LMNnews@WHS

Playing unitedstreaming video over the internet can be a frustrating experience for West High teachers. The reason behind this issue is related to bandwidth. According to www.answers.com, bandwidth is “the amount of data that can be passed along a communications channel in a given period of time.” The capacity in our building is currently very limited. Because a video stream contains so much information, it takes a lot of the available bandwidth to deliver it to your computer. At the same time, many other people in the building may be surfing the internet, taking attendance, accessing shared files, and doing all the other things that take up bandwidth in our building. Streaming one unitedstreaming video takes up approximately 16% of all the available bandwidth in the whole building. This is why if you try to watch one in class it may often start and stop, or not load at all. There simply is not enough bandwidth to allow it (and everything else everyone else is doing) to come through.

 There is a better way.

The unitedstreaming people understand that some schools are bandwidth-challenged. For us, they have created the Network Manager. This feature lets you select videos to ”Download Later.” If you choose this option, the video you chose will be downloaded to the server overnight.  This way, you do not have to sit and wait for it, and you are guaranteed smooth playback during your lesson. 

How do you do it?

Navigate to the video you wish to show. Click on the “Download Later” icon. That’s it. You can do this for as many videos as you want. If you want to check that it is indeed queued for download overnight, click on My Content at the top of the page and then on Network Manager. The names of all videos scheduled to be downloaded will be listed there.

The videos you selected will be downloaded to a shared drive called unitedstreaming downloads. The next morning (or whenever you are ready) simply open the folder that contains your video and show it to the class. These videos can also be burned to CDs for even more reliable playback.

unitedstreaming made easier. If you do not have a unitedstreaming account or would like more information, please see Bridget in the Nexus. Happy viewing!

…One tree at a time

Using NetSupport

You can use the NetSupport program in the Nexus and computer labs A106 and A108 to remotely look at student work. Then you can decide if it is ready to be printed, choose the printer you want the document sent to, and actually print it for the student. You can make sure they are truly printing only what they need or what is ready to be handed in! See Bridget, Bruce, or Kathy to see how to do this.

…One tree at a time.

Using the Student Share Drive

New this year is the redesign of the original student share drive. In the past, the student share drive was a general repository for anything and everything. It was just an open shared folder on the server which both students and teachers had open access to. This first evolution of the shared drive offerred functionality never before seen at West High. No longer did everything need to be printed or saved on floppy disks.

It worked well for a few years, but then students got smart. They learned how to pass notes, cheat on tests, plagiarize, and copy homework. Something had to be done about security.

Over the summer, we redesigned the security on the folder. Now, instead of just a general unorganized folder where you can save anything, it is a tightly secured system for students and teachers to share electronically. If you open Start –> My Computer –> Student Share you will see two folders, one called “Digital Dropbox” and the other “Teacher Files.” Although both folders contain a folder for every teacher, they are designed for two different purposes. 

The Digital Dropbox is where students can save or turn in their work for you to see and grade. Inside your folder in the Digital Dropbox is a folder for every period you teach. Students may save their work here for you to access from anywhere in the district. It is designed so that students cannot see, copy, move, or delete each other’s work, but they can save there and access their own work.

The Teacher Files folder is the opposite. This folder is designed for you to put power point presentations, worksheets, templates, word documents, directions, and any other documents you would like your students to access during the time they are in school. They cannot save over or modify anything you put there,  but they can read it.

Both folders together are a powerful tool to manage student work. Not only do they simplify computer projects and encourage academic integrity, if students save instead of print, you can also significantly reduce the amount of paper and toner used in the building, your contribution to saving the environment and the world.

We can help! Bring us your requests for full-text professional journal articles. We can usually find them for you. Sometimes we can print them out right away! We want to assist you in any way we can with your advanced degree!

 [This cartoon artwork is in the public domain. It was originally published at: http://www.ai.uga.edu/tonysnod/cartoons.html. This version for class use only; no reproduction or printing allowed.]

Would you like to set your PowerPoint presentations to music? Even better - music that is free of copyright restrictions? Check out the site www.freeplaymusic.com. This site allows you to sample a wide variety of instrumental music - everything from soft jazz to hip hop to rock. Once you find something you like, it can be in your presentation in a flash.

