Digital Learning at Grant Wood AEA
  • Home
  • Learn
    • 4Cs Summer Camp
    • ITEC 2018
    • Iowa 1 to 1
    • Green Screen
    • Free Media
    • AR/VR in Schools
  • Think
    • Blog
    • BrightBytes
    • Tech Coaches
    • Blended Learning
    • Think Make Innovate
    • Edtech Take Out
  • Grow
    • Makerspaces
    • Google Expeditions
    • Defined STEM
    • #GoOpen
    • Computer Science
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Learn
    • 4Cs Summer Camp
    • ITEC 2018
    • Iowa 1 to 1
    • Green Screen
    • Free Media
    • AR/VR in Schools
  • Think
    • Blog
    • BrightBytes
    • Tech Coaches
    • Blended Learning
    • Think Make Innovate
    • Edtech Take Out
  • Grow
    • Makerspaces
    • Google Expeditions
    • Defined STEM
    • #GoOpen
    • Computer Science
  • Contact

Best of the Web: The Free YouTube Audio Library

2/25/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Ever been stuck for some good free music to use with student video projects? You're not alone. Iowa educators are lucky to have access to the Soundzabound library, but not everyone has access to a paid subscription like this. Recently, I came across a tweet by TechSmith's Camtasia for Mac account that reminded me of a great free audio library on YouTube. Here's how it works.

Simply navigate to https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music to get started. Here you will find dozens of free tracks that you can download and use in any project you care to create with no restrictions on copyright or anything else. Just make sure you select the Free Music tab at the top of the page to find the royalty free tracks.

Music can be sorted by genre, mood, instrument or duration to make it easier to find the style of music you need. Clicking the play button next to the title of the track can be used to preview any track before you download it, and the star on the far right-hand side can be used to shortlist your favorites. You can even see the popularity of a track by looking at how full its horizontal bar is.

When you find what you need, click the down arrow (highlighted below) to download the music to your computer for use in video editing software like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. Finished videos that are then uploaded to YouTube will not be flagged by YouTube's Content ID scanner because it recognizes that your music is from the YouTube Audio library.
Picture
There are a wide variety of music styles here, so you are likely to find something to fit most student (or teacher) video projects, and with any luck, YouTube will continue to add more free music to this library so that the variety of audio on offer here continues to expand.

Other possible sources of free music for schools include Freeplay Music or ccMixster, but if you have favorite sources that you like to use, please share them in the comments below.


~ Jonathan Wylie, GWAEA Technology Consultant

For more posts like this, please subscribe to our blog! You can also connect with us on social media if you Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or add us to your circles on Google+.
0 Comments

Best of the Web: Photos for Class via @kvnmcl

2/17/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
This is the first of a brand new series on our blog called Best of the Web. Each week we will look at a classroom technology resource that was shared by a teacher we follow on social media. This week's pick come from Kevin McLaughlin, an elementary educator from the UK. Kevin is a Google Certified Teacher, a Google Education Trainer and an Apple Distinguished Educator. You can follow him on Google+ here, or on Twitter at @kvnmcl.

Recently I was intrigued by a resource Kevin shared on Twitter called Photos for Class. With Photos for Class, you can search and download creative commons images that are automatically cited with the correct attribution (as seen in the image above). Photos for Class uses your keyword searches to scan through the Flickr database of Creative Commons images and deliver a page of filtered images that are safe and licensed for re-use.

Citations are added as a watermark at the bottom of the photo you choose and include the name of the author, the name of the photo, a link to the original photo, as well as the name and type of Creative Commons license that the image was released under. Photos for Class only shows images that are free to use and allow for derivative works, but because Flickr has a huge repository of images, the variety, choice and quality available is often very good for schools.

Proper citation of images is obviously still an incredibly important skill for students to be taught, but for younger students, or just plain convenience, this site is hard to beat. It can also be a great time saver for teachers who know how to cite, but are just looking for some quick, legal images to use while still setting a good example for students who view the images they choose.

And so, it is with due deference that we doff our hat to Mr. Kevin McLaughlin for sharing this useful website for teachers. If you have a resource that you think should be features in our Best of the Web series, we'd love to hear about it. You can connect with us on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook, but if you would prefer to email us you can do that too! :)


~ Jonathan Wylie: Technology Consultant, Grant Wood AEA

For more posts like this, please subscribe to our blog! You can also connect with us on social media if you Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or add us to your circles on Google+.
1 Comment

Reexploring Thinglink

2/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Have you heard of Thinglink?  Thinglink is a website that allows you to create interactive images with hot points to connect videos, text and other images to a single photo.  I had learned about it a few years ago.  I loved the idea of it, but the workability of it at the time didn’t make it a go-to site for me.  

However, I recently needed to gather and share resources with a group and I thought a Thinglink would be a good tool to use.  As I reexplored this program, I was wowed at how much has improved with this product and they have even added a free app for mobile devices!  Thinglink is very user friendly, it incorporates search features to make it easy to build your creation, and sharing it snap with connections to many social media outlets.  Thinglink offers teacher accounts and for a small yearly fee ($35) teachers can have a premium account.  I also really like how they have expanded into adding tags to videos as well!  It can bring your flip class videos to a whole new level.

But, I thought the best way to learn more about Thinglink is to use Thinglink!  Explore the Thinglink below by moving your mouse onto the image.  

One of the techniques that I practice when using Thinglink is to use different icons to represent different resources. 
Check out my key before you begin:
  • Red circle icon = website  
  • Red Play button = video
  • White i = a text box
They are fun to make and I would encourage you to explore Thinglink!

- Amber Bridge, Technology Consultant 
@abridgesmith

For more posts like this, please subscribe to our blog! You can also connect with us on social media if you Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or add us to your circles on Google+.
0 Comments

    Connect



    Blog Feed

    RSS Feed


    Like Us on Facebook

    Digital Learning at Grant Wood Area Education Agency

    Promote Your Page Too

    Our Podcast

    Picture

    Our Tweets!

    Tweets by @DLGWAEA

    Authors

    Stacy Behmer
    Jonathan Wylie
    Gina Rogers
    Amber Bridge
    Beth Swantz

    Mindy Cairney
    Lynn Kleinmeyer
    Maggie Pickett
    Corey Rogers


    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014


    Categories

    All
    3d Printing
    4Cs
    Augmented Reality
    Best Of The Web
    Blogging
    Coding
    Communication
    Computer Science
    Connected Classrooms
    Device Deployment
    Digital Citizenship
    Digital Classrooms
    Flipped Classroom
    Formative Assessment
    GAFE
    Google
    Google Apps EDU
    Google Expeditions
    Green Screen
    Ipad
    ISTE
    Literacy
    Makerspace
    Office 365
    Personalized Learning
    PLN
    Podcast
    Professional Learning
    Service Learning
    Student Choice
    Update
    Video
    Virual Reality
    Web 2.0
    Youtube

Grant Wood Area Education Agency extends equal opportunities in its employment practices, educational programs and services, and does not discriminate on the basis of color, gender, race, national origin, religion, creed, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, veteran status or as otherwise prohibited by law. If you believe you or your child has been discriminated against or treated unjustly, please contact the Agency’s Equity Coordinator, Maria Cashman, at 319-399-6847 or 800-332-8488. Grant Wood AEA, 4401 Sixth St SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.

It is the goal of Grant Wood Area Education Agency that the information on our website be accessible to individuals with visual, hearing or cognitive disabilities. Good faith efforts have been made to ensure that our site complies with the world wide web consortium’s web content accessibility guidelines. Learn more here.