Back Again

I keep thinking I will write regular blog posts then I have music shows and homework for Boise State. There is a brief lull - I expect it to last several minutes - so here is a quick post. I recently discovered Switch and it has become my current favorite audio conversion tool. It's free and very easy to use - drag and drop, select file type from drop-down menu and click "convert." You can visit the Switch website for additional information. Downloads for a variety of operating systems can be found toward the bottom of the page.

Tutorials

I have discovered the joy of screencasting! In my EdTech classes at Boise, instructors have created tutorials using a process called screencasting. In screencasting, computer software captures what is happening on the monitor and records audio commentary. In this type of tutorial, the viewer will see and hear step-by-step instructions for completing specific tasks on the computer. Of course I had to try it out.

I recorded my first tutorial while using GarageBand to edit a song for my upcoming 4th grade music program. For a first try, I think it turned out pretty well. Blogger only allows uploading of image files so, for now, I put my beautiful 13 minute tutorial on File Dropper. It may move, but for now the tutorial can be accessed via the following address: http://www.filedropper.com/editinganaudiofileusinggarageband. When you click on the link, it will take you to the File Dropper website. You may need to scroll down a tad, but you will see a button that says "download." Click on that and the movie will download to your computer. While I am happy to share, we really don't need copies of the tutorial on each viewer's computer, so my next task will be to figure out how people can view it without downloading.

If you are a Mac user and would like an introduction to audio editing, please check it out and let me know what you think. If there are topics you would like to suggest for future screencast tutorials (Mac or PC), please let me know. I am eager to play :-)

The Only Thing Better Than Blogging

The only thing better than blogging is blogging with Pooh Bear! I was on delicious and one bookmark led me to another and before I knew it, I was on a page with my favorite bear. There are some good tips on writing blog posts and, of course, you can never go wrong with Pooh Bear! Here is the Winnie the Pooh Guide to Blogging.

I'm Back!

When I started my Music EdTech blog I was determined to add posts on a regular basis. I've been pretty good about posting answers to questions that people have sent my way and, until recently, did fairly well at adding other tidbits on a fairly regular basis. Then a couple months ago they changed the date for our curriculum adoption. We went from spring to January 26th. YIKES!! Because I am the department chair I got to do lots and lots of things to keep our process moving along. The presentation to the Board of Education was last night so it's back to a somewhat more normal schedule. YIPPEE!!! Now that the bulk of the work is behind us I am very glad the date got changed. We were likely more efficient than we would have otherwise been and now I can focus more on my very fun Music EdTech blog.

Do you have a question or some techie thing you've been thinking of trying? Send me a comment or email (contact section in the sidebar) and I would be happy to help. Tomorrow I am off to the Illinois Music Educators Association All-State Conference in Peoria, but my trusty MacBook will be with me so I will be, as always, compulsively checking my blog for comments!!

The Joys of Social Bookmarking

I have recently discovered the joy of delicious. I had heard about the whole social bookmarking thing but always thought, "I like my bookmarks just fine the way they are, thank you very much, and I don't need one more thing to do." Then I actually tried it, and guess what? I liked it! I know that I have just barely stuck my foot in the door of social bookmarking but have quickly come to realize the tremendous wealth of information available with just a few quick clicks of the mouse. For those of you new to the idea, here is an excerpt from the Social Bookmarking page on Wikipedia: "In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, and can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private domains. The allowed people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or via a search engine."

The feature I thought I would like best is that my bookmarks could be accessed from any computer with Internet access. In the past, I would bookmark something wonderful on my MacBook at home, but when I got to school, I would have to go back and forth between two computers to get the URL or send myself links. Not a good use of time. Being able to access my bookmarks from any computer is a tremendously wonderful feature, but I've discovered that what I like best is checking out what sites other people have bookmarked. Looking for information about technology integration? You can see bookmarks that every delicious user has tagged "technology integration" or check out bookmarks for a specific user. Many bloggers are now putting links on their blog that allow you to add that person to your network. If this all sounds like a foreign language, take heart - the whole thing is very intuitive.

While this may save you time when you are doing research, you still have to evaluate each bookmarked site. Just because someone else likes it doesn't mean it's good, but it certainly provides a narrower search than typing your search terms into the Google searchbar.

Did I peak your interest? Here is a link to a website that lists what they say are the Top 30 Social Bookmarking Sites.

Open Source Web Design Software

A recent EDTECH listserve email asked recipients to recommend free web design software. The overwhelming response, so far, has been Nvu. Those responding cited several features, including ease of use, availability of support/forums, and multi-platform (Mac, PC, Linux) format, in their recommendations. For more information and download, visit:

http://www.net2.com/nvu/

Adding a Link to Your Blog

Do you want to add a link to your blog, but you're not quite sure how to do it? Here are the steps for adding a link on a blogger.com site. Other blog creation software/tools will be very similiar:

1. Open your post in "edit" mode, or select "new post."
2. Type in the text as you want it to appear on your blog.
3. Find the URL (website address) that you want to link to.
4. In your blog post, highlight the text that you want to turn into a link.
5. Mouse over all those cute little icons at the top of your editing window. One of the little pictures will say "link." The image probably looks like a small link on a chain. Click on it.
6. In the little window that pops up, copy/paste in the URL for the page you want to link to.

Want to be a little bit tricky? Right click on your snazzy new link. Hopefully, you will see a whole list of things - select "Open link in a new tab." This will keep your visitors from navigating away from your page.

Ta Da!!!!