Life-Long Learner

It has been a while since I last posted a blog. I’ve been busy preparing for the end of my ECMP 355 class. As I think back over the class, I can’t get over all of the new information that I learned: blogging, wikis, making videos, sharing resources, learning about new resources, and connecting with other educators. This is all thanks to Alec Couros and my wonderful classmates. I am truely honoured to be working with such amazing people.

Side note: If you get a chance, check out Alec Couros’s wiki. It is a wealth of information.

I did have a major frustration while working on a video project (beyond not having enough time to do all I want to do with my new found knowledge) – Windows Movie Maker.

It all started with our last Tech Task assignment, which consisted of each of us filming, editing, and posting a short video clip. I was very excited with the possibilities. I understood that all I needed was a camera (a digital camera would work) and Windows Movie Maker on my computer. I had both those items, so I was good to go.

My idea was to create a short clip on a community’s view of change in agriculture. Since I now live in rural Saskatchewan, I thought that this would be a learning experience for both myself and my future students. I interviewed ten people with clips of 2 to 20 minutes long. I cut out all the dead time and spliced each interviewee’s clip. All I had to do was drop them into Movie Maker, add text, transitions, music, and whatever else was needed.

Problem #1 – Movie Maker does not take .mov files (QuickTime).
Problem #2 – Upon testing a number of converter programs and finally purchasing one, I discovered that my files were not converting in sychn. My audio and visual were out by two seconds.
Problem #3 – When I tried importing the converted files to Movie Maker, I got a ‘no codec’ message.
Problem #4 – I tried downloading software to install a codec, but it didn’t work.
Problem #5 – After two weeks of trying to get this video project done, I still had nothing to present the day before it was due.

Solution – Pictures! I can import photos into Movie Maker.

So that is what I did. I created a movie called Top 10 Tips for Reading to Your Child (based on the information that I have under Family Literacy Philosophy).

As I worked through Movie Maker, I realized that it wasn’t as simple as I thought. I could not edit audio (note up and down texture of the audio and heavy breathing on occasion – though I do excited about reading to my child). Plus spacing out how much time I needed to speak during each part lead me to repeating the script many, many times.

Overall, it was an interesting and somewhat enjoyable experience. I can only hope that next time things will run smoother.

Feel free to check out my video at Top 10 Tips for Reading to Your Child via blip.tv:.

Have a glorious day.