learningIT

Livebrush is a free drawing application but a download and install is required. My abstract image above was created in about 3 minutes.

It employs an easy-to-use brush tool that reacts to your gesture. By combining simple motion controls with brush styles, Livebrush offers a fun and unique way to create graphics.

At times I felt like I wasn’t in control but I must admit it was pretty fun. Here’s an introductory video below.

(special thanks to this amazing guy for the find!)

Thanks to Video in the Classroom where I discovered One True Media. It allows you to mix photos and videos into slideshows. Themes are provided with some special effect tools as well. As slick as Animoto but some of the themes may become tiresome after a few uses (it also adds extra length to your slideshow). It’s web based so no need to worry about Mac or PC. The only gripe I have is that it didn’t handle portrait sized photos well. A lot of mine were cut off. Perhaps there is a settings option for this? I have embedded my trial below (or click here).

I have also blogged and compared other photoslideshow tools here that may be of interest as well.

P.S. Do readers know if Animoto has taken down their educator’s pass? I can’t seem to find it on their site. UPDATE: here it is

File2.ws may be of interest to both teachers and students as an alternative way to showcase student/teacher work.

File2.ws is a free website that converts any of your own files into a public online web page. Every converted file to a web page has a unique web address so you can share it with friends, or other people on the internet. This allows information to be shared quickly and efficiently to a large audience.

Some interesting stuff I found surfing around and some via Twitter (I can’t remember what by whom, but thank you and sorry for not referencing):

Do you use Skype? Check out TinyChat. “Peer-to-Peer chat service that allows you to set up a one-on-one conversation with a friend in literally seconds. No plug-ins, no software, not even a username required. The only thing you literally have to do is pick a URL for your video on the p2p.tinychat.com domain.” (via Mashable)

TubeChop allows you to easily chop a funny or interesting section from any YouTube video and share it.

At fontcapture.com you can create a font from your very own handwriting. There’s no software to download and install, all you need is a printer and a scanner.

FrameByFrame “…lets you create stop-motion animation videos using any webcam/video camera connected to your Mac, including iSight. Just take some pictures and in a matter of seconds you’ve got your very own stop-motion Quicktime movie!” A freeware alternative to iStopMotion, but installation required.

I am really loving this little application and not just because it is free (download and install required). I’ve had it a while now but haven’t gotten around to using it. My loss. NameChanger is designed for the sole purpose of renaming a list of JPG files effortlessly. I love it to keep my photo library organised via titles, which makes it easier to do searches. Sure, iPhoto has a batch change option, but when I drag the photo to my desktop or send it as an attachment, it annoyingly reverts back to IMG3354.JPG. With NameChanger, I no longer have this problem. I was going to make my own tutorial but macintoshtipz has done a pretty good job. See it in action below.

As mentioned in his tutorial, it is better to change the name before importing into iPhoto. However, your camera may be set to import directly into iPhoto automatically. If so, create a folder on your desktop. Drag your photos from iPhoto into this folder, then delete the photos from iPhoto, NameChange them and re-import.

*Don’t forget to empty your trash from iPhoto. A lot of people don’t realise to do this!

We are a Mac school. Some students are not. We use both Keynote, PowerPoint as well as other options. Another one has caught my attention. 280 Slides looks like it was made for Mac, but is actually web based. It’s free but requires you to create an account to save. It looks and feels similar to Keynote and has a clear and user-friendly interface.

When finished creating your presentation, you may download it as a PowerPoint, PDF or as an Open Documet file. Heck, you could even simply leave it online. Share features allow you to publish to Slideshare, email and embedding. It’s worth a look. Quickly are the days going when students will no longer be able to say “I don’t have that (software) at home.” I am continually amazed at how much stuff is entering the cloud. Can’t wait for the day when all I need is a wireless keyboard and my TV to do everything.

You may also be interested in Presentation Skills.

Bored of PowerPoint/Keynote? Try presenting with these tools instead.

