Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Blog # 7: Multimedia Sharing Sites

If you don’t know the trees you may be lost in the forest, but if you don’t know the stories you may be lost in life. —Siberian Elder

Such is the way of foresters and story tellers. What has story to do with multimedia? With each multimedia production that is created, and shared, no matter how short, a story is told. These stories document lives, events, emotions, ideas, and philosophies so they remain alive.
Multimedia sharing is the process of sharing images, documents, video and audio all in one display and the end product is something called a “mashup”. A mashup is a web site or application that combines two or more sources of information to create an integrated experience. Many of the sites that offer multi-media mashup creations are presenting users with the means to create videos, accompanied by text, artwork and any other media, all available from the leisure of their home computer. The mashup may be comprised of a user’s own product or it may be a compilation of data from many sources. Multimedia sharing sites such as VoiceThread, SlideShare, and Animoto, assist users by storing, sorting, automatically creating and sharing audio, and video combined with photos, and artwork online. Unless your computer has immense storage, it is best to store media files and information on a company site since they take up so much space in the computer memory. By storing the files elsewhere, the company offering the service ensures that you can upload your information to any sort of social networking site, and they provide the technical expertise free. And should you wish to create longer videos or store a great number of files, these sites offer the option of purchasing more storage for a fee. The short creation is a quick enticement into longer more complex mashups. While creation is the key to any multimedia project, mashups allow the amateur an opportunity to create something worthwhile sharing with others.

Mashups are easy to use, and do not require programming expertise so they allow the inexperienced user to create something wonderful. Although the user does not control the order in which photos are viewed or the size of image to coordinate with the audio, the creation is a simple manifestation of a set of complex HTML language set to work. To date mapping, photo sharing, and video sharing services lead the pack of applications well-suited to mashups. Popular social sharing sites such as Google Maps, and YouTube make use of mashups that provide a service of another kind to internet users.

Although many of the new multimedia sharing applications are hosted on the internet, there is software that can be installed to operate from a browser for multimedia construction and sharing. One such application is Scratch, a free multimedia computer program that was developed for the education system and is changing how youth learn programming, create media-based projects, and develop literacy skills in schools. This creation software allows users to create animation, interactive games, and art, as well as to learn programming concepts. (Nelson, 2009) The Scratch community, currently numbering over 250,000, features projects as they are posted, downloaded, remixed, and uploaded. This collaborative environment protects posted projects through its Creative Commons license so that contributors retain ownership of their own work with an embedded code attributing content to the original source. This free downloadable software employs complex code and is hosted on the school browser. This program can be used to “create quite complex projects that involve multiple sprites (characters), variables, and background stages, each of which can be programmed to interact in a range of ways.” (Nelson, 2009) The projects that I checked out all used animation and symbols combined with music to create animation and although most of them are clever, the projects don’t seem to have much point to the end product. The point comes more in the students having learned something about programming and sharing information as Nelson points out that the“key to successful teaching lies in our ability to ask informed questions and encourage the program's users to consult one another for problem solving.” If I was teaching a programming or computer technology class, the site would offer some interesting possibilities and so I will suggest this site to my computer technology teachers. Since I am not interested in creating gaming-like individual scenes, this software does not interest me enough to make me want to proceed further than observation.

