Monthly Archives: February 2011
Student Filming: How the Right Camera Can Launch a Thousand Videos
Video projects! Those words simultaneously inspire feelings of dread and delight in me. Dread because as a media specialist, I am so often the troubleshooter at our school for anything video related and am bombarded with questions like: How do you edit this? How do you put a song right there? Where is my video, and why does Windows MovieMaker hate me?! Conversely, I feel delight because some of the more successful video projects I have seen are so wonderfully inspiring. I am constantly amazed at the high quality work that some of our students are able to produce using a video camera and a simple editing program like Windows MovieMaker. However, I never would have imagined having to deal with the sheer volume of these projects just a couple of years ago.
When I first arrived at Richmond Hill High School in 2008, we had four video cameras available for student and teacher use. Those consisted of two MiniDV and two Digital8 camcorders. The student news crew borrowed the cameras pretty regularly, but besides that, they weren’t routinely used for anything besides coaches filming sports. All that began to change, however, when we purchased four Flip Ultra video cameras that fall.
There are several incarnations of the Flip now, but we started with the 60 minute, standard definition models that use AA batteries. The response was almost immediate. It’s not that the actual video quality was better than our older camcorders. If anything, the sound didn’t pick up quite as well. Plus, you either had to load the Flip software on each computer in order to play and edit the clips, or you had to convert each video using a program like Prism Video Converter to enable playback on all computers. Simply put, it sometimes took fewer steps using the old camcorder to get the video off the camera.
None of that mattered, though, because suddenly, filming became very easy and very cool in the eyes of teachers and students alike. The Flip cameras are small, stylish, and super user-friendly. Suddenly, tech-phobic teachers were signing up to use them and commenting on how easy and intuitive they were. Students agreed and loved how they could quickly click through, view, and/or delete clips immediately.
With the older cameras, either the student or I had to capture the video, and the video captured in real time. Therefore, if the video was an hour long, it took an hour to get it off the camera. Also, kids routinely lost their place on the tape and either filmed over important footage by accident or had a hard time finding the film they shot. Enter the Flip Video camera, and suddenly those problems were eliminated. With these types of pocket video cameras, there are no tapes or discs required for filming, and you can transfer your video files to a computer almost instantaneously. With one touch of a button, you can even upload your video directly to Facebook or YouTube!
Looking ahead, I don’t think we will ever again purchase the conventional, tape-based cameras. However, I’m not loyal to the Flip alone. Personally, I have a Kodak Playsport HD camera. It is quite similar to the Flip Video camera but is waterproof and takes a SD or SDHC memory card. Honestly, I like the idea of expandable memory and am toying with the idea of getting Kodak pocket video cameras in our next round of camera purchases. If you are looking to launch or revitalize your AV equipment, I would suggest putting these types of cameras at the top of your shopping list. They’re cheap too; you can get a PlaySport or a Flip Video camera for just a little over $100. In any case, one thing is for sure: Digital is the way to go!
Annie Kiene
High School Librarian
Richmond Hill High School
Richmond Hill, GA
Call for Papers: 2011 Treasure Mountain Research Retreat
The Treasure Mt. Research Retreat will be Oct. 26-27 noon to noon in Osseo MN. This is during the Pre-Conference days of the AASL National Conference. It will be held in the Osseo School District, a suburban district of Minneapolis with a fabulous Tech Director and Library Director at the district helm. These folks are leaders, leaders, leaders and we will have a chance to interact with their teachers, students, and teacher librarians.
Papers from researchers and practitioners are being sought on the Topic:
KNOWLEDGE BUILDING IN THE LEARNING COMMONS
These can be research papers, opinion papers, papers published elsewhere, innovative idea pieces all dealing with any aspect of knowledge building from curriculum connections, to Common Core Standards, to 21st Century Skills as they build knowledge, preparing pre-professionals to be experts in knowledge building, technologies that boost learning, innovations in the transition to a learning commons, knowledge building centers, client-side services, virtual learning commons, renovation of physical space to support learning, and reports of experiences that push the learning commons into the center of teaching and learning.
Send your intent to submit a paper to David Loertscher at reader.david@gmail.com.
You need not be attending the conference to have your paper included in the proceedings.
If you have never attended a Tres. Mt., it is a major think tank and an unforgettable learning experience.
Let me hear from you.
–
Professor David V. Loertscher
School of Library and Information Science
San Jose State University
Home address: 312 South 1000 East
Salt Lake City, UT 84102
Update and Action Needed for HB 172
The Georgia House passed HB 172 yesterday, which extends the waivers on expenditure controls for media centers (as well as class size limits and other areas) through June, 2015. The bill will now move to the Senate Education and Youth Committee. PLEASE contact members of that committee (listed below with their e-mails) and share with them how the waivers have affected your media centers this year and last.
Also, Pat Pickard had an opinion piece in yesterday’s AJC regarding the cuts to public libraries which showed we will not be able to depend on public library resources to make up the difference in education cuts. (Their materials budget has been cut 85% since 2008 and their staffing budget is being cut $3 million dollars this year.)
