Convert and Download

Watch out for the Learning Curve!

I never knew there were so many applications, websites, combinations of downloads and converters for videos! I began with, what I thought, was the greatest tool: www.vconversion.com. What I liked about this tool was that I never had to leave the site, I simply put in my url, pressed convert and then download. My movie was downloaded as a .mov (standard media container for Quicktime), and I was done. As I was creating my screencast on the easy use of vconversion, I received a message saying I needed to wait 13 minutes before downloading again, or join for 49.95. This sent me on a search for a comparable download/converter.

Some hours later, I had a good understanding of flv, which is the name of the file format used to deliver video using Adobe Flash Player. Once the video you want to capture is converted to an flv file, it can be seen only if you have a player. I set forth and learned about real player and real player agent, leechvideo.com, youtubia, Savetube, isquint, and vlan. I learned about vlc media players. I kept searching. Keepvid was recommended as a great site, but suddenly (as of last night) it went away. When I googled for ideas of replacements for keepvid, the suggestion was made to use www.clipnabber.com.
Clipnabber is a keeper. I used it to capture the YouTube video on Kids using multimedia for this week’s project. It was free, easy to use, quick to download, and converts to both flv and mp4 files, depending on whether your platform is PC or Mac, respectively. It seemed like most converters were beginning to charge for their services. I would be happy to pay for a good converter service, like vconversion if I have to, but for now, I’ll take free.

To Blog or Not to Blog

As a child I loved to write, putting pencil to paper and then sharing these poems and stories with others. Mrs. Booth, my fourth grade Reading teacher posted my poems on the wall outside her classroom, and “published” them in a magazine put together with staples. Later, she set me up with a penpal, her own niece who lived in West Virginia on the Ohio River. Eventually, Mrs. Booth had me over to dinner at her house to meet face to face with her niece, and we exchanged little gifts.

I can only imagine what Mrs. Booth would have done with us if blogging had been around way back then. Maybe I’d still be in touch with Laura Hodges, the girl who could draw like no one else. She is probably waiting to be the illustrator of the book I’m trying to write. Linda, Mrs. Booth’s niece would probably have had a blog that I would have regularly made pings on, and we would have learned so much more about each other’s lives.

My daughter has a blog. In it she talks about her life, vacation, her friends, and her dog. She enjoys blogging because others read her writing and respond, or ping her writing. Her blog, however, is password protected. I thought about responding to Will Richardson’s column on blogging with the thought that there are a lot of kids out there blogging, but not showing up on web searches because they are password protected. I think the business of blogging is important for kids to have practice in, but the risk of putting themselves and their feelings into a public forum is a little scary. Recently, my daughter had a friend who was the subject of cyber-bullying. We were suddenly face-to-face with the down side of putting yourself out there, on the internet, at a such a young age.

I see the power that Laura, from the 25 Days to Make a Difference blog, has to change her world and the lives of others. Her Mom seems very protective of how much gets out about Laura herself, and she cautions others about posting with the help of parents if they are minors.

It is a delicate balance. In the classroom, password protected, kids need the opportunity to learn how to blog. They need to know the etiquette (I understand the Bloggers That Be are working on this) and become empowered with this tool that is changing the landscape of their horizon. It is our job to educate our kids so that when they are ready to change the world with their words, they will be informed consumers of the choices available.