Voicethread 2

This Voicethread below talks about how the MIcrosoft PhotoStory can be used in school at Qatar Academy.

Voicethread 2

Weekly

Today was the first day of presentations. I felt that I wasn't ready, but later I felt that I was actually ready, so I must have been a bit nervous. And nervousness means that you're not ready, and that you're not confident. And sure enough I found that my Voicethread wasn't as good as it could actually be. And I also noticed that I should have talked more about the software, rather than how to use it. So I went started working right away.

About Voicethread

The Voicethread is a great tool, but personally I prefer Animoto because it is easier to use and manage, whereas Voicethread is confusing, and not alot of my friends liked it. My Voicethread is about the MS Photostory. And it shows how to use the Photostory.

Voicethread

Letter to Dr. Hedger

As seen in the previous blogs containing the Animotos, I have explanied why Photostory would help classes greatly, and why we need it. I have also explained what we can do with this software, and how it would be useful to many students. Mr. Hedger, our school is a great place and we have many facilities, and technologies. So why not improve those facilities, so that we can have a better learning system, with better technologies, and have students enjoy and learn something at the same time. We have spent time on our projects, trying to show you how these technologies, that may not seem so related to education, can be used in a different way, or altered so that it will be educationally useful. and since many technologies have been pouring in through the doors of Qatar Academy, why not choose ours. Some may seem unusual to you, but if you really look at the technology, and read our reasearches, then you might come to find that they are actually very useful.

So please take the time and read our blogs, so that we might get these technologies that will help us in education in the future. And even though, all of them may not seem right, I'm sure atleast you would find some that are really useful. Thank You for making some time in your busy schedule for reading this.

Final Post

Today is the last in class for us to work in class and in this post I will include all the details that have happened in this proect.

This project was a really great project and we had alot of fun and experience doing it. There were some problems, such as the quality of some programs. One of them; the Voicethread wasn't very easy to use. And your voice completely altered when you recorded it and clicked playback. Also there were problems uploading pictures, and it was really confusing, if you hadn't planned out how you want it to be. On the other hand I completely approve of Animoto, because it was simple to use, and was finished in easy steps. Also, I noticed that students had quite fun expirementing with pictures and music. And all the other programs I used in this project were great.

My work was sometimes easy and sometimes hard. It also depended on the amount of work I did the previous lesson.

Weekly

This is the weekly blogpost for the project before the evaluation:

I started this project in the beginning of March, and now on May 6th; the last lesson, I have come to complete most of the work. All I have to do now is complete two more slides for my Voicethread, then I will post it on blogger. And then I will perfect all the blogposts, if they need to be changed. And this week I plan finish everything and then I will present my work on May 13th, or May 20th.

Weekly

This week will be the week I complete my Voicethread, and I start writing and editing new and old blogs. i hope to make my Project completed by May 13th. By then I hope to have:

-3 or 4 Animotos/ Completed
-1 perfect Voicethread/ Still in progress
-All posts edited and new ones written/ Still in progress
-Everything set and ready by May 13th/ Need to do


The plan above shows the things I need to do , and I still need to finish. By May 6th, I hope to complete atleast on of 3 of these things. Then I will work at home for the last one, and perfect everything.

Animotos

These Animotos were the videos I had worked on for 1 and 1/2 weeks. They show pics of the software in different order and with different styles of music.

My Animoto 3

My Animoto 2

My Animoto 1

Weekly

Today I am making my Animoto and hope to finish it. With that finished I will make my Voicethread, then I will write and complete my blogs, and add any details to the posts if I need to.

PLAN

In this post I will describe how I will make my Animoto and Voicethread. I will also describe the way I will plan out my project.

This Inspiration shows my plan for the next 2-4 weeks. It shows the steps that I will do to complete my IT project.

I will post every step on blogger, according to the plan.

Design

The Microsoft Photo Story is a great software, that can be used by all ages. A lesson in QA can be enhanced with this software, and it can turn out to be fun, creative, and can be useful for projects, and lessons.





For IT we used the Photo Story to collect photos of something that is important in Qatar. Our group chose to do the Moto GP race that had just happened about half a year ago. We got pictures from the Internet, and put them on MS Photo Story. Then we created the Photo Story, recorded our voices, played around with the images, and at the end put music that matched up with the Photo Story.



A lesson in QA would be great with the Microsoft Photo Story. You could use it for many tasks such as creating a slideshow for a presentation in class, small kids can use it for showing how a tadpole turns into a frog, or such things. The big kids can use it for CAS projects, or in class they can use it for doing a project about a certain object by collecting pictures about it, and then presenting it in class. That way students get a more clear idea about that thing. And they also enjoy its creativity.