Senate Education and Youth Committee (e-mails below to make it easy to copy and paste):
Bill Jackson
Chip Rogers
Donzella James
Fran Millar
Freddie Powell Sims
Horacena Tate
Jesse Stone
John Albers
Lindsey Tippins
Tommie Williams
Vincent Fort
William Ligon
bill.jackson@senate.ga.gov
chiprogers21@comcast.net
donzella.james@senate.ga.gov
fran.millar@senate.ga.gov
freddie.sims@senate.ga.gov
horacena.tate@senate.ga.gov
jesse.stone@senate.ga.gov
info@senatoralbers.com
lindsey.tippins@senate.ga.gov
tommie.williams@senate.ga.gov
vincent.fort@senate.ga.gov
william.ligon@senate.ga.gov
Nan T. Brown
Advocacy Chair, GLMA
Urgent Action Need to Protect Library Services and Technology Act and Improving Literacy Through School Libraries
Dear ALA Members,
I am writing to you today to enlist your participation in an association-wide advocacy campaign to protect funding for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program.
Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution (CR), H.R. 1, funding the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011. The House version zeroed out the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program. Action now moves to the Senate, which is drafting its own version of the CR.
This is the time to reach out to your U.S. senators by phone or email – and, importantly, to urge others in your communities to do so as well. The request to your senators is straightforward. In the Continuing Resolution for 2011:
1. Maintain the 2010 funding level of $213.5 million for the Library Services and Technology Act.
2. Maintain the 2010 funding level of $19.1 million for the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program.
Beyond these basic requests, I urge you to share with your senators how you are using this federal funding and how the constituents of your state benefit educationally and economically from library services during these challenging times. Provide examples of how you assist the public with online job searching, preparing resumes, small business development, accessing online information and training, etc.
Inform your senators about the role school libraries play in ensuring students graduate with the skills they need to be successful in today’s workforce. The Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program increases the literacy skills and academic achievement of students by providing them with access to up-to-date school library materials; well-equipped, technologically advanced school library media centers; and well-trained, professionally certified school librarians.
This is only the latest part of our ongoing need for grassroots advocacy on federal appropriations and other library issues. The federal government’s 2012 budget will be the next focus of Congress. Your messages to the senators requesting 2011 support for the Library Services and Technology Act and the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program will also influence their deliberations for the 2012 funding levels.
Your advocacy is vital to ensuring that our libraries remain a fundamental force in America’s economic and educational future. As an association – and as a profession – we must work together to have a strong voice.
The ALA Legislative Action Center (http://capwiz.com/ala) can assist you with contacting your senators. If you need further help, call Jeff Kratz or Kristin Murphy with the ALA Office for Government Relations at 1-800-941-8478.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Roberta Stevens
ALA President
Biographies in GALILEO
Need biographical information for your students? GALILEO includes many resources that provide just that.
Encyclopædia Britannica includes articles about important figures, including presidents from Washington to Obama; artists, such as Michelangelo and Jackson Pollock; entertainers including Bob Hope and Justin Beiber; athletes from Hank Aaron to Shaun White; scientists from Sir Isaac Newton to Stephen Hawking; and more. From Aristotle to Tupac Shakur, you’ll find famous people from all time periods and all walks of life.
Book Collection: Nonfiction offers book chapters covering famous figures, including Alexander the Great, Nelson Mandela, Mary Wollstonecraft, Bill Gates, and so many more. Just search for the person by name or search for biography to see all the different people you can find in this database.
For author biographies, check out Literary Reference Center, which includes over 200,000 author biographies. Choose the Browse Authors option from the main page or just search for the author by name. NoveList and NoveList K-8 include very brief information about authors with links to their works and appeal terms to describe their tone and writing style. Just search for the author by name or choose the Authors option from the navigation bar at the top of the screen. If you are looking for Georgia authors, sources mentioned in our post about Finding Georgia Authors in GALILEO, such as the New Georgia Encyclopedia and Digital Library of Georgia, provide biographical information and historical images.
Oxford Art Online includes a Biographies link at the top of the page to information about artists from a wide range of styles and periods.
You can find these resources and more in the Browse by Type > Biographies section in GALILEO High School and or the By Type > People section in GALILEO Teen.
As always, if you have questions or comments, please Contact Us.
Courtney McGough
GALILEO Support Services
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia
Article and search links may not work off site. Click the database name first for access.
Express Links for Databases Mentioned in this Post:
Encyclopædia Britannica School Edition
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebs
Encyclopædia Britannica High School
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zehs
Compton’s by Britannica (for middle school)
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebm
Britannica Elementary
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zebk
Book Collection: Nonfiction
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zbnf
Literary Reference Center
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zblr
NoveList
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zknl
NoveList K-8
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zkne
New Georgia Encyclopedia
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=ngen
Digital Library of Georgia
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=dlg1
Oxford Art Online
http://www.galileo.usg.edu/express?link=zvda
