I’m back for a little more sharing. My goal is to show you a little bit about my specific interests. I’ve been working on my master’s in education with a specialization in Library Media Services and am trying to educate myself about the rapidly changing world of online information sources.

Now that social software (wikis & blogs) seem to have been conditionally accepted within our rural school district, it is only a short matter of time before we will start seeing their emergence into the florescent light of our school media centers. There are a number of nervous educators who are bracing for that event. And I admit that I am one of them.

In addition to the blogs of the members of my class at the university; José, Mark, Audrey & John, I have a few feeds that I use to keep myself apprised of what’s happening in web 2.0 and the rest of the world:

The Village Green by Matthew Woolums

i speak film by Stephanie Simpson

Ms Rice’s Workpage by Susan Rice

cre.ations.net by Nate True

TechLearning by ASBPE

BBC News/Science/Nature by BBC (of course)

These help me get inspired (or distracted) and are just plain fun. Try them out if you like.

If you have some old VHS tapes (standard or 8mm) that you want to save in digital format, I have a low-cost solution. I didn’t want to pay for professional transfers at $20 each with shipping costs running around $10. You may not remember them but these smaller cameras were about half the size of the first VHS cameras. Now they look gigantic beside the digital camcorders available today. When my children were born in the early 90s, these were the cameras to get.

To convert them into a digital format I used USBVision Capture 1.3.0 software and for hardware XLR8 InterView, Griffin’s iMic, an audio cable (stereo mic plug/stereo RCA plugs) and a mono video RCA cable. The XLR8 InterView rig is a few years old but works with the recently upgraded (to OS 10) software.

Below is the hardware. I used an Apple G4 iBook, 1.4 GHz w/512 MB RAM & OS 10.4.11 and a Canon 8mm Camcorder. Notice that the XLR8 connector has an RCA/SVideo input option which allows for a higher quality signal if available.

The setup is shown below. Make sure that you launch Systems Preferences/Sound then select the Input tab and highlight iMic under Name in order to get the sound from your source tape. I set my Input volume slider at about 2/3.

Launch your software program after all connections are made otherwise it won’t identify a source. I won’t get into running the program here but setup was very easy. I had to experiment with getting the correct volume because it comes through pretty loud and is easily distorted.

Remember to have plenty of storage room on your hard drive or, better yet, connect a supplemental external hard drive (FireWire is fastest) and save to it.

Your tapes are saved as QuickTime Movies which are easily imported into iMovie

Yes, I’m still in the very initial stages of learning about blogging. Also about wikis and podcasts but the list keeps going. I’ve just picked up Meredith Farkas’ Social Software in Libraries but have had hardly any time to look at it yet. The Richardson book is so engrossing. I don’t like to jump around in a book, I’m more of a linear learner, so I haven’t gotten very far in the book yet cause I only have time to read at night. Still, I think he’s starting to get more into the bones of blog construction.

Well, over the past several days I’ve been reading Will Richardson’s book, Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. I’ve only just begun reading it but already my thinking has changed! What he says about the difference between Posting and Blogging is fascinating. Basically, I think I’m coming from a world that is more passive in its orientation to information. I am not surprised that on an earlier post I used the word “intimidated” to indicate how cautious I felt about entering this new dimension.

Another thing that he discusses is the importance of links in blogging. The interactivity of this feature adds a depth that a student creating their own blog must participate in that distinguishes it from the practice of simply stating an opinion or making a comment.

There is much more I could say but let’s leave that for another time.

I had to futz around a lot to find my way back here again, but I didn’t give up! Until I’ve done this a few more times I will always feel very uncertain if I’ve taken the right steps. It doesn’t help that Gmail is blocked at my workplace.   I decided to add a picture just to add a little color to the page.

This is the first communication I’ve made by blog.  It feels like I’m standing at the edge of a very wide chasm.  So wide that I can’t see the other side and at the moment silent, as well.  I hope to hear some echoes soon after I’ve sent my message off into the ether…

I have created this blog as part of a Graduate class that will give me a further introduction into the ever-growing world of cyberspace.  My experience with e-mail only commenced several years ago and with that I am still not very long winded.

I have been working on my MEd (with a LMS certification) for a few years and am just about there.  My work with middle school students has been very rewarding and I see a great need to develop the school/student role in participating in online communications.

Well, that’s all for now.  I look forward to hearing from you.

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