Today Ofelia sent me the final online course for me to create until July. I finished the Math course from last week. I did have one issue pertaining to one page of content. I was unsure what the professor intended it for. It was a series of questions, but no identification as to where it should go. I talked with Ofelia and we emailed the professor to clarify.
I also made arrangements to film more examples for the video module. Natasha said we could film Wednesday.
quarta-feira, 27 de junho de 2007
Friday June 22
Today I continued working on the online math course. I finished topics 1-3 by the end of the day. I had to talk with Ofelia about reducing some of the courses I have to create. I have to start creating my own course for the video class. We left the courses I have to create in the second week in July to give me some time.
quinta-feira, 21 de junho de 2007
Thursday June 21
This morning I was handed a bunch of distance ed courses that need to be designed. I was given about seven of them. Fortunately they are math courses, or math history which is easier for me to understand. The course I worked on was extremely long and mostly text. I spent a lot of time finding images that went along with it. I tried creating the images in a more creative way with drop shadows. I wanted to try and explore different designs that they haven't thought about. I almost finished the first course and it is due on Monday.
Wednesday June 20
I spent some time today working with one of the flash experts in the lab. He looked over the module to see how it was created. We talked about the size of the module and how it would be delivered. The module will be posted on the web in SOLAR. The file size is about 3MB. We looked over the project file to see how we could shorten its size. All the videos are loaded externally, but there are two in the focus and exposure activity that are embedded and cannot be loaded outside of the file because of the scripting. Marllon decided that would should add on a loading bar to let students know how long it will take to load it. He gave me a simple loading bar and we added it to the project.
I also worked on adding extra buttons and frames to add some more content. The project documentation for the flash course came in handy. I was able to use it in order to carry the project on a little further. There are more glitches in it and I have to make some more changes, but it can be found here.
I also worked on adding extra buttons and frames to add some more content. The project documentation for the flash course came in handy. I was able to use it in order to carry the project on a little further. There are more glitches in it and I have to make some more changes, but it can be found here.
Tuesday June 19
Today I spent most of my time translating text for some of the videos we will shoot for the module. To be honest I can't remember a whole lot because one of my best friends past away this morning. Needless to say it was hard to focus.
segunda-feira, 18 de junho de 2007
Monday June 18
This morning I created a list of questions I want to ask in the Multicultural video. So far I have four areas. The first two include interns that have come to Brazil (Lindsay and myself) and Brazilians who went to Georgia. I want to understand experiences from both and compare. Then I hope to gain an understanding of the process of entering the university and its demographics. (I learned the other day that the land for the university was acquired through a card game.) The last part would be to interview two professors Jose Aires and Mauro. I hope to better understand their department and view of education, and their students.
Later, I talked with Jose Aires about the video course. We talked about how to revise the introduction video and more organization. He also gave me the thumbs up for the promotional and multicultural videos.
The final part of the day, Lindsay and myself reviewed the content we have for the video course and went over how to add changes to the module. We want to add more content, so we have to adapt the current module and make sure the navigation stays coherent and easy to use. We also set up a shell for the course on SOLAR.
Later, I talked with Jose Aires about the video course. We talked about how to revise the introduction video and more organization. He also gave me the thumbs up for the promotional and multicultural videos.
The final part of the day, Lindsay and myself reviewed the content we have for the video course and went over how to add changes to the module. We want to add more content, so we have to adapt the current module and make sure the navigation stays coherent and easy to use. We also set up a shell for the course on SOLAR.
sábado, 16 de junho de 2007
Friday June 15
Pretty much the whole day was spent gathering photos and organizing and finishing the Sociology class. It was due by 5 pm today. I was able to get it done and I found some good pics. There has got to be more to do with these course materials than just text and pictures. The Math courses had more to animate and be creative with, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is better for learning.
Thursday June 15
Today we were back at UFC Virtual. I created a shot chart of the different examples that I wanted to create for the module. I reviewed the videos I have about composition and took screen shots. We can recreate these examples. This will give us full rights to the content for the class, allowing us to put it up for Opencourse when the time comes. I emailed it to Natasha and she said she would set things up for next week.
