Digital+Storytelling+II+for+Mac

===In the last course Digital StoryTelling I, you learned tools and techniques for digital storytelling with web-based tools available to anyone at any of the schools in Clarksville-Montgomery County (or the world, for that matter). This course will focus on the tools specific to the Mac.===

ISTE NETS 2008 for Teachers
Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. Teachers: Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS•S. Teachers: Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society. Teachers: Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices. Teachers:
 * 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity**
 * a. promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.
 * 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments**
 * d. provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching.
 * 3. Model Digital-Age Work and Learning**
 * c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital-age media and formats.
 * d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning.
 * 4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility**
 * a. advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

Course Outline

 * * 8:00 - Intro
 * Review of Digital Storytelling Basics
 * Digital Citizenship
 * 8:30 - Gather Images and Video
 * Creative Commons
 * Wikimedia Commons
 * PowerMediaPlus
 * Your Own Camera
 * 9:15 - Converting Flash Video
 * 9:30 - Break
 * 9:40 - PhotoBooth
 * Taking Photos
 * Taking Movies (10.5 and up)
 * Finding the Photo and Movie Files || * 10:00 - iPhoto
 * 11:00 - 12:00 Break for Lunch
 * 12:00 - Garageband
 * 12:30 - iMovie
 * 2:00 - Making It Matter
 * 2:30 - Fancy Tricks
 * Stop Motion in iMovie
 * Document Camera Software
 * Time-Lapse Movies with Document Camera ||

=Intro=
 * ===Review of Digital Storytelling Basics===
 * ===Digital Citizenship===

__Copyright Links and Resources__
Issues of copyright and internet safety concern us all. As media of all types becomes instantly available, teachers must consider copyright when choosing to use this media with students. If students are to be responsible digital citizens, teachers must model correct usage. This [|copyright site] was developed for teacher staff development and provides discussion of different regulations for different media. There are rarely simple answers to copyright questions and answers change as technology changes.

Just out -  - offers copyright protection information for educators. Copyright must include - Law / Citing sources / How to determine violations Legal or Not //What's up on downloads? Go to [|www.edutopia.org/copyright]// Or have a look at "[|Do the (Copy)right Thing]" published in __THE Journal__ in March 2008 [|Copyright Issues for Educators] offers a detailed explanation of fair use in education. The copyright page on this wikispace discusses recent changes in copyright and new types of copyright permissions. [|WiredSafety Flash Animations and Video a series of short flash animinations that illustrate cyberbullying]

Copyright rules are explained in terms simple enough for students in the article [|Kindergarten Copyright.] The [|Copyright Kids!] website has activities for students learning about copyright. On the [|Copyright??] page, from the Richmond Virginia school website, students can "Follow this interactive adventure. Do all the activities. Figure out what copyright really means.Then take the test at the end to see what you really do know! " The [|CyberBee copyright page] is an interactive question and answer activity for students that will teach them the basics about copyright

 [|Citation Machine] is an interactive web tool designed to assist high school, college, and university students, their teachers, and independent researchers in their effort to respect other people’s intellectual properties.


 * [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/pdf.png width="32" height="32" link="file:empowerstudents/copyright_chart.pdf"]] [[file:empowerstudents/copyright_chart.pdf|copyright_chart.pdf]] || [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/pdf.png width="32" height="32" link="file:empowerstudents/copycop.pdf"]] [[file:empowerstudents/copycop.pdf|copycop.pdf]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/pdf.png width="32" height="32" link="file:empowerstudents/copyright101.pdf"]] [[file:empowerstudents/copyright101.pdf|copyright101.pdf]] || [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/pdf.png width="32" height="32" link="file:empowerstudents/copyrightresources.pdf"]] [[file:empowerstudents/copyrightresources.pdf|copyrightresources.pdf]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/pdf.png width="32" height="32" link="file:empowerstudents/InternetLiteracy.pdf"]] [[file:empowerstudents/InternetLiteracy.pdf|InternetLiteracy.pdf]] || [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/powerpoint.png width="32" height="32" link="file:empowerstudents/2 Copyrightquiz.ppt"]] [[file:empowerstudents/2 Copyrightquiz.ppt|2 Copyrightquiz.ppt]] ||

