Music Videos and Snazzy Visuals

Created with Imagechef

Don't believe everything you read. While it is the season for haunted houses and ghouls, I created a few signs to celebrate Fall and have posted the first in a series of class videos from Summer term in Second Life. 

Today, I'm hosting a session on how to create music videos and snazzy visuals using some of my favorite tools. 

Animoto creates music videos fast and allows you to copy and edit your work quickly and easily. Best of all, it is easy to share, embed or post.


 Here is a sample video that I made from the EM 825 Margaritaville: Save the Manatee class project.

Imagechef has a variety of fun tools, including Word Mosaics and humorous signs.  I'll post a few of my favorites here.


Click on a category and add your information to create a custom sign. For the Word Mosaics, select your color, shape, font and text.

For a larger font, separate your text with spaces instead of putting words on separate lines. Include a blank space at the end of a line for a better layout. 

 Imagechef is free, but if you want to use your signs for use in presentations or public displays, there is a nominal annual fee that is worth it for those who need custom images that convey a strong message. 

Created with Imagechef

You can, however, inspire your friends or frustrate unwanted guests with signs, such as this one. 






In addition to Word Mosaics, another alternative is Wordle.  In the Wordle below,  the word Games is listed twice and as a result, is larger than the rest of the words. If your goal is to convey a message based on the relative importance based on the frequency of use for certain words, use Wordle. 

Created with Imagechef

Lastly, we have a new puppy and while we named him Edgar Allen Poe (Poe for short), he shares something in common with this little fella. 

Web 2.0 Collaboration Tools

As we reflect on the future, we are examining Web 2.0 collaboration tools, such as blogs, wikis, and shared information spaces. Highlighst from yesterday's discussion of tools included Slideshare, Flickr, Gabcast and Google Docs. We also examined research and the business use of Second Life.

Visit my Slideshare content to review how we can share presentations and use tags to help find and retrieve content.

Share images by first posting them in Flickr, create a podcast using your cell phone and collaborate on your innovation forecasts using Google Docs.