes, colors, themes and may save and/or print the result in different sizes.

As a way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th, I chose to have Tagxedo display words in the shape of a four-leaf clover or shamrock. Rather than enter a list of words, I selected Manitoba Education’s “Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum” web site and entered this URL, “http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/show_me/continuum.html” (without quotes), as input.

Imagine the impact that teachers and students might have using shapes such as following:

• Treble Clef: outline formed by a variety of different musical terms;
• Shark: outline shaped by the different predator types;
• Check Mark: outline formed by all students that have completed  a certain activity or project;
• Bus:  boundary delimited by the names of all the students in one’s class who travel by bus to school;
• Bird: display of migratory or endangered birds help  shape this image; and
• Tree: outline defined by coniferous tree names.

In order for teachers to fully utilize Tagxedo, I recommend that they investigate these web sites:

• What is the difference between Tagxedo & Wordle?
• 52 Interesting Ways to use Wordle in the Classroom
• 101 ways to use Tagxedo
• Tagxedo Gallery
• Tagxedo “Deja Vu” Text Comparison
• Tagxedo Tutorial (YouTube video)
• Using Technology in the Classroom: Tagxedo vs Wordle (YouTube video)

So what are you waiting for? Go play with Tagxedo and see how it might be used in your classroom.

Take care & keep smiling

Teachers are always looking for ideas to stimulate student engagement. If you, or a colleague are studying ancient Egypt as part of the Grade 3 or Grade 8 Social Studies curricula, I have a sure-fire resource that will motivate your students.

I encourage readers to investigate the web site called “Discovering Ancient Egypt by Mark Millmore” at: http://www.eyelid.co.uk/index.htm

The home page suggests that “On this site you will find lots of Egyptian stuff”. In fact I was impressed with the information provided regarding the:

• Hieroglyphic Writing
• Pyramids and Temples
• Kings and Queens
• Free Egypt Videos
  (I found the YouTube video on mummification to be quite interesting.)
• Egyptian Quiz Games
• Links to other Egyptian sites
• Discovering Egypt Newsletter

Although this web site does include a commercial aspect through its “Discovering Egypt Shop”, there is still a wealth of resources that teachers and students will find interesting.

In fact, I was captivated by the free  Hieroglyphic Typewriter which can be used to type out messages like the following:

Imagine the fun your students can have creating their names in hieroglyphics or creating classroom posters with proverbs found within various ancient Egyptian temples. Obviously this web-based typewriter’s key-to-symbol associations can be used to decode any hieroglyphic message.

I trust that creative educators will find a variety of uses for this unique resource and I encourage you to share them with our readers through the Comment section at the end of this post. In addition, perhaps you can be first to decode the above 11 character message and share your translation with others through the Comment section.

Take care & keep smiling

Today, I embark on a new learning adventure. I have signed up for the free, 15 week online course known as Digital Storytelling 106 or more affectionately referred to as “DS106″. Up until two weeks ago, “DS106″, for me, was just a combination of letters and numbers. However, after Darren Kuropatwa, made the following comment, in one of my blog posts:

“… Brian, you just have to sign up for the next incarnation of ds106 which begins next month. Alan (Levine) is teaching a section of the course and you were made to be a part of it!”

I began investigating this remarkable learning opportunity. This is what I have learned:

DS106 is a MOOC or “massive, open, online course”. Although you may know what the MOCC acronym stands for, I found Dave Cormier’s YouTube video “What is a MOOC?” to be quite informative. Dave’s summary, resonated with me when he stated that “MOOCs are a step toward life-long learning” and that as a MOOC participant:

• YOU: choose what to do;
• YOU: choose how you participate; and
• YOU: decide if you’ve been successful … just like in real life!

So I signed up for this DS106 learning adventure, which officially begins January 16, 2012. I encourage you to investidate this DS106 educational opportunity and join as well in order that you might take advantage of the wealth of ideas and resources that are so willingly shared.

Jim Groom offered DS106 as both an open and credit course about a year ago at Mary Washington University (MWU). Successful implementation of DS106 courses have expanded to include sessions sponsored at York College (The City University of New York) and Temple University in Japan. Starting in the spring 2012 term, Alan Levine (aka CogDog) joins Jim to host a second session at MWU. However, my guess is that for every student who registers and pays to take the credit version of DS106, there are two or perhaps three others, like me, who register for the free online DS106 course because they believe in the course objectives and hope to:

• Develop skills in using technology as a tool for networking, sharing, narrating, and creative self-expression
• Frame a digital identity wherein you become both a practitioner in and interrogator of various new modes of networking
• Critically examine the digital landscape of communication technologies as emergent narrative forms and genres

As an educator who is always looking for engaging projects and activities, I recommend that readers explore the DS106 repository of approximately 200 unique and creative digital media projects which are organized into the following nine areas:

• Web Assignments
• Visualization Assignments
• Video Assignments
• Mashup Assignments
• Visual Assignments
• Design Assignments
• Audio Assignments
• Writing Assignments
• Fanfic assignments

My intention is to complete and share at least one assignment from each of the above categories during this online course.

I look forward to participating in this DS106 course and sharing what I am learning through my blog. Perceptive readers will note that this post, and future ones in which I reflect or dialogue about certain aspects of this new Digital Storytelling MOOC, will be purposely tagged with “DS106″. Such specific tags will help facilitate the servers at Mary Washington University aggregating or collecting all “DS106″ tagged posts for sharing and feedback with the various digital storytelling participants.

To gain a different perspective on this innovative course, I recommend readers view Giulia Forsythe’s YouTube video entitled “How ds106 Changed My Life“. Many readers will recall that Giulia was the talented illustrator, who participated in the first UnPlug’d event this past summer and enhanced the “Why (blank) Matters in Education!” publication with her creative artistry.

In closing, I realize that two years ago, I started my Life-Long-Learners blog as a New Year’s resolution. Since that first article that I posted on January 1, 2010, I have learned so much, shared so much, and expanded my Personal Learning Network in ways that I would have never dreamed possible. I trust that by joining, and taking part in this DS106 community, I will continue to learn and share so as to help students and teachers along their path to becoming life-long-learners.

Happy New Year!

Take care & keep smiling

Larger Wordle Image: Brian Metcalfe’s Teacher Feature “photostream” (DS106 set)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/life-long-learners