Sources for Copyright Friendly Media for Digital Projects
Now that our school system has furnished all schools mobile lab carts with laptops that give our students access to 1 to 1 computing, at least for a portion of the day, we can have the time for our students to create some amazing products. To stretch our thin budgets further without breaking copyright law, we can access the multitude of online resources available for open sharing. The websites listed below are perfect for the classroom projects. Using a special copy license called Creative Commons, these resources often are free to use in digital works with as little as a citation concerning where author's identity.

Copyright Friendly Image Sites
[|Pics4Learning.com] - This site is very student friendly and has a wealth of photos stored for use by our students. I have yet to run into an inappropriate image.

[|FreeFoto.com] - Great photos with the only condition for use by educators or students being that they credit as follows:

(1) Students may download and use our images in their own work. A credit to (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com is required. (2) An individual teacher may make use of our images in the course of their own personal teaching work. A credit to (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com is required. FreeFoto.com is an easy to navigate site, offering multiple methods to find images. You are required to enter your email address and click "Agree" to the terms of use //**to download**// a watermark free image. Digging around deep enough may eventually take you to VERY FEW photos that may not be suitable for elementary students, but I haven't found anything that wouldn't be fine for older students. The only photos that I found that are questionable are in the New York City group. For elementary students you might want to preview the groups you are asking them to search to be safe. [|Wikimedia Commons], where you can browse for images by topic, location, type, author, license, or source. Copyright status and conditions are clearly stated. Great images and a wide range of content. [|flickr Creative Commons] includes a very clear description of what each type of license allows and requires for use of the images on the first page and allows for an easy search for the content for which you are looking. Check this one out!
 * Select one of the categories on the left side of the screen, there are over 3000 categories of images, organized into 150 sections. This will find you collections of similar images by subject.
 * Enter a free-text search in the search box at the top right. This will find you collections of images that have those terms in the descriptions, title or keywords.
 * Use a quick link. Under each large size images are a series of keyword tags, selecting one of these will find all images tagged the same way.

Copyright Friendly Video Clips
[|CreativeCommons.org]- This site has works of all types, most notably video clips. I have found links to some video that may have less appropriate for younger students. It does have a safe search feature. That said, I would search for the media ahead of time so I could find the best and most appropriate video or photos for my class. In addition, if you search and find anything from Google Video or YouTube, remember that our school system blocks video from these 2 sources so those clips will not be usable. [|StockFootageForFree.com] is a website dedicated to providing completely free stock footage from around the world that can be downloaded instantly and incorporated into any type of video editing project–personal or commercial. This website is owned and operated by [|Footage Firm], and all of the clips available on this site were created exclusively as stock footage to be given away. Registered users may use the footage freely and legally in their own projects, royalty free. The clips are short and organized into categories.. You may not find everything you are looking for here, but what you do find is good quality and I have not found anything that is not school appropriate.

[|Royalty Free Music- Free Music Resources] - The Royalty Free Music Clips, Royalty Free Music Loops, Royalty Free Beats, Royalty Free Bumpers and Stingers, and Royalty Free Sound Effects, posted on this page may be used, in Educational, student and personal, not-for-profit projects, free of charge.