All students wouldn't need one, but they can get one if they want because it is free, and downloadable. Students can work in pairs or in groups, so all of them won't need one. But if all the students have to create their own they would need one for themselves. I myself think that all students should have one, because then they can all experience the creativity, and play around with it so they can do the project, and also have fun.



This technology/software can improve lessons by alot. Instead of students just writing essays and making posters for every project, they can use this software and make their project more interesting and creative. The teacher can also use it to show soething important, or show them a few photos about aomething. Instead of plain photos, they can have a creative show to watch.

Investigate part2

Investigate:
Choose a new technology and investigate it using the following guiding questions:

What is the technology?
How is it used in everyday life for communication or creativity?
Where do you get it?
How much does it cost?
What are the brands and models available?
How is it or could it be used for learning at school?



The MS Photo Story can be used for many things, besides just taking photos and making slideshows out of them. In the previous blog post, I mentioned some websites showing tutorials, about how to use the MS Photo Story.

The Technology is the MS Photo Story, and its main use is to create, creative slideshows with photos and pictures.

You can use it in everyday life for making small movies, for entertainment, and using pictures, to make a slideshow for work, students can use it for doing projects, or activities. Tourists can use it as well, they take pictures of the place they are visiting, put it on Photo Story, and make it creative. Then take it back home, or e-mail it to relatives, friends, etc. They can show what they've done, in a more creative way.

You can get it at the Microsoft website for free! And you don't have to recieve it by mail, in CD version. You can just download it off the Website. Cool huh? You don't have to wait for a week, or so for it to come. You can get your hands on it in minutes.

There is no brand or model for this software, but I'm sure you can update your version to the latest version.

For school, it has alot of uses, for example: 2nd Graders, are doing a project about how butterflies use metamorphesis, and how they grow etc. They can go on the internet, and search for pictures: a butterfly egg; a crysalis; and a butterfly. Then they can use these photos, and with the help of an adult, they can make a creative, unusual, and interesting movie. Another Example for 12th Graders: 12th Graders are doing a Community and Service project, and they need proof of what they did. So, they and a few friends, go to the place eg:amusemnt park, and help out. While they are doing that, their friends take pictures of them, and then they all get together, and make a Photo Story. Then they present it when proof of them working, is needed.

Investigation Part 1

PICTURES

The MS Photo story is a spectacular Software which can be used for many things including learning. The Photo Story is also a great software, because it is free, and you can download it. Here is some Information about it:

Microsoft Photo Story is a free application that allows users to create a show and tell presentation from their digital photos. [1] The software applies the famous Ken Burns Effect to digital photos and allows adding narration, effects, transitions and background music to create a Windows Media Video movie file with pan and zoom effects. Once a photo story has been made it can be played on Windows Media Player or burned to a DVD or CD. Version 2 was included in Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition and Microsoft Digital Image Suite versions 9 and 10. [1] It supported exporting the photo story as a Video CD. Version 3.0, although freely downloadable from Microsoft, removed Video CD burning and supported an add-on from Sonic Solutions for exporting and burning the photo story to DVD. Version 3.0 includes the ability to randomly generate background music which is composed on the fly from a combination of themes and also includes basic photo editing and touchup features. The latest version is Photo Story 3.1, included with Microsoft Digital Image 2006. It includes some additional transitions.

For customer use and product information, go to this site: Steps for using Photo Story.

If you want more information you can visit this site: MS Photo Story And for downloading it you can visit the site listed above, or you can go to this site. Here is another site that gives steps, that are explained better, and more understanding. Good for kids who want to use the software.

There are some pics at the top of this blog.

Technology for Learning

My technology will help, learn, because it is a very useful object, which can be downloaded for free, and used by almost all ages.

My Technology is the MS Photo Story for Windows. It is really useful and van be used for making cool slides, with Photos.

igoogle

igoogle, is a really neat website, you can add as many tabs as you want, and you can organize according to your style. It is also an RSS Feeder, and a very good one actually.

