Camera Angles

Quicktime into imovie '09!

Despite the fact that quicktime is an apple product, it cannot be imported into imove! Something about codecs that is beyond my scope. After much hunting and downloading and attempting followed by failing I found this solution. And it works!

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One of those AHA moments!

Blogging with 5 year olds. That's a challenge. What can you do? I've just had one of those aha moments where you just figure something out and realise the potential of it.
As you might be aware I have a preference for Apple computers and fortunately the school where I spend a lot of my time has these. Each of the macbooks contain the built in camera which is able to take a photo of anything including text. Sure we wouldn't expect children of 5 to type out what they've written but they can sure talk about it.

Use photobooth to take the photo of the text, then get the child to use vocaroo to record the child talking about their work.

One very important tip. In photobooth the photo is a mirror. Once you've selected the photo, you'll need to flip it. Do this in edit.

Add Some Spice!

Imagechef.com allows you to add some pizzazz to your blog. Have a play.

ImageChef.com Poetry Blender

Due by Date

Got lots of events you want the class to be aware of. Need to be reminded of due by dates? Why not embed a google calendar? This can be either added on a separate page or added as a gadget at the bottom of your blog. Separate page? Yes you can have up to ten, separate, stand alone pages listed at the top of your blog like a website. Simply click 'edit pages' while you're in the edit mode of a post. Of course to add a google calendar you need to have a google account which is a fairly straight forward process to sort out. Click on the image to create your account. Once done you've got access to the whole range of google products of which the calendar is one. If you're familiar with copying and pasting HTML you'll find this a breeze.
With your calendar open click the drop down arrow beside the calendar you want to embed in your blog. (you may have more than one calendar).

Choose calendar settings then scroll down and copy the HTML as shown on the image. Paste in your blog and job done. When you edit your calendar the changes are made automatically in your blog. Now everyone will know the upcoming events and assignment due by dates.

What Can I Blog About?

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This blog is aimed at teachers and students looking to use their blog as either a display space or a learning platform. For me I favour the latter of these two as a ways of enhancing childrens' learning and creating a digital home school connection. This post from edublogs details all possible blogable events. It is by no means a complete list which is only limited by your imagination. Click on the image to view the ideas.

Uploading from Youtube

Blogger has now made it even easier to upload your favourite youtube videos. Previously you had to leave blogger, go to youtube, grab the embed HTML, return to blogger and paste the code. Now when you choose the add video button you are given the option of searching youtube. Once you've found your video simply add the selected video as you would with an image and voila, job done, all without leaving blogger.