Jing

So, it's been about a year...I attended the TCEA conference in Austin, Texas this past week. WOW. Coupled with the fact that I am currently enrolled in Applications of Technology at UHCL, I only thought that I was learning a lot about technology in the Fall of 2009 when I completed the 23 things. This week I attended quite a few classes, some geared toward teachers, and some toward teacher-librarians (because, yes, librarians are ALSO teachers!). I had to produce a Jing video for the tech class, so one of the first sessions I attended was about Jing. I had two choices, I chose to attend the one that the presenter was from Fort Hood ISD, which is a school district based at Fort Hood. Dr. Rios also brought along his "mentees"... a group of juniors and seniors that help him with IT issues on their campuses. I applaud his support of "his kids", and while at times the presentation seemed stilted, he gave those kids quite a gift by letting them have turns during the presentation. I don't know how well I would have done in a room full of adults! At the end of the presentation, he asked us that when we pray for our troops, that we also pray for the children of the soldiers. They didn't ask to be part of it, they were born into it, and he admired the grace in which they handled the stress and the responsibility.

So, what did I learn? Well, Jing is a free software that you download (and if you get hooked, there is Jing Pro that you can pay for, as well as an even more expensive program--all allowing you to do more and fancier videos). I could see using Jing videos to post short training exercises for teachers and students alike. Can't remember how to post comments on Skyward for Progress Reports? Go click on the link and watch the video that explains it! Are you going to teach a group of students how to do a particular skill on the computer? Make a video, and then have it available on your webpage or blog so that they can go back and refer to it again. Endless possibilities. So, withoug too much furter ado, here is my first video (well, I did have several takes before I finally stopped with this version).