Voice Thread offers easy to use benefits, has minimal memory requirements, while focusing on content rather than technology. This application allows the user to upload a photo or video, apply text for additional information, and record audio that accompanies the visual. The demonstration video caught my eye and so I tried it out. As you see, I have chosen to use my project as an oral examination of visual media. I was easily able to record my directions, add another explanatory entry and input text for visual learners. I was rather pleased with the end product because it didn’t take long to complete and offered some worthwhile opportunities. This site is great for grandparents to share in the lives of grandchildren and their memories of an incident or work of art and allows them to offer comments as well. If the project is made open to the public, anyone can also comment on the project. This application could be used to allow numerous classes or fellow classmates comment on each others’ work. Potentially, authors, artists, teachers, and other students could all post comments that could prove beneficial to student learning in a subject area. In the science department, whole labs could be recorded, and the procedure and observations presented each step of the way. This would lend a whole new and interesting take to lab “write ups”. If each group of students was to present one lab using Voice Thread, other students and teachers would have the opportunity of commenting and questioning while experiencing each lab and furthering individual as well as whole class knowledge. In social studies, Voice Thread offers “a new dimension for creative analysis of historical photographs, maps and artifacts.” (Valenza, 2008) This site is also useful for storytelling of all kinds and I found a project called “My Father” particularly enjoyable as a student describes his father’s life in the military and his father as a hero. ESL students could benefit in the use of this application for personal story development as well as vocabulary. A picture, with accompanying text may be presented with students responding by saying the word and then explaining its meaning. It would be interesting to experiment further and create a tour of the library or step-by-step directions on how to use the OPAC. From “stories” that offer memories, to those that build understanding to those that inform and instruct, this site opens up incredible possibilities that could be used by every teacher as more participatory experience is created while facilitating collaborative interaction. The visual/verbal nature of this site appeals to a broad base of users and particularly to those who learn best using those modalities. Voice Thread has been so popular amongst educators that they have implemented a K-12 user section which offers privacy protection. This is a powerful feature when considering safety on the net and is made all the more powerful in that the company altered its standards when teachers demonstrated concern.

Another free site for creating mashups is SlideShare. This site encourages users to upload Power Point presentations or documents which, when created as a Slide Share, can be embedded into blogs and websites or Facebook. Slides can be linked with audio or videos. Users may add a movie clip to illustrate a point or create a compilation of videos or audio. This site seems useful for everything from photos and commentaries of the family to interviews or a compilation of conference presentations; however, it seems to be geared a bit more toward the business world. One benefit is that presenters can learn which websites are embedding their PPT presentations. Teachers could use this site to post notes or presentations that would normally take place in the classroom. This could be an advantage to students, particularly if they were absent or needed to review information. The site could also be useful for creating a set of directions or explanations supported by video. Students may find this feature useful when creating presentations or labs in order to demonstrate a technique or manoeuvre.

Animoto is the third free site mashup creation site and although, relatively new on the scene, is quickly rising in popularity. Taking into consideration music's genre, rhythm, and tempo, Animoto configures photos, to create a video that shifts and changes to the beat and tempo of the music. Users may select from creating either a short (approximately 15 photos) free video project or a long video for which the user pays. Music may be selected from the Creative Commons section of the site and then the software configures the photos and music to form the video. Unfortunately for those who enjoy getting their hands “dirty” with programming, they won’t be able to since you can’t control features such as: the timing or order between slides, the black background color, the limited number of characters usable in the text slides, the white text color and the font face or size. Should the song have an up tempo, transitions between photos will occur quickly so if there are special pictures that you wish to emphasize , select the video editor and click the spotlight button to allow you to do this. Since the end result video is approximately 30 seconds long, it is advisable to pick your best 15 to 20 photos. When the song selection is finished, Animoto automatically discards any photos remaining. However, Animoto for Education gives teachers and students unlimited access to its standard and premium services for free which is certainly a benefit to cash-strapped schools. This application was fun and easy to use. It serves well for movie trailer type projects such as featuring a novel or book that has just been read/studied, telling a photo/music story, responding to a poem or short story, creating a mood for a particular time in history, or a particular music genre, featuring student art work or the physical aspects of the school, or for creating collage of any type. Although the easiest application to use, it produces sophisticated videos with more improvements on the horizon according to the guys from Animoto.

