Mark Your Calendars...

ITSC 2009
February 15~17, 2009

Registration will open in the fall. Come back and see the program begin to take shape.

Registration Before 11/1	=	$350.00
Registration After 11/1	=	$400.00
1-Day Registration	=	$200
Pre-Conference	=	$125.00
Vendor Affairs	=	Free
Teams of five that include an administrator/building principal receive one free registration

March 06, 2008

SURVEY SAYS...

The results are in. Feel free to review the feedback given for ITSC 2008. Thank you for your valuable feedback. We will plan an even better ITSC 2009! The winner of the Amazon Gift Certificate is ....Mary Ann Scholz from Newberg School District. CONGRATULATIONS MARY ANN!

Posted by jena | in Conference Info | Comments (0)

February 19, 2008

UPhoneBlog

Posted by jena | in Conference Info

Digital Storytelling - MarcoTorres

We learned it is essential to share the work your students have produced. Pictures and video pictures are original, but many times there is a temptation to use copyrighted music. Marco demonstrated some basic ways to compose original music with little music knowledge. One suggestion was from - http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Session-main.html has the "garage band" software that can be used to product original music.

Below are some questions to ask the students to answer before the production of a movie begins, these questions will guide their thinking.
Ask the what- "What I would like to movie to be on?"
What is the how- "What do I need to produce this movie?"

Aim for very short stories, the average is less than 7 minutes.

A couple of examples of student project can be: 30 second film that shows your passion or what do you like about your day. You can always add some guiding limitations, such as, that they can not use your face in the video.

Marco shared how camera by A and B settings. The A side is for a close up,such as, a person's face. The B side will be items that further the dimension of the film, pictures of buildings or environments.

Posted by sandynelson | in Session | Comments (0)

Taking Digital Pictures Effectively

Leslie Fisher is telling us how she got into digital photography. Reed Hoffman, former White House photographer, formed a company, Blue Pixel, to support digital work and hired Leslie. This presentation is one that Blue Pixel gives in its workshops for a big fee.

http://www.bluepixel.net/

Top Issues with Taking Pictures:

Reading the manual for your new digital camera is really, really helpful.

1. Not being close enough - Take a picture and then take it again at closer range - Take lots of pictures and just save the best. Frame around your photo - look at the edges of your picture before you shoot. You can always crop the photo later. Fewer megapixels, with cropping you lose resolution, so can't crop too much.

The flower icon on your camera is Macro Mode - says you're 1-3 ft. from the target. Check David Schloss' site of Lady Bugs - funny.

2. Not being in focus - We rely too much on view finder. Figure out how your camera sets the focus point. Usually you hold down the shutter button halfway. Get your subject focused!

3. Camera Shake - Nothing is going to be in focus. Usually low lighting contributes and exposure times are very long. You can't hold camera still for that long. Want to get a camera with image stabilization. Some cameras have a low light or night time mode. Can also use tripods.

She likes Canon digital cameras.

4. Boring Composition - Ask what's important for the shot you want to take. Use the Law of Thirds: Act like there's a tic-tac-toe grid in your view finder. Put your point of interest at the intersections of the grid. This establishes good flow in the picture. Can crop to get this - useful for sporting events.

5. The Squint Test - Look at the scene with your eyes slightly squinted. What stands out? You'll notice the strong lines are the backbone of the image.

Look for Lines - some can help, some can ruin the picture.
Space Makes You Think - Have fun with open spaces. Put subject in one corner of the picture.
Shoot High/Shoot Low - Scenery shots have a cool perspective when shot low. People shots are more flattering shot high.
If I see another - Posed pictures near a view are great and wonderful, but how about a picture of you doing something?

6. Ignoring the Background - Pay attention to the background. Try to make sure there's nothing distracting in the background.

7. Missing the Moment - Chances are your camera is trying to expose for everything around it. Need to set your camera to take a fast picture (Often the running man icon - Sports Mode) Need more light to make this work.

8. Too Much Flash - Flash kills natural light. Try to use natural light if you can.

9. Too Little Flash - Can get camera shake with too little. Can use fill flash when subject is in shadow and background is in sunlight. Most camera flashes will work only at a distance of up to 8-10 feet.

10. Why Not Vertical - Use for creative composition.

11. Digital Zoom - Optical zoom is lens moving in and out - want a big number. Digital zoom just crops the picture - cuts out pictures. Suggests turning off digital zoom.

