Multimedia Tools Wrap Up

Fifteen weeks of learning about Multimedia Applications & Tools in an online class is over. Now I move on into the real world of continued learning via practice and honing my skills. Here's an overview of what I know now that I didn't know before.

1. Multimedia applications are websites or online programs that do something. They often are used by a consumer to create something or assist them in some way. You will see text, images, video, audio and/or animation in multimedia applications. 

2. Legal Stuff. Copyright and fair use are necessary to understand, especially in the professional world of creative internet use. You can't steal other people's work and you don't want other people stealing your work. There are resources for "free" stuff online that you are allowed to use. And then there is "fair use" which basically says you can use some parts of some stuff in certain ways. Read this blog post for more information. 

3. Literacy isn't just about reading and writing anymore. The 6 new literacies of our modern world are: digital, media, social, digital safety, information, and visual. We must be literate in these areas to be successful in the world today. From promoting events to creating powerful (or hilarious) memes! 

4. Blogs, websites, and social media are becoming one in the same.  And they are all equally important and relevant to our world, especially in the professional realm. We were required to create this blog in this course and at first I hated it. I really wanted to write a blog about something that was relevant to my life, such as my spiritual journey. But, instead I was stuck doing this every week! Now that the course is over and I look back at all of my posts, however, I'm happy I did this because now I can go back and refresh my multimedia knowledge if need be. 

5. Design matters! I had to UNlearn everything I knew and relearn that LESS IS MORE. Don't use crazy fonts or colors. Don't fill every square inch - white space is okay! Keep it simple and to the point (utilize links). 

6. The cloud can be your best friend (or your worst enemy). The cloud is a place to store your files on another server. While this saves space on your personal device, you will have to keep an eye on privacy, bandwidth, and internet access availability. I personally choose to not place all my eggs in one basket.

7. Audio/Video (for beginners) can all be done from a smartphone these days, and usually done pretty well if you take advantage of free online tools like music and graphics. And then there are all the free apps to edit your creations like YouTube (video) and Audacity (audio).

8. CREATIVITY. Pretty much encompasses what this class, as well as the digital age, is all about. The sky is the limit and I've only scratched the surface. I'm excited to learn and grow in all of my creative digital endeavors.  

9. Presentations are all around us, though I don't think I ever quite noticed until this class. Yes, there are PowerPoints and Prezis. But there are also slideshows and videos.... and data visualization? Yep. I learned how to take that boring ol' data and make it exciting and fun! 

10. If I can do it, so can you. Probably the most important thing I learned all semester is that technology is only overwhelming because there are so many options out there. Just pick one (YouTube is a great place to start!) and try something new - you'll be amazed at what you can create with a few clicks of the mouse and a little creativity. 

There are plenty of ways to do things from scratch if you are ready to take on a challenge. But, there are also a lot of programs with templates already designed and ready for you to put in your pictures, videos, music, recordings, data, etc. and then it creates a work of art for you. I prefer those kind since I'm all about the shortcut! But, it is helpful to at least have a basic understanding of how to create multimedia from scratch. Below is my final project which encompasses a little piece of pretty much everything I learned this semester. I did this from scratch in a program called Wevideo using all of my own original photographs, a song that I downloaded for free from YouTube, and a voiceover of myself which I recorded into my smartphone and uploaded to my project. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Data Visualization Maps

Many stories can be told with data. Data can also inspire writers with new ideas to present to their readers. Data is really at the core of making what we present factual and encourages the reader/viewer to trust us and take us seriously -- which I personally know is what I'm hoping for when I present something to someone.

Here are some powerful links with videos and information that helped me understand how important data is in our world and why ALL people need it:

• The Age of Insight: Telling Stories with Data
• Powering insightful storytelling with Google data
• Google My Maps: Show where stories happen

Google is definitely a powerful tool that anyone can use with a little training. I was able to create an online survey using Google Forms (see last week's blog for more details about this process), take that data and pretty easily plug it into a Google map that can be shared with others. See the final result above of my map of favorite Vermont Tourist Destinations. It is an interactive map - click on the pins to see details about each destination!