Nintendo Wii

This is the Nintendo Wii, it is the best video game system that Nintendo has made until now. The only problem I sometimes have with the Wii, is that it's a bit confusing to play with some of the remotes. If you want some info on the system then you can check this site on WIKIPEDIA. It also is useful if you have a Nintendo DS, because you can connect it with the wii. To see more info, click the Nintendo wii link on the side.
It helps if you know how to play it because, the games are much more fun to play than the ones that came on prevoius systems. Though the remotes are confusing, you can use them like never before E.G: u r sitting on your couch, and move the remote, if u r playing a game which gets affected by the way u use the remote, then the man/woman/child will punch, kick etc. the way u moved the remote. This is a really cool feature. It has three remotes, comes in various colors, and a great gaming experience.

Here is a bit about the first remote: Wii remote

To make gaming as accessible to people of all ages and all abilities, Nintendo wanted to create a controller that was as inviting as it was sophisticated. The outcome is the Wii Remote. Nintendo fused the familiarity of a remote control with the sophistication of motion-sensing technology to come up with an input device for the ages!
Sporting the size of a traditional remote control, the wireless Wii Remote is a multifunctional device that is limited only by the game designer's imagination. In a tennis game, it serves as your racket you swing with your arm. In a driving game, it serves as your steering wheel. For first-person shooters, the Wii Remote acts as your weapon that you point at an enemy. The list of potential uses goes on and on.
In addition to its pointing and motion-sensing abilities, the Wii Remote also includes a speaker, rumble feature and expansion port for additional input devices, such as the Nunchuk.

The second remote: Nunchuck

Contoured to perfectly fit a player's hand, the Nunchuk builds on the simplicity of the Wii Remote and goes an extra step to meet the needs of gamers. The Nunchuk connects to the Wii Remote at its expansion port and is used in conjunction with the Wii Remote.
The Nunchuk contains the same motion-sensing technology enabled in the Wii Remote but also includes an analog stick to assist in character movement. In several games, players will use the analog stick of the Nunchuk to move their characters and the Wii Remote to perform a specific action, whether that's throwing a pass in football or aiming a ranged weapon in an action game.
Along with the analog stick, the motion-sensing Nunchuk also contains two buttons positioned for quick access. Because the Wii Remote and Nunchuk are only relatively dependent on each other, players are free to hold them in whichever hand is most comfortable. The ambidextrous nature of the Wii controllers grants accessibility seldom seen in game controllers

The third remote: Wii classic remote

The Classic Controller allows you to play classic games available through the Wii Shop Channel with ease. This controller is sold separately.The Classic Controller allows you to play classic games available through the Wii Shop Channel with ease. This controller is sold separately.

This is one of the many features Wii has: The Sensor Bar

Using Bluetooth technology, the wireless Wii Remote sends your actions to the Wii console from as far as 30 feet away. As a pointing device, the controller can send a signal from as far as 15 feet away. Up to four Wii Remotes can be connected at once, making for some great multiplayer fun!

Here is some more info on the console itself:

Featuring a compact design that makes it a natural addition to any television setup, the Wii can be displayed either vertically or horizontally.

The Wii is backward-compatible to all Nintendo GameCube games and includes four ports for controllers and two slots for memory cards.

A single self-loading media bay plays single- or double-layered 12-cm optical discs for the Wii console, as well as 8-cm Nintendo GameCube discs.

About 8.5 inches long, 6 inches wide and less than 2 inches thick (roughly the size of 3 DVD cases stacked on top of each other).

The Wii console communicates wirelessly with the Internet via wireless or a Wii LAN adaptor. Wii also can connect wirelessly with Nintendo DS.
Input: Four Wii Remotes can communicate with Wii, which features a bay for an SD memory card.

Output: An AV Multi-output port for component, composite or S-video.
PowerPC CPU (code-named "Broadway"), made with a 90nm SOI CMOS process, jointly developed with and manufactured by IBM; GPU developed with ATI.


The Wii AV Cable connects the Wii console to your television.
The Wii AC Adapter provides power to the Wii console.
Display your Wii in style using the Wii console stand. Wii can also lie flat without the Wii console stand.

Because of it's great technology, and unique gamin experience it will be a favorite among many.

If u want to visit and learn more about Wii, it's games, community, features and other amazing things, I advise you to go on this site. C ya!!

First IT blog

This is my first blog, and here are the 5 important things about blogging:These are sites that you can Blog onto: Web 2.0., if you click on the link.The number on thing is social Networking, you can do many things with social networking.Secondly, I would say social bookmarking is also very good here is a site, on social bookmarking. ALso there are RSS and podcasts, but we don't know much about these yet.And lastly, there is sharing ideas, pics, videos etc., because that's what Web 2.0 is really about.Here is a video about Web 2.0And this is also a good site over here about social bookmarking. And if you want to visit our It page look at this site