The Sound of... Podcasting.

In class we were taught how to navigate Garageband. Garageband is a program provided by Apple. It is used to create various podcasts and video montages which you can export to youtube or itunes.

"GarageBand is a multitrack recording application that contains a complete collection of audio tools for experienced recording veterans and novices alike. You can record real audio pieces, play with software instruments, create parts using Apple Loops, add effects, mix your music and play it all back with iTunes or include in your iMovies."

 In our EME class we were asked to create a very brief podcast about something relating to our major. In my sound I documented a mentor program that I established with the Florida Cicerones and Florida Football Team. It is called the BLAQUE Mentor Program, it is geared towards targeting at risk youth males in the Gainesville community that come from a troubled home. This podcast would be beneficial if I were working for a the team. We would be able to upload the mp3 to the team website to demonstrate our acts of Community Service as well as entice more people to become mentors. You could also use podcasts to get potential sponsors or additional programs to help in the development of your team as well as promote the good efforts our teams has made. Realistically having the knowledge of being able to produce a podcast and upload is extremely beneficial. In almost all careers having the ability to create something like a podcast would enable you to do something new and creative. For example, teachers could also use podcasts with students inside and outside of the classroom. Teachers could record themselves and post it on a blog for students to access if needed. It truly is a great way to share information .  

Visual Literacy: PhotoShop

In our EME2040 class, we were asked to make a project in Adobe Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program. You can do things as basic as changing font and rotating it to cutting pictures out and placing them in a new one. For example, take the picture above; I removed the sky from the original picture (the bridge) and added a new pretty, fun blue sky. I also added the phone booth, and Flat Stanley. This project was suppose to display the talents we learned in class as well as a talent we found online. 

I think having knowledge within Photoshop will definitely come in handy later on in life. Whether its within my intended profession or just the fact that you can edited pictures and make them fun! I would love to be able to take pictures at community service events and put them on photoshop, edit them, and create a fun montage of what we've accomplished. Or even create an exciting flier to get people out to our events. I would really like to use photoshop to create our family christmas card! I think it would be really fun and creative to take a normal picture and add color or background etc. I will be able to apply this knowledge within my major by being able to demonstrate my abilities for future employers. 

Below is a Youtube tutorial about Layers within Photoshop.

Alyssa Milano's Jersey Shore Photoshop Snooki

Tutorial About Layers in Photoshop

Animoto

My animoto video is documenting my fabulous trip to Alabama. Enjoy!



Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.


Animoto is an internet program that is free for a trial online. It is an extremely creative and fun resource to have and use in every profession! People can use animoto as a way of "digital storytelling." From the slideshow above it is safe to say that digital storytelling was used in my animoto slideshow. It is an ideal program to use if you are a frequent blogger and want to document a large number of pictures or maybe a trip. For example the video above is create from my trip to Alabama for the University of Florida/ University of Alabama trip. I feel like Animoto would really come in handy with the Community Service events. Assuming I get hired by a professional football team, they would like to document all of there community service efforts and I would be able to put together videos for each event. Add them to the website and its the ideally great publicity. Aside from my profession, education would be another profession that animoto could be frequently used in. It doesn't matter how old or educated the student is, animoto is a simple and fast way to create something with meaning and tell a digital story. There are other websites similar to animoto which are easily accesible.


VoiceThread is also another website which is frequently used in the classrooms.
A Voice Thread is a collaborative multimedia slide show that consists of images documents and videos. Voice Thread allows the user to comment in five different ways such as using voice, text, audio, or video. Ed. VoiceThread is a web-based communications network used for students and educators k-12. Students can participate only by being added by an administrator or teacher with a subscription to Ed. VoiceThread. Ed.VoiceThread is appropriate and safe for elementary and secondary students to use. I haven't experimented much with the program but it seems like a great tool that has been used in many classrooms. 
 I cant wait to get into the real world and impress my future employers with all that I have learned within this EME class. Photosnack is another program that complies pictures into slideshows with the option of adding music, graphics, and words. Another take on a very fun concept.

www.photosnack.com

Educational Technology

We were taught in class the importance of educational technology. There are various methods to use technology for classroom management, administration, and teaching. Whether its a new and inventive way to offer spelling words to a fifth grade class or a site such as Sakaii that allows college students to have direct access to learning resources the teacher provides. Technology is rapidly enhancing the manner in which students learn and teachers teach. Below are some examples of teaching tools that can be found online and for free.

