Dickinson hosts it’s own installation of WordPress MU (Multi User) and any class can choose to have a blog set up for their students to blog. Wordpress is a very user friendly platform and most people easily adapt to using the program quickly. Each person’s posts can be track for grading purposes and the platform is well suited to help engage dialogue inside and outside of the classroom. It can be open for the public to view or closed down so only the students within the course can read the content of the posts.
This session consists of walking the students through the process of logging into the system and posting at least one test post to get accustom to the software.
Audience
Faculty & Students
Type
Instructor Led-Hands on
Time
30-45 Minutes-In Class Time
Outcomes
Learn location of class blog
Receive account information to login
Learn basics of posting, uploading media, & commenting
Post first post to blog
Want to know more? Contact mediacenter at dickinson.edu to set up a consultation. You can also get a sneak peek of what we cover in our training by looking over our Training Outline.
It’s like subscribing to a magazine that is delivered to you periodically but instead of it coming in your physical mail box each month when the magazine is published it is delivered to your ‘RSS Reader’ every time your favorite website updates.
Both of these feed readers work a little like email. As you subscribe to feeds you’ll see that unread entries from the sites you’re tracking will be marked as bold. As you click on them you’ll see the latest update and can read it right there in the feed reader. You are given the option to click through to the actual site or move onto the next unread item – marking the last one as ‘read’.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an easy, timely way for people to keep up with what is going on at their favorite websites. In the past, if you wanted to know if something new was posted on a site, you would have manually go to the site to see. RSS is a way of sending those new little bits right to you. You need to use some sort of program to collect all of this information so you can read it when you are interested. In that way, it’s kind of like email because you open one program and all of the information is there no matter who sent it to you.
During this training we will cover what RSS is and discuss the many ways you can connect with the information these sites are sending out. You can read it, reply to it, publicize it and other options.
Audience
Faculty, Staff, Students
Type
Instructor Led-Hands on, Overview or both
Time
20-30 minutes
Outcomes
Learn what RSS is and how to connect with sites that use it
Learn about different RSS readers
Learn how to search for more sites using RSS
Want to know more? Contact mediacenter at dickinson.edu to set up a consultation. You can also get a sneak peek of what we cover in our training by looking over our Training Outline.
“Digital Storytelling is the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories. As with traditional storytelling, most digital stories focus on a specific topic and contain a particular point of view. However, as the name implies, digital stories usually contain some mixture of computer-based images, text, recorded audio narration, video clips and/or music. Digital stories can vary in length, but most of the stories used in education typically last between two and ten minutes. The topics that are used in Digital Storytelling range from personal tales to the recounting of historical events, from exploring life in one’s own community to the search for life in other corners of the universe, and literally, everything in between.”
“Tell me a fact and I’ll learn.
Tell me a truth and I’ll believe.
But tell me a story & it will live in my heart forever.”
-Indian Proverb
“Digital Storytelling is the modern
expression of the ancient art of storytelling.
Digital stories derive their power
by weaving images, music, narrative
& voice together, thereby giving deep dimension
and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences,
and insights.”
Wordchamp – Creates mouse overs for all the words on a given page with dictionary definitions. Great resource for introducing students to online newspapers or books in the public domain.
Project Gutenberg – Great site of public domain books. Also works in conjuction with the site above.
The Mixxer – Organize language exchanges with native speakers via Skype. Students can speak with their partner during our outside of class.
Babble – if you’ve seen the rather expensive Rosetta Stone software and like the principle, this is a good site. It’s basically flash cards of words and phrases with audio. Students add groups of vocabulary to their list and progress as they master each group.
Livemocha– rather traditional vocab and grammar excercises, though “friends” can leave comments and text anyone else on their site. Integrates the tandem principle into the exercises with learners commenting on each other’s writing.
BBC Languages – BBC languages are very good. They also integrate multimedia well and continue to more advanced levels than most other sites.
Google – Google tricks – Search within site:.de site:.fr site:.es
Broadband TV – Watch Television from other countries
Video projects can take on many forms and some stories are move involved than others. The Media Center understands this and is prepared to train classes in higher level video editing when projects require more than what IMovie has to offer. Final Cut Express is located in the Bosler Microroom and Media Center is a main program students use when creating a short film for Film courses. We walk the class through the whole process of editing by working with them in a lab for a few hours. We are also available to assist them as they are working on their projects during the rest of the semester. The Media Center becomes a second home to these students as they work through building their projects and shaping their stories.
Audience
Faculty & Students in Film Classes
Type
Hands On-Instructor Led
Time
2-3 Hours-In Class Time
Outcomes
Know how to use the software program Final Cut Express to import & edit video
Have observed a variety of course related video examples.
Know best practices to use when writing script.
Be provided online resources to help you get started finding creative commons audio, video or image files.