This is the last day of class and we had to finish editing. I went over the titling with the groups that wanted to use it and it worked out. There were many different little problems that were just bugs in the program that we had to work out. The good thing is that the students never gave up. They were really excited to work with video it was new to them. All five groups finished their projects and were happy with what they learned. One of the workers at the CRP, Geny, asked if we had time to teach it another week to a different group. Unfortunately, we leave on Thursday and the class was as condensed as it was.
Geny told us that most of the teachers work three shifts; 7-11am, 1-4pm, and 7-10pm. Right now they are having their break between school years. To have teachers willing to take these courses and be excited about them during their break is fortunate.
All in all the class went well. I created a CD with all the course material with the editing software and other software reviews for them to copy. Geny said the content will add to other exsisting courses such as working a still camera and Photoshop.
If I could do it over again I would have done more in-class examples. The day I used the camera connected to the projector they came more alive. I would have also given them more home assignments composing pictures. I didn't realize that all of them had cameras. The class worked in the week time frame, but most of the students said they were afraid they would forget how to use Cinelerra. I told them to focus more on the video techniques because software changes, composition will stay the same. Also, more time would be beneficial to help them understand and retain the knowledge they acquired. Not being familiar with Linux or its programs took some time. Also trying to figure out how to create projects using digital cameras and not video cameras was challenging. Digital cameras come out in all different file formats. I also didn't have a situation where I could demonstrate the program using a projector. I think being able to do that first would make the transition easier.
I felt the class went well. Only three students didn't receive their endorsement and that was because they missed more than one class period. Lindsay and I sat with Geny and we reviewed how the class went and she was very positive about the results. I feel that this would be a good place to implement instructional design and create courses to help public education teachers learn technology. It is really needed.
sábado, 14 de julho de 2007
Thursday July 12
Editing is always hard to teach, I was a little nervous teaching it to adults in another language, with a program that I knew very little of. One plus side is that Cinelerra has an installation option to change the language to Portuguese. The students were impressed. It helped them feel more comfortable.
The class was in an open lab with other courses, so it wasn't the most ideal environment. It was loud and I have an accent. The first problem was converting file extensions. In my limited experience with Cinelerra I have noticed that it only works well with raw DV files or MPEG1. Two of the digital cameras had different extensions, .mov and .avi. I told them to use the media-convert.com to convert their files. I had used the connection at the university, so in my experience it didn't take as long. The connection here was incredibly slow so it didn't work as well. I ended up putting their files into iMove and converted them into raw DV.
The students worked in their groups and took turns working the controls. I was going to have them work on their own, but I noticed their confidence level was higher working with partners. Cinelerra has many bugs and many times their projects did funny things or they lost their files. I had to explain to them that this occurs not only in Linux, but with many professional editing packages. It was sort of good for them, because they had to go over the tools and processes several times.
Some unexpected errors I ran into were creating titles and exporting. After the class I played with it and got it to work. It doesn't work like Adobe or final cut. The exporting I had to set the project as either PAL or NTSC and it had to have audio. Otherwise, it kept giving me an error.
The class was in an open lab with other courses, so it wasn't the most ideal environment. It was loud and I have an accent. The first problem was converting file extensions. In my limited experience with Cinelerra I have noticed that it only works well with raw DV files or MPEG1. Two of the digital cameras had different extensions, .mov and .avi. I told them to use the media-convert.com to convert their files. I had used the connection at the university, so in my experience it didn't take as long. The connection here was incredibly slow so it didn't work as well. I ended up putting their files into iMove and converted them into raw DV.
The students worked in their groups and took turns working the controls. I was going to have them work on their own, but I noticed their confidence level was higher working with partners. Cinelerra has many bugs and many times their projects did funny things or they lost their files. I had to explain to them that this occurs not only in Linux, but with many professional editing packages. It was sort of good for them, because they had to go over the tools and processes several times.
Some unexpected errors I ran into were creating titles and exporting. After the class I played with it and got it to work. It doesn't work like Adobe or final cut. The exporting I had to set the project as either PAL or NTSC and it had to have audio. Otherwise, it kept giving me an error.
Wednesday July 11
Before I let all the groups out to film their projects, I reviewed their storyboards to make sure they understood the requirements and had something realistic to film. That was a concern I had coming into today and I have seen that in other classes I have taught.
