Thing 12 and 13: Discovering and Using Youtube

Discovery Exercise #1


I personally have been using Youtube more and more in the last few years.  I am a visual learner and Youtube provides visuals to just about everything.  Whenever I have a question, weather it is about cooking, exercising, or anything that involves instructions, there is always someone that has created a video which provides the answers.  You may also share the videos you find with others through a wide variety of networks. 

When I first began using Youtube I was using it only for music purposes. Ever so often I would search for general things for answers in the Google search engine and it would, with other different websites, also provide a video that was found courtesy of Youtube mostly.  The videos are mostly generated by particular names or hash tags that were attached y the creator of the video. 

The upside to Youtube is there is no filter and you will run into a lot of trash (unnecessary videos) as well.  Just like any search engine you will have to use your good judgment and filter out the videos to your best ability.  Because Youtube is free for users you also have different sponsors and a lot of different ads on the site.  Usually you will see different advertisements either of the website or between videos as if it was a commercial.

All in all I really enjoy Youtube.  The better you are at searching and filtering the site the better your experience is with the tool.  You are able to subscribe to channels that captures your attention.  Subscribing to the channels are like adding to your favorites.  Adding the subscriber allows you to bookmark and stay up to date with new videos of interest.  This would be of interest for a classroom because you are able to search for channels that would assist with content and areas of studies.  You are also able to find great videos to use as an introduction to new information with content areas.

The video I am choosing to upload is actually for the subscriber BabyTv.  I am always trying to find different ways of entertaining and interacting with my baby girl and BabyTv is an amazing channel for babies.  This channel is also offered in different languages.

 

Discovery Exercise #2: Khloe and I Conversing

Discovery Exercise #3

Schooltube seems like it has a lot of potential, however the system is down and will be updated in a few weeks.  I can imagine that it would be wonderful for students to share what they learned with other peers.  Sometimes students are able to get through to other students in ways that teachers can't.  Any teaching/learning video gives students a visual to what is being taught.  When students are actually able to see and witness things and makes the learning more meaningful and in return assist with keeping new material in students long term memory.  The major plus is the advantage of being able to access whenever and however many times one wants to.  In addition the video would most likely surface similar videos that would also assist with understanding material.

Thing #11: Presentation Tool

The presentation tool that I chose as a discovery exercise was Animoto.  Animoto has been around for some time.  I never took the time to explore the tool until now.  I recall my father mentioning it to me a few years ago and he even created a video of me with the tool that I will find and add to my profile. Animoto is a site/application where you can use your pictures and song of your choice and turn it into a video.  Animoto even allows you to use videos in your presentations.  To began, I signed up for Animoto account, this way whatever I create can be saved to the profile.  Upon creating your first video it will give the option to be tutored, you may jump right in if you choose to.  You will be prompt to choose a particular style which are theme based, I chose to customize my own with a documentary theme.  From there you are able to upload your music, pictures, and videos.  Once finished you may preview the video before finalizing it.  While you are previewing you may create a name for your video, post time, and add a description.  I liked that Animoto was very user friendly.  I disliked the fact that it continued to freeze up while I was editing and previewing the video.  The feature that seemed useful was "style setting" which allowed you to customize your text and your media.  This tool could be used as a picture story, to tell biography, to introduce new topics, or as a life introduction.

Thing #10: Animation Tool

Dvolver Moviemaker was very comical tool. The instructions for creating the movie were comical as well.  Very user friendly and self explanatory.  Interesting enough it guides you through the whole process making sure you don't miss a step.  You began with selecting a scene which involves choosing a background and a particular setting for the sky. Next, you choose a plot which could include one or two characters either meeting up, picking-up, or chasing one another. Then you choose the characters.  Once your characters are chosen then you will type in text that each character says with a 100 text characters per character's line, with a limit of 6 lines.  Following the editing of the script the tool allows you the options of adding background music. At this point you may either finalize your movie or add another scene going through the same process again and again until you finish your movie.  Upon finalizing the movie you will select a movie title and a design.  Once you are finished you may preview the movie and send it to friends.  I enjoyed this tool.  I had absolutely no problems.  Once I sent the video to myself I was able to view it and still share it.  I loved the fact that I did not have to create an account in order to use the application.  And it is free!  You may use this application as an introduction to projects, to tell/review a story, class participation, or even as a incentive for good behavior.

Thing #9: Online Productivity Tools

For the discovery exercise I began by creating a free account for myself in Zoho Docs on my mobile phone.  I did so by going into by the playstore, the application on android where you purchase your apps, and I downloaded and installed Zoho.

 

Once I downloaded the application I proceeded to open it.  One thing I thought that was very interesting was that Zoho Docs allowed you to sign in using your Google account.  Since, I am already a Google account user this process was as simple as a press of a button.

Zoho Docs allows you to create documents, spreadsheets, and other presentations while also saving them. You are able to access the information from any location using a device with internet connection at any time. As an example I created a documents from notes that I took during Sunday's church sermon.  This application was so convenient that I was able to type it right from my phone and save it. If I wanted I could also share my notea just as you would on the web.

        

 

Once I returned home I proceeded in going to Zoho Docs from my laptop to explore more.  Upon logging in the site automaticlly pulled up all the documents that were created and automatically saved.  In the options tab there are other items to choose from depending on what you wanted to do running from sales & marketing to finance to email & collaboration. There is also a way for you to create your own network with the choice of it being either internally or externally  within you organization.

Zoho also allows you to create a mailing address for free.  However, for businesses and/or organizations  it would cost, depending on what particular plan you chose which was also based off of how often you used the server.

 

Here is the link to my example document:

Sunday's Sermon: Pastor Remus Wright