looking forward

Harkening back to an old post (old?  All of my posts are old – that’s what happens when you don’t do anything for a year).

In my new role, I have been required to do some screen captures.  Late in 2007, this topic seemed to be the big issue – everyone seemed to be talking about screen captures, and enjoying a good ride, I jumped on that band-wagon.  In Nov ’07 I talked about Camtasia Studio (v3 from memory). 

I now find myself revisiting this topic with some fondness as the program that I am currently using inspires only rage and frustration.  I am constantly amazed at what business will pay for a product because it looks nice and shiny.   It must have been one hell of a salesman who could sell this laborious cumbersome piece of flotsam and/or jetsam.

*Breathe*

*softly chant: “I am focused, I am centered.  I am focused, I am centered”*

OK, back again and calm again.  I know intellectually I am probably being unfair to this programme; I’m sure that it works nicely if you know how to use it, I’m sure its mother loves it, but I am not in the least bit a fan.   The time taken to complete a simple 1 minute demonstration is exponentially greater than the time taken to do the same in a program like Camtasia (I created my first demonstration in Camtasia in about 30 minutes.  A similar project in Epiplex (the package I am using) took nearly 4 hours).

The problem is that I am looking for a simple process capture package that is easy to use with a quality output.  Epiplex would appear to be a high end program that is apparently designed to do a lot more than I need it to do.  It’s like comparing Irfan View to Photoshop.  (If you don’t know, Irfan View is a very simple to use, basic graphic editor – if you haven’t tried it, I strongly suggest you check it out.  To my mind, for basic editing, there is no better product out there).

Looking into what is available today; I have found that Camtasia is still a strong contender, along with Captivate.  I am making a request to the powers that be for a new process capture package and have put these two up as the options. 

Let’s hope that my request is approved – if it’s not, beware of computers falling from high windows.

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It’s been nearly twelve months since I wrote anything – not only here, but anywhere (excluding, of course, that required by the day-to-day work tedium).

I thought long and hard about what I was doing last year and decided that I was writing a blog because I thought that I should.  This was no real motivation, so I let it slide.

So what’s changed now?  Perhaps nothing … perhaps everything.  While catching up on my feeds, which had become dangerously neglected, I felt the urge to revisit and see what was here.  It definitely needed some attention (still got to get to some of those photo links).  Added to that, it’s a new year, in a new job, with a new outlook.

I am still not sure what my motivation is, or if it’s the right motivation, but I’ll give it a go anyway.  Already thinking about what the next post will be; now that can’t be a bad thing.

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I spoke earlier about not being sure what my “voice” was on this blog.  I think I have come to a decision:  I’m letting go of all the pretence and seriousness.  I enjoyed the initial writing of this when I wasn’t trying to prove anything.  Instead I am going to try and find that light-hearted tone and just see where this takes me.  I was a lot happier with the results in the early stages (and a lot more productive too), and I am no expert, so why try to be?

This is not to say that I am going to try and make this into a comic blog (I know I’m not that funny), I’m just not going to take it all so seriously.  I want to have some fun.  Besides, I figure that this still fits the sub-title of this blog; “tentatve steps into web 2.0 and social networking”.  I’m still finding my way and I’m still experimenting.

…if life seems jolly rotten

there’s something you’ve forgotten

and that’s to laugh and smile and dance and sing”

Month Python’s “Bright Side of Life”

As the song says, “You’re gonna to trip stumble and fall”  After deleting the previous post (Online Tools vol 2) and rewritting it, and recreating the graphic in it, I have discovered that I really don’t know how to use the mentioned tool.

So, having some time on my hands and an overly developed stubborn streak I decided to keep trying.  I know that it can work, as the post I originally saw it on had a working graphic, and the ones created by me worked in the kwout website.  I think part of the problem lies in the fact that the edublogs site seems to be stripping the embed code out when I post (once again, probably something that I am doing).

After getting nowhere with this I did the next most obvious thing: I visited the kwout website and help blog … and found no help in the existing questions.  I’m still waiting on a reply to my question to them, so we will see how it turns out.

Anyway, to the point (yes, I do have one, and I will get to it, albeit in a long winded and rambling manner).  I have learned a valuable lesson here.  I got a little excited by the potential of the kwout system (tool? toy? call it what you will) because I saw some potential in its use.  What I should have done is to make sure that I knew what I was doing with it before I opened my mouth.  (Not bad for someone who a couple of posts back was bemoaning the fact that he overthinks things and never just acts.  Either I’m getting better at this or I don’t know myself as well as I thought).

So, it has been in my mind to take down the previous post until I figure out where I went wrong, but then I decided I should leave it up.  I need the reminder that I need to do my homework before I post anything – I don’t need to be an expert, but a passing understanding would possibly be of benefit.

Looks like 2008 is off to a flying start, which reminds me: Happy New Year to you all.