I was also given another course to transfer over to Solar. It was a Sociology course. It was really hard to understand and I spent a good time trying to understand the content and how to organize it. The content was given to me in a very rough form. I am going to make a suggestion on getting a specific format from the professors, some type of job aid they can use to help them. I couldn't tell where one topic ended. It all ran into each other.
I also edited the video we made on Wednesday. The sound has some glitches, but I was able to see what it was like. Click here to view it.
I was also given another course to transfer over to Solar. It was a Sociology course. It was really hard to understand and I spent a good time trying to understand the content and how to organize it. The content was given to me in a very rough form. I am going to make a suggestion on getting a specific format from the professors, some type of job aid they can use to help them. I couldn't tell where one topic ended. It all ran into each other.
I also edited the video we made on Wednesday. The sound has some glitches, but I was able to see what it was like. Click here to view it.
Wedndesday June 13
Today we tried to create a video introduction to the video module. The original one is in English. Cris from the Journalism/Comm department volunteered to help. She has been a news anchor for many years. The school has a nice studio to shoot with. They gave us full access to their equipment. At first we couldn't get the teleprompter to work and so we stuck my laptop on top of it. By the end we were able to get it to work. We took several takes and worked on the lighting for a while. That was hard because they only have studio lights and no soft lights. Cris did a great job though, the only problem was the audio. The student that was working the audio didn't have the levels high enough. We might have to do it again.
We also talked with Natasha (the student who has connections with the studio) about some other video ideas that she has which are creating a promotional video about UFC Virtual along with Proativa. We planned on creating more videos for the module next week. We also talked about creating a video about education in Brazil and what it is like to be an intern here and the experiences of those who went to Georgia.
We also talked with Natasha (the student who has connections with the studio) about some other video ideas that she has which are creating a promotional video about UFC Virtual along with Proativa. We planned on creating more videos for the module next week. We also talked about creating a video about education in Brazil and what it is like to be an intern here and the experiences of those who went to Georgia.
terça-feira, 12 de junho de 2007
Tuesday June 12
I got started on and finished the revisions and translation for the video module. I contacted Natasha after I translated the introduction video. We set up a time to meet tomorrow at the studio they have. It is at a different campus than the normal one we attend. It is located in Benfica. I think that having a native face on the module will add a nice touch.
I also worked on incorporating more video into my lessons. I took a couple of steps back because I think I was crossing the copyright laws with the videos. Digital Juice lets you down load these quicktime segments, but in addition I was chopping them up and was going to add Portuguese voice over. I felt as though I was modifying the videos too much. I feel that it was a good stop though. I can still use the clips when I teach the class, but it might be too cumbersome using them for the online portion. Still images would show the concept just as easy. Sometimes fancier isn't always better. Internet connections aren't that fast here either. I also felt that since we were going to be at the studio tomorrow that I could create some of the examples on my own. That way we would have full copyright.
I also worked on how to divide the class topics. I had previously decided this, but talking with Aires yesterday I felt that I could make some changes in organization, especially for the online version. I split up video techniques into 3 sections of position and movement, composition, and lighting. Those will be followed by storyboarding, capture and editing.
I also worked on incorporating more video into my lessons. I took a couple of steps back because I think I was crossing the copyright laws with the videos. Digital Juice lets you down load these quicktime segments, but in addition I was chopping them up and was going to add Portuguese voice over. I felt as though I was modifying the videos too much. I feel that it was a good stop though. I can still use the clips when I teach the class, but it might be too cumbersome using them for the online portion. Still images would show the concept just as easy. Sometimes fancier isn't always better. Internet connections aren't that fast here either. I also felt that since we were going to be at the studio tomorrow that I could create some of the examples on my own. That way we would have full copyright.