The projects were fine and were mostly about the center we were at. One group decided to do one of the flee market. All the groups except for one used digital cameras with the video option. It is amazing how many people have digital cameras with how expensive they are here. Basically all their technology is expensive. The other group had a miniDV camera one teacher got from his school. Fortunately I had brought a firewire cord (don't ask me why I brought one, just did) and we could capture his footage onto my laptop. None of the computers had firewire ports. I was also able to teach him how to use it because he didn't have a clue. He seemed pretty determined to do video at his school and was excited to learn how to use it. From there we transfered the footage to the computer using a 1GB pen drive several times.
The groups spent the whole period filming. One group finished within a half an hour and I reviewed their footage with them. They didn't take time to do any composition so I asked them to think of other ways they could film what they did and also some ideas to add more interest with different angles. They were receptive and filmed some more.
We didn't get Cinelerra installed in the classroom that I wanted, but we were able to get it on some other computers in another lab. Linux has so many different versions that it makes things complicated. Free software is a blessing, but can also create headaches.
The projects were fine and were mostly about the center we were at. One group decided to do one of the flee market. All the groups except for one used digital cameras with the video option. It is amazing how many people have digital cameras with how expensive they are here. Basically all their technology is expensive. The other group had a miniDV camera one teacher got from his school. Fortunately I had brought a firewire cord (don't ask me why I brought one, just did) and we could capture his footage onto my laptop. None of the computers had firewire ports. I was also able to teach him how to use it because he didn't have a clue. He seemed pretty determined to do video at his school and was excited to learn how to use it. From there we transfered the footage to the computer using a 1GB pen drive several times.
The groups spent the whole period filming. One group finished within a half an hour and I reviewed their footage with them. They didn't take time to do any composition so I asked them to think of other ways they could film what they did and also some ideas to add more interest with different angles. They were receptive and filmed some more.
We didn't get Cinelerra installed in the classroom that I wanted, but we were able to get it on some other computers in another lab. Linux has so many different versions that it makes things complicated. Free software is a blessing, but can also create headaches.
terça-feira, 10 de julho de 2007
Tuesday July 10
The second day was far better than the first. We all arrived on time and I was able to have a little prep time before hand. We started out with a lighting exercise. We reviewed some video clips of lighting I had and read through the content. Then I sent them out with cameras to find interesting lighting in the building. They really enjoyed that and used some of yesterday's principles in the shots.
Next we reviewed editing. We went over the material and did a live practice with a camera connected to a projector. I had them cut between two actors talking.
The last topic was storyboarding. I had them split into groups and start thinking of ideas for a final project and to start storyboarding. I feel that I am a little ahead of schedule and hope I don't end a day early. But I have the feeling when the time comes to edit that they will get stuck and it will take a while.
I spent the evening making the course content into a printable version for them to download for future use.
Next we reviewed editing. We went over the material and did a live practice with a camera connected to a projector. I had them cut between two actors talking.
The last topic was storyboarding. I had them split into groups and start thinking of ideas for a final project and to start storyboarding. I feel that I am a little ahead of schedule and hope I don't end a day early. But I have the feeling when the time comes to edit that they will get stuck and it will take a while.
I spent the evening making the course content into a printable version for them to download for future use.
Monday July 9
This was the first day of class. To my surprise, there were about fifteen students in the class. They are all, with the exception of one or two, public school teachers. It was exciting and nerve wracking at the same time. We started out with some glitches. I was told 9am, Aires was told 8:30am, and the coordinator set it at 8am. Luckily, I got there at 8am to prepare and could get things going a bit, but it got me a little nervous. Not to mention some technology glitches. The internet cord had a short in it so I couldn't bump it. Two of the cameras had dead batteries. There wasn't anytime to charge them. I didn't have access to them so it was out of my control.
We covered the topics of Composition, Focus, and Camera Movement. We went through the material a little faster than I wanted to. Teaching in a different language is really difficult. I am amazed at how some professors are able to do it. It was a very good experience. The students were very receptive and enjoyed the topic. They were all new to video production.
Afterwards the coordinator informed me that it went well and that the students enjoyed it. My brain was fried and I wasn't as optimistic. As the saying goes, "we are our own harshest judges."
The remainder of the day was spent preparing for tomorrow and reviewing words I wasn't familiar with. I will try and to more demonstrations with the students tomorrow. Three hours of class time is a lot, so I need to be prepared.
We covered the topics of Composition, Focus, and Camera Movement. We went through the material a little faster than I wanted to. Teaching in a different language is really difficult. I am amazed at how some professors are able to do it. It was a very good experience. The students were very receptive and enjoyed the topic. They were all new to video production.
Afterwards the coordinator informed me that it went well and that the students enjoyed it. My brain was fried and I wasn't as optimistic. As the saying goes, "we are our own harshest judges."