Originally this post was going to be on graphic editing, but I have just come across what could be a very cool tool.  Post Christmas and New Year, I have been trying to catch up on my RSS feeds while dealing with all the things that the Real World seem to throw in the way.

It was while reading through Scott McCleod’s blog Dangerously Irrelevant that I came across a post on Kwout (apparently pronounced “quote”).  This little tool allows you to take a screen shot of any webpage:

looking forward via kwout

The thing that makes this different to most screen captures is that the hyperlinks remain active within the image.

I’ll be honest here; I haven’t played very much with this (the above image is the only one I have made), but am already seeing any number of uses, especially in “how to” guides.

Time to go play …

edit: hmm.  Defintiely need to play a bit more: the links in the above image are supposed to be active.  Not sure what I did there.

This one seems to be the topic of the moment: screen casting software.  A lot has been said lately on this topic (for some great discussion on the merits of various products and their uses, take a look at Michele Martin’s Bamboo Project and Sue Waters’ Mobile Technology in TAFE). 

If so much is being said, why am I jumping in here?  Simple really – graphic work is something that I am reasonably comfortable with – not so much the video side of things, but I am not totally without experience.  Finally!! I am not the total novice.

The other reason that I am jumping in here is that the aim of this series of posts is to look at products that I hope to implement.  Screen casting is one that I have already used (albeit only in the last two or three days). 

So what am I using?  I started with Auto Screen Recorder, but jumped from there to CamStudio, which I really liked: it is simple to use and produces a quality product (and as an added bonus, it is free).  Last week Leonard Low posted on his mobile learning blog that tech smith were offering Camtasia Studio 3.1.3 for free, so of course I jumped in had a go of that as well.

Now I have to say that I love it!  It is a little more involved than CamStudio, but if you have a passing familiarity with MovieMaker, then the edit feature will present very little issue and a little experimentation will see you well on the way.  This is also where Camtasia has an edge over CamStudio: the ability to edit within the package. 

Using Camtasia for the first time, in under half an hour I had produced a 50 second video, with text annotations that will replace a seven page “how to” document. 

I may have become a little enamoured with this product: over the course of the day, on top of the day-to-day routine, I put together three other quick videos; another “how to” and two for a demonstration next week where I am not sure I will have internet connection.   The following are the demonstartion videos – apologies for the poor quality, but in the interests of download time, they have been saved in .wma format (smaller file size than .avi), but they will give the general idea.

 baccarat interaction example 1

baccarat interaction example 2

If truth be told, I have spent a fair amount of time looking for other videos that I can make.

Definitely having a little too much fun here.

_{edited 4th Dec 2007: video upload.}

Last week I posted that I was having problems coming to terms with my apparent (OK, let’s be honest here: complete) lack of activity when it came to blogging.

Jeanette (of From the Principal’s Desk)  left the comment that:

It doesn’t surprise me that you’ve struggled with your perspective on blogging, as I suspect any thoughtful blogger likely has done so. It’s a tool, and like any tool, there are times blogging will be useful, and times it won’t.

I started to reply to this, but after my reply started to ramble a bit, I thought to myself, “here’s your opportunity – this is where posts come from!”  (I know – slow off the mark, but I am getting there).  So please indulge me here while I divert from my original plan of looking at e-tools.  After all, isn’t that the benefit of blogging?  It’s dynamic. 

Anyway, I think I have figured out what my problem was/is.  I don’t know what I want my ‘voice” to be.  When I started, it was just an experiment – I was playing, so the tone was very light.  As I started to take the process a little more seriously, the tone subtly changed.  I’ve been looking over the vast list that is my previous posts and I can see the change. 

So, as I see it, I now have two key decisions to make: what is that I want to say, and how do I want to say it?

The first question is easy: I have no idea, but the ideas will come, of this I have no doubt, but the second is the difficult one.  I can tend to be a fairly serious person by nature, with a natural propensity to over think just about everything, but I also try not to take it all too seriously.  After all, as the man said, “no-one gets out alive”. 

Perhaps the best option is to just write and see how it turns out? 

After all, it’s just possible that I’m just over thinking all this.  May have to ponder that one for a while.

I’ve been sitting here for the last two weeks thinking that I really should write something here: 6 post in 7 weeks.  Hardly what I would call a committed attempted at getting involved in the whole blogging process, especially when you consider that all 6 posts were written in the first 4 weeks.  Now math ain’t my strong point (and after that phrase, apparently neither is English), but that means that I haven’t touched this in nearly three weeks.

I know that commitment and tenacity are required to get into the flow of things, but the simple reality is that I had nothing to say.  Now don’t get lulled into a false sense of security here: that point is not intended to imply that I now have something to say.  If that’s the way you read it, then as Wesley said to Indigo, “Get used to disappointment”. (Sorry, we watched The Princess Bride with my niece over the weekend).