I did a basic map without layers. I had a hard time creating another layer with the limited time-frame that I had. But I did attempt to do another layer of places to avoid in Vermont. The problem I had was that I had asked multiple questions on the same survey that I wanted to break up to use as layers on the map. It appears that I would have to do a separate survey for the data I would want to use in another layer of this map, if I wanted it to be "live" (update automatically as more people completed the survey). So, I'd have to do one survey of places people love, and another survey for places people don't like, which is what I would do next time. OR, I could create a spreadsheet from scratch and use that data on my map - but, it wouldn't be live and update automatically.

Here's some more links to additional info about forms, charts and maps 

• Google forms
• Making Live Charts
• Google Maps: How can I easily build a custom map for my website?
• Introduction to Google MyMaps

For even more advanced data visualization options, check out these links! Again, these options can make your visualizations "live" so they update automatically and stay current, which is very cool and cuts down on maintenance big time.

• Data Visualization: Fusion Tables
• About Fusion Tables
• Google Public Data Directory

I enjoyed doing this work this week. I will continue to play around with data visualization and use Google Forms and My Maps as tools to share data with others. For example, if I am working with my makeup clients and want to find out where their favorite places to shop for makeup is, I could do a survey and then share that map so we can all explore new options for makeup shopping! The ideas for how to use data maps is really endless! 

Data Visualization

Creativity Tools & Productivity Tools Combined

Data Visualization is an important part of our ever-changing, technical world. As Hans Rosling's son, Ola, stated in the TedTalk How Not to Be Ignorant About the World, "people love shortcuts." In other words, as professionals, activists, students and teachers, we need to learn to present data in a way that is not only engaging, but simple and straightforward. We don't have time to waste in this vast world of information! I know for myself, when I want to learn something new, I look for the quickest and most simple way of getting that information. So, how do we do that in the most effective way?

















The first part of creating data visuals is collecting the data. In the past, I have used SurveyMonkey to accomplish this. This week I tried out Google Forms to collect data, which was comparable for basic data collection needs. Here's my survey for women about how they feel about their makeup and their makeup application skills.

 
Now, if I was Hans Rosling, my data visualization from this survey might be as amazing as this:



This may have been created in a program similar to AnimaGraffs. At this time, I don't have the proper skills, tools or the time... or the data... to create something so fantastic. But, here's what I came up with using a very simple program - Google Slides!




Garr Reynolds discusses How to Present Data, highlighting the following criteria:

• Simple Design
• Basic Facts
• Use images
• Limit words

Here's some examples of what are considered Good Infographics. I found a lot of these to be too large on my screen, maybe if I looked at them on a phone, it wouldn't be so overwhelming.

There are lots of programs to create infographics with. You could make them from scratch in a program like Photoshop or PowerPoint. Or, you could use an online program that has lots of customizable templates to choose from. I would've preferred to use one of these programs, but after trying a few of them and not easily being able to make the adjustments that I watned to, I moved on to a simpler platform - Google Slides. But, given more time, I would love to get to know some of these programs better:

• Visually
• Dipity
• Easelly
• Infogram
• Piktochart

Before even getting started, it is important to think about WHY you are creating your infographic. In this article - 3 WAYS TO DESIGN AN INFOGRAPHIC THAT STANDS OUT FROM THE CROWD - they suggest using the "FIRED" method, which I found very helpful!

Fresh – How will your design stand out from the crowd?

Informative – Are you presenting accurate and intriguing facts?

Relevant – Does your information tell a harmonious story?

Entertaining – Is the viewer drawn in and excited to be a part of your story?

Different – Is your infographic new? Has it been done before?

I will consider these things in everything I am involved in, going forward - from my community service, to my career, to my studies. It is so important to present yourself and your ideas in an interactive, engaging, simple, and visually attractive way -- and there's plenty of online tools to help me achieve this! 

All About That Prezi

This week I got to learn all about Prezi - The innovative presentation tool that not only helps you create presentations but really helps you map out your own ideas so that they make sense! My son has been using Prezi for years in school and I am really trying hard to keep up with his technical knowledge. So, I'm excited that I finally got to catch up to him. 

Here's what you need to do

Get informed!

• Watch: Getting Started with Prezi 
• Also, visit Prezi's own support page with many tutorials to choose from! 
• Here's a video about how to add sound to a Prezi. Remember, there are many places online to get free music. Here's a few:
• YouTube Audio Library (This is where I got the music for my first Prezi)
• Free Music Archive
• Archive.org Audio

• And, here's another about creating charts in Prezi (This tool would've been so helpful in my last job where I had to do data analysis and write reports and presentations for my boss! Darn!)