I also worked on how to divide the class topics. I had previously decided this, but talking with Aires yesterday I felt that I could make some changes in organization, especially for the online version. I split up video techniques into 3 sections of position and movement, composition, and lighting. Those will be followed by storyboarding, capture and editing.
segunda-feira, 11 de junho de 2007
Monday June 11
I dove into the video file format research again. I had more success. I found freeware programs such as Super and TMPEG. Super converted the .avi file into .mov, but Cinelerra didn't seem to like it. TMPEG converted it to an mpeg1 file and neither program liked it. I went to my resource bag and contacted Greg Francom of the Instructional Technology department. I remembered he is very good with video and might know. He gave me the URL http://media-convert.com/converter/.
This site allows you to upload your file and convert it to whatever file type you want. They literally have every kind of format there is and it is free. After the file is converted, you can download it again and also having access to it on the internet for 24 hours. You can upload file sizes of up to 125 MB which is perfect for what we need. I took a small .avi clip and converted it to .mov and tried it in Cinelerra and it worked! That should take care of what we need. The students or teachers wouldn't need to download any program, it is right there on the web and it has a translated page in Portugal Portuguese, which is close enough. This made me grateful for contacts and using outside resources.
I also met with Professor Aires and another student, Natasha. We reviewed the flash video module that I have been working on. Aires gave me some suggestions to improve the presentation of the text and asked me to make the changes. Coray McClellan had created a video as an introduction and they felt it was useful to have, so Natasha suggested that we create one using a Brazilian student. I thought that was a great idea. I now have to get the text and translate it. Aires also decided to push the course back to maybe a week long, more intensive course. He also wanted more time dedicated to making it an online cars.
This site allows you to upload your file and convert it to whatever file type you want. They literally have every kind of format there is and it is free. After the file is converted, you can download it again and also having access to it on the internet for 24 hours. You can upload file sizes of up to 125 MB which is perfect for what we need. I took a small .avi clip and converted it to .mov and tried it in Cinelerra and it worked! That should take care of what we need. The students or teachers wouldn't need to download any program, it is right there on the web and it has a translated page in Portugal Portuguese, which is close enough. This made me grateful for contacts and using outside resources.
I also met with Professor Aires and another student, Natasha. We reviewed the flash video module that I have been working on. Aires gave me some suggestions to improve the presentation of the text and asked me to make the changes. Coray McClellan had created a video as an introduction and they felt it was useful to have, so Natasha suggested that we create one using a Brazilian student. I thought that was a great idea. I now have to get the text and translate it. Aires also decided to push the course back to maybe a week long, more intensive course. He also wanted more time dedicated to making it an online cars.
Saturday June 9
I spent about four hours importing the video segments into iMovie and exporting them. There is a little loss in video quality since the clips were already at a low resolution, but I think they are still good enough to be used.
Friday June 8
I've already mentioned the website digitaljuice.com. I reviewed over twenty training videos of the many that are on that site. They do a really good job explaining basic principles to basic filmmakers. I found about fifteen that I thought could help. The only problem is that they are in English. I went through and marked the segments in the videos that I found useful. I will extract them and make shorter clips that contain the examples I want. Each video runs about 7-10 minutes. That is too much time to just have a link to the video. The examples that I found were lighting, camera angles, creating simple sets, and depth of field.
I had to test out the depth of field to make sure it worked with digital still cameras. I used my wife as an example. If you zoom in the shot the background becomes small. If you zoom out and move closer to your subject the background is larger. It works the same and was something new to me.
I had to test out the depth of field to make sure it worked with digital still cameras. I used my wife as an example. If you zoom in the shot the background becomes small. If you zoom out and move closer to your subject the background is larger. It works the same and was something new to me.
Thursday June 7
Today was actually a holiday and the school was closed. I spent half of the day translating and reviewing the first two lesson plans for the video course. I really feel that I need lots of examples on filming techniques since the students will not have access to good equipment. They can still make their shots interesting and add lighting to their shots.
Wednesday June 6
I have come the ends of my rope trying to find a way to import files into these editing programs. I found out that other people have had the same question I have, and that Kino doesn't accept anything but Raw DV files. Later releases might include other formats.