I have been torn (resisting the temptation to hum; annoying tune stuck in head now! Not happy!) as to whether I should write something for the sake of making a post, or I should hold true to my belief that if you have nothing to say, stay silent. 

What’s that?  Do I hear someone yelling “Sell Out!”?  Well actually, no.  This post is not just for the sake of posting.  It is for the sake of posting as well, but not just for the sake.  Think of it more as an introduction. 

An introduction to what?  More pointless and senseless rambling?  Well actually, more than likely, yes (why stop now?).

Over the last few months I have had the opportunity to look at any number of new tools (new to me anyway – apparently some of them have been around for quite a while) and I have had the “kid in a candy shop” sparkle in my eyes: so many to choose from. 

I have been looking at things with an aim to incorporating into our training packages, and the time has come. Its time to choose (or at least start thinking seriously about it).  So I’m thinking that I will use this forum as a space to ponder out loud how I am going to do this: hence the introduction point (I know, it took a while, but at least I got there).

So strap yourselves in kiddies, we’re in for a wild ride!! Or possibly a quiet meandering stroll?  It could go either way, but the smart money is on the latter.
 

No, I am not trying to be ironic with that title, and yes, I do see the incongruity in someone who has done this for only a month giving advice, but here’s the thing: who better than someone for whom the whole experience is so new that they still experiencing the full gamut of emotions?

Actually, I was reading Michele Martin’s The Bamboo Project  blog last night and she asked the following question:

What Advice Would You Have For a New Blogger?

The essence of which was the following questions:

I’d like to hear your advice for new bloggers.

• What tips do you have for getting into blogging?
• What should new bloggers be doing to get the most out of the experience?
• What challenges did you face as a new blogger and what did you do to overcome them?
• What thoughts do you have on the best ways to ease into blogging?

Read the whole post here   

The following is my reply to her, with some edits 

What tips do you have for getting into blogging?

I’m in two minds here; it’s either don’t, unless you have something to say, or jump in the deep end and see where it takes you. I think I’m leaning to the “don’t” theory. My reasoning here is that unless you feel that there is some value in what you write, that will generally show through.  (”What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.” Samuel Johnson).  Additionally without some purpose, disillusionment will not be far behind.  I jumped in, thinking it was something that I should try. Thankfully, I had some very supportive people to help me.  My initial posts were written on blog within the eTools and Tips for Educators community  which brings together some very skilled people; people who are willing to try new things, and offer assistance to those who are trying.

What should new bloggers be doing to get the most out of the experience?

When I figure that one out, I’ll let you know – I’m kind of new to this myself. 

What challenges did you face as a new blogger and what did you do to overcome them?

• Content. I have problems coming to terms with the fact that what I am thinking/writing will be of interest to others. The reality is that sometimes it won’t be – deal with it. But at other times, you will hit on a topic that, for one reason or another, will generate interest.
• Length. I have had to restrain myself at times to prevent rambling for too long. I was given some good advice by Sue Waters  – break it up into a number of posts (sorry Sue – I know this has gone way over).

What thoughts do you have on the best ways to ease into blogging?

• Be realistic – you are not going to have a huge reader base when you start. Tenacity is required. Keep at it and ensure that you are writing for yourself, but write as if the world were reading it.
• Be honest – if you don’t subscribe to a point of view, don’t write it.  Don’t set yourself up as an expert (unless, of course, you are). 

In all honesty, this could go on for pages, but I think in comes down to 3 simple points:

• believe what you write – it will show
• write for yourself, but in a manner fit for a world audience
• don’t write for the sake of writing, have a point or agenda

“Lead by example”.

 “Do as I say, not as I do”.

We’ve heard these quotes a thousand times and as much as we aspire to the former, how often do we fall into the category of the latter?

A large proportion of people that I have trained have commented on how terrified they were when they had to perform in the role for real: the gap between simulation and reality is vast. The advice given in each case is to remember that fear, not to fall victim to it, but to remember it.

One of the harshest accusations levelled against experienced staff and supervisors is that they cannot empathise with new staff: they have forgotten what new staff are going through. In essence, they have forgotten where they came from.

I make no secret of the fact that I am new to a lot of these ‘new’ social networking tools: up until a few months ago, I had only the vaguest idea of what web 2.0 referred to. I am in the same situation as those trainees: it’s a big world out there and I had no idea just how big it was.

In response to an earlier post, Sue made the comment that “the good aspect of extending ourselves is to remember how confront[ed] we feel when we do this – so that we can relate to how our learners might feel.“

Can we ask that our trainees/students utilise tools that we ourselves are too afraid or self-conscious to use and actively demonstrate?

Now that would be poor practice.

At least for the moment, its easy for me to remember where I came from: right here, right now, and the view is glorious.