So much to see AND do!
This has been a very enlightening and educational two weeks exploring the multimedia options available online. I can say with certainty that despite trying my hand at a variety of presentation/multimedia Web applications, I am just "scratching the surface" of what is available, accessible, and possible in the Web 2.0 world.
Prezi:
My exploration of multimedia presentation and sharing sites started with Prezi, but I discovered very quickly that I am not a big fan of it's UI or the presentation style it creates.
Maybe it is the "digital immigrant"/ "old fuddy-duddy", neon sign flashing over my head again, but I have to say that in my logical, linear view of trying to follow the content and context of the sample presentations, I found the constantly changing perspective really distracting and hard to follow visually and contextually.
This was a personal revelation since I've always thought of myself as a very visual (or maybe that's the problem - "visual stimuli overload"?), and experiential learner who enjoys the benefits of being able to incorporate a variety of learning modalities, (my Educational Psychology professors would be so proud to know that I still have Gardner on my brain!), as both a student and as a teacher.
It is very much in my nature to want to know "where are we going with this?" or "what is the big picture/context for the discussion, presentation or experience?". Prezi is great when you have someone at the helm introducing and enhancing the presentation, but if I need to review the presentation on my own, this particular format did not seem very user friendly or intuitive for easily locating specific information. I found it very difficult to follow the constantly changing orientations and the zooming features in the presentation playback felt very arbitrary. (Yikes! Is that really as pragmatic as it sounds?)
If you can make the same point clearly and effectively through simple visuals, then "pragmatic me" thinks , do you really need to arbitrarily play with scale, zooming and orientations to make your point?
The upside of my Prezi experience was that it did bring to my attention the use of ZUI's in the development of Web based presentation tools and applications. Sites like the Magic Toolbox provide access to coding you can incorporate into your own sites and create the opportunity to "zoom in" to particular parts of an image you are presenting. I could definitely see this as a useful tool when critiquing compositional work or technical quality of photos and graphic design projects or examples.
SlideShare:
My next experience was with SlideShare. It is an easy UI to work with as it is mainly a place to present the media you have already developed. Although I did sign up, create and then contribute/share a PowerPoint presentation on Design Principles, what I really enjoyed was exploring the site for interesting and entertaining presentations.
Some contributions are like mine, simple PowerPoints that are meant to be used as part of a larger experience or activity. Others are "self contained" and meant to be experienced by an audience without a "presenter". SlideShare not only allows for the posting of slide presentations, but also creates a space for Flash and video formatted files. All formats may be shared, emailed, or embedded (with the contributor's permission) into other websites.
This was one of the contributors that really intrigued me with her production and the message she so eloquently communicates. (After seeing this presentation, I really wanted to know more about this contributor and not only set myself up to "follow" Betsy's postings on the site, but also subscribed to HER blog! )
Animoto:
This was a fun site to play with and it gave me a chance to do some reminiscing.
Animoto is a site that allows you to upload audio, video and photos, (or can supply you with "free" and "for purchase" sample files), from your computer or online media sharing site and create a 30 second multimedia presentation. You are given the opportunity to purchase more extensive resources and longer project time frames, but for a simple addition to a blog or website, or a quick "e card" type video greeting for friends, the free 30 second version will probably suffice.
This was a great opportunity/excuse for me to pullout some old pictures from a trip we took with friends to Hawaii a few years ago and enjoy them in a new way. Animoto was VERY easy to use and guides you pretty much through every step of the production process. Once you select the "mood" template, sequence of pictures and music, Animoto does the rest. The application sets the picture transitions to the selected music and produces a polished final product for sharing, and like SlideShare, Animoto allows for multiple ways to post, share, or publish your presentation. In this case, I have embedded the file into my blog for easy access.
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
Glogster
Glogster was probably the most fun but most time consuming exploration I did. Glogging is the creation of an online, interactive "poster". The site includes many different uses for a Glog, including educational applications, documenting or promoting events, or just creating presentations to share with friends.
Although Glogster also allows you to embed your presentation, I found the resizing of the file to fit the format of my blog made it difficult to view all the elements properly. Instead, I am providing the link to my Glog (it's much easier to see this way).
I really wanted to take advantage of all the multimedia elements available to me. I spent a lot of time experimenting with the different video and audio features and was able to incorporate both into the glog. Pictures can also be uploaded to the site and can be further enhanced with your choice of graphics and "frames". Glogster also lets you add scrolling text boxes to tell your story in short captions or full pages of info, and all items on the page can be linked to outside sources/urls if required.