• Read: Support Articles & Knowledge Base
• Explore some examples

Next, create a Prezi account

If you are a student with an college email, you can create a free Educational Account. If not, there are other limited free options available. 

Now, you can try it out!

A Prezi can be about anything - a project at work, an invention, data analysis, a new idea or concept that you want to present to someone, a timeline of historical events, a research topic, goals, plot for a story, outline for a blog post. This list goes on! It is a tool that is used to educate, inspire, and share ideas. I did mine about Jesus because I've been wanting to streamline some things I've recently been pondering about Him. This was really helpful!

Keep in mind the design elements that I've already shared in previous blog posts. The idea is that these presentations be simple and easy for someone to understand and retain. No need for unnecessary fillers - less is often more. I found that creating more "frames" helped to keep things looking simple. No need to try to cram a ton of info into one frame. I also used fun, energetic colors to try to keep my audience engaged and excited about the topic. Did it work? Here's my Prezi:

I would say that my biggest challenge in creating this Prezi was "mapping" out my order. I discovered after quite some time how to click on areas to create the map instead of creating a new frame from scratch each time. This project was time consuming, but now that I know how to do it, I will be able to whip one up fairly easily and really wow people with it! I may sign up for one of the pro accounts just to see what's available. This tool quite revolutionary! As a writer and creator, I value tools that help me organize my thoughts in a visually pleasing and productive way. Prezi does just that.

My First Prezi

Creativity on the Web

Presentations to Inform, Inspire or Educate

There are so many online tools that can be used to create and publish professional presentations online. Some of these include:

MoveNote

ScreenCastify

WeVideo

HangOuts on Air

Any of these programs will create a presentation that can be imported into YouTube for easy sharing on the internet. 

Presentation Tips

• Less is more
• Use font that is easily readable
• Don't use too many colors or crazy colors.
• Don't use clip art or any other cheesy design elements
• Keep the images/words minimal so that the focus is on the presenter
• Be passionate about what you present

For more information about how to make the best presentations, check out these helpful tips by Garr Reynolds: 

Top Ten Presentation Tips for Delivery

Top Ten Presentation Tips for Design

Presentation Zen Rubric

Using Google Slides to Create a Slideshow Presentation

This is the Google version of PowerPoint, but better, because you can invite people to join in and work on it with you. You can also use it in conjunction with Hangouts on Air (or other programs that allow you to share your screen) to record a live presentation! While you speak, you can share your slideshow with your audience! A very useful tip is to use the speaker's notes section at the bottom of each slide. When you present, you can read those notes while the audience watches the slideshow - they don't have to know you are looking at notes! With Hangouts on Air, the presentation automatically saves to YouTube, so you are ready to educate and inspire the world!

Here's my Google Presentation:

This was just an experiment, but it's good because now I know that I need a new webcam and microphone! The slideshow done on Google Slides came out awesome and I really enjoyed learning how to do this. Hangouts on Air, however, was a bit more challenging and I wasn't happy with the results. It seems very limiting, but perhaps I just need more practice. Overall, I know how important presentations are in our world where information is at our fingertips! So, I will continue to practice these skills and works toward more professional presentations in the future. 

Alright Stop, Collaborate and Listen

What is Creativity and Why is it Important?

According to Google, creativity is the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work. 

Creativity. Something I am all too familiar with. It can be a blessing and it can be a curse! Sometimes it is difficult to be a creative person in this society where creativity isn't always considered important, or at least not as important as academics. People who are highly creative are often considered weird, "out there", not intelligent, or even crazy! But what exactly is creativity? Why is it important? And most importantly, why should our society embrace creativity as a type of valuable intelligence?

In Sir Ken Robinson's Ted Talk "Do Schools Kill Creativity?", he claims that we are all born creative but that it is unlearned over time as schools reject our creativity in order to form what they feel is an "intelligent" human being. He claims that the most academically intelligent people, such as professors, don't pay attention to their bodies, but instead think of their bodies as a tool to carry their slightly-left-leaning-brains around in. Makes sense. 