__Don't let these minor flaws scare you. I am sharing them so you are fully informed. Including video in student work is a worthwhile endeavor. Having students shoot or create the video will always be the best case scenario, but short of that, accessing others shared work will get the job done as well.__

Back to Top
=**Gather Images and Video**=

This is a limited list of sources for photos, clipart, video, and music to use in student projects. Remember to follow Fair Use procedures and respect copyright!
Remember, video clips are powerful. A 30-minute video is passive. Three seconds to a minute or two might be enough.
 * === Picture Sources - [|Photo Copyright Quick Link]===
 * When dealing with pictures from the internet, the simplest solution is to use Safari, not Firefox. When you find a picture online in Safari, hold the CONTROL button on the keyboard then click the mouse button to see a menu with a choice that says "Add Image to iPhoto Library". **
 * Google Images - [|http://www.google.com] Search Google Images smarter with these [|10 Tips To Have Fun Using Advanced Google Search For Images] from MakeUseOf.com
 * Pics4Learning - [|http://www.pics4learning.com]
 * Creative Commons [|http://www.creativecommons.org]
 * Flickr(creative commons area) []
 * Wikimedia [|http://commons.wikimedia.org]
 * Library of Congress - []
 * All the Web - [|http://www.alltheweb.com]
 * Powermedia - Http/www.powermediaplus.com
 * FreeFoto.com - [|http://www.freefoto.com] - "the largest collection of free photographs on the Internet (link back and attribution required). [|See FREE USE RULES]" (description from FreeFoto.com) - __Ad-supported; Not all ads are elementary appropriate__
 * === Video Sources- [| Video Copyright Quick Link]===
 * Vimeo - [|http://www.vimeo.com]
 * TeacherTube -[| http://www.teachertube.com]
 * SchoolTube - []
 * TeachersDomain - [] (Subscription required to do more than 7 resources, but subscription is free and allows you to download and share.)
 * NASA's eClips - []
 * National Geographic for Kids - [|http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Videos/]or [] for a simple tool to browse the videos.
 * PBS Kids - []-many of the "Shows" have videos attached and video stories read aloud.
 * WorldClips.tv - [] - This site has video clips, but they want you to pay for them. You can use the preview to show a concept. You just can't download and put into a PowerPoint without purchasing the license for the videos.

.

 * ==== Music Sources-[| Music Copyright Quick Link] ====


 * RoyaltyFreeMusic - [[[] ]] - Then click on the "Free Music" choice.

== =**Photo Booth**= Your kids already know how to have fun with this. It ranks way up there on their "fun-o-meter" with Marble-Blast Gold. They have some basic knowledge of using the program by being silly. Now, let's show them how to use it to be creative while meeting content standards needs. **You can use this to take pictures, then click on the thumbnail to switch to view. In the view mode, there is an iPhoto button to send the photo or movie to iPhoto's library for more involved projects like creating cards and photobooks. Once it is in iPhoto's library, you can also use the images and movies in iMovie and Garageband.**

Option 1: Taking Photos

 * How to:**
 * 1) Open Photo Booth.
 * 2) Click Red Camera icon.
 * 3) Look/hold object to the camera as computer beeps and counts down from 3.

Picture is taken and held in the Photo Booth folder in the Pictures folder in the home folder in the user's hard drive.


 * Digital Storytelling Uses****:**
 * Take photo of student artwork/drawing to include in a writing or iPhoto project.
 * Take photo with the Mirror effect to show the symmetry of real world object.
 * Take photos for story starters or descriptive paragraphs.
 * Take photos of objects brought into class by students to include in projects.
 * Take photos of counters/coins to label with amount.

Option 2: Making Movies (Only in Mac OS 10.5)

 * How to:**
 * 1) Open Photo Booth.
 * 2) Click on the icon for the movie icon button on the bottom left corner.
 * 3) Click the red movie camera icon.
 * 4) Look/hold object to the camera as computer beeps and counts down from 3.
 * 5) Click camera button to stop recording.

Movies are taken and held in the Photo Booth folder in the Pictures folder in the Home folder in the user's hard drive.


 * Digital Storytelling Uses:**
 * Video interview with another person - real, fantasy, or historic person.
 * Recording reading fluency.
 * Recording a video book review.
 * Reader's Theater.
 * Puppet Plays.
 * Alternatives to written reports
 * "How to" videos from students on using manipulatives in math,

Effects
There are several effects that can be applied to the photos and movies. Effects pages 1 and 2 are in all version of Photo Booth while effects pages 3 and 4 are only in Mac OS 10.5.

