Post 9

I have noticed that by learning how to use some different multimedia programs that I didn't use before (photoshop & movie maker) I have not only widened my knowledge, but also deepened my understanding of some other software programs that I was already familiar with (such as sketchup). Although each program has its subtle differences, there are many similarities in the way that you interact with software. I was able to integrate my students' animated sketchup models into my final video project, and using photoshop, I could make custom textures that could be included in a sketchup model.

I personally found a lot of what we did in class to very interesting and fun. I think that many people (hopefully my own students included) find technology fascinating. I think it can be used to add a spark to an assignment or project that may otherwise be a bit dull. As I am constantly learning how to use new software (or at least new versions of software) to teach my students, I feel that this class has helped me to be a bit more savvy. It seems as though the more software you become familiar with, the easier it is to learn to use more programs.

Post 8

I actually already have used some video editing in my work. One of the 3-D modeling software packages that I teach my students is SketchUp. Sketchup has a feature that allows you to animate your 3-D model. The animation makes it appear as though a camera is flying around your object, viewing from different angles and zooming in and out. You can then export your animation as an avi file. I compiled several of my students' models into one video clip and posted the video to youtube. I think the students get a kick out of having some of their work posted on youtube, and it also gives their parents (or anybody else in the world) a chance to see what my students are working on in class. You too can see my students' work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNlnu9aoCEA

(I commented on Mrs. C's Blog)

Post 6 & 7

Well, my video is finally done. I did a mini movie-mashup. After watching several movie-mashups online, I thought the idea was hilarious, and I wanted to do one of my own. I was particularly inspired by one that I saw online where Sesame Street characters were overdubbed with audio from Scorsese movies like Goodfellas and Taxi Driver. I was always a fan of the Great Muppet Caper, and I thought it would easily mix with another heist movie - Ocean's Eleven. I took the audio from the Ocean's Eleven trailer and sliced and diced video from the Muppet Caper over it. I had to download and experiment with several different programs to rip the video from a DVD and then convert the file from VOB to avi. I found that a combination of DVDFab decrypter and DVD2avi worked best. (I ran into some problems using avisynth and virtualdub before I tried DVD2avi) At one point, after ripping and converting the Great Muppet Caper, I had completely fillied by hard drive (60 gig). I learned how to be more selective - ripping only the short parts of the movie that I wanted, rather than the entire thing. I think the project was pretty fun, and I am pretty pleased with the final result.

Post 5

What do graphic design and page layout have to do with contemporary literacy and learning? Hmmm...interesting question. I do know that my students are very technologically savvy. Many of them have myspace accounts, and even those who do not are at least frequent internet users. I would guess that my students read more from graphically designed page layouts (web pages, magazines, etc.) than from traditional books. I know from my own teaching experiece that instructional material that contains pictures can greatly aid student comprehension. I suppose the question becomes whether that is a good thing or not. Should the instructor use whatever material works best for student comprehension, or does an excessive use of pictures and diagrams lead to a sort of literary laziness? I do think that as technology becomes more commonplace, teachers will need to be more familiar with graphic design and page layout. Teacher websites are becoming more common as a way of communicating with both students and parents.

As for our weekly assignments...I have been working on a movie-mashup video editing project. My source material comes from DVDs, and I have found that in order to get the video into a format that is compatible with windows movie maker, I not only have to rip the DVD, but then convert it from a vob file to an avi file. The problem is, I end up with a HUGE avi file. My hard drive is literally full, which has made other computing tasks a bit difficult. I don't want to delete the file, because I already have a significant investment of time in the project. I am looking forward to finishing the video project as soon as possible so that I can delete the source file and get my hard drive back.

Post 4

How can I use newsletters professionally? Well, at the present time, I do not personally create newsletters, but our program does, in fact, have a monthly newsletter. One of our supervisors creates a monthly newsletter to promote the satellite programs at C-Tec. PR and marketing are important to a career & technical school becuase it can help recruitment and retention. Perhaps at some point in the future, after I have become proficient in desktop publishing, I could either assist in the creation of, or take over the responsibility for our montly newsletters.

I wanted to post a picture of my "contest" assignment. Unfortunately, I missed the contest deadline, so I wan't able to officially submit my image, but I thought I did a pretty good job, so I thought I could at least post it to my blog.

3rd post

I have been having fun using Photoshop, but it does seem to take a lot of time. Hopefully as my skills improve, my time spend on each project will decrease.

I am sure there are some ways that I could use my newfound Photoshop skill in the workplace. I am experimenting with a web site for my class that I teach. Right now the web site is very crude, and I have not been doing a good job of keeping it up-to-date, but I am sure that with a little Photoshop I could really spruce it up. Also, since I work for a Career & Technical School, marketing and recruitment are important issues. We have a wonderful marketing department at C-Tec, but I could also contribute in some small ways. For instance, I could use Photoshop to make a photo collage to be displayed in the hallway display case just outside my classroom. It would be a way of letting outsiders see what types of things we do in class and hopefully generate a little PR for the program.

For our most recent photophop assignment, I created a Gatorade advertisment in which a snail is racing a stock car. I had a hard time coming up with an idea for an original advertisement, so I decided to spoof an existing ad campaign. Somehow, the idea of a racing snail popped into my mind, so I took the idea and ran with it. I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. I shared it with some of my students and got a pretty good laugh.

2nd (belated) post

Whoops - I guessed I missed the blog portion of our assignment. I'll play a little catch-up.

For the second assignment, I based the topic of my images on the digital pictures I had available to me. Although I own a digital camera, I don't take too many pictures. I teach engineering technologies, and I had some pictures of my students surveying. I took my only picture that included the students' entire body and placed him in an interesting setting that would "work" with what he was doing, which was surveying. I thought that an easily recognizable background which would sort of go with surveying was the Egyptian Pyramids. The hardest thing to do was to get the shadows to work out right. In my opinion, the drop shadow feature is rather limited, unless I am just not aware of all the ways to manipulate it. So I ended up drawing the student's shadow free hand and filling in the outline with the paint bucket tool.

I ended up spending so much time on this image, that my other two weren't nearly as good. I made a picture of my dog, George, balancing several balls (football, tennis ball, etc.) on his head, and picture of my wife on the deck of a cruise ship, with a shark leaping out of the water in the background.

I like to make my images comical by juxtaposing things you wouldn't ordinarily see, so I will attempt to my my future images as funny as possible.

Inaugural Blog

Welcome to my first blog. I am Craig Whitson, a civil engineer turned math teacher, turned engineering technology teacher. I work for C-Tec (career technical education center) of Licking County. I actually teach at the COTC (Central Ohio Technical College) campus in Newark. My multimedia experience includes various drafting and modeling software (AutoCAD, Chief Architect, Sketchup) as well as some dabbling with web page design using Front Page. My teaching website can be seen at http://mrwhitson.50webs.com