Why would the establishment try to stop creativity? Because they don't view the arts as important. But the arts are what make the world go around. Therefore, this way of thinking about education needs to be overturned. Time for the creatives to fight back and prove that the arts are valuable, exciting, moving and needed.

One type of creative art, photography, can literally spark a revolution! 

We've seen this in history time and time again. Take a look at The Big Picture website to see beautiful collections of powerful photographs in all types of categories. I really enjoyed the one of Scott Kelly's Year In Space. Many of the images don't even look like something you'd think about seeing in space. They look like oil paintings. The vibrant colors, the shapes, the design of our universe is mind-boggling! These images tell a beautiful story. They are art, but they are also science, they are also spirituality, they are also a key to unlocking curiosity and they inspire the pursuit of new things! I loved this website! I've been working on a photography project in my community involving powerful images that describe where I live. Here's some I'm starting with.

These days if someone wants to get into the art of photography, they really need to understand how to promote their work online. Appropriate photo size and resolution is the first step toward achieving this. All photo editor programs have the ability to resize the image and change the resolution. For example, Pixlr you can click on "Image", "image size", and then change the size - also known as dpi (dots per inch).  You want to edit an image size so that it is similar to where you are trying to use it. If it is a website, it doesn't need to be too large. If it is to be printed as a billboard, you will need a lot of pixels!

Then, when you save it, you can lower the quality (resolution) if you didn't want a large image or file. If you lower it too much, it will become blurry. If you make it too large, it will make your website run slow.


Once you have a lot of great images and want to share your craft with the world, what do you do?
One pretty cool way that I just learned about how to do, is right through Youtube! The easiest way to do this, I discovered, is by uploading your photos to Google Photos - or, maybe they are already there if you use your camera phone and have your images automatically backed up. You can go through them and create a specific album just for your photo slideshow. From there you can easily link them into your Youtube Photo Slideshow. Here's one I did just for fun!

This method also enabled me to add music, which was so easy and I found the song I wanted right away by searching for "farm" since that's the theme of my video. It fits perfectly! My video is creative because I used colorful images that fit into a nature theme. Some are landscape, while others are macro (up close). I ordered my images to tell a story of the seasons - starting with winter, going into spring, summer, then a little fall, and ending again in winter. And so, the cycle continues! 

Audio/Video For Beginners

This week I explored all the basics of the online audio/visual world! You really don't need much to get started on becoming a YouTube star or recording your own music/songs, etc. In reality it can all be done from a smartphone these days! That's not to say it will be the highest quality, but it is a start. And, hey, if you are just doing it for fun... it is definitely a ton of fun! Here's some tips to get you started... 

Music

Music matters - You must have music in the background of your videos to add excitement and emotion, unless of course your videos are of you making music! Soft beats or suspenseful instrumentals, music really makes a difference in what people feel when they watch a video. Here's some places to get free music:

• YouTube Audio Gallery (you can download music from here to use elsewhere!)

• Free Music Archive (large variety if you can't find what you want in the previous spot)

• Archive.org Audio (music, photos, videos and more for free download here - I found the website difficult to navigate, however)

Video

YouTube is "the place" to be. I easily set up my account using my Google log in, personalized it with a profile and timeline picture, description, etc. Now I have my own YouTube channel! Soon I'll be a star ;-)  Some perks of using Youtube:

• YouTube also has built in editing. You can upload your video, and then cut it, add music, change the coloring, alter the speed, you can even merge multiple videos together! 

• YouTube is a great place to upload personal videos for safekeeping. Videos can be set to either public, private, or unlisted (must have the link to view it). 

• You can go back and edit, organize or share videos at any time!

• You can make money by monetizing your account (in your settings). Basically this ensures that your videos will have tons of ads. You get paid each time someone clicks on one of those ads. 

• However, you might not want ads on your videos (who likes ads?!), so you can also go into your settings under "video manager" and turn ALL ads off. 

Audio Recording

In the event that you are a musician, or a poet, or want to record any type of sound, there are free online programs for that! 

Audacity is one that I've used for years. You can download for free onto your computer and mix tracks, record instrumentals or voice if you have a microphone, import MP3s and more. 

