One-to-One Training with Final Cut Pro

Apple offers a fairly cheap form of training - Apple's One to One - provided you pay $99 with a purchase of certain devices. These trainings aren't extremely conducive to learning when you and your "trainer" are constantly sidetracked by the random things happening around you. Being the oldest of five kids, I can tolerate a lot of distract while working, studying, reading, [insert additional focused activities]. But, it was busy in the Apple store today. So then, I heard my wife's name called - for some reason I cannot get my name to replace her name on my Apple ID - and I see an seasoned gentlemen approaching me realizing I was Mary. I signed up for Final Cut Pro today to and I wanted to get some basics, terminology, andAt first glance, I thought to myself how is this trainer Apple Geek (I mean genius) going to teach me anything. Then, to my surprise, he demonstrated how little I knew. I have put together quiet a few videos and a lot of them decent as an extremely-amateur filmmaker. I thought it was a worthwhile service, but the verbiage and subtle organizational techniques suggested were monumental moments during this session. He was clear and extremely patient. Overall, everything discussed in the initial session will provide the foundation needed to become a well-rounded instructional filmmaker. I say initial because I would like to return to discuss specific issues I have encountered, but I wanted a basic ground-up overview today with random pro-tips thrown in occasionally. With all eLearning developers, video editing skills even at their most basic levels are essential when designing and developing online learning materials. Am I looking to become a pro video editor, no. But, these are skills to sharpen as I create my own experiences with eLearning.

Pros

• Knowledgeable staff
• Great session
• Geared toward what you want/need
• Spent additional time talking with me away from the One to One area

Cons

• Start 5 minutes late
• Start to wrap-up 10 minutes early
• Other genius' just randomly interrupt
• Other clients eavesdropping and talking loudly around you

Possible Slides for an eLearning Project

So awhile back, I received funding to create a Mobile Media Production Studio, which allowed me to purchase items for students to create. And that's what they did. They created video and audio files using these tools but they didn't limit themselves to this bag of tools. Students learned how to use the items in this "production studio" effectively but teachers didn't fair so well. Many teachers didn't understand how all of the items within this kit came together to create some type of media. With students already using MacBook Airs, these items were meant to enhance their ability to create These items included:

1. Green Screen - to change the background
2. Snowball Microphone - to record quality audio compared to the internal microphone on a MacBook Air
3. iPod Touch - Video and audio recording with several different apps
4. External Hard Drive - Storage for students and teachers to transfer content between devices

The following template was created to demonstrate how the easy it would be to provide a simplistic explanation for how these tools can be used. Now, it's just a matter of filling in these empty slides and possibly adding other elements to the final product.

 

Trade Show at School

Playing with the latest version of Captivate, I decided to create an informational eLearning product for high school students. But, I wasn't too happy with the published results. The learning object takes too long to load. Why? Anyone have any suggestions for improving the time it takes to play the content?

Final Cut Pro - Video Creation

How can one measure Googliness? Do you have to become a Google Educator? Should a test measure your worth? Recently, I applied to be a part of the Google Teacher Academy, which normally takes place over the summer in at least one US location. I filmed random footage from classrooms over the last couple weeks and didn't really have an overarching theme in mind. Instead, I just filmed, watched a lot of other teacher's GTA submissions, and waited for inspiration to strike. At the same time, I learned a lot about Final Cut Pro in order to create this final product. To learn, I had to look no further than YouTube and Google searches to find the information I needed to put this video together. Training wasn't need. All that was need was search, trial, and error process. I filmed the footage, edited, and planned a short storyboard to construct the video.

My Inspiration

At first, I picture 2001: A Space Odyssey and heard a slow dwelling symphony, tympani banging in my head. I thought of B.G. (Before Google in the Classroom) and the evolutionary clip entitled Dawn of Man from the 1968 movie. Here is a shortened version of this clip with music and I thought it would be interesting to say nothing but instead have the music playing and showing differences in the classroom "then and now."

But I really just couldn't think of a great storyboard. I was stumped. Then, inspiration hit in the form of edited-for-television movie I happened to find on TV one night. The movie was a Will Ferrel movie, which was nothing like your normal Will Ferrel movie. In the following clip, from Stranger than Fiction, there is a lot of kinetic text/data and tracking text following his movement. I was really impressed with these effects but I didn't have much Data to share.

 

Instead, I focused on the silliness of narrating my GCT application. I don't like talking myself up or bragging about anything I do. I mostly focus on the incremental changes I make with little to no recognition. I put the teachers and students I work with first and share what they did rather than add myself into the mix. For me, I am not in teaching for awards and recognition. I am not trying to build a legacy. Acknowledging my British narrator was me poking fun of my bragging in the third person. With that said, I still share and connect with others in order to spread the "experience love." At the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, I would be honored to be considered Google Certified. And the reason I want to become a Google Certified Teacher is to better myself for my teachers and students. The trailer below does a decent job of summarizing how he interacts with the narrator, which is an extremely rare tactic used in movies.