I have been playing around with WallWisher. It’s like an online notice board to keep notes, to-do-lists and announcements. I am wondering how to use it creatively in the classroom. Collaborative brainstorming, evaluations or shared note-taking may work. What I like about it is you can also post videos, photos and may rearrange the notes too. You can view and add to my example below or by clicking here.

Here’s a tutorial if interested:

From the web:

Back to School: 10 Terrific Web Apps for Teachers (via Mashable)

Aardvark: Need a fast answer from someone who knows what they’re talking about? Aardvark discovers the perfect person to help with any question in minutes.

Storybird: Collaborative storytelling for families and friends

TuxPaint is a free drawing program for children ages 3 to 12 (for example, key stages 1 and 2). It combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who guides children as they use the program.

ToonDo

I love sharing stuff like this. When I meet “tech people,” I like to ask them for similar recommendations. Here’s my list of productivity tools I can’t live without (and most of the stuff is free too):

Skitch: 1-click uploading of images for fast and fun image sharing. Draw on a blank canvas, take a screen snap and then label or highlight areas in the photo. Useful for creating “How to” sheets. I also use it for drawing classes and use it to record what I am drawing on my screen to make tutorial videos.

Vi.sualize.us: Photo bookmarking made easy. I use this with my art classes. How? I create useful tags and then embed the URL on our class webpage/wiki etc. View my account here.

Diigo: A powerful research tool and a knowledge-sharing community. Don’t just bookmark! Highlight the web! Add sticky notes too. Access and search your findings from any PC or iPhone. Create groups to pool resources for specific projects. (My Diigo name is elemICT)

Google Reader: Keep up with your favorite websites in one easy place. Make everything come to you.

PBWiki: Put all your class notes online for free (2gig limit). Why travel with binders of paper. At least use it as a backup in case of fire. I think I am up to five wikis now! View one of my examples here.

Animoto: Automatically produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your media. Free, fast and shockingly easy. I have blogged and compared photo slideshows before here.

TweetDeck or Twhirl: Both are fast and easy ways to connect with Twitter.

VLC Media Player: A highly portable multimedia player and multimedia framework capable of reading most audio and video formats (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, DivX, MPEG-1, mp3, ogg, aac …) as well as DVDs, Audio CDs VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

Stickies: Like Post-It notes and available on Mac computers.

Quicksilver: Free download for Mac. Find items on your computer and keep your dock tidy (or empty).

Screencasting: I use SnapzPro, I use and love ScreenFlow, but Jing is free for you. Record your computer screen.

MediaFire: I use this more with my friends than with my students. We use it to transfer/share/grab files from each other for free (100mb upload limit).

And of course, YouTube and Vimeo: both for finding resources and sharing vids. I use YouTube more for school and Vimeo for my personal stuff.

Interesting bits from the web:

Why Group Norms Kill Creativity from Psyblog:Research shows group members equate creativity with conformity.

Unique TV Series Episodes That Inspire Creativity from Smashing Magazine: In this article you’ll get inspiration from the area of creative writing in popular television series episodes from the past 40+ years, and we’ll discuss how the creativity achieved in these particular episodes can motivate all of us, as artists, to always strive to prevent our creations from being too normal and predictable.

Balance Life With the Media Diet Pyramid from Flowing Data.

Free Tools to Back Up Your Online Accounts from Lifehacker: Cloud computing means you can store your data in web applications and access it from any browser, anywhere—but that doesn’t mean you don’t need a backup plan. Safeguard your data when a storm’s a-brewing in the cloud with these tools.

15 Great Free Online File Sharing Alternatives from Hongkiat: Here are some free file-sharing sites we come to know and if you share files with friends or peers via Internet frequently, you might want to consider getting them done this way.

Free and Commercial Stock Photography Sites from Smashing Magazine: Here are a handful of sites to check out when considering the use of stock photography on your next project.