Effects Page 1 - Color Effects
 * Sepia, Black and White, and Glow
 * Comic Book, Normal, and Pencil
 * Thermal, X-Ray, and Pop-Art

Effects Page 2 - Distortion Effects
 * Bulge, Dent, Twirl
 * Squeeze, Normal, and Mirror
 * Light Tunnel, Fish Eye, and Stretch

Effects Page 3 - Interactive Backgrounds (Replaces real background with the selected background)
 * Clouds, Dots, and Earth Rise
 * Eiffel Tower, Normal, and Fish
 * Rollercoaster, Sunset, and Yosemite

Effects Page 4 - Interactive Backgrounds That Can Be Added by the User through Drag-and-Drop into the Gray Box.

Back to Top
== =iPhoto= iPhoto is "THE" place for pictures and movie clips imported from digital cameras. It is a library to organize the files. It is a simple editor to fix red eye, to fix color and brightness issues, to straighten a crooked image, or crop the image. It allows you to add from several different picture effects like "black and white", "sepia", and "vignette" that can be added on top of each other. It is a project creator where you can take your picture files and build them into special projects. The projects are the meat of iPhoto's use as a vehicle for Digital Storytelling. One of the nicest features of the iPhoto projects is that you don't have to save them. iPhoto simply creates a saved version in a list on the left of the iPhoto window. Click the name of the project to resume working on it.


 * Digital Storytelling Use 1: Cards and Postcards**
 * 1) Open Safari.
 * 2) Do Google Search for the name of the person or subject you have studied. Look for the Wikipedia listing in the search results.
 * 3) Click the Wikipedia listing.
 * 4) Click on the picture in the Wikipedia listing. All Wikipedia pictures are supposed be creative commons licensed through WikiMedia Commons. In short, they are not supposed to be copyrighted pictures. It will state beside the picture what license the picture has. Choose a creative commons licensed picture, no copyright, or public domain instead of a copyrighted picture.
 * 5) On a Mac, hold the CONTROL key on the keyboard while clicking on the picture with the mouse. A context menu will show.
 * 6) Click on the choice in the context menu labeled "Add to iPhoto Library". iPhoto will open and copy the picture directly to it.
 * 7) Click on the picture to select it.
 * 8) Click the ROTATE button twice to rotate the picture upside down. This will allow you to fold the printed version in half and have both the picture and the text be right side up. //(Thanks to Rebecca Darnell for this suggestion.)//
 * 9) Click on the picture and then the button from the bottom toolbar labeled CARD.
 * 10) It will open a new card project. All projects are saved automatically within iPhoto and can be printed instead of purchased.
 * 11) Click on the Picture Card choice from the selection in the main window, then click CHOOSE.
 * 12) Click in the INSERT TITLE box to type the name of the picture or event you have chosen.
 * 13) Click in the body and delete the existing text.
 * 14) Type the most important facts about the person or event you chose.
 * 15) Click on SETTINGS button from the bottom to change the text size in the body of the page until it fills the body area of the card.
 * 16) Click FILE and PRINT.
 * 17) When the Print window opens, click the LAYOUT menu to change the PAGES PER SHEET option from 1 to 2.
 * 18) Click Print. You will need to cut any excess paper from the newly printed card.