12. Wrong Settings -
- Pixels: You cannot change the number of pixels per square in.
Screen and printing resolutions are different.
Good printing resolution min. is about 160 per sq in.
Uncheck "resample image"
Need to know what resolution (pixels per sq. in.)
your camera is using.
- Image Size - Changes width and height of image. Bad setting.
Leave it set to large.
- Shutter Priority - Tells your camera that speed is the most
important factor in the picture you are about to
take.
- Aperture Priority - Allows you to select the Aperture and
then the camera will select the appropriate shutter
speed. Controlling the aperture will change the
Depth of Field. Smaller Aperture = less depth of
field. Larger Aperture = more depth of field.
- Exposure Compensation - Controls entire exposure of picture -
makes things lighter or darker overall
- White Balance - An adjustment that can be made to the camera
to ensure that the colors are captured accurately
without any other color cast from lighting
being used.

www.lesliefisher.com
geek@lesliefisher.com
www.lesliefisher.com/gbu
Her photos: lesliegolf.smugmug.com

Posted by johnballing | in | Comments (0)

February 18, 2008

Birds of Feather

If you would like to gather some colleagues for dinner, and discussion please complete the form. We will publish this during the conference. Take into consideration your topic and where you would like to go for dinner.

Enter a Birds of Feather Topic

Posted by jena | in Conference Info | Comments (0)

Gadgets for Everyone!

Leslie Fisher is the presenter. lesliefisher.com

Utility Software: Snapz Pro ($49 from Ambrosia Software for Mac) and Snagit ($39 from Snagit for Windows) - the best screen shot software.

Instant Messaging: Consolidate your IM messaging into one app. Adium for the Mac (free) www.adiumx.com. For Windows, use Trillian (free).

Fonts: http://www.extensis.com Extensis Suitcase. Puts all fonts in a special folder. Helps speed up system.

Backup: www.mozy.com for $5/mo. get unlimited backup space. Get 2 Gb for free. Works with both Mac and PC. Sends data in encrypted form.

Clipart: Art Explosion (www.novadevelopment.com) Cost $199.99. Largely vector images, so they're easily resized.

www.clipart.com - royalty free clip art. Much of it is raster so harder to resize. Can purchase by the week, month.

Photos: Pictures on the web can be expensive. Look at:
www.istockphoto.com and www.dreamstime.com Photos are sold for $1-$5. Illustrations are $5-$10.

Digital Cameras: Likes the Sony DSC T200B - thick credit card sized, with image stabilization. Get image stabilization on any new camera.
Canon Powershot TX1 - allows you to hold camera off to side and HD movie mode.

Digital camera cards have a speed rating. Cheaper cards are slow. Sandisk Extreme cards are fast and worth the money.

Use a card reader to download your photos. Downloading from camera drains battery and can destroy our card. You can get a PCMCIA card reader that is portable.

Photo Sharing: www.smugmug.com Most photo sites don't let you resize your pics. Can be free. Or, can be $40/yr. to set it up so that viewers have to pay to use your pics.

TV and Music: Pinnacle has a USB TV card for a laptop. Hooks up to standard cable. Costs $129.99. Mac and PC.

Speakers: Soundsticks II from Harman Multimedia for Mac and Windows. Cost: $199. Not wireless.

DVRs - www..tivo.com Tivo just signed up with Comcast. New Tivos can be web server for you. Can watch your Tivo on the web.

Slingbox - Install software on computer, cell phone, etc. Control anything the Slingbox is connected to, i.e. your home theater stuff.

Remotes - Logitech Harmony One. Install software on computer to do the set up then download config. to the remote. Costs $249.

iPod - Could use them as recording devices. www.everythingipod.com
Belkin also makes tons of stuff for iPods.

Vinyl Records - Turn them into MP3s using an Ion Audio USB turntable.
http://ion-audio.com. $134

www.everythingiphone.com and www.appleopolis.com to play with iPhone stuff.

www.inflightpower.com Uses headphone jack of your seat armrest to charge your iPhone. Needs a sound source.

www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com - Wireless connection from smart phone to a full sized keyboard.

Avis now offers a WiFi access point in car. Works on both Verizon and Sprint network.

Wireless mouse - www.keyspan.com $79 RF, works from up to 100 ft.

www.solio.com - Portable renewable solar powered battery for cell phones and other portable devices.

Computer Bags - Timbuk2 bags are cool. Sfbags.com also good. LowePro has a nice backpack.

www.orbicule.com/undercover/ for Macs An app to trace your stolen Mac. Turns the iSight on and takes pics every 6 minutes. Also dims screen to look like a screen failure. $49

www.sp-studio.com - create your own South Park characters.

www.despair.com - funny demotivational slides

Magellan Maestro - good easy to use GPS.

Posted by johnballing | in Session | Comments (0)