Shawnee Library Technology Trainer

good passwords

2009-06-26T11:47:00.001-04:00

Good passwords have both numbers and letters
1235678 !@#$%^&*()
symbols and letters

golf2dance
Golf2dance
Golf2dnace

golf2dance
golf2dance
glf2dance

--
Http://VincentXShaw.blogspot.com

Scheduling an event.

2009-01-31T17:32:00.001-05:00

In scheduling for the events, there are 3 things that must be done:

Equipment (as shown available in the google calendar above)
- LaptopLab Google calendar
Location's meeting room available:

iGoogle for that branch. For instance:
For program directors, here’s an example of Shawnee’s Large Meeting room. and our Small Meeting room which, like the calendar above, helps us find unreserved slots to schedule the rooms for the lab program.
Just in case, call and reserve. Kinda hard to run a class in a hallway.

For Public Relations we use e*vents
- By the branch hosting the event. For example, Pontiac or Shawnee
- Use e*vents to reserve a seat at the class. This is important since we have only 9 laptops, including the one the class leader will most likely be using.

Public Service Announcements on YouTube and ACPL Homepage

2009-01-09T02:36:00.001-05:00

Also, it’s available in Spanish:

Thanks to Melissa for putting the PSA together! Next we plan on getting this as a video on the ACPL web page that will direct to the LaptopLab site.

How to save online videos (Youtube, etc.) and even convert them; save them offline, into PowerPoint for a presentation.

2009-01-03T15:08:00.000-05:00

It’s nice to be multimedia, where our listeners can see and hear fantastic videos that will aid in their learning and understanding. With limited budgets we can only produce only so much in comparison to the wealth already out there. But how do we get that in to our class room?

During power point presentations they can be embedded into our slides. The best way to do this is have them downloaded to your disk first, then imported into power point through the usual insert menu system. This allows us to have the additional benefit of freeing the media from streaming during high traffic times, which often causes video stutter and delay. I’ve encountered this during class and is critical that videos are reliable for the class leader as well as the students who’ve come to hopefully learn with minimal interference. The easier for everyone, the better.

The hard part of this then, is how in the first place does one get those great youtube videos and flash files downloaded off the bandwidth-weary internet and onto a trusty local drive in the first place? Here are a few resources to do just that:

http://www.downloadhelper.net has the easy solution, push-button download and automatic conversion.

1.) Firefox can download the video from Video DownloadHelper, a button extension that is a must-have. It will even download the HD versions.

2.) Next there’s an auto-convert extension, working in the background for you, all in a very reasonable file size. There is a fee to remove the icon. But it all is very automatic, so it can easily be worth the price.

http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free This is less automatic, but has no cost. Additionally, this free video converter can batch-convert a large group of files, into many formats. Just follow step one above, but substitute step 2 with the any-video-converter.

http://vixy.net Online, no install, web-service converts a Flash Video / FLV file (YouTube's videos,etc) for you into DIVX and other formats like MPEG4 (AVI/MOV/MP4/MP3/3GP), such as for your phone and PSP, then lets you download.
It converts FLV to MPEG4 faster and less lossy than a typical transcoder. When you submit a URL, it will download and convert to the video format, and then you can download the converted file. Not a problem if you have DIVX installed, because the Video portion is encoded in DIVX format, you won’t see anything in your media player. So that causes some work and may challenge during the play of the file.

http://www.sameshow.com/powerpoint-to-flash.html I haven’t tried this product, but I can see how useful it would be. This will help distribute slideshows with transitions and animations, with very small file sizes. I’d love to find a free version of something similar.

Remember to distribute this videos according to net rules of information property. I try to include a bibliography or a clickable link in the PowerPoint to reference to the video’s original source.

Class feedback to help the Laptop Lab classes

2008-12-14T10:19:00.004-05:00

Feedback has been great about the classes in the program! For the grant, I've used SurveyMonkey to collect feedback during classes.

From running it, I believe I can improve things by stacking classes together that help each other instead of a single 90 minute class. For example, with 2 classes on photography, there will be 1 shorter class of how to import and manage your pictures as well as sharing them to friends; but next a more thorough hands-on class on special effects and projects, such as taking things unwanted out and cropping in a family member who wasn't at that special event. One can sit in both, back to back, which provides maximum learning in 2 hours, instead of squishing too much in less time.

Pictures from the Lab

2008-11-22T13:07:00.002-05:00

These 2 pictures came from last week's classes:

Make a Resume:

Computer FUNdamentals 101:

Planned Curriculum

2008-10-25T16:00:00.004-04:00

Online material for the classes can be found at the Laptop Lab Blog, that you can find from the link bar above. The following classes are under development for the curriculum:

Basics: mouse and keyboard, using windows and windows
Jobs, resumes, posting online
Internet I - learn and connect
Internet II
Internet III
Google and all its gadgets
Communicate: Chat, Messenger, Video, Social Networks
Messages, MySpace, FaceBook, YouTube, Forums
Blogs - your personal web site, push button publishing.
Pod Casting - your words and your voice, your show, digital
Gaming - free, multi-player
School - group projects, presentations, research
College - preparation, researching colleges, financial aid
Parents - Keep kids safe, School district communication
Household management - multiple calendars, to-do lists, etc.
Consumer research: finding product reviews from reputable sources

Music - on phone, personal music player
Photography I
Photography II
Movie making
Animate
Production: Make some music, beats, videos, programming
PC building workshop
Repair - when things go bad
Web 2.0 - You in the web!
Care: Medicare, Social Security, Medical research
Genealogy research

Classes will be announced via the E*vents Calendar and through Library displays and notices.

"Library Technology Trainer" blog

2008-10-24T12:24:00.001-04:00

This is the new page for the Library Technology Trainer at the Shawnee branch of Allen County Public Library. Here I will journal on-going activities in the adventures of providing life-skills through technology, provided to you by a grant for the Shawnee Branch, right here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We are proud of this program and hope it will become something to bless others far away as well as in the future.

The classes will be posted up at the Laptop Lab Blog,an online resource holding our resources provided and collected.

To take the classes in person, please check our calendar and sign up.

2007-11-02T13:49:00.001-04:00

On this page you can see the whole list of posts published.

To show the full table of contents, please click on the link below (this may take a few moments to load)

Show table of contents