 * Digital Storytelling Use 2: Books**
 * 1) Open Safari.
 * 2) Do Google Search for the name of the person or subject you have studied. Look for the Wikipedia listing in the search results.
 * 3) Click the Wikipedia listing.
 * 4) Click on the picture in the Wikipedia listing. All Wikipedia pictures are supposed be creative commons licensed through WikiMedia Commons. In short, they are not supposed to be copyrighted pictures. It will state beside the picture what license the picture has. Choose a creative commons licensed picture, no copyright, or public domain instead of a copyrighted picture.
 * 5) On a Mac, hold the CONTROL key on the keyboard while clicking on the picture with the mouse. A context menu will show.
 * 6) Click on the choice in the context menu labeled "Add to iPhoto Library". iPhoto will open and copy the picture directly to it.
 * 7) Hold the COMMAND (or APPLE) key on the keyboard while you click on the pictures you wish to add to your book.
 * 8) Click the button from the bottom toolbar labeled BOOK.
 * 9) In the next window that pops up, click on the drop-down menu for BOOK TYPE to choose a print size. There are 3 sizes to choose 11" X 8-1/2", 8" X 6", or 3-1/2" X 2-5/8".
 * 10) Click to pick the style of book and then CHOOSE.
 * 11) Click and drag a picture from the ribbon to replace the grey section with a picture.
 * 12) Click on the title of the book to replace with the title you want.
 * 13) Click in the subtitle section to put the author's name.
 * 14) Use the arrow to advance to the next page.
 * 15) Click the LAYOUT button from the bottom toolbar.
 * 16) Choose the number of pages from the Layout button and choose a page style with both pictures and words.
 * 17) Click in the text box to replace with sentences and click and drag picture(s) to the grey section(s) of the page.
 * 18) Repeat steps 14-17 for each page. Remember, you can close iPhoto at anytime. It auto-saves changes. The book is listed in the left section of the iPhoto window.
 * 19) When you are finished creating and editing your book, ignore the BUY button. Instead, click FILE and PRINT.
 * 20) In the next window, click PREVIEW to see how many pages you will need to print. By default, it will have 24 pages that print even with no pictures on them.
 * 21) In the PREVIEW window, click FILE and PRINT, then type what pages numbers to print and PRINT.

== =Garageband= Garageband is primarily a sound editing program. There are many options for using Garageband. You can record people speaking. You can add sound effects from a built-in library. You can alter the recorded voices of those speaking. When you are finished, save the work as an MP3 file to be posted to the web as a Podcast or play on a computer or MP3 player.


 * Digital Storytelling Use 1:** **Report as a Podcast Episode**
 * 1) Open Garageband. (If a project opens, click on the red close button to return to the NEW PROJECT window.)
 * 2) Click "New Project", "Podcast", and "Choose".
 * 3) Type a name to save the project and then Create.
 * 4) Record your voice.
 * 5) Click on the Track with the voice type that matches yours.
 * 6) Click the red circular record button from the bottom of the screen to begin recording.
 * 7) Read the report script into the microphone in a normal voice.
 * 8) Click the blue triangle play button to stop recording.
 * 9) Review your recording by clicking the square button with the triangle pointing back to the line on the left, then click the play button.
 * 10) Add pictures to the report.
 * 11) Click the media browser button located on the far right bottom corner of the window
 * 12) Click the photos tab to show pictures in iPhoto's library.
 * 13) Click and drag the photos into the top track labeled "Drag Artwork Here". Each picture becomes a chapter and can have its own title and hyperlink.
 * 14) Save the finished work.
 * 15) Click the Share menu.
 * 16) Click on "Export Podcast to Disk".
 * 17) Click Export.
 * 18) Type a name for the Podcast episode, click on the folder to choose where to save the podcast, and click SAVE.

Follow directions for creating a podcast report except add background music and sound effects.
 * Digital Storytelling Use 2: Reader's Theater with Voice Effects**
 * 1) Record your voice with an effect.
 * 2) Click on the Track with the voice type that matches yours.
 * 3) Click the on the square button in the bottom right corner with a lower case "i".
 * 4) Click on either the "Effects" or "Vocals" category, then choose a vocal effect such as "Megaphone", "Mouse Voice", "Filter Can" or others.
 * 5) Click the red circular record button from the bottom of the screen to begin recording.
 * 6) Read the report script into the microphone in a normal voice.
 * 7) Click the blue triangle play button to stop recording.
 * 8) Review your recording by clicking the square button with the triangle pointing back to the line on the left, then click the play button.
 * 9) Add sound effects.
 * 10) Click on the square button in the bottom right corner of the window with an eyeball to see the loop browser.
 * 11) Click on the Jingles category to find background music to click and drag to the Jingles track.
 * 12) Click on Stingers or Sound Effects to find background sounds to add to the podcast by clicking and dragging below the Jingles track. A new track will appear.
 * 13) Continue to add pictures and save work as described above in Project 1 for Garageband.

