More Social Media Tools for your Classroom
In my hasty brain dump, I neglected to mention one of my favorite tools, the Flip Camera by Pure Digital. I guess I was more focused on free tools. The Flip Camera is available on eBay, walmart.com and from any number of outlets. It is a wonderful device because it allows you to record up to 60 minutes of video (depending on the version). It has a USB built in so you literally plug it into the computer. It also has editing software. When you see my clips on line, that’s the camera I’m using most of the time. Once I figure out how to disable the autoplay feature on Twitcam video, I may switch gears.
The Flip Camera does not allow you to plug in an external mic but it offers sound that will get the job done in close settings or places where the speakers are generating great sound. When I attended the Presidential Inauguration in January, that’s the camera I used.
For those who have the iPhone 3G, there is a video camera built in that allows you to skip the video transfer step. A reporter at CBS in Miami shot and edited a package using only iPhone video. No time for the quality discussion. That’s not my purpose here. My job is to let you know about resources. People are using them, you don’t have to do so. If you want to use a tool great, if not, great.
A tool for podcasting is BlogTalkRadio, Here’s their description on the website: “BlogTalkRadio is the social radio network that allows users to connect quickly and directly with their audience. Using an ordinary telephone and computer hosts can create free, live, call-in talk shows with unlimited participants that are automatically archived and made available as podcasts. No software download is required. Listeners can subscribe to shows via RSS into iTunes and other feed readers. Our network has produced hundreds of thousands of episodes since it launched in August of 2006.” I’ve had students cover sports stories using this tool. They could do play by play and provide analysis following the game.
Livestream and Ustream allow you to capture events live. Again, you can archive the clips. And you can use more than one camera. It is a great exercise to have students figure out how to cover an event using this technological tool.
They still need substance, historical data, etc. If they don’t read and research, they don’t have anything to share. The tools are just a way to reach people, to tell stories, to share information.
Other thoughts:
1. Have students Twitter or Facebook an Event
2. Students can use Coveritlive to cover a story and interact with their classmates in real time.
3. Promote your story or event on Twitter and Facebook, be creative but not annoying, track your success and write an article about it.
4. Partner with professionals, high schools or any other entity to enhance the learning experience, use skype, tinychat, coveritlive etc.
5. Have students create Tutorials on new tools they find. This is an invaluable resource for the masses who don’t know what they don’t know. It’s also a way for you, the educator to learn the tools.
Another point worth noting is that when you try something innovative, whether it fails or succeeds, you can get positive coverage about the experiment. When University marketing departments figure this out, some faculty will be encouraged to try more creative things. It’s crazy, but some failure sells, either the story about it or the lessons from it.
Good points, I think I will definitely subscribe! I’ll go and read some more! What do you see the future of this being?