WORDLE

"Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others. Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you."

Wordle is a free tool found on the internet. You provide specific texts and it complies them into an picture with "clouds." The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. The program allows you to select fonts, colors, and schemes to appeal to the viewer in a specific manner. Wordle is a really fun tool that could be used as a marketing and advertising for various occasions. I could see myself using this tool to promote specific community service events that I have been involved in with the football team.

 This tool may not be as applicable for my future profession, in the sports industry. It would be nice to use for someone in the education field, however. For instance, you could use it for spelling words. Lets say you were teaching 2nd grade and you had 10 spelling words, you could put them into wordle and have the kids take turns identifying the word and spelling it on the chalkboard. I think that with all the technology we have nowadays, the more you trying to create fun learning environments for kids the more likely they are to want to learn. So as opposed to just handing them a list of their spelling words, handing them a wordle might just make that much of a difference. 

Web Technology

Did You Know?

        Personally, this video made me feel very uneasy. Our society is so dependent on technology, that if there were to be some sort of epic technological crash (if you will) our society would basically cease to exist. I felt the video was very informative and somewhat blew my mind when it put things into perspective. For example, according to the video: 25% of India's population with the highest IQ's is greater than the total population of the United States. India also has more honors kids than America has kids. It also says that 1 out of 8 couples married in the US last year met online, what does that say about our society? Our social skills? Our technology is growing at such a rapid rate that for student starting a 4 year degree, half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study. In all honesty these statistics are a little frightening to me, call me a coward but how can you not be scared when the world as you know it is constantly changing. I believe the quote "the only consistent thing in this world is that everything is always changing" strongly applies to technology. Students are being prepared for jobs that do not even exist at the moment. How can you stand on your own two feet when the world is constantly shifting?

        

        From an athletic stand point, in the world of sports management, transformation is inevitable.  We have athletes tweeting during games, blogs about every subject you can imagine, magazines coming out with their own online versions, websites devoted to high school recruiting. All of it is available to you via computer, cell phone, ipad, etc. All at the click of a button, all at the touch of a mouse. Recently, Chad Ochocinco was fine a total of 25K for "in game tweeting." This fine led to numerous blogs/articles about where the NFL will draw the line. Was it alright for the NFL to step in? Is it their place? Should it be up to the team? All very valid questions, but yet no real answer can be concluded. Nowadays, cell phone service providers offer you the ability to access NFL, NBA, and MLB updates via text message or internet browser. I will admit I am guilty of checking the updates of my beloved Colts, while sitting in Raymond James Stadium watching the Bucs play the Falcons or checking play off scores while at a family dinner. Call it extreme, but it is definitely convenient. The examples are endless. You can site online recruiting websites, those things can legitamately make or break a high school player. Same goes for online draft reports, one bad physical or a strongly worded opinion from a scouting coach and you will forever be proving yourself in the eyes of the public. Is it good for the sports industry? Arguably, yes? It makes having a love for the game much easier, it can take someone who knows very little about sports into a worldly spectator. Some may argue otherwise. 

        http://games.espn.go.com/frontpage/football

         Take Fantasy Football for example. Most avid football fans would love nothing more than to be in control of their favorite football team. Be an advisor on draft day, make cuts, hires coaches, the whole nine-yards. Fantasy football gives these fans that opportunity. You can put together a team of athletes to compete against friends and other people in the "league." They claim in order to be successful in fantasy football "you need the business savvy of a general manager, the knowledge of a pro scout, and the strategy of a head coach." People take football to a whole new level in fantasy football. 

         DID YOU KNOW? 2.0