Another Firefox Add-on, (Needed for Podcasting)
October 3, 2008
Vodpod. Google it and install it in your Firefox browser.
It lets you download video and embed it in your blog.
More importantly, it’s the only way I’ve been able to embed my podcasts into WordPress.
Although I promised a video, it seems my screen capture software is not compatible with Vodpod, so next post, I’ll describe the process in excruciating detail. 
Addendum: Once you get VodPod, you need to sign up and give it your WordPress log-in information so it can post stuff to your blog.
Podcasting Made Easy
September 14, 2008
Would you like to record a class for an absent student, or a review session before a big test, or instructons for students when you are out?
Go to GCast and set up an account. Then, if you have a blue-tooth earpiece for your cellphone, you can dial a number and record your class over the phone! Then you can go to GCast’s website and link to it on your blog or upload it, as I did here on my blog as an experiment. (Just click on the arrow to play.)
(BTW, you don’t need an earpiece; I just figured it would be difficult to teach with a cellphone pressed to your ear for 45 minutes. If you have a speakerphone option, that might work too, although most of them sound like you’re talking from the bottom of a large tin barrel.)
Inserting them into your blog is a big tricky and requires a work-around, which I will document in a later post with a little video.
Inserting Youtube video into your blogpost
September 1, 2008
This is for Rebecca.
I found a video tutorial on Youtube that is a little out of date. You can watch it if you want. But it’s actually simpler now than when the video was made.
Unlike the video, you do NOT have to go into Users and change your profile anymore.
When you find a video you like on Youtube, copy (ctrl+c) the embed code (click here for screenshot).
Log in to your blog. When you go into “Write,” in the top right of your post box (click here for screenshot) there are two tabs – “Visual” (which is the default) and HTML. Click HTML, and paste (ctrl+V) the code in, save and publish.
One thing the video is quite correct on – you can never click back to Visual to edit your post. If you do, you will lose the Embed Code from Youtube and have to go back and do it again. So keep your video posts in HTML.
Get Firefox – Now!
August 18, 2008
If you’re still trailing the pack, using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, you really should try Mozilla Firefox. Hundreds of programmers are out there designing really neat add-on programs to extend Firefox’s functionality.
Later, we’ll talk about some really useful things you can do to enhance your teaching using Firefox, like downloading online videos from YouTube (there are actually many educational nuggets hidden away in that vast wasteland).
We’ll also list many great add-ons, all for free.
Link and Split .pdf files
August 12, 2008
Useful (and free) utility for Windows. Does just what it says. Why would you want it? Maybe you made a bunch of 1 page .pdfs for your class, and now you want to post them all for the exam. Instead of re-scanning them, or making a whole bunch of links on your blog, use this program and you can make one big .pdf for your class out of your multiple .pdfs.
Online .pdfs
July 6, 2008
As an addendum to the previous post, if you’re at a computer and don’t have PrimoPDF installed, you can go to the following address and create a pdf online and have it e-mailed to you.
Uploading .pdfs – The Final Frontier
July 1, 2008
In early posts we learned about Adobe Acrobat .pdf files – what they are and how to create them.
Today, we will practice inserting a link to a .pdf to your blog post for your students.
Watch the video tutorial, then practice on your own. Practice makes perfect.
Changing the Look of Your Blog
June 15, 2008
Not that it’s high on your priority list, but I’m sure you find it annoying that WordPress has assigned your blog the rather pedestrian subtitle “Just another WordPress weblog”.
Today, in a really cruddy video (but it’s small enough for Youtube!) I’ll go through the procedure to change it.
For a much better quality video, plus instructions on how to choose a custom theme for your blog, click here
Starting Your Blog
June 15, 2008
I re-read the last post and it was way too wordy. For the next step, let’s try a video.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then an audio/video tutorial ought to be priceless:
Click here to view tutorial on making your first blog post.
(I know you may be used to viewing small Youtube videos embedded within a blog. I wanted the video to be large enough (it’s full-screen) so that it would be easier to follow. So for legibility’s sake, I have made it an outside link.)
Getting a blog
June 12, 2008
This is really easy. Just follow these directions.
- Go to http://wordpress.com/
- Click the button that says “Sign Up Now!”
- If you are at all password-challenged, write down EVERYTHING as you go along!
- Pick a User name. This will be the name that you use to log on to WordPress. If you’re doing this for class, you probably don’t want an anonymous username and should go for something like “Mrs. Yourname”. Choose something you’ll remember!
- Choose a password you’ll remember, without picking something that’s so obvious your students will be able to guess it and hack into your account and remove all your homework assignments. Some suggestions are – meaningful dates, a significant other’s middle name, a favorite pet, etc. The best passwords are combinations of letters, numbers and symbols. (NOTE: I have had some problems with using symbols and had to change my password. Caveat Blogger.)
- Re-enter your password, and then enter your e-mail address.
- Check off the legal box, and the radio-button that says “Gimme a blog!” and click Next.
On the next screen, WordPress will assign you a domain name based on your e-mail address. (i.e. Yourname @ whatever.com will get you Yourname.wordpress.com. This should be fine for you, and there’s no need to change it. But you can if you want.)
WordPress will also automatically assign you a blog name of Yourname’s Weblog. Feel free to change that. May I suggest Mrs. Yourname’s Homework blog. Whatever you want. Make it descriptive and something you’ll remember! (Are you sensing a pattern here?)
The default language is English, but WordPress can handle many different languages, including Hebrew. So if you’re teaching עברית or work in an עברית בעברית school, go for it. But as you can see (if the last sentence contained Hebrew and not gibberish) you can type in other languages even if you stay with English as a default.
Privacy: This is up to you, but if a student forgets your blog address, it may be helpful to be able to do a Google search for it. I’d suggest you check off that little box.
Click Sign up. WordPress will send an e-mail to your account. Open it, and click the link inside to finish your registration.
Congratulations! You now have a blog!
Next post: Now what?
