A still photograph is a limited format for capturing a moment in time. Video is the traditional method for recording durations of time, but the subjective “moment” that one desires to capture is often lost in the chaos of shaky camerawork, irrelevant background clutter, and noise that dominates most casually recorded video clips.
Microsoft Research Cliplets is an interactive app that uses semi-automated methods to give users the power to create “Cliplets” — a type of imagery that sits between stills and video from handheld videos. The app provides a creative lens one can use to focus on important aspects of a moment by mixing static and dynamic elements from a video clip.
Here I have used a video I took at the Microsoft European Forum in Lisbon.
At the moment I am teaching my year 7 classes about the Orchestra, I have taken a clip from You Tube and selected the conductor as the focal point, by using this tool I am able to help the pupils concentrate on the conductor by freezing the rest of the clip. I could do exactly the same if i was to talk about the brass section or even separating the 1st violins from the 2nd violins. This tool will make it easier for me to explain.
Support
Microsoft Research Cliplets is provided free of charge and without official support. However, if you have questions or issues, you may find help at the Cliplets Forum, which is monitored by the developers and provides community-based support. You may also want to view the Tutorials.
After a very stress free journey we arrived at our hotel and checked in, to my delight we found a steak restaurant at the hotel, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. After spending the evening with the UK teachers it was obvious we had a strong team representing the UK. Yesterday (Tuesday) the teachers and I made our way over to the conference centre to set up the booths and to prepare for the judges.
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The event so far has been fascinating listening to some great key note speakers and even makeing two presentsions myself.
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The teachers have been working their socks off chatting with fellow educators and showcasing their projects to the judges and the general public.
Everyone is talking about the UK projects and how strong they are. As you can see from the stands visually they are stunning and its drawing lots if interest as they should.
Tonight we have the regional dinner and we are really looking forward to again talking to teachers from different parts of Europe and sharing our experiences. Please have a look at the blog tomorrow for an update.
As you would have seen in previous posts we have been trying out some green screen technology at Willows High School. After posting my previous blog post a good friend of mine and fellow member of the Partners in Learning K Team David Renton got in touch via twitter and said he could probably make a green screen program for the Kinect using the SDK. At present we record the pupils acting in front of the green screen then the rest is done in post-production. This can take a serious amount of time especially when trying it with lots of classes. The beauty of David’s app is that you can view the video in real time with the image in the background. This is early stages as at the moment and there is no way to record what is on screen. But I’m sure you would agree with me the possibilities for this technology is endless. Have a look at this small clip and you will see how the Kinect captures the video in real time and replaces the green screen with your chosen picture.
Here is the demo that David made be fore sedning the app to me
Here are some screenshots of the app in use
Please check out the fantasctic work David is doing at www.drenton72.wordpress.com
Recently I have been playing about with the XBOX Kinect plugged into my laptop. It really has opened my eyes to the potential of the kinect in the classroom. How often do our students say “oh sir not another PowerPoint”. By using the kinect it gives presenting information a new dimention for our students. For those teachers out there that are saying under their breath “why not just use a mouse”. You really have no idea. Not everyone teaches in a private school where the students are switched on all the time. Students in my classes now want to create presentations because they know once they have completed their work they can present it in a way that reflects a science fiction film (Minority Report for those who don’t watch films).
A few months ago a real buzz started on twitter about the use of Microsoft Kinect in the classroom. A few of us started to look at how this wonderful piece of technology could be used to enthuse our learners. Twitter, being the fantastic network that it is helped a few of us discuss the potential of the Kinect in the classroom. It will come as no surprise that the teachers that have been working with the Kinect and looking at the potential it has are all Microsoft Innovative Teachers and it is through the power of Twitter that these teachers have come together to help and support each other to create some fantastic resources for the classroom. Ray Chambers has looked into the depths of what the SDK pack for the Kinect can do. I have spoken with Ray on the phone and via twitter and he has written an excellent guide to set up the Kinect on his blog.
A few months ago Microsoft released the SDK pack for the Kinect. This enables you to create fun, rich learning resources for your classroom.
The Godfather of these Microsoft Innovative Teachers Stuart Ball has written an excellent entry on the Microsoft education blog about how, as teachers we have worked together via twitter to develop these resources. It is true to say that the teachers involved have a passion for the use of technology in the classroom and the idea of using cutting-edge technology to aid their teaching.
I teach at Willows High School in Cardiff and it is fair to say that we have some challenging pupils. I am a firm believer that if children are enjoying what they are doing they won’t want to mess about. Technology plays a huge part in that theory. At home children are playing on their Xbox 360′s or the PlayStation 3′s and when they fail a level the first thing they do is have another go and they don’t give up. By bringing some of this technology into the classroom, hopefully their effort and want to succeed will follow.
In this video you will see a clip from minority report which clearly shows the type of thing we are aiming for.
In this video you will see a year 11 pupil called Corey Whittle playing an interactive keyboard using hand gesture with the Kinect.
In this video Corey has edited the quiz for teachers created by Ray Chambers and return a quiz folly year seven pupils who attend the Music Technology Club at Willows High School.
In this video Corey controls a PowerPoint presentaion with embeded video with the Kinect
In this video you will see two ear 7 pupils from my special needs music class using the Kinect and discussing why they like it.
These videos and audio tracks support my entry for the NGFL Cymru VCT. The pupils studied the musical elements using the free resources on the NGFL website and then composed their own melody and used Microsoft Songsmith to create a backing track to accompany the melody they created.
The pupils used a Kinect to interact with the resources on the NGFL website.
The class watched a viveo tutorial that was made by two pupils, thus tutorial showed the class how to use Songsmith.
Pupils Compositions – These are some examples of group compositions. The pupils composed their own melody and lyrics after using the resources on the NGFL Cymru website. They then sang into Songsmith, this created a backing track for them. From here they saved their backing tracks and imported them onto the XBOX using the singing game lips.
