Windows XP 201: Digital Experiences in the Classroom

Windows XP 201: Digital Experiences in the Classroom

In these advanced times, it can be difficult to really capture the attention of students. In every aspect of life we are presented with an unending array of media. The effort to make the classroom media rich and to integrate that media into the curriculum is a very real hurdle that educators will have to face. Digital media is out there and available, but can it enhance learning? How can you as a teacher with very little time to spare tackle yet another “new” thing?

In addition to class content, there is also the very real issue of individual student needs. There are so many different personalities and abilities that must be dealt with. How can a teacher accommodate the individual needs without compromising the quality of the material for the larger group as a whole? How can we get that shy student to come out of their shell? How can the teaching that is done in the classroom be more persistent? How can parents review the class with their child?How can the classroom be enriched with enhanced communication abilities? These are just a few of the topics that a teacher might deal with today.

There must be a solution to these problems out there somewhere. With all the advancements in technology, there surely is something that can make a teachers life easier. Something that can bring technologies use in the classroom, extend its use to the home, allow inclusion of rich media of many types, and facilitate communication. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause! Would you believe that the ability to do all these things is not from a myriad of separate programs that one must buy, but all included with an operating system? Windows XP contains features that can facilitate all of these. It is the basis for solving the issues that might prevent you from improving digital experiences in the classroom.

In this tutorial you will learn to simplify the use and organization of digital media. You will discover the enhanced hard copy output options for digital images. Distribution of digital class materials, like videos, music, presentation, electronic text and such will be covered. You will also learn to produce your own digital content for in or out of the classroom and help use media to speak to individual learning needs.

What specific areas of Windows XP will allow us to do all these things you ask? We’ll be delving into four main areas in this workshop. Just read the brief overviews of the aspects of Windows XP listed below.

My Pictures. Edit and organize photos, create an online photo album or post photos to a Web site, add photos to a CD, and even order prints online.

Windows Media Player. Perform virtually any task with music, from simply listening to a CD or Internet radio station to creating your own CDs and customized playlists.

Windows Movie Maker. Transfer files to your computer from a camcorder or digital video camera, or import external audio and video files into your work. Collect, view, and edit video clips, and share your work by sending files in e-mail or posting them to a Web site.

Windows Messenger. Send instant messages to colleagues, issue text messages to cell phones, place calls directly from your computer, hold department meetings online, share files with students, and more. Online notification status lets you set your online status to inform others that you are away, or see immediately who is available online.

Suppose your geography class is currently studying volcanoes. A few of your students have recently returned from a trip to visit some of the Pacific Rim volcanoes where they collected a good deal of information. Seeing a wonderful way to tie this into the class, you charge this group of students with a project to research and create a presentation about volcanoes.

Students will create an online photo album to share with other students. Members of the group will collect and compile music to serve as background music to enhance the quality of the presentation.The students will rely on Windows Messenger to communicate with their group members, to hold meetings online to coordinate project details, and to collaborate on their work.

Increase Efficiency by Using Digital Photos

With the proliferation of cheap digital imaging equipment, it won’t be long before everyone has a digital camera instead of a film based one. There have been a number of issues that have prevented people from using digital photos. For the classroom digital really makes since, because it saves on resources and the images can easily be made available for the entire class or even the world. There are three basic areas that have been sticking points not only to the adoption of digital photography in the classroom. The following sections deal with those major sticking points and show how well, through Window XP, we can integrate digital media into the classroom. Those main areas of issue are:

  • Viewing and Organizing Your Photos
  • Sharing Your Photos
  • Printing Your Photos

Windows XP offers a new experience in digital photos. You can complete virtually any task, quickly and easily. You or your students can view, organize, and share digital photos—with a digital camera or scanner. By connecting the device to your computer, you can view photos immediately. Transferring photos to your computer takes just seconds. Students can edit and organize photos for a class project, create a slide show for a presentation, collect photos on a CD to distribute to parents, post photos to the school's Web site, and more.

Viewing and organizing your photos

Organizing your photos is easier than ever. As discussed in Windows XP 101: Using Windows XP Professional in the Classroom, My Pictures is a new feature of WindowsXP that enables you to organize, view, and print your photos with ease. My Pictures includes useful icons and task descriptions that enable you to complete the tasks you want quickly and efficiently. Photos are automatically stored in the My Pictures folder, and you view all photos from this location.

Alternate viewing options can be selected from the View menu in My Pictures. Some photo viewing options include:

Filmstrip. This default view shows four reduced-size photos on-screen at a time, with one image enlarged. You can click any image to enlarge it, and then rotate it 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise. View the photos in any order you want by using the Next Image and Previous Image buttons.