 

My Equipment

Hardware

• Camera - Canon 60D
• Recording Device - Zoom H1N
• Guitar - Martin D-28

Software

• Video Editing - Final Cut Pro X
• Audio Editing - GarageBand
• Effects - Motion 5 Templates

My Application Video

Videos, Photoshops, and GIFs

Lately, I have been seeing a lot of animated GIFs being used to demonstrate certain tasks on the web. Because I like the simplicity and lightweight approach to creating a quick learning object, I figured I would try my hand at creating a basic one.

Google Forms - Customizing Forms

Since this was a new feature in Google Forms, I figured I would demonstrate how to customize the appearance of a Google Form using an animated GIF. This is a super easy process already, but I wanted to play around with this animated GIF concept with training materials.

 

Google Forms - Sending Forms

Here is a simple one without text or annotation displaying the steps for sending a Google Form via link. This one is a little longer than the other. Slowing down the process, but still looping the content repeatedly in order to provide learners with time to watch and then watch the steps repeatedly. I also played around with a different title. I think a title is helpful to let your learner know when the loop starts over.

 

Thoughts

GIFs are easy to create. Using Photoshop and other programs (like GIF YouTube or GIFLike) making GIFs easy and accessible to many teachers and learners. Here is a GIF created from a YouTube video entitled 360 Flip Super Slow Motion. This was a matter of seconds, which could be beneficial when creating a preview for a video you want learners to watch. This mini-clip could be used to entice them to watch the rest of the video.

    

It's something that can be made to "say" a lot in a short amount of time. It's just another great way to create media for learning and to me it has a lot of potential for creation.

Playing with Adobe Creative Cloud

Over the summer, my school system put together an eLearning conference for Northwest Indiana. I was part of the a three person team putting things together. As everyone else handled the analytical and logistical responsibilities of putting a conference together, I tried to focus my attention on developing my Adobe skills. I was glad to create the conference logo, work with the sign companies, develop the layout of the website, and create engagement tactics in the form of badges and levels for participants. It was a growth experience to say the least, and I was able to incorporate the use of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to create some of the following items displayed below. By clicking on any of the images below, you will be able to view the content and/or details more clearly.

Logo Work

All of these products were created using one of Illustrator or Photoshop. As an eLearning developer becoming familiar with these tools is essential for creating unique and eye-catching content. I'm not a pro, but I'm playing with these tools on a regular basis.

   

Marketing Images and Fun

These images were just fun and shared through Twitter. But, still another way to create and share content through another medium that all teachers should get to know. Becoming social media savvy is essential for a current teacher ready to reach their audience.

Conference Signs

This just one of the many signs I created to keep attendees informed at the conference.

engagED Conference Website

 www.engagednwi.com

Badges to Engage Participants

Levels to Engage Participants

Playing with Slide Decks for eLearning Templates

After reading a post by Tom Kuhlmann about creating eLearning templates from everyday inspiration, I started using PowerPoint and Keynote to create simple layouts/designs to help with eLearning projects. The following images are just a series of slide layouts I played with recently.

Mobile Media Production Studio Project

Extras

Reading, Creating, and Learning

I purchased a ton of eLearning books from Amazon and now it's time to read. I have read a couple of these since I ordered the books in April, but I have more to read and us a reference. But while reading, I have a general purpose to create practical eLearning courses, modules, or simple-one-time learning objects. Here is my excited Tweet and picture from when I received my Amazon order in April - ignore my mention of Amazon addiction. I just consider it my passion now.

An #Amazon addiction for #elearning pic.twitter.com/zOYUufK1Qw — Daniel Gibson (@hoosier_teacher) April 28, 2014

Fire, Phone, and Footage

Adobe Edge is something I want to play around with because of its ability to create flash-like interactions using HTML5 content, which makes its output much more mobile friendly. To start learning. I sat by the fire tonight, got eaten by mosquitos, started watching different video tutorials on YouTube, and I created a playlist to keep track of what I watched. Since I was all by my lonesome self, I was able to watch quiet a few videos and parts of other videos. Here's my playlist with an ever growing list of Adobe Edge and other eLearning Strategies I am researching. YouTube playlists represent a powerful and most likely overlooked informal learning tool. Here are my suggested playlist steps:

1. Make a list title representing what you want to learn
2. Watch videos for what is needed (don't have to watch an entire 58 minute webinar)
3. Re-watch procedures as needed.

Essentially it was easy as one, two, three learning with my YouTube teacher.

Edge Resources

This is just a list of sites I found while scouring the web.

• EdgeDocks
• Edge Tutorials from Adobe
• Adobe Know How
• Edge and Muse