Photo Gadget Picture Resizer is a free program you can use to reduce the file size of a picture without harming the quality.  This program is currently on all workstations in the district.  You can view the video tutorial by clicking the link or download the program for home use by clicking that link. 

The program is very user friendly, but two tips to keep in mind:
     1. Make sure the box that reads “Overwrite Original Picture”  is NOT checked so you can keep the original file as is.
     2. Make sure  the box that reads “Keep Aspect Ratio” IS checked so it looks the same as the original.

Those are default settings and should be set already, but this is just a “Heads-Up”

Photo Gadget Picture Resizer Video Tutorial

Photo Gadget Picture Resizer Download for Home Use

Well, if you were expecting food, you came to the wrong post…but if you are hungry to hear about the best online photo editing tool, you’ve come to the right place!

Picnik.com is a new website that allows you to edit any picture you care to upload.  It is VERY user friendly, so much so, that I’m not even going to give you a “How-To” handout, the site does it for me.  The best thing?  You don’t have to download any software and it easily interfaces with picasa web albums, myspace (There is even a plug-in for that), facebook, flikr and many other sites.  It’s well worth the test drive.

One caution though, if you are using dial up, it can be painfully slow since it’s all done on line.  However, if you have a broadband connection, you will be amazed!

In order to embed the video you have created into a Power Point presentation, you first need to convert it to a .wmv file. All movies need to be in that format to play well with Power Point.

I have created a video tutorial to show how to do that with a program I talked about earlier, VideoLAN.
Assuming you have downloaded that program, click the tutorial link below, there is also a .pdf file of the steps needed to convert a file using VideoLAN.

Converting Flash

Converting Flash Video .pdf

When that step is complete, you can simply go to the page in Power Point you want to embed the video and follow these steps.1. Select “Insert” then “Movies and Sounds” then “Movie From File”
2. Browse to the file you want to embed and select “OK”
3. it will ask if you want it to play automatically or when clicked, I suggest “When Clicked”.
4. Test your slide to make sure everything works!

Now that you have your flash file, you can do a couple of things with it. If you want to simply view or show it, you need to have a flash video player installed on your computer. There are many good ones out there, the one I prefer is called VideoLAN. The reason I like this particular tool, is with it you can view many different types of video files, it’s Open Source (Read: FREE), and with it you can convert a flash video into a Windows Media File.  You can read how to do that in part three of this post.

Here is the link to download VideoLAN.

There are a couple of ways to do this depending on what Internet browser you use.  The easiest way is to use a website to download the video.  There are a couple out there, this is one I have used most recently because it does many different kinds of video, not just those from You Tube.

Here’s How:

1. Find a You Tube video you would like to save, highlight and copy the URL. (Ctrl + C)
2. Go to this website: http://www.techcrunch.com/get-youtube-movie/ and paste the URL in the box (Ctrl + V) and click the “Get Video” button.
3. Save it to a location you can find later. (i.e. your Desktop)
4. The file will download and be called “get_video.flv”.
5. To rename the file, right click on the file, choose “Rename” type a different name, just make sure it ends in .flv (This means it’s a flash file)
6. The file is now downloaded and can be played on your computer if you have a flash player installed.

If you don’t have a flash player, the next post will give you a source for a free one.  If you want to use it in a Power Point presentation, you’ll need to convert it to a .wmv file.  That will be the final post in this series. 

YouTube.com is a hugely popular site, as I’m sure you are aware. There are a lot of videos that aren’t really conducive to the classroom environment, but there are some that are worthwhile and could be used in an educational setting.

I was asked awhile ago if there was a way to take a YouTube video and show it in class, either by itself, or embedded in a Power Point presentation. The answer: Yes! It’s a interesting process and takes a few steps, but anyone can do it if you follow the directions.

As a district, we are also working on a way to allow you to log in to Youtube and show the videos via the projector right from your computer. (However, we need to be cognizant of bandwidth issues and the CIPA laws regarding Internet filtering for students.) But that will not allow you to embed the video in a Power Point presentation.

Check out the posts above!

Many times I am asked if I can explain copyright quickly.  So since it is kind of a grey area, this website has a great article regarding copyright.  It also has an electronic version of the copyright chart  you received in Tech Integration Class.  This was published in the Technology & Learning magazine.  I also have the link to the “Seven Deadly Myths of Internet Copyright” that Diane spoke about.  Here is a link to the article online:

The Educator’s Guide to Copyright and Fair Use

The Seven Deadly Myths of Internet Copyright

How to add a video clip from United Streaming (Or other .wmv file) to your Power Point presentation in six easy steps!

1. Download the video and save it somewhere you will remember. (Your desktop is a great place to work from)
2. Open up Power Point and navigate to the slide where you want to embed the video.
3. Click on “Insert” then “Movies and Sounds” then “Movie From File”.
4. When the next window opens, it will ask where the movie file is located. Browse to the location of your video (In this case, the desktop.) select it, and say “OK”.
5. Power point will ask if you want the movie to start “Automatically” or “When Clicked”, choose whichever you prefer.
6. That’s it! To preview your movie, press the [F5] key and you will put it into slideshow mode. Navigate to your movie, and enjoy!

Before I go into this topic, I want to remind you about the wonderful world of copyright. If you are using this presentation for educational purposes, and you personally own the CD you are ripping the music from, you may do this as long as you cite the cd as a reference. You may not make copies of the presentation to give to students or parents with the song included.

1. Put the CD in your Computer
2. Open Windows Media Player
3. Click “Rip” from the top menu
4. Select the song(s) you want to rip
5.Click “Start Rip”

The music will be saved in a folder in My Documents, My Music.

Adding pictures to your blog or Power Point presentation is very easy. One of the most important things is to make sure the photo is sized correctly. This allows you to keep the overall file size low, and will allow people to browse your blog or e-mail more quickly. (For blogs, it will also allow you to provide a thumbnail for the picture, which is pretty cool…)

This is also useful if you want to e-mail pictures to friends or relatives, as the pictures don’t show up HUGE in the e-mail!  (Doncha just love it when it takes 5 minutes to receive one e-mail?)
Here is a great website for resizing, cropping, and editing photos all online without downloading any software to your computer!

Site URL: Snipshot.com

How To Document: Snip Shot How-To