SIGMM Blog closing- Start using Macul Space!

The SIGMM blog is closing as we move to using the SIGMM Group area on Macul Space. So please go to:

maculspace.ning.com

Set up an account if you do not have one. Bookmark our SIGMM Group page (look under "groups" on the front page) and then get involved. We will also use the listserv and the SIGMM page on the Macul web site:

www.macul.org

We hope this works well and we encourage you to get more involved with MACUL in general.

Michael Rio

SIGMM Director

SIGMM June 2008 Update

We had our annual MACUL officers retreat in May where we worked on MACUL and SIGMM planning for the upcoming year. Steve Schiller will be moving from SIGMM Director to the MACUL Board, congratulations Steve! Lisa Wickman (Haslett) will be the new SIGMM Assistant Director and Melinda Waffle (Union City) will be the new Communications Officer. I will be replacing Steve Schiller as the new SIGMM Director. As always SIGMM will be seeking input from our Steering Committee and any other SIGMM/MACUL members who care about multimedia in education.

Leslie Fisher is lined up for another SIGMM all day precon(s) for the MACUL Conference in Detroit 2009. I shared many e-mails and conversations during the last few months about SIGMM workshops we can do ourselves either in the summer or the fall. Some of the ideas included: GarageBand, Digital Storytelling, Adobe software (Flash, Photoshop, Premiere, etc) and video workshops. Scheduling in the summer has proven quite difficult as many computer labs are being updated, cleaned, and replaced, or trainers/presenters are not available. There is also a challenge of geographical locations. We had several gracious offers of labs, so we are still working on offering at least one or two workshops in the late summer or the fall. Our other challenge is finding good presenters/trainers. If you or someone you know may be interested please contact me and we can discuss the details of what may be possible.

I hope everyone has a great end-of-the-school year and enjoys their summer break! Check your e-mail as we will occasionally keep you updated of SIGMM plans, discussions and ideas.

Michael Rio
SIGMM Director (elect)

Summer Workshops

We are now planning one or more summer workshops. Some ideas that have been shared so far include:

- Windows MovieMaker (in the Detroit area)

- An Adobe CS2 related workshop (details not decided yet- Quincy/Coldwater area)

- Digital Photography and/or Digital Video, maybe including a zoo visit, Battle Creek area

Any other ideas for topics, trainers and/or locations? 

Michael Rio

SIGMM Assistant Director

MACUL 2008-Friday March 7, 2008

  

The MACUL Conference 2008 has been very successful! Some of the highlights include Leslie Fisher (Our precon, Acrobat, Premier Elements, Gadgets, etc), Hall Davidson, Jason Ohler (Digital Story Telling), Steve Dembo (Discovery Education), Ladd Skelly and many more. Our SIGMM officers elect are:

Michael Rio- Director

Lisa Wickman- Assistant Director

Melinda Waffle- Communications Officer

We also started our Steering Committee to include those who want to be more involved than just members.

What ideas do you have for future SIGMM workshops, partnerships, activities or online sharing related to multimedia in education?

Greetings from MACUL 2008

I am at our first Leslie Fisher preconference workshop this morning on Photoshop Elements. Leslie always does a great job presenting! I especially like learning in a fun and relaxing environment with enough time to go more in depth. If you have never been to a preconference workshop, I highly recommend it in the future. What multimedia-related training workshops would you like to attend or present this summer? SIGMM is planning now and hopes to offer one or more training workshops this summer.

SchoolTube and School Video News are at MACUL and will be hosting a Broadcast center, so perhaps some MACUL video news will be online soon (check the www.macul.org web site). Thanks again to SchoolTube for providing their service for the SIGMM Video and Multimedia contest this year. The contest went very well for our first time moving it online this year. Many entries can be found on SchoolTube (search using SIGMM in your criteria).

We hope all of you who attend enjoy the conference and we hope to see you here! Leslie Fisher will also be presenting four sessions on Thursday. Our other G.A.M.E.S. preconference workshop is going on at Grand Rapids Christian School.

Enjoy the conference!

Michael Rio
SIGMM Assistant Director

MACUL 2008 Preconference Workshops

The MACUL 2008 SIGMM preconference workshops on Wednesday March 5, 2008 are a great opportunity to learn some new skills in depth and meet other educators with similar interests.

Here are the SIGMM preconference workshops:

G.A.M.E.S. – Great Applications for Multimedia Engagement of Students!

8:30 AM to 4:30 PM * Grand Rapids Christian High School
Sue Summerford, Educational Technology Coordinator, Lenawee Intermediate School District

Students love video games! Learn how to create your own video game today! This workshop is hands-on, with free or inexpensive, easy-to-learn game-making applications. Pick up free tutorials, tips on web gaming resources, and digital gaming curricula you can use with your students tomorrow. Bring a flash drive to save the games you create.

Photoshop Elements for Mac: Cool Tips, Tricks, and Features

8:30 AM to 12:00 PM * DeVos Place
Leslie Fisher, lesliefisher.com

Learn how Photoshop Elements can be used to enhance, edit and output better digital photos. Start with an overview of Photoshop Elements, and move on to learn intermediate photo editing techniques, file format saving options, and time saving tips and shortcuts. This workshop will use the Macintosh version of Photoshop Elements; there will be tools and options covered that are not available in the Windows version. Mac laptops will be provided on a fist-come, first-serve basis. You may also bring your own Mac or Windows laptop with Photoshop Elements pre-installed (download a free 30-day trial version at home).

Introduction to Flash for Educators

1:00 to 4:30 PM * DeVos Place
Leslie Fisher, lesliefisher.com

Flash is becoming a popular choice in primary schools as well as secondary schools. The basics of Adobe’s Flash will be covered, such as, time line, tweening, objects, symbols, layers, sound, making web pages, and much more, for beginners and intermediate users alike. This workshop will be taught using Mac laptops, but is for anyone who wants to learn Flash skills. Mac laptops will be provided on a first-come first-serve basis. You may also bring you own laptop.

Sign up now! These should be excellent preconference workshops. Please inform anyone you know who may be interested.

Multimedia and Video Contest Deadlines extended

Hello to All (please forward this and spread the word)!

Due in part to bad weather and to the change to "going online" we have extended the application deadline for the SIGMM Multimedia and Video contest until Tuesday February 5, 2008! You can submit the actual project after the application has been sent in until Friday February 8, 2008.

We hope this helps with getting more participation. If anyone has any questions or problems please contact Lisa Wickman or Michael Rio, contest and contact info on the SIGMM home page:

http://www.macul.org/page.php?pid=14

Also on our SIGMM Blog: www.mimultimedia.blogspot.com

If you have concerns about student projects being "public" on the Internet, please contact us and we will try to figure a way we can share them with voting SIGMM members and not have them be so public. To be honest these will mostly be viewed by SIGMM and/or other MACUL members. They can be left up just through the conference for voting and sharing. We are open to your ideas, questions, comments and suggestions.

We hope you and your students get involved!

Michael Rio
SIGMM Assistant director