Sountrap is similar but I like it more! I was able to set up my account quickly and easily without any downloading to my computer! It comes with a comprehensive library of tracks to use for free! This was fun! It also has built in instruments like a keyboard and drums that you can use to make your own music (if you are musical... I am not!). I was able to mix a recording of myself reading a poem with some background music. Not cheesy sounding, either! Bonus! 

So, really there's no reason why everyone with a smartphone or more can't go have fun creating audio/visual web content! Enjoy :-)

Cloud Computing & Search/Research

What is "The Cloud"? Hint: It has nothing to do with the sky!

The Cloud, in short, is internet storage. It is anyplace other than your home computer, phone, or other personal device that stores your files. For example, your images on Google+ are stored within the Google+ servers. Same with email, or your Facebook images, etc.  

Why The Cloud is a great thing:

• If you lose your phone (or it falls out of your pocket into a river like it did for my dad last summer!), or your computer crashes, you won't lose the files stored within another server (aka The Cloud).

• You can access your files and info from any device. If you leave your phone at home by accident, you can log into your email or Facebook or Pandora from someone else's device and still access your stuff!

• Less memory is needed if your stuff is in the cloud. Those other servers are doing the work so that your phone or computer doesn't have to.

Things to watch out for with The Cloud:

• Accessing your files on the cloud means you have to have internet access, and as of now, this isn't always an option.

• If you are constantly accessing your stuff on the cloud, that means you are using a lot of bandwidth or data, especially if you are doing things like streaming movies. Check with your data provider to make sure you don't go over your allocated data usage and get charged extra... sometimes hundreds of dollars extra!

• Check privacy settings! You may think it is a great idea to have every picture you take automatically backed up in The Cloud, but who has access to those images? Where are they being shared? Automatically to your Google+? You may not want that happening... been there, done that. 

Using The Cloud for Education

MS Office 365 Online VS. Google Apps





My two older children were required to have a Google account for school by the time they were in middle school. They use Google Apps regularly to communicate with their teachers and to work on papers and presentations.  I think the best benefit of having an online classroom in "the cloud" is that students can't say their dog ate their homework. They can access their work from home or school, work on it and it is automatically and consistently saved - no chance of losing it! Their teachers have access to it to see how they are coming along, plus as a parent, I can take a look to see what types of things they've been working on at school. Kids can't get away with as much as they once could when it comes to homework, that's for sure! Since I also use Google Apps regularly for school, work and play, I feel familiar with that option. I didn't even know that MS Office existed, however. Here's what I've learned when comparing the two:

Google Search and Research - My Life Has Just Begun!

The future is now with all the many options available in Google for searching and researching!  I've learned so many awesome tips this week, my mind is kinda about to explode. I'm going to link to the videos below so that I can refer back to them later because there is just way too much information to retain it all. 

Here are a few of my favorite mind-blowing Google Search & Research Tips:

• There are options in Google other than that blank bar! You can do a specialized search by clicking on the grid in the top right corner, going down to "even more from Google", and then clicking on one of the options under the "Specialized Search" category. For example, you can choose "Scholar" and search scholarly articles of all types. You can search by author, by topic, by date, by phrase, etc. This is very useful if you are a student or if you are studying anything and need solid data to back up your stance on something. 
• CTRL F (or command F for MAC users)! This just saved my life. I can't believe I never knew this. From ANY PAGE, you can use the key "Ctrl" and the letter "F" at the same time and search bar comes up. You can search for any word that might be on that page. The fact that I didn't know this proves just how much I need to work on my search literacy! But this simple tip is a great start and will help me be more efficient. 
• Automatic citing is a real thing that I also didn't know existed but will now forever change the way I conduct research!  I will probably never go back to original Word software on my computer -- Google Docs is the bomb! From Google Docs, you go up to the "tools" tab (there's lots of fun stuff in there... "Voice Typing" is one of them, but I don't have a microphone on my computer so I haven't been able to try it, yet), click on "research" and a side bar will show up where you can search all types of information, quotes, images, etc. When you find what you want in your paper, you just click on "insert link" and then "cite" -- BOOM! Footnotes and all! Of course, like spellcheck, you have to make sure it is accurate and is a good source, but the fact that you don't have to sit there and type out your citations is probably the most time-saving gift that Google ever could've given students! You can also type in notes for yourself to go back and look at later, among other helpful tools that just don't exist in regular Word. Sorry Word! Word.