Week 8

We have finished planning process in the class on 10/27 and will start shooting videos next week. Students have prepared some materials for the shooting, such as flash cards and cue cards. I will bring a DV-camera to do the shooting. Because we don’t want to use too much of the class time students were asked to come earlier. That will  be 8:30 AM on Saturday. Some students can’t make it, either because they don’t want to get up early or it doesn’t fit their parents’ schedule. Only 5 students will be able to come and do the shooting before the class begins. We will continue shooting on 11/03 and 11/10.

During the last class I also demonstrated how to use Windows Movie Maker. Students like it. Since they can’t use the computer in the classroom (there is only one computer in the room) they will need to try WMM at home. All students in the class have IBM compatible computer at home. WMM should be installed on their computer. The teacher will contact students to make sure that they can find WMM on their computers.

This will be all for this week’s project update.

Project Overview Podcast

Last week I had problem with creating the second podcast. In the beginning I thought it was the problem of Audacity setting. After I checked and even reinstalled Audacity the problem persisted. Next thing I checked was the computer sound card. There was no problem. Finally I found that it was the microphone! I would have never thought that it was the case since I used the same microphone for my last podcast just only 2 weeks ago.

Here is the podcast of my project overview.

Week 7

Pattern of use of technology –

In the past 7 weeks I have learned a lot from the course. But I have not found any change of pattern of my use of technology. I just do the things the same ways I have been doing.

Thinking & speaking about technology –
Although I do not change the pattern of my use of technology, I think more than before when I apply the same technology as did before. I think more about why I use the technology instead of how to use it (since I pretty much know that already).

Project update –
Last Saturday we start planning the project with students. The teacher explained the basics of tones and how they work, and what part should be emphasized more. I have spent about 10 minutes to talk about the concept of using Windows Movie Maker. The students then had 15 minutes to discuss what they want to do with their group assignment. In the next meeting we discuss and finalize the planning.

Podcast -

I have some problem with my Audacity. I am trying to figure out what’s going wrong. I will try to post my podcast later.

Week 6

The project

Till now I have met the teacher and students twice. They are exited about the project they are going to do. Last week we have decided the group assignment. There will be 3 groups, each group will be in charge of one of the three tasks – script writing, video shooting/acting, and editing. The teacher will help students with the script writing and I assist them in the shooting and editing part. After the individual group has decided their initial plan they will discuss their plan with the entire class and make some necessary revisions.

The class takes place every Saturday 9:30 – 11:30 AM. Students can plan their parts using 20-30 minutes of the class time, but we need extra time to shoot the video. Students agree to come an hour earlier (at 8:30 AM) to do the shooting. Following is the timeline of the project. Hopefully it will work out well.

10/20 Planing – script writing, video shooting/acting, editing
10/27 Discussion – final revision for the entire project
11/03 (8:30-9:30) Shooting the video; (during the class) introducing Windows Movie Maker
11/10 (8:30-9:30) Shooting the video; (during the class) introducing Windows Movie Maker
11/17 Editing – Windows Movie Maker
12/01 Class presentation

Week 5

It is fun to create podcast using Audacity. But it took me a lot of time to edit the tracks. Here is the link of my first postcast assignment.

Due to some technical difficulties I have decided to change my project setting from the online class to a traditional classroom. I contacted a teacher of the Mid-Jersey Chinese School. It is a heritage Chinese school. That says the students are the second generation Chinese – what we call ABC (America Born Chinese). The class meets every Saturday morning for two hours (9:30 ~ 11:30). The teacher is teaching Practical Chinese 7. There are 13 students, 7 boys and 6 girls, age from 12 to 16. I went to the class during the weekend to discuss the project with the teacher. She like the idea and is interested in the Windows Movie Maker. We will probably let students use Windows Movie Maker to create an instructional video about Chinese language. I will be going to the class again next Saturday and finalize the project.