CUIN 7376: Design of Online Educational Resources II - summer 2008

 

 
 

 

 

Class 6
July 7
Podcasts

 

 

 
 

Class 6 - Monday July 7, 2008

Review of Last Week's Assignments

The last hands-on assignments were:

1: conduct some research to see if you can find an interesting Web 2.0 resource that might be used within the final semester project you will be developing.


 

Microsoft's Learning Content Development System (LCDS) program
 http://www.microsoft.com/learning/tools/lcds/default.mspx

I chose LCDS because of Microsoft's developing experience and because it supports Silverlight, Microsoft's new multimedia application which some say will blow Flash and other similar apps away in the near future.
 


I thought it may be beneficial to create a Facebook group for current and prospective IT students as well as IT alumni and faculty.

 

Slideshare.net is a Web 2.0 tool that could be used in the http://coe.uh.edu/digitalstorytelling web project. Slideshare is site where you can host and share your PowerPoint presentations publicly or privately. The presentation can be viewed on the Slideshare site or it can be linked to or embedded in a web page. Slideshare like many other social sharing services, users are able to add tagging, rate, and comment on the content. The originator of the presentation can choose to make the slide show available to be downloaded. I think the use of this tool will enhance the digital storytelling web site because viewers of the site will be able to view PowerPoint presentations without opening or downloading them.
 


Awesome Highlighter
http://www.awesomehighlighter.com/

When visiting this site, the reader types in a web address and is able to highlight passages on the webpage. I think this would be ideal for researchers. I think that each article could have the option of being viewed as a pdf and then have a link directly to the highlighter site with the article already placed. What would be real cool is if we could somehow have the user highlight passages they found useful and then share the highlighted version. That might be wishful thinking though.


 


SuggestionBox.com
www.suggestionbox.com

Like the name suggests, it's a tool that allows people to send their comments or suggestions. I'm not sure how it really works in detail since it costs money to sign up. I think it could be used for people who might have comments/questions instead of having to email.

 



2: try to find a good example of how Google Maps, Google Earth, Flickr, any of its related resources, or any other Web 2.0 application you choose.

 

For my project I think that Google Maps would be the most useful from the list. Google Maps would allow prospective students that are not familiar with the area to be able to locate the university or to get driving directions. When I located the university I was able to zoom in on the map close enough that it showed me the names and locations of the buildings on campus as well and went as far to show the distinct shapes of the buildings. However, in my opinion, although this may be helpful for prospective students that aren't familiar with UH, I don't know HOW useful it would really be other than getting directions.

 

I've used all of these applications but for mostly personal purposes. So, I chose Gliffy (www.gliffy.com) because I'm using it in a web development project for an online startup of mine. Gliffy has several applications, but the one I'm using is the flowchart app. It's nice because you can collaborate with other people on the same document. Everything works really well, the segments drag and drop and you can even post pictures. The only drawback is that I've been unable to find a method to link to websites from flowchart boxes.

 


Google SketchUp is really cool in my opinion, though I'm still not sure if it would be useful for one of the projects. Sketchup is a tool to create and share 3D models. I can see how it would be useful for teachers and students, especially in the science or design fields. There is one section on the website that says it can be used for film and television purposes, such as designing a storyboard or visualizing camera angles. So it could be a useful tool for people who want to add video to their digital stories.

 




 

This Week's Class Topic: Podcasting

A podcast is a digital recording that is usually distributed over the Internet. Pocasts can be audio only, audio with images or slides (sometimes referred to as an enhanced podcast) or may include video (which some people call "vodcasts"). The term "podcast" is derived from Apple's portable digital music and video player, the iPod, however, you do not need to use an iPod to listen to or watch a podcast, since they may be accessed using a desktop or laptop computer, or downloaded to many different types of portable digital media devices, including some PDAs, cell phones and MP3 players, such as those shown below.

Sansa Player from SanDisk Several Different iPod Models from Apple Computer Zune Player from Microsoft



embedded video: Podcasting in Plain English

All about Podcasting? - this version of the website was created as a student project in CUIN 7330 in 2006
http://discovery.coe.uh.edu/cuin7330spr06/jlazzaro/PodcastingSite/index.html
 

All about Podcasting? - this version of the website has been updated and is currently online
http://www.class.uh.edu/classidt/Tutorials_Help/profs/software/Podcasting/


 

About Microphones and Recording Audio
 

Additional Resources

 

Class 6 Assignments  
 

Reading Assignment:

Class Six Hands-On Assignment 1:

Conduct some research on the web to see if you can find a podcast that does a good job of presenting educationally useful material.

When you have completed this assignment, please go to the CUIN 7376 blog at http://cuin7376.blogspot.com and post a comment under the Class 6 Assignment - 1, in which you describe the podcast you selected and discuss the details such as what is about, who created it, who is the intended audience, what you like about it and any additional information you think we should know about this resource.
 

Class Six Hands-On Assignment 2:

Based on the feedback you received on your final project plan in this week's class, post a message on the course blog at http://cuin7376.blogspot.com in which you provide an updated version of your plan. Also, as we discussed in class, you should create and maintain a specific list of the items that need to be changed on the original website you are working with (the current IT Program website, Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling website, the SITE Screening Room, or the Texas Journal of Distance Learning website) as well as a separate list of good ideas you have found on other sites you have located this semester.