Thumbnail. Displays your photos as small thumbnail images. You can also view the photo title directly beneath the image.

Slide Show. Displays full-screen sized photos one at a time in succession. After this view is selected, the slide show runs automatically.

Details. Lists your photos by name with details, such as size, type, and date modified.

  1. Click on the Start button and select My Pictures from the menu.
  2. Double click on the volcano folder in the right hand pane. You will be looking at the pictures in whatever the last view was from above that pictures were viewed in.
  3. From the View menu, select Filmstrip. Just preview some of the images here much as you would look at a negative.
  4. From the Picture Tasks area, select view as a slide show. The students can use this as an initial presentation to the class to give them a brief walk through of the trip. Any folder of images may be displayed in this manner.
  5. Stop the slide show and return to the My Pictures window by clicking the red X in the upper right corner or by pressing the Escape (ESC) key.

If you were to hook up a digital camera, photos that are downloaded into My Pictures are named automatically according to the date they are transferred to your computer. You can create new folders according to the subject of the pictures, such as Volcano Research Project or you can rename the existing folders by simply right-clicking on the default folder name, and then clicking Rename. You can also name each photo in a way that works best for you, such as by subject or numerical order.

Sharing your photos

You can share photos with parents, colleagues, or anyone by creating an online photo album, posting photos to a Web site, or sending them by using e-mail. The new compression feature of Windows XP enables you to compress your photos so that they are easier to send by using e-mail. In addition to reducing file size, this feature also changes the dimensions of the image so that it fits better on a computer screen. Whether you send photos by e-mail or post them to a Web site, the process is straightforward and fun.

Suppose students have developed a Web site devoted to their volcano project. They decide to post photos to that Web site as a preview of what will be discussed in the presentation. One of the side benefits of this is the teacher can also post photos of class activities to make them available to the parents. Wouldn’t it be easier to get money for field trips if parents actually knew all the exciting things their children were doing?

To post photos to a Web site

  1. On the Start menu, click My Pictures.
  1. Browse to the folder that contains the pictures you want to post to the Web.
  2. Under File and Folder Tasks, click Publish this folder to the Web.
  3. The Web Publishing Wizard opens. Follow the on-screen instructions to select the pictures you want to publish to the Web, and to specify the location of your Web site. You will have to have authorship permissions to the web space in order to accomplish this.

Printing your photos

Windows XP Professional provides the tools that enable you to print your own photos successfully and economically. By using My Pictures, you can print your own photos, order prints from the Web, or even set a photo as your desktop background. Greater control over the printing process means only printing those photos that you want; you can delete any photos that you don't want from your computer. The new layout tool helps you use the space available on your photographic paper in the most efficient way by setting the size and rotation of the prints, which saves you the cost of printing multiple copies of your pictures. Available layouts include full page, contact sheet, and various standard photo sizes such as 8 x 10, 5 x 7, wallet, and more.

Note: To achieve the best printing results, be sure to use a high-quality glossy paper that is designed for printing photos, and set your printer to a high resolution.

After the students have organized theirphotos in the appropriate folder in My Pictures, you’d really like to spruce up the classroom walls with some of them. A constant visual barrage of the subject matter may just help the students cultivate an affinity for the topic. To allow these images to be posted on the walls, you’ll have to assist the students in printing them. They are now ready to begin printing. Students determine that a 5 x 7 photo size will work best for the display that they want to create for the bulletin board.

Note: You must have a printer setup for the computer that you are attempting this section on. Even if you do not wish to complete the process and actually print anything, a print driver must be present to allow a potentially printed page to be formatted.

To print your photos by using the Photo Printing Wizard

  1. On the Start menu, click My Pictures.
  1. Click to select the pictures that you want to print.
  2. Under Picture Tasks, click Print the selected pictures.
  3. The Photo Printing Wizard appears, displaying images from the folder that you selected. Click Next to continue.

  1. Select two photos that you want to print by clicking them. Selected photos are identified by a check mark. If you want to print all photos, click Select All. If at any time you want to clear your selections, click Clear All.
  2. Click Next to continue.
  3. Select the printer you want to use, and then click Next to continue. To add a new printer, click Install Printer, and follow the on-screen instructions to do so.
  4. Click Printing Preferences. On the Layout tab, select the Orientation, PageOrder, and PagesPerSheet information that you want.

  1. On the Paper/Quality tab, select the paper source that you want. Click the Advanced button to change properties such as Print Quality and Scaling. Click OK, and then click OK again.
  2. Click Next to proceed to the following screen. In the Available layouts pane, select 5 x 7 in. cutout prints: cropped and rotated to fit. The Print preview pane displays how your