As I ponder my own teaching circumstance, I know that students would enjoy and learn from each of these multimedia production applications. Many students already use Power Point supported with music particularly in social studies, but they either burn it to a CD or save it on a mobile device. If they were given the opportunity to produce their work using Slide Share, it would mean fewer forgotten tools and projects. It would also mean that students could work collaboratively on a project by sharing it between members of the group so that it could be changed and edited as needed rather than trying to convene physically at one student’s house when busy schedules will not allow given the due date of the project. Voice Thread would also prove beneficial for student use at my school in many curriculum areas and is definitely one of the applications I will be introducing to teachers this year in hopes that they will teach students or invite me to introduce this application to their students. Animoto is an interesting production application because of its quick creation and viewing makes it very accessible within short class times. The time within a particular block of learning does not allow individual multimedia presentations given 35 students in the class; however, Animoto would work wonderfully for a brief personal introduction by students to get to know one another at the beginning of the school year and the productions could encourage dialogue between students. Since teachers are always looking for a new means of getting to know students, something short but informative, this might just be the right tool.

Multimedia sharing projects are engaging and motivating as students are provided the opportunity to try new applications. Mashups allow teachers to turn learning over to students which means that teachers must know the applications their students are using so that teachers become facilitators. Differentiated learning takes place automatically when teachers use multimedia applications. The use of multimedia projects stimulates a number of senses at a time, which serves to grab the attention of the learner and holds it. When students are allowed to collaborate on a project, classroom management becomes less an issue and the locus of control is placed on the student.

Mashups provide students the opportunity to communicate and represent knowledge of a subject, as they act as designer, organizer, and creator and command deeper thinking in the process as students learn not just about the subject at hand but also about technology. In turn, students may also benefit as they learn to become more informed consumers of other multimedia presentations. Because they are working closely with the material for the presentation, they learn it more thoroughly than had they written a simple report. In a study of 8th graders, it was found that students who learned about the civil war using multimedia made long lasting connections with the material while students who learned traditionally had little to no retention of the material one year later. It was also noted that the level of student engagement was significantly higher amongst students with both high and low abilities.” (Lehrer) Learning becomes experiential in nature and therefore, memorable, as students attempt to produce a quality product. Engagement and learning go hand in hand. When students are interested in featuring content in the best means possible, they will be engaged and learning. Multimedia sharing is one means of binding content with enthusiasm and pride of production.

And so, our stories must live on and hence, are we saved just as this photo, A Mother of Seven Children has also been saved. I hope that my students will create meaning through their responses on this Voice Thread.



A Mother of Seven Children by Dorthea Lange


References

Barack, L. Pimp Your Library, School Library Journal, Vol. 54, Iss. 3, Retrieved March 2008 from http://proquest.umi.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/pqdlink?index=14&did=1438386211&SrchMode=3&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1248944762&clientId=12301&aid=1

Hargadon, S Web 2.0 Smackdown, School Library Journal, Vol. 54, Iss. 10, Retrieved Oct. 2008, from http://proquest.umi.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/pqdlink?index=24&did=1564977551&SrchMode=3&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1248944360&clientId=12301&aid=1

Harris, C A Prescription for Transforming Libraries, School Library Journal, Vol. 54, Iss. 10, Retrieved October 2008 from http://proquest.umi.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/pqdlink?index=3&did=1564977531&SrchMode=3&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1248944598&clientId=12301&aid=1

Langhosrt, E Golden Oldies. School Library Journal, Vol. 54, Iss. 3, Retrieved March 2008, from http://proquest.umi.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/pqdlink?
index=2&did=1438386031&SrchMode=3&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1248944175&clientId=12301&aid=1


Lehrer, R Studies to Support multimedia use in Education, Benefits of using Multimedia in Education, http://www.iste.org/research/reports/tlcu/multimedia.cfm

Nelson, J Celebrating Scratch in Libraries, School Library Journal, Vol. 55, Iss 5, Retrieved May 2009 from
http://proquest.umi.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/pqdlink?index=1&did=1694419001&SrchMode=3&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1248944433&clientId=12301&aid=1

Valenza, J (2008,, 03, 20). Benefits of VoiceThread. InfoTech4Lrng, from http://arllennium.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/voicethread-in-teaching-and-learning/ retrieved on July 27, 2009-07-30

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