eLearning For Teachers: Di Goodman (Epoff)

Change the picture resolution of one or all images inside an existing Powerpoint show

1. Click the picture that you want to change the resolution (resolution is the fineness of detail in an image or text produced by a monitor or printer)
2. Go to Picture Tools > Format tab > Adjust group, click Compress Pictures. Note If you do not see the Picture Tools and Format tabs, make sure that you selected a picture. You may have to double-click the picture to select it and open the Format tab
3. To change the resolution for the selected picture only and not all of the pictures in the document, select the Apply to selected pictures only check box. To change all the pictures on all the slides, leave unchecked.
4. Click Options > Target Output, click the resolution that you want.
5. For Moodle: select Email size, for powerpoint in a classroom select Screen size and for high quality projection/slide prints select Print size.
6. Be sure not to overwrite the original file: Save As the compressed slideshow so that you can make a different resolution show if you need to later.

Resize a picture before you insert it into a Powerpoint show

Following are three options for resizing pictures before they are inserted in powerpoint:

Situation A: No special software needed on your computer except and internet connection. Solution: Use a web 2.0 application such as picnik.com

1. Log onto the internet and open picnik.com.

2. Click the Get Started Now button (you dont need to register!)

3. Click the Upload a Photo button and locate your original picture file (Note: it must be a flattened Jpg    file)

4. Click the Edit Tab > Resize button and enter the new dimensions: make the largest dimension 600pixels (ie either width or height - picnik keeps the proportion of the other dimension provided you have the Keep proportions checkbox ticked). Click OK

Situation B: Download free software on your personal computer/laptop for resizing images (school PCs have Picasa already)

Solution: Use Google Picasa 3. Picasa is a fantastic free image browser and editing program that is easy to follow. You can upload your images online to Google web Albums (like Flickr). Or you can export them to a folder or to email.

1. Click the Download button and follow the prompts to install on your computer

2. Locate the image you wish to resize using the browser pane to the left of the Picasa 3 window to locate the folder and then click on the image/s you wish to resize

3. Click the Export to Folder Button underneath the main window and create or locate a new folder to store your resized images in. Check resize > use the slider to the required pixel dimension eg 600 pixels > choose maximum image quality. Click OK. Your resized images can now be found inside the folder you designated as your Export Folder, ready to insert into Powerpoint.

Situation C: You have access to Photoshop (available on all school PCs)

Solution: Use Photoshop

1. Open Photoshop and go to File > Open and select the image you wish to resize

2. Go to Image menu > Image size and change the largest pixel dimension to 600 pixels. Click Ok

3. Check any layers are flattened and Save As a maximum quality jpg file. Remember not to save over the original.

Day 2 of the TIGS Moodle for Teachers PD workshop - 12th August 2009

This morning began with a roll up of enthusiastic teachers chatting about the things we had discovered about Moodle yesterday, and the many possibilities for setting up our own class pages.

Formal discussion expanded some issues that arose from the SWOT session at the close of Day 1. Several teachers expressed concern that multiple teachers would be sharing the one subject (course) page and how the contents and activities might be supervised or controlled by Head teachers and Co-ordinators. It was mostly acknowledged that 21st century learning for both students and their teachers is collaborative and that the term SHARING underpins the pedagogy. The strengths of sharing and collaboratively developing a dynamic learning environment were documented in the Day 1 evaluation session and these far outweigh the weaknesses of the transparent ‘open’ page format of Narradan/Moodle. This concern however, was recorded as a threat to other structures within the school, in particular the PYP program. It was noted however, that Edumate itself, is not setup to recognise the different dynamics of the PYP program, consequently work needs to be undetaken to resolve these issues for the Junior school.

Today we learnt about and used the collaborative tools available in Narradan (our Moodle site): chat rooms, assignment, forums, quizzes, wikis etc. Many of these are fantastic and have tremendous potential for develping rich tasks and interesting ICT activities for students

However, the most challenging feature is Quizzes or tests. These require considerable effort to set up, although all questions are filed in a question bank and can be reused in other tests. This is the most clumsy feature of Moodle and does not seem the best way to create tests.

Julian told us how to create a test in Hot Potatoes - available in the Start > All Programs folder we all have on our school intranet and save it, then use the Moodle Quizzes Import tab to import as a Moodle Quiz. I think I prefer the sound of this method!

Another shortcut:  I went online and googled ‘moodle quiz questions’ and found many sites with preset question and answer formats that I imported into Moodle. I was then able to edit the key words and save!  I think I saved at least 2 hours in the process!

We quickly ran out of time today - so much to cover and by the end of the day we were quite numb with information! All teachers attending were positive about the training and left with valuable info and ideas to get started on their own class pages. Julian Ridden was a great presenter and trainer who pushed us through an enormous amount of content with good humour and an engaging presentation format.

Watch my next posts where I’ll publish some formal evaluation feedback.

Day 1 of the TIGS Moodle for Teachers PD workshop - 11th August 2009

12 TIGS teachers from across the K-12 curriculum gathered for a 2 day workshop on Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th August to learn how to use the features of Moodle. Moodle is the chosen tool for developing our online teaching and learning portal, Narradan

Our trainer, Julian Ridden (known as Moodleman), is an outstanding educational facilitator who has empowered teachers across NSW to establish up online learning enviroments for their students. Check out his Moodleman Blog that has loads of great Moodle tips and ideas. Scroll through the archives or so a specific search for a topic

Modular (add to adjust change, develop to suit the needs of the user)

Object

Oriented

Dynamic (able to adapt to different needs and uses)

Learning

Environment (blends various tools to create a learning environment)

Moodle is an LMS

Content management system - eg a blog or a wiki

Document management system - eg sharepoint, share drive

Learning management system - eg Moodle, a tool to manage learning

Moodle Characteristics

Not a one-size-fits-all tool. Its an adjustable environment for learning communities designed using pedagogical principles. Teachers shape the product as they use it

Free Open Source Software (FOSS) which means its liberally licensed to give users the opportunity to research, analyse, use and improve the software due to its free unlimited availability and access

For the delivery of learning activities (wikis, blogs, assignments, quizzes etc) and the posting/publishing of resources (powerpoints, image galleries, audio glossaries, podcasts, documents, photos, links etc)

Great communication tools (forums, discussion tools, chat rooms, etc)

Modular: all of its components are adaptable and flexible. New tools and features can be added or altered

Can be customised to suit teacher’s needs

Compatible with different standards eg Mahara for ePortfolios; Sloodle (Moodle for Second Life)

Allows for differentiation of task: journal, image galleries, repositories, portfolios, certificates,book resources, podcasting, video conferencing, story writing, digital storytelling

Who uses Moodle?

Since 2003 users have grown to 56,000. Inside these users there are 9 milion educators

Check out the community of moodleusers  http://www.moodle.org. This Moodle forum is a vibrant community of users who post valuable information.  I encourage you to contribute to this community of practice. You can also follow Julian Ridden via his alias ‘Moodleman’ on Twitter

Samples of Moodle online courses

Schools are reluctant to share their Moodle courses however Julian has setup a Moodle Playpen to provie some examples and allow you to see some courses that have been setup by various teachers. This site allows guest access