== =iMovie=

This movie editing program may sound imposing at first, but like all other iLife products, such as iPhoto and Garageband, is simple to start and can use content stored in iPhoto's library.


 * Digital Storytelling Uses:** Movie trailer for a Book/Story; PSA for Content-Learned in the Subject area; Video "Newscast" of Historical Event;
 * 1) Open iMovie.
 * 2) Click FILE and New Project.
 * 3) Name the project and choose an Aspect Ratio: TV, iPhone, or Widescreen.
 * 4) Click Create.
 * 5) Add a Title by clicking on the small square button with a "T" on the right side of the center strip.
 * Type the title and subtitle, then click DONE.
 * Click and drag an "end credits" page to the right of the title section.
 * 1) Add Video Clips
 * 2) Add Pictures from iPhoto.
 * 3) Add Your Own Voice to Narrate.
 * 4) Save your project with the Share menu.
 * 1) Save your project with the Share menu.

Back to Top
=Publishing= This section will help you finish the movie and decide how to best save and share your creation. You will have to decide what you want to do with your project. The student MacBooks and iMacs should have CD burners. The recommended choices are "Save to my Computer" or "Send to the Web". This will avoid the "Is there a CD burner?" question. The files can be turned into the teacher's public/dropbox folder. The movie files can be uploaded to the web to sites like SchoolTube or TeacherTube for publishing.

**Web-based Publishing Tools for Digital Storytelling Projects**
Publish video for or by students to this website. All videos are reviewed by a moderator before being made available for publishing. Get an embed code to put your video into a wiki or blog.
 * Teacher Tube -** Publishing Videos

You can upload ...
 * YUDU** - Publishing Documents
 * **Documents** - Most Microsoft Office files (.doc, .ppt. and .xls), OpenOffice files, and PDFs
 * **Audio** - Podcasts, audio books, music, and audio clips as long as they are MP3 files
 * **Picture** - JPG and PNG files

You can embed the file in your website or add a link to it.


 * How to Add a Link to the File on Your Website**
 * 1) Click on the file in your YUDU library.
 * 2) Click the VIEW button. The window will load the document.
 * 3) Click in the address bar, then copy the address.
 * 4) Click back on your webpage and paste as a link.

> code  code
 * How to Embed the Document in Your Website - (Don't use YUDU's embed code for the document. It will not work with Wikispaces.)**
 * 1) Click on the Widget (or EMBED) button on **your** website. On Wikispaces, click Other HTML from the choices on the left menu.
 * 2) Highlight and copy the following embed code. -
 * 1) Click back on your website's embed code section and paste the copied to code.
 * 2) Click on the file in your YUDU library.
 * 3) Click the VIEW button. The window will load the document.
 * 4) Click in the address bar, then copy the address.
 * 5) Click back on your website's embed code section and paste the YUDU address of your document in place of http://__.__
 * 6) __Click SAVE.__

__**Scribd** -__ Publishing documents You can upload documents in the following formats: If your documents are in other formats, you may be able to convert them to PDF. Please let us know if you have suggestions for additional formats.
 * Adobe PDF (.pdf)
 * Adobe PostScript (.ps)
 * Microsoft Word (.doc/ .docx)
 * Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt/.pps/.pptx)
 * Microsoft Excel (.xls/.xlsx)
 * OpenOffice Text Document (.odt, .sxw)
 * OpenOffice Presentation Document (.odp, .sxi)
 * OpenOffice Spreadsheet (.ods, .sxc)
 * All OpenDocument formats
 * Plain text (.txt)
 * Rich text format (.rtf)

