Tyler's Tech Tips
Issue #5 - March is for "Making" 2016
Google Drawings - Vector Portraits
Free Tool with Neat Outcome
Choose Any Portrait
It Takes Time
Green Screen Fun
First of all, you need to have some sort of device and a green screen app. I use "Green Screen" by DoInk on my iPad as this is one of the easiest and least expensive ($2.99). Secondly, you need to have something green for your background. This could be a actual green screen, a green bed-sheet, a green table cloth, a green shower curtain, or green butcher block paper that most schools have in their work room. Any color screen could work, but most use green because it is a color not many people wear. Lastly, you need to have an idea on what you want to shoot your video on.
Here are some suggestions on how to use a green screen in your classroom that I got from Scholastic:
Mock court case
Recreating a book
Book character trait “interviews”
Video blogging
Math thinking explanations
Math student-created story problems
News casts
Virtual field trip
Music video
Remember that your background in a green screen could be a image or a video that you have on your device.
YouTube PD Recap
- YouTube has a TON of inappropriate content. Use with caution in your classroom.
- To remove all suggested videos while watching a video, use ViewPure.
- Use TubeChop to cut parts of the beginning or ending out. Thanks Sara Smith!
- Create playlists for any one of your classes and post those playlists to your website.
- 3 ways to upload videos are through your computer, through the sharing system on your device, or using the YouTube Capture App.
- 3 ways to edit your videos are through YouTube's Creator Studio, using iMovie, or WeVideo.
- 3 ways to screencast are through screencast-o-matic, using the Snagit extension, or the IPEVO whiteboard app.
- Use EDpuzzle to take videos and add audio comments and questions for assessment.
Shooting Video on an IOS Device
- Rotate your iPad so it is horizontal. This goes for all your devices as most video will be played back on widescreen computers and TVs.
- When in video mode, double tap the screen to toggle from widescreen mode to zoom in mode.
- Hold down on the screen for 2 seconds to lock in Auto Exposure and Auto Focus. This will keep your video from constantly trying to fix the subject.
- Change the brightness level by tapping your screen once so the light icon appears. Move that icon up or down to your liking.
Discovery Education - Are You Using This?
MakerSpace
Have your students "MAKE"
"Tinkering is a powerful form of learning by doing...One of the most endearing things about the maker movement is how many children are celebrated as heroes, leaders, and innovators." ~Invent to Learn
What types of things could be in a MakerSpace?
- Cardboard boxes
- Legos
- Circuits
- Batteries and LED lights
- Green screen
- Coding and programming tools
- Coloring utensils
- Anything you have lying around.
Here are a few examples of a MakerSpace:
- http://smartucate.weebly.com/makerspace.html
- http://renovatedlearning.com/makerspace-resources/
- http://colleengraves.org/
Check out this awesome product in the video below. It is called a "MaKey MaKey" and uses circuits that can be plugged into anything to act as your keyboard and mouse.