Sunday, November 13, 2011

Using 2.0 tools


As I started this project on creating an online environment I thought sure that it would be a good assignment and I would get something out of, but I never imagine that this assignment would change my entire way of thinking about technology and give way to so many innovative ways of effectively communicating with people from so many walks of life. As I begin the blogging I found that it was an expression and engagement that gave me great delight. I thought about how students who are not as verbal but very visual could use such a tool to exhilarate academic excellence.

Other tools that involved video, linking and the luxury of audio provided a serious roadway for pursuing technology to its fullest potential of communicating well with other students as well providing ongoing communications with the facilitator. As I begin to design and implement my learning plan I found that the many tools were almost magical to someone who had never really taking the time to investigate what is available for students as well as a trainer.

My favorite sites are too many to name, however I tried my hand at Google sites and wikis and yes I enjoyed both very much. I decided to implement my own plan by trying to tweak a template for one and the other try my hand at it from scratch I have to add that I worked on it some, but I truly have a long way to go. But that’s OK because I am learning that that it a part of the learning process and for me I am truly getting an educational enrichment by using these tools.

The template had some built in attributes that I could really appreciate, but I found that I rather work a wiki from scratch so that my reflective educational lesson can be instrumental for my students.

Below are the links for my projects Part I II & III
http://nyatuamep.blogspot.com/2011/11/nyatuamepatrice-aded-welcome-page.html
http://nyatuamep.blogspot.com/2011/11/aded2screencapture.html
https://sites.google.com/site/tricesapplicationfacelifts/
https://sites.google.com/site/tricethetrainer/

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

ADED2_ScreenCapture

CamStudio is a great program for window capturing, however it seems to very sensitive in time frames, if it does not connect at a 100% frame grouping or completion then it corrupts and loses all memory and then you get an error message. Camtasia Studio’s provides flexible recording options; you can choose to capture full screen, window or region. Add in music tracks, plus picture-in-picture with a video camera.

There are two big differences when it comes to CamStudio and Camtasia Studio, which is price and video picture in picture. CamStudio is a great tool in that it is free so it can have errors because you are basically borrowing an experiment. Camtasia Studio should have bells and whistles because you are paying for a product that you well expect to perform with accuracy.

So here is a thought, let's see the difference between two pieces of capturing software that both cost about the same in price. I have had some experience with captivate and not just with the 5.5 version, but earlier 2.0 versions that I thought were wonderful and to see the major improvements that have taken place from version to version is really mind blogging (a little humor).  As far as Camtasia is concern this was my first time using it and it was really easy to command. What I liked about Camtasia the best is that it had a direct output to blog so did not have to configure anything just, upload.
For some educators we have seem captivate interwoven into LMS programs and/or e-learning. Captivate features video and screen capture tools as well as provides video outputs in different formats, my favorite feature from captivate is that it creates a quiz content that is interactive that can be published online and it has track key performance metrics.
As an educator I am looking for software that is user-friendly that has a simple interface, where you don’t have to dig under more buttons to get to more stuff. I am excited that this software can be a great evaluation tool that will allow the facilitator or even the builder in this case to work smarter and not harder.
                                                 Captivate vs Camtasia, you decide...


                                                                 Camtasia



Captivate



Please post a comment and let me know what you think....

Monday, November 7, 2011

Nyatuame_Patrice_ ADED Welcome page

Creating a blog is a great opportunity to share some trainings with people from all walks of life as well share some specifics works and findings with my wonderful cohorts and classmates.  I have had the opportunity to do blogging, however this is the first time that I have had the opportunity to perform this task in an educational environment. As I reflect upon my Literature Review in progress, I have found that gaming technologies in the educational environment are indeed emerging technologies that will help people who are tech savvy as well those who are working on the process.

My research tells me that gaming is not for children anymore as a matter of fact there was one poll that showed most adults 30 years are older are today's most popular gamers. This is just an introduction of some of the topics that we will be discussing, before I get too deep into the subject matter I would like to know what you think of educational games and do you think that gaming is the way to go to engage students in a diverse environment?


 "When sharing and caring is cooperative,  the end result is learning ."
  (nyatuame, 2011)