=__Making It Matter__= Ok. You've embraced a new set of powerful tools for students to use in your class. Now, let's make sure you and your students get the most out of them. The currency of your classroom is a grade. These type of projects can work within that system. Where you may have assigned a project to your students where they were to turn in a term paper or research report, now you can offer them some more creative and engaging alternatives. You might be asking yourself, "How do I get a grade from a movie or photostory?" The answer is that it really isn't that different. You grade the content for accuracy the same way you would a report. If you want to be more specific and grade all the aspects of their work, a rubric is an excellent choice. It gives you guidelines for grading and if passed out to your students before the project, it gives them a clear set of your expectations.

**Tips for Creating a Good, Fair Rubric**

 * Choose the categories carefully. Each category should reflect a different standard that you want to assess.
 * When describing the levels within each category, be specific about your expectations.
 * Include definite numbers in each level, such as "contains 3 - 4 transitions in movie" or "science facts are 80%-90% correct" to avoid being subjective.
 * Don't let your numbers overlap or leave a gap. If one level description says "4 or more photos used", the one down should not **say "3-4 photos used". If this is the case, those with 4 photos would receive 2 different grades.**


 * The point of a rubric is to make expectations simple and grades as objective as possible.**

Sources for Rubrics**
[|http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/assess.html#web20]
 * Rubistar - [|www.rubistar.com]
 * Discovery School's and Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators -

Back to Top
=Fancy Tricks= In your classroom, there is a document camera. That document camera is just that, a camera. It can be used to record to your computer with the right software. Here is what you need...
 * ===Using Model Classroom Equipment===
 * The document camera
 * A USB cable with the same "thumb drive"-sized USB plug on both ends. This cord is included with all the cables that came with your document camera. It is either in the black nylon bag that came with the Epson projector or it is in a cardboard box that is about the same size as the projector.
 * Your PC
 * The software from Qomo.com - Click here to go to the Support site for Downloads. You will need to install the software and it may require you to send in the serial of the document camera.

Once installed, you will be ready to use the document camera as the camera and your computer's microphone for sound with the video being recorded to the hard drive. You won't be able to install on the student machine. If you record the students' presentations on your teacher machine, you can send each individual student's file to their dropbox on the server for them to access and use in projects.
 * ===__Time-Lapse Movie Using Document Camera__===

__Your document camera can be coupled with the software from [|qomo.com] on your Mac to create time-lapse movies. This type of movie was thought be only available to big studios or people with big budgets, but not anymore. Now with just a document camera, computer, and the right software every classroom teacher can record the events that happen very, very slowly.__


 * 1) Connect the USB port behind the door on the right side of the document camera to the USB port on your computer.
 * 2) Turn on the Visual Presenter software downloaded from the Support section of Qomo's website.
 * 3) Click on the DIGITIZER menu and choose the VISUAL PRESENTER instead of USB VIDEO CLASS VIDEO.
 * 4) Rotate the camera to point at the object of the time-lapse movie clip.
 * 5) Click on the RECORD menu and choose RECORD TIME LAPSE...
 * 6) Type a number in each text box to control how the movie is built. There is some math involved. If you want to record for the next 16 hours of time and only have a short movie clip, try taking 1 frame every minute. This will give you 30 frames from a half hour of time. At a playback rate of 30 frames per second, the half hour of time will become 1 second of video.
 * "Capture one frame every _" and choose seconds, minutes, or hours.
 * "For the next ___" and choose second, minute, hour, or day.
 * Leave the "Movie playback rate:" at 30 frames per second.
 * 1) Click OK. The movie will begin recording. Make sure you don't disconnect or turn off the camera or computer. You may have to make arrangements with the janitor who works in your area to leave on the power to the devices and room's lights.
 * 2) When the time has passed, the program will stop recording and render your movie.