debbie oestreicher's List: Technology - Digital Images, Video and Animations

This site is full of ideas submitted by teachers for integrating digital cameras into the curriculum, with links to sample projects created by students. Visitors will find reviews of different models and accessories, links to information on purchasing and prices, and a discussion of advantages and disadvantages of using digicams in the classroom. The section Student Assessment explores using digicams to create electronic portfolios. Users are invited to send in their own suggestions for uses for and links to digicam projects.

Teachers interested in producing video as part of their project-based learning will find lots of tools and information at Kids’ Vid. Students will enjoy displaying their work in this engaging way that is appropriate for a wide range of grade levels. Information is available on how to script a video, including a storyboard tool; how to produce a movie, including setting up a shot, lighting, and audio; how to edit using music and effects; and how to compress a movie into various formats. There is a teachers’ section with lessons on how to integrate video production into the curriculum as well as tips for improving video techniques, advice from other kids, and ways to use video in class. The theater showcases some of the work that classes have submitted to the site.

Although this tutorial is provided for the purpose of transforming historical and cultural documents to digitized form, much of the content is relevant for anyone interested in digital imaging. The tutorial explains the various steps in creating digital images and the technology needed. Such technical topics as resolution/threshold, color and tone, and file formats are discussed as well as presentation techniques. Included is information on how scanners work, scanner types, and image processing. Each chapter has links to additional reading and checks for understanding along the way. For those involved in digital publication, there is information on selection and file management.

Media literacy is an expanded information and communication skill that is responsive to the changing nature of information in our society. It addresses the skills students need to be taught in school, the competencies citizens must have as we consume information in our homes and living rooms, and the abilities workers must have as we meet the challenges of a global economy. On this site, we have created lessons to begin the process of teaching and learning Media literacy skills.

GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.

ImageWell is a small, but powerful, image editing application that lets you quickly resize, crop, watermark, edit your images, take screenshots and then instantly upload them to the web, save to your computer or email them to a friend.

ImageWell also lets you annotate your images with text, shapes, arrows and lines,

quickly and easily. And it doesn't stop there - add a drop shadow, a shaped border,

flip or rotate your image, adjust the sharpness and brightness, plus so much more

Upload, share, organize, and digital photographs

Jalbum lets you create and share stunning customized photo albums. Publish to yourname.jalbum.net or your own site.
It's free.