Notes for 3/27/09

I hope you're having a good week.

This week we'll have a quick quiz, and the questions are below.

1. What does RSS stand for, and how does it work?

2. Explain at least two things you should consider when starting a blog.

3. T/F It's okay to download music tracks, photos, and video from the Internet and use it how you see fit.

4. Explain why a flash drive is useful?

5. What software would you use to present a business plan to a group of investors?

6. What are the best practices for video production (equipment, and steps to producing a video) ?

7. What are tags, and how to they work?

8. T/F A gigabyte is the smallest unit of digital data.

9. What software would you you use to write a business plan, or resume?

Class instructions: If you haven't started working on your script, you need to have it written today.

There is a mic, and you can record your audio in the green screen room.

If you have any scenes you need to shoot, the cameras are available.

Shoot a talking head video using one of the video cameras, or a still camera explaining your business and upload it to YouTube, and place it on your blog.

Class Notes 3/20/09

I hope you all are having a great week.

This week, we have a special guest of the University Dean Jerome Wratchford. He will be speaking to you about educational opportunities at KSU, and observing the class. Please give him your utmost attention.

This week we'll start class off with a quick review, and then a quiz. Please plan on being tested or quizzed for the rest of the semester. There is certain key information we have to make sure you are learning.

We're approaching the final stretch for your multi-media projects. I'll be reviewing your progress this week to see how you're coming along.

Your final project can be a blog with photos.
It can be an audio or video project.
You can create a slideshow (animoto) (photobucket).

If you have any questions about your project or need help developing it. Please feel free to ask.

Social Media (continued)

We've been discussing social media the past two weeks.
Social media, is the collaborative nature of the Internet and how people are now connecting and contributing to the collective body of knowledge through sites like wikis, blogs, and social networks.

There's one aspect that is very important as you start putting information on line. Tags. Tags are words that are associated with your content that will help people search and find it.

For example go to youtube, and type video tutorial. What comes up?
That's because the person who has uploaded the media has tagged the content with those same words to help you find it. Now type in the name of your favorite music artist. What comes up?

Tags can be used with blog posts, photos, and video. They help search engines find your content efficiently.

By now you all should be working on your multi-media projects. You should have your scripts written, or close to written and you should be working on gathering or putting together the various elements which can include photos, video, and slides.

If you haven't written your script you need to have it finished by today, because we are going to dedicate most of the time for the remainder classes to finishing your projects.

Today I want you to create another blog that will be dedicated solely to your business.

CLASS EXERCISE

1. Log into your Blogger account, and in the dashboard create a new blog.
2. Give it a title that is associated with your business.
3. Choose a url that is associated with your business.
4. Open up Microsoft Word and write a one to two paragraph summary about your business, what you will sell, and why it will be successful.
5. Please watch your punctuation and check your spelling. Remember your customers will judge you based on how professional your site is.
6. After your done writing, copy and paste your text into a new blog post.

If you need to narrate your script, I brought my audio equipment for you to use.
You should be using the class period to work on your project. Blank scripts are available.

FRIDAY MAY 13, 2009

Greeting class. This week we'll have a quick mid-term exam, then we'll review our blogging lesson, and discuss using photos with your multi-media projects.

I just want to make sure that everyone is keeping up with the information from the class exercises.

Please Take the test now.

Blogging Review

If you're interested in starting a blog what are some best practices to keep in mind?

1. Your blog's subject. Think of a niche, a topic that not a lot of other bloggers are covering. If you find a great subject you could build a great following.

2. Think about your blog's title. It should relate to your blogging topic.

3. After you start a blog, remember to link to other blogs that you like, and start a blog roll. When you link to other blogs, they will link back to you.

4. Make sure your blog has an RSS feed. What is RSS? It stands for really simple syndication. It is way to quickly and easily subscribe to a website. When the content is updated, the story will be sent to you. There are RSS readers that allow you to do this, or you can receive the updates in your e-mail.

5. This may be the most important of all of these items, but watch your grammar and spelling. When you start your blog your info is in the public sphere.

6. Tag your posts. Tags are words that search engines look for when a person searches for something online. People will be able to find your blog through your tags. Tags are used for YouTube videos, blog posts, basically any information that is searchable.



PHOTOS

Photos can be a great way to visually tell your story if you don't want to use video.
You have a couple of options. You can take the photos yourself, or you can find pictures on the Internet.

For example if your project is about fashion, you may want to search for fashion photos.

How to search for photos:

http://images.google.com/
Type in a tag word for the kind of image you'd like to use.

Search for keywords related to your business.

Once you find a pic you like hit "control" and click the mouse > Save image > this will save the image to a folder on your desk top.

Photo Sharing sites

Photo sharing sites allow you to save, and share your photos, and create slideshows.

The most popular photo sharing site is Flickr.

My favorite site is Photobucket.

Start an account on Photobucket and login.

Upload the pics you've saved to your Photobucket account.

Now create a slideshow, and post it to your blog.

Now that you have several pics saved related your project save it to your flash drive, and make sure you remember what drive it's on.

Class Notes 3/6/09

This week you'll learn about blogging. Blogs are popular sites that allow anyone to self publish. The word blog comes from two words web-log, and they have become powerful tools for communication.

Bloggers break news, share information, opinions, and personal experiences. Blogging is different from traditional journalism in that bloggers don't adhere to the same ethical, moral, and rules of accuracy, and fairness.

A blog can be anything you want it to be. You can write about anything, post pictures, and videos.

There are a few popular blogging platforms. Blogger which is owned by Google is probably the most popular and easiest way to start blogging. WordPress is another popular content management system. TypePad is also a popular platform.

There are key features associated with a blog.
RSS feed. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a way for fans and follower to easily subscribe to blog updates.

Links: In blogging culture, you can readers by linking to other blogs that you like. Oftentimes, bloggers you link to will link back to you.

Blog Roll: A blog roll is a list of blogs that you like to read or think your readers will like reading. Normally if you add a blog to your roll, the blogger will add you to their blog roll.

Assignment: Register at www.blogger.com, login and set up a blog.

Watch this video for a tutorial.


Now that your blog is set up create a post about your business project. Please explain your business project, and type your script into the body of the post.

Story Board

A story board is an artistic rendition of your multimedia project. It is created by drawing pictures of each scene and element. Last week you all wrote a draft of a script. This week, you should work on your story board which will help you determine what elements you can include. Your story board can include video shots, pictures, and slides. Make the scenes as detailed as you like.