Here’s how it works:
1. Click on a style or enter a search term to find music that meets your needs
2. A results screen will come up. Click on the shortest time frame on the Preview side to hear a sample
3. If you don’t like it, try another one. If you do, look to the left of the preview option and find MP3. 
4. Right click on the length of clip that best meets your needs and choose “Save Target As…” Save it somewhere you will be able to find it, either on a flash drive, your folder on the server, or, if you are at home, your MyDocuments folder.

Once you save the clip, you are ready to insert it into PowerPoint.
1. Go to the slide you want the music to play on and choose Insert–> Movies and Sounds–> Sound from file.
2. Browse to where you saved the music. Select it and choose Open.
3. PPT will ask you whether you want the sound to play automatically or when clicked. Choose whatever works for you.

Voila! you have successfully inserted music into your presentation.
I know what you’re thinking. Now the music only plays on that one slide and stops when you click. Here’s the trick:
1. After you have inserted the sound, click on Slide Show –> Custom Animations.
2. Click the arrow or right click the sound icon in the window that pops up on the right.
3. Choose the Effect tab and adjust how long it plays.

Good luck! This also works well for student work and is a great alternative to using copyrighted music from a CD. If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Bridget in the Nexus.

Do you like to take digital pictures? Do your pictures sometimes come out too dark, or does everyone have red eyes (and it’s not Halloween)? Picasa 2, a FREE photo editing tool from Google, allows you to simply and quickly fix these common problems, make other adjustments, and add special effects to bring out the best in your photographs. Picasa also allows you to organize and share your pictures. The program is installed on school computers and can be downloaded for free for home use at http://picasa.google.com/.

Our online subscription to “Issues & Controversies” offers Browsealoud, an assistive technology software that delivers speech options to allow students to listen to database content without any special equipment.

This spoken text capability is also available with NetTrekker, our subscription database of educational websites.

Brief commentary on the future of education…
Download Video: Posted by mcleod at TeacherTube.com.

Bored with making posters and doing PowerPoint presentations? Tired of the same old thing? There are many alternatives to traditional projects that you can try using Microsoft Publisher.
Using templates where you just type in your information, Publisher lets you create banners, greeting cards, advertisements, brochures, pamphlets, etc. etc. instantly and painlessly.
Are you a history teacher studying Ancient Egypt? Your students could create an advertisement for a company that will mummify people, incorporating what they have learned about the process and social customs.
Maybe you teach English and you are studying Edgar Allen Poe. Your students might collaboratively create a newsletter showcasing his accomplishments.
An environmental science teacher might have the students make a flyer detailing the dangers of the global warming or benefits of legislation supporting clean air.
If you teach a business class, you might have students create their own business cards.
Study Skills/Resource students might use the calendar feature to plan long term assignments and homework.
A foreign language class might create a travel brochure for a culture they are studying.
The ideas are endless. Microsoft Publisher offers students a chance to show their knowledge in a professional, real-world product that is both motivating and educational. Check it out today!

Educational video has been a staple of curriculum for decades—all the way back to the old reel to reel filmstrips and 35mm slides. The latest incarnation, digital video, now makes this process much more convenient.
In the past, subject specific video could be hard to find. It is also very expensive; a single 20 minute film can cost $100. Time is also an issue; often you do not have time to show an entire movie but certain scenes would be relevant. Unfortunately, the trouble of rewinding and fast forwarding to get to the right place was cumbersome.
Gone are the days where you have to purchase or rent movies to show in class, or deal with any of these other issues. Usher in United Streaming—an online video library with over 40,000 video clips, all correlated to state standards, searchable by subject, grade level, or keyword, ready for downloading during the school day or from the comfort of your own home.
Research suggests that students learn better when they are presented with material in a variety of formats. Video allows those visual learners to connect to a curriculum and develop understanding they might not get from lecture alone.
Many teachers at West are already taking advantage of this great service. Downloading is not difficult to do and can be mastered quickly. It happens overnight, minimizing the time commitment from you. Videos can be shown as is by copying them onto CDs, or they can be integrated into PowerPoint, Word, Inspiration, or other documents for a complete multimedia experience.
It’s easy to get started with United Streaming.
1. Go to http://www.unitedstreaming.com/ and enter the passcode (see Bridget to find out what it is) to create your account.
2. Sign into United Streaming using the new user name and password you created.
3. Type a search term in the box to find videos for your lessons.
It’s that simple. For more information, please see Bridget in the Nexus.