The remainder of the day was spent preparing for tomorrow and reviewing words I wasn't familiar with. I will try and to more demonstrations with the students tomorrow. Three hours of class time is a lot, so I need to be prepared.
sábado, 7 de julho de 2007
Saturday July 7
Today was spent in preparation for the video class that starts on Monday. Natasha went through all the text and I had to add it back into the flash module and the site. I also went over my lesson plan for Monday and made sure I have all the resources that I need. I made adjustments to the site in SOLAR and added a course description and a class agenda.
Friday July 6
First, Lindsay I went over to the CRP to see the classroom where we will be teaching the video class. We tried installing the Linux video editor Cinelerra. I am not familiar with Linux so I had to rely on someone there do perform the installation. Unfortunately no one there was capable of installing it either. We spent a while trying to figure it out. I called Prof. Aires and we will get someone from the UFC to come down and install it Monday or Tuesday. I don't need it until Wednesday anyway.
Next we went to the Campus at Pici. I was still having difficulty exporting video from Cinelerra. It would be disappointing to create a project and not be able to export it. It took a while and I figured it out. If I load the .AVI files into media-convert.com and convert them to mpeg1, then they will import to Cinelerra without any problem. Then intead of export, I had to render the project into Raw DV files. This makes them compatible to show in Quicktime. It's a long process, but the best I've seen on Linux. Most of their programs have lots of bugs and crash quite frequently. It's been a challenge to create something with little resources, but that's the way life is usually.
Next we went to the Campus at Pici. I was still having difficulty exporting video from Cinelerra. It would be disappointing to create a project and not be able to export it. It took a while and I figured it out. If I load the .AVI files into media-convert.com and convert them to mpeg1, then they will import to Cinelerra without any problem. Then intead of export, I had to render the project into Raw DV files. This makes them compatible to show in Quicktime. It's a long process, but the best I've seen on Linux. Most of their programs have lots of bugs and crash quite frequently. It's been a challenge to create something with little resources, but that's the way life is usually.
quinta-feira, 5 de julho de 2007
Thursday July 5
I spent the day adding more content to the online course. I finished topics 6 and 7. I also made plans to go to the CRP tomorrow morning to check out the equipment. That is where I will be teaching the course. We will start installing the video editing software on the machines.
I also had Natasha go over the text for the course to correct any grammer problems. To see it go to ncsanders.com/Modelo.
I also had Natasha go over the text for the course to correct any grammer problems. To see it go to ncsanders.com/Modelo.
quarta-feira, 4 de julho de 2007
Wednesday July 4
Happy Fourth of July! We worked the whole day. The good side is that is was very productive. I worked on putting the video course online, adding pics, and making small changes. I uploaded it to my site. http://ncsanders.com/Modelo
I tried to make the pictures as diverse as possible. I added some that had Lindsay and myself because I couldn't find any other pictures that demonstrated the principle I needed. I was able to get some of other Brazilians.
PA also showed me a way to access the course on my website to SOLAR. It uses the URL from my site to call it up in SOLAR. I will upload the files before I leave so they will have the course.
I tried to make the pictures as diverse as possible. I added some that had Lindsay and myself because I couldn't find any other pictures that demonstrated the principle I needed. I was able to get some of other Brazilians.
PA also showed me a way to access the course on my website to SOLAR. It uses the URL from my site to call it up in SOLAR. I will upload the files before I leave so they will have the course.
terça-feira, 3 de julho de 2007
Tuesday July 3
Today my wife started her volunteer position at the SRE. I made my way to the SRE campus. Now that I have all the files and CSS, I started to create the online course. I added five different lessons and still need to add two more. They are a little rough and I will need to do some tweaking to make it more aesthetically pleasing.
I had decided to split the video module into sections to go along with each topic and then have a link that has the entire module on another part of the site. The module wasn't fitting correctly. It kept floating off the page every time we scrolled up. We had to add a transparent tag and also make the entire size about 50 pixels smaller. That worked just fine thanks to the help of PA. The problem baffled us for a while.
Like I mentioned above, I had decided to split the module so I had to slice it up in flash. It was fairly straight forward and only required minimal changes to the action script.
I had decided to split the video module into sections to go along with each topic and then have a link that has the entire module on another part of the site. The module wasn't fitting correctly. It kept floating off the page every time we scrolled up. We had to add a transparent tag and also make the entire size about 50 pixels smaller. That worked just fine thanks to the help of PA. The problem baffled us for a while.
