Embed a YouTube Video into Schoolwires

I wanted to show everyone how to embed a video into your SchoolWires page. 

Here is a new page I created on SchoolWires, but this can work for existing pages as well. At the bottom of the page, there is a button labeled HTML. This is the computer code part of your page. Click on this button. 

Next, go to the YouTube video you want to place on your page. 1: Click on the "Share" button. 2: Click on the Embed button. 3: Copy the code in the box underneath the video. 

Head back to the Page Editor and paste the code into the box. If you already have text and other information there, place the YouTube code in the spot you would like to see the video. Once you have the code in the HTML box, click the normal box in the lower left hand corner. 

You will be taken to the Normal view and you should see the video in the box. You can highlight the video and center adjust it if you would like. When you have finished all of your work, you can click "Save" and your video will be available to all to see. 

Having the videos on your site is a nice way for kids to get the material without having to leave the page. It takes some getting used to, but embedding video is a valuable skill to pick up when running a school website. 

Give it a try!

Tech Tuesday for October 30

Hello everyone! Happy Windy Tech Tuesday. Here are some cool tips to get your through your tech daze. (Get it? Daze?)

Share docs with non-Google users

One of the great features of Google Docs is the collaboration. You can allow anyone to access a Google Doc to view or edit. The best part is, they do not even need a Google Account to work with it. Here is how you can share a Google Doc with other non-Google. 

On the document page, click the lock icon and a dialogue box will appear. It will look like the picture in this post. Select either Public or Anyone in the Visibility Options. To allow editing access, check the box that says Allow anyone to edit. 

Once you have done that, click the save button and a link for you to copy will appear. Copy the link and paste it into an email to the people you want have access to the document. 

That is how you can share a Google Doc with someone without a Google Account. 

Evernote Webinar

Are you interested in getting more out of Evernote? I'm doing a Webinar in November on how to use Evernote to make your life as an educator a little bit easier. It is a 3 hour workshop spread over two days (1.5 hours each day) that will cover all of the different ways Evernote can be used to benefit you in the classroom or as an administrator. If you can't make it to the presentation dates, you can always download the 3 hour session and watch it on your own time. Check out the page for more information. 

A couple of quick Smart Notebook Tips

Change the color of the background: 

Click Format, Background color. Click on color choice.  Click on more colors for more options

Remove white border around pictures: 

Right click on the picture.  Choose “set picture transparency”.  Point the ink dropper at the areas that you want to disappear and click.  Click OK.

I hope everyone has a great day. Give it a try!

-Nick

What Travels with Your Digital Images

When you are viewing back your digital photographs, have you ever wondered about the part of the picture that you don't see? Each time you take a photograph embedded into the file is data related to the date, time and camera settings you were using at the time the picture was taken. This data is call your EXIF. This is a technical term for Exchangeable Image File Format.

Knowing about this data has many benefits: 

1. It embeds the date and time that the photograph was taken. When you go to organize your images, you can use this as a way to break up large folders of files into smaller groupings. However the camera is only as good as the photographer. If the camera's date settings are not set correctly that is what is included in the file.

2. Captions are stored in this data. This is helpful because many programs and services allow you to provide a descriptor of the event. If you email or share the image, that information will travel with the picture.

3. Camera settings are very important, especially to professional photographers. If you had this great picture and wanted to recreate it. knowing the settings and exposure is crucial.

The only real drawback is that more and more cameras have GPS built in as a feature. If you upload, share your pictures or add them to your web page, someone might be smart enough to learn where you live by viewing the GPS information. This is one of the realities of the digital age.

- Steve Geresy