Curriculum Videos

Check out the Peru 552 Spring 2013 Curriculum Videos!

Four Great Tools for Screencasting

Screencasting is a powerful way to explain any topic to a group of people. Screencasts allows students to work independently with the ability to pause, play, rewind, and play material over and over again. There are free web based tools such as ScreenR and Screncast-O-Matic or computer software such as Quick Time Player (free on the Mac) and Camtasia (for Mac or PC) to allow users to create screen casts.

1. ScreenR (http://www.screenr.com/) is a free, easy to use, web based screen casting site that works on either a Mac or a PC. The site is user friendly and allows you to capture and record your computer screen to create screencasts up to five minutes in length.

2. Another web-based option is Screencast-o-matic.com. ( http://screencast-o-matic.com/) It  is a free, “one-click screen capture recording” that doesn’t require installation or sign-up. It allows up to 15 minutes of high definition screen-casting, with direct upload to YouTube. The site is user-friendly, and allows you to screen-capture and record yourself with a webcam at the same time. It is great for creating short, quick tutorials.

There are also several software packages you can install on your computer.

3. If you have a Mac, you can use QuickTime Pro to create screencasts.  Quick Time comes with the Mac. Use the spotlight tool to search for QuickTime Player. Tip - You must turn on the microphone the first time you use it or you won't have sound. Check out this screencast to learn how.  

The advantage to QuickTime Player is you can add the video to iMovie and jazz them up with text and music. Then upload them to your YouTube channel. From there they are easy to organize into playlists and share.

4. Camtasia is a robust program that you can purchase and download from

http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html. In addition to screen recording, you can also include video from your camera, edit the video, use tools such as an arrow to point to items on the screen, use pre-recorded themes, and easily share them.

Using Twitter as Professional Development

Twitter is such a fantastic way to connect, learn, collaborate, and be inspired.  I found this video on Twitter yesterday made by members of my PLN.  Take a few minutes to watch the video, then follow the educators in the video.

Twitter for Professional Development from Jeff Herb on Vimeo.

Connected Educators - How Will You Continue to Grow Your Digital Presence?

I  would like to encourage you to start thinking about your digital presence. This class will end in two short weeks.  How will you continue to grow and learn? How will you share what you learn?   Blogging regularly is a great habit.  My colleagues and I share a blog. I added a post this week you can check out if you wish at http://technologytools4teaching.blogspot.com/  .  You can blog about educational things: lessons in your classroom, articles you have read,apps you like and why, etc.  Something you are doing may inspire others.You can link videos and resources in your blog too.  Then you can tweet the link of your blog when you are in a chat on Twitter. The #peru552 hashtag is yours to continue using as a cohort even when class is finished.   

Another way to keep growing is by attending conferences.  Two great technology conferences are coming to the Omaha area the next few weeks.  The first is EDCAMP OMAHA. It is FREE and held at UNO on Saturday, March 23rd.  More details can be found at the website http://edcampomaha.wikispaces.com/ .  If you can’t go, you can attend via Twitter by pulling up #edcampomaha in Tweetdeck and learning from the tweets that are shared.

NETA is the Nebraska Educational Technology conference held April 25-26 at the La Vista Embassy Suites. More details and registration can be found at http://www.netasite.org/ .  The hashtag for this conference is #neta13.  

These are both great ways to get connected, collaborate, and get great new ideas for using technology in your classrooms! I will be at both of them.  Even if you don’t attend, make sure to learn virtually by following the hashtags  #edcampomaha and #neta13!

Be on the look out for conferences to attend so you can continue to learn, share, and grow!

20 Seconds on Twitter

In 20 seconds on Twitter today, I read a tweet from @tomwhitby where he shared this linkhttp://teach.com/teach100# to an excellent blog post about the top 100 Educational Blogs.  I clicked the link, gave it a once over, and deemed it worthy of pinning to my Pinterest board and Scoop.It page!  I clicked back to Tweetdeck and hit the retweet to our #tt4t hashtag.  That’s it, 20 seconds on Twitter today.

20 Seconds 

Because of the 20 seconds, I now have a free resource that I can explore anytime I want.  Free professional development at my fingertips.  Because I pinned and scooped it, this resource is available online anytime to anyone to read, re-pin, or re-scoop.  

20 Seconds

The 20 seconds on Twitter allowed me to re-tweet (RT) this link.  Who knows how many people saw the link, but let’s say just one person did.  That is one person who may take a moment, read a blog, be inspired and SHARE the link!   The nature of social media makes one idea easy to share to hundreds, thousands, or millions. The power of one tweet.

20 Seconds

The 20 seconds on Twitter will now feed me for months.  This one link alone is rich with educational content from the best minds in the field.  Now when I have more time, I can click one blog, read, comment, and incorporate new ideas into my daily workflow.  I am a better professional because I took the time to learn and grow.

20 Seconds

My challenge is, do you have 20 seconds?

-Written by Ann Feldmann
@techiefeldie