Cinelerra does accept jpeg, and other video files but not .avi. Of course that is the format that most digital cameras use. I learned that in Cinelerra, imported jpegs enter in as one frame so you have to expand the time line. I spent a long time wondering where my jpegs were ending up. It seems as though hair-pulling problems end up with a simple solution. Now I am one step closer. My research came to an abrupt end when the energy went out again, but this time for a couple of hours. The other students joked that someone turned on the coffee maker and there went the power. It was just the outlets and not the lights. It must have overloaded somewhere. This ended everyones work.
Cinelerra does accept jpeg, and other video files but not .avi. Of course that is the format that most digital cameras use. I learned that in Cinelerra, imported jpegs enter in as one frame so you have to expand the time line. I spent a long time wondering where my jpegs were ending up. It seems as though hair-pulling problems end up with a simple solution. Now I am one step closer. My research came to an abrupt end when the energy went out again, but this time for a couple of hours. The other students joked that someone turned on the coffee maker and there went the power. It was just the outlets and not the lights. It must have overloaded somewhere. This ended everyones work.
Tuesday June 5
The first part of the day I spent finishing the Philosophy section. It consisted of two topics. It wasn't as engaging as the math courses. All the content I was given was text and a link for a forum. I tried to find interesting pictures to go along with the content. I went to photo stock exchange at sxc.hu. The photos there are usually of good quality and most of them don't have an difficult restrictions. The language was definitely a barrier on this project. I spent a lot of time looking up philosophy terms. Some words are close, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't making any errors with the content and matching images.
The second part of the day I spent on the video editing programs. I am having troubles finding a conversion tool since Kino won't except .avi format, nor will Cinelerra. I have done a lot of research on the topic. The energy in the room went out for about an hour. That slowed everyone down.
The second part of the day I spent on the video editing programs. I am having troubles finding a conversion tool since Kino won't except .avi format, nor will Cinelerra. I have done a lot of research on the topic. The energy in the room went out for about an hour. That slowed everyone down.
segunda-feira, 4 de junho de 2007
Monday June 4
I started working on another online course. I was given a course section in Philosophy. This proved more difficult than math. I can see how they say math is the universal language. Having to read through the text in Philosophy and decide how to split the content was difficult. What I tried to do first was to find pictures that went with the content. I also started to design a title image.
I also worked with Cinerrela and Kino. These Linux programs are difficult. Kino is very basic, but I was unaware that it only accepted captured video. I was unable to import any quicktime or jpg files. I didn't have a Linux computer before I arrived and the site didn't say anything about limitations on what you can import. Cinerrela has a high learning curve. It handles like Adobe or Final Cut, but the options aren't very intuitive. I think I will offer the students to use either or. It might prove difficult if we can't import .avi or .mov files.
I translated part of the video module that I will use in the beginning of the course. It was created by Coray McClellan and Kurt Taylor. They gave me permission to adapt it to my class. It has camera principles that are illustrated very well.
I also worked with Cinerrela and Kino. These Linux programs are difficult. Kino is very basic, but I was unaware that it only accepted captured video. I was unable to import any quicktime or jpg files. I didn't have a Linux computer before I arrived and the site didn't say anything about limitations on what you can import. Cinerrela has a high learning curve. It handles like Adobe or Final Cut, but the options aren't very intuitive. I think I will offer the students to use either or. It might prove difficult if we can't import .avi or .mov files.
I translated part of the video module that I will use in the beginning of the course. It was created by Coray McClellan and Kurt Taylor. They gave me permission to adapt it to my class. It has camera principles that are illustrated very well.
sábado, 2 de junho de 2007
Friday June 1
Someone with more Linux knowledge helped me install the two video editing programs. Watching what this person had to do to install made me very grateful for my OS X operating system. I reviewed each program.
Kino is a very basic video editor and reminds me of Mac's iMovie. There aren't a lot of options as far as tracks and visual effects. This might be the better choice for beginning video editors. One downside is that it is all in English. Not too much of a problem seeing Brazilians are used to that.
