Screencasting

I'm cheating a bit. The screencast below is an old one I did for our Purchasing Office. I'm still waiting to get Jing reinstalled on my work computer following a "refresh." When you get "refreshed," you get a new computer and they move everything from your old computer to your new computer....except your programs. So, I'm cheating and using a screencast that I already did and not creating a new one for my course with Jing.

This was done using Screenr, which I like a lot. Unfortunately it stopped working for me at work. Of course the state doesn't support applications like Screenr, so they won't help me figure out why it stopped working. Enough of the mini-rant...onto my screencast:

Week 4: Materials, HTML and Prezi

Useful Design Elements from Chapter 3
As I build my training modules, I'll be incorporating peer review, case studies, discussions and brief presentations. Our agency intranet will serve as the hub and will include embedded YouTube videos and other required reading. I will use our ProBoards discussion forum for the discussions, peer review and case studies. We will probably use our Polycom videoconferencing system for the "in-person" sessions and possibly AnyMeeting, only if it makes sense. I hope that I'll be creative enough to design a useful project that requires collaboration so I can use Google Docs. It's such a great tool that I try to find reasons to introduce people to its power and effectiveness for document collaboration.

HTML
Although I am quite familiar with HTML (It's part of my job and I used to have a web design small business), I use Dreamweaver and it doesn't require extensive knowledge of HTML. I'll use Dreamweaver to post the syllabus and resources on our intranet.

Prezi
I am so glad to see, from my classmates' posts (1 and 2), that I am not the only one who gets slightly dizzy watching Prezi presentations. They can definitely spice up a linear presentation but I don't think linear is bad and too much spice ruins a dish. Screens of bullet points should be avoided; showing instead of telling should be encouraged. Spinning and zooming isn't the answer...in my humble opinion :)

Edited to Add: Lisa posted this comment, "Prezi doesn’t have to be used with lots of turning and zooming. You can use it to make a horizontal or vertical chart with different items, or anything else that’s a simple presentation."

I like this idea. In particular, I think it would make sense to review a diagram of some sort where you could start from a wide angle to see the big picture and then drill down to each section and review the details. I haven't searched the internet enough to see someone do this, but I'm sure they have. At some point, I'll take some time to play with it and see how this particular application would work.

I Love Google Reader

Actually I love all things Google! I can't remember where I learned about Google Reader and RSS but I've thoroughly enjoyed it for the several years that I've been using used it.

Suzanne Aurilio (one of our classmates :) mentioned in a recent post that she's "surprised the idea hasn't cught on in the mainstream."

She also said,

"Without RSS, I'd have to go to too many places. Without it, I wouldn't be able to keep up on trends in my field and the latest developments in the news and things that interest me."

I'm so with you Suzanne! I think the catch is that we're not mainstream. I don't think that mainstream American knowledge workers spend time keeping up with their field outside of work and they probably don't have the type of interests that draw them to learn in their leisure time. I admit, I truly believe that I have some form of Learning Obsessive Compulsive Disorder :) When I'm interested in a topic, I dive in head first and drown myself in information. I am an information junkie :) I learn so much through blogs and look forward to reading my Google Reader feeds several times a day. I can't wait to see what is waiting to inspire me and teach me. I don't think most people are like this.

I've spoken to several people over the years who have told me that they don't enjoy, nor do they "get" blogs. I can't even begin to wrap my mind around that because I've learned more from blogs than books over the last several years. I suppose you actually have to spend time surfing the web in a particular way to discover these gems. I don't know, but I sure am thankful for them and Google Reader.

This is an incomplete list of the folders I have set up in Google Reader. Since I read the articles frequently, there are other categories that aren't showing. I have it set up to only show unread posts. I have well over 100 subscriptions, but many of them don't update much. Every so often, I delete those that aren't providing me with much value. I'm trying to do this more regularly as I notice that I'm skipping posts. I'm doing this with Twitter too. Paring down so I have only the best for my reading pleasure :)