Like I mentioned above, I had decided to split the module so I had to slice it up in flash. It was fairly straight forward and only required minimal changes to the action script.
Monday July 2
My wife and I went to the SRE for an hour this morning. She is going to start volunteering there until we leave. The SRE is a welfare service for the LDS church. They help people create resumes and prepare for job interviews. She will start tomorrow. They are always looking for volunteers. They have had interns their from BYU before. It might not be a bad idea for possible interns for Instructional Design. They offer many courses and are willing to work with people. It's worth looking into I think.
I spent the rest of the morning gathering more pictures for the course to go along with the content and translated some more text. I also went through the older text I had already translated and made corrections. I've remembered more Portuguese, enough to start understanding what I was saying incorrectly. I will have Natasha proof all the text at a later date.
PA showed me some more things with their code. Apparently there has been a problem with loading .flv files through SOLAR. That was scary because that is what I use. We figured out that if all the .flv files were embedded into a .swf then it could read them. I just couldn't insert them directly in the code. Or I could call the files from a different location. I will have to do both.
I spent the rest of the morning gathering more pictures for the course to go along with the content and translated some more text. I also went through the older text I had already translated and made corrections. I've remembered more Portuguese, enough to start understanding what I was saying incorrectly. I will have Natasha proof all the text at a later date.
PA showed me some more things with their code. Apparently there has been a problem with loading .flv files through SOLAR. That was scary because that is what I use. We figured out that if all the .flv files were embedded into a .swf then it could read them. I just couldn't insert them directly in the code. Or I could call the files from a different location. I will have to do both.
Friday June 29
I had to alter the flash file for the video module to insert the new videos. It was a little tricky the way it was set up, but I managed to get it done. In the composition section I added three buttons with their sections: Rule of thirds, Angle, Distance. The other videos will be added to the online course and not in the module.
I also had to translate some text I had for the lighting section for the online portion. I need to get all my content together so I can start building the course. PA (a students name) helped me get all the files and css code for putting the class online. They said I could create it any way I wanted, but I figured doing it their way would help the students be familiar with the environment and I could be sure that all the coding will be compatible with SOLAR, their management system. I don't want any glitches.
I also had to translate some text I had for the lighting section for the online portion. I need to get all my content together so I can start building the course. PA (a students name) helped me get all the files and css code for putting the class online. They said I could create it any way I wanted, but I figured doing it their way would help the students be familiar with the environment and I could be sure that all the coding will be compatible with SOLAR, their management system. I don't want any glitches.
Thursday June 28
We returned back to the campus at Pici. I went through all the footage and started to create the example videos. Some of the footage didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it. It is hard to direct someone when they are in control of the camera sometimes. A couple of times I didn't know how to express myself completely, but other times our helper wanted other shots and backgrounds. It still worked out though. I was able to take some still shots that I had taken with my digital camera that turned out nice and use them in the video. It worked out well. I added titles, but I still need someone to record audio. It would make a big difference.
Wednesday June 27
We met Natasha at the Campus Benfica. She introduced us to another student from the communications department that was going to help us. Edne had a fairly nice 3ccd JVC camera and tripod from the department. We discussed what types of shots we needed at locations that we could shoot them. We shot the footage in from of the president's building. We had several student volunteers to help with the example shots. The examples we created were:
1. High Angle
2. Low Angle
3. Rule of thirds
4. Using the zoom to distort distance
5. Creating edits and montages
Afterwards we went back to the school and captured all the clips to my computer. We didn't have enough time to have someone record audio, but that can wait.
1. High Angle
2. Low Angle
3. Rule of thirds
4. Using the zoom to distort distance
5. Creating edits and montages
Afterwards we went back to the school and captured all the clips to my computer. We didn't have enough time to have someone record audio, but that can wait.
Tuesday June 26
I finished the final Math course that Ofelia gave. It was another math history course. It had six topics, so enough to keep me busy for the the day. It is challenging to have to break up chunks of content. I'm not sure if the critical parts of the content are being stressed. For some reason the other students don't seem to feel that way. They correct my mistakes thankfully. It seems as though they could create a job aid for the professors to arrange their content. If they did that then it would eliminate three other student jobs and that probably wouldn't be good.
This is the last of these course content jobs. It has been interesting to say the least. I have learned a broad Portuguese by doing so. I know the designers face a lot of challenges from professors and receiving content.
This is the last of these course content jobs. It has been interesting to say the least. I have learned a broad Portuguese by doing so. I know the designers face a lot of challenges from professors and receiving content.
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