The other, Cinerrela, is a more complex package. A nice feature was that it converted all text to Portuguese. It has many capabilities such as multiple timelines, text editor, and sound editor. I was slightly confused by all the features, and I'm used to video editors.
My time was cut short when I had to give a presentation on the Instructional Technology program at USU in one of Professor Aires courses. I handed out pamphlets that I had brought with me and created a power point presentation. I have gotten better with my Portuguese, but I got a little nervous giving the presentation and my tongue didn't cooperate as much as I would have liked. But I felt the presentation went well and the students enjoyed it. The presentation was fairly basic and took about a half an hour including questions. The power point can be found at http://www.ncsanders.com/files/inst.ppt. The students were interested in USU, but were very intimidated with the cold weather, especially from the looks of the small pamphlet.
Kino is a very basic video editor and reminds me of Mac's iMovie. There aren't a lot of options as far as tracks and visual effects. This might be the better choice for beginning video editors. One downside is that it is all in English. Not too much of a problem seeing Brazilians are used to that.
The other, Cinerrela, is a more complex package. A nice feature was that it converted all text to Portuguese. It has many capabilities such as multiple timelines, text editor, and sound editor. I was slightly confused by all the features, and I'm used to video editors.
My time was cut short when I had to give a presentation on the Instructional Technology program at USU in one of Professor Aires courses. I handed out pamphlets that I had brought with me and created a power point presentation. I have gotten better with my Portuguese, but I got a little nervous giving the presentation and my tongue didn't cooperate as much as I would have liked. But I felt the presentation went well and the students enjoyed it. The presentation was fairly basic and took about a half an hour including questions. The power point can be found at http://www.ncsanders.com/files/inst.ppt. The students were interested in USU, but were very intimidated with the cold weather, especially from the looks of the small pamphlet.
Thursday May 31
This morning I finished course 4 and sent it off to Ofelia. She approved it and sent it to the professor for final approval.
I had to get Linux installed on my computer so I can prepare for my video class. I downloaded the programs Cinerrela and Kino to experiment with. I had a hard time installing the programs and went through some tutorials on how to work in Linux. I wasn't very successful but learned a lot. I have never used the Linux platform.
I had to get Linux installed on my computer so I can prepare for my video class. I downloaded the programs Cinerrela and Kino to experiment with. I had a hard time installing the programs and went through some tutorials on how to work in Linux. I wasn't very successful but learned a lot. I have never used the Linux platform.
Wednesday May 30
I met with Ofelia first thing in the morning. I was confused about how to communicate the layout. I find it difficult because I'm used to receiving materials and creating the online portion myself. Ofelia went over course 3 with me and I understood exactly what they were talking about. Course 3 was finished and sent off to the professor. I started course 4 and had Ofelia double check my work and I was on the right track.
Later that afternoon, I met with Henrique. We are working on a videoconferencing project together. Our assignment was to create a topic for a course on video communication. He wrote about the hardware and I wrote about the software. We sat down and combined our parts and make final adjustments before emailing them off to another colleague who is designing the course. I will post the final draft later when I receive it back.
Later that afternoon, I met with Henrique. We are working on a videoconferencing project together. Our assignment was to create a topic for a course on video communication. He wrote about the hardware and I wrote about the software. We sat down and combined our parts and make final adjustments before emailing them off to another colleague who is designing the course. I will post the final draft later when I receive it back.
Tuesday May 29
Today I worked on the mathematics courses. I had submitted course number 3 to Ofelia, who I report to for these courses, and I wasn't quite getting what they were looking for. I had misinterpreted some of the directions I was given. Ofelia didn't have time to go over the changes with me, so we planned on Wednesday.
I went through the material trying to understand it better. I think I misunderstand their layout directions. I finished transferring content for the pdf's and called it good for the day.
I went through the material trying to understand it better. I think I misunderstand their layout directions. I finished transferring content for the pdf's and called it good for the day.
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