Glogster is not only a multimedia site, but it is also a Social Networking site. Glogs can be created with or without accounts, but I wanted the full experience so I did choose to create an account of my own. Once you register, there are many features for developing a network of friends/contributors and you are also encouraged to share information about yourself in your user profile, (There is even a section on the page that asks you to post how you are feeling at the moment - like a simplified "Tweet" or Facebook status update).
What I really like about Glogster is that it provides more opportunities to customize and personalize layouts in your presentation. While a site like Animoto is very templated and restricted in how you can use it, Glogster lets you make the creative decisions of how you will use an element and where it will go on the "page". The composition and the items/graphics you choose to use are completely up to you, making the final product a much more unique presentation that reflects the "style" of the presenter, or makes use of various items to create the "mood" or "personality" you are trying to capture in the poster.
Personally:
I really enjoyed these last few weeks to checkout what Web 2.0 really has to offer in terms of multimedia creation, presentation and sharing. I am still not sure how much I would use these tools from a personal perspective beyond the sharing of animotos with friends and family - glogs take way to much time to do something "just for fun".
Personally, what I discovered through these explorations is that while I enjoy, use and appreciate multimedia for its ability to enhance the experience of learning, I am not a fan of presentations or tools that use multimedia as "bells and whistles" or that keep me guessing "what is the point you are trying to make"? I feel that a tool like Prezi's for example, is trying to take a the format of the "slide show" (which they consider an "old school" concept), and "spice it up" by literally turning the information on it's head. Is this REALLY the most effective means to communicate an idea?
Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of "bells and whistles" when there is a point to be made by using them. If multimedia is used in a way that makes the message more effective, I think it can be a great tool, but like anyone who has sat through or even created one of "those" clapping hands, spinning text, and flashing wordart PowerPoint presentations knows, using multimedia effectively and appropriately takes some practice. Knowing your audience, and being able to choose when and how to use multimedia, and understanding why these are good or appropriate choices are still invaluable skills to have no matter how much "technological cool stuff" is available to you.
Professionally:
Like our pod casting experience, this exploration really opened my eyes up to the possibilities of not only producing but sharing what is created in classrooms or for classrooms with the rest of the World. In the past, have been very hesitant to publish work to the Web, especially the work of students (the issues of FOIP, maintaining a "safe" environment for students, living with the limitations imposed through school policies on Internet and computer use made publishing or posting an unlikely option). While I am still working through my own "privacy hang ups", I am realizing that I can access many of these technologies and still maintain a "safe" environment for my students.
Some sites like Animoto.com/education, and GlogsterEDU offer special accounts available to schools and individual educators. These accounts are part of a network of Education based users and adheres to "community" standards for what is posted and how users communicate with each other.
Although I REALLY enjoyed Glogster and can definitely see how students would find this a creative way to use visuals and sounds to present their ideas, (no more Bristol board, sharpies, glue sticks and piles of magazines to contend with), I am not sure how I would incorporate it into my own COM classes...yet.
Also, the investment of time for students to be comfortable and familiar with the Glogster technology might be an issue when we already have a lot of ground to cover and only 25 hours for each module to do it in. Instead, I would be more inclined to begin incorporating something like Animoto as it definitely has the "just jump in an do it" quality that would make it easy to access and very quickly have a handle on using it.
I would use (and most probably will use) Animoto as an introduction into Multimedia presentation with my multimedia class next semester, but I will still be teaching my students to storyboard, plan, acquire or create their own images and video snips, and edit and produce their projects in programs like AdobePremier, iMovie, or AdobeFlash. We could then share these projects on a site like Vimeo or post to a communal class blog. I would like the students to see what is possible and get ideas from a tool like Animoto, but in the end I would like to empower them with the understanding and ability to produce their own "visions".
Food for thought:
This brings me to the only issue I have with making multimedia work seem "that easy". In someways streamlining the process of: conceptualizing an idea; developing your idea and planning a project around it; making decisions and living with the outcome of those decisions; and seeing a designer or director's perspective come through in the final product; are all the things that seem to get muddied or lost when we take away some of the struggle and the personal choice involved in creating and communicating a message.
Artists and designers learn a lot about their craft and about themselves when they are faced with having to make decisions that impact their work and the context in which it is seen. I think this is still an awareness that is important to convey as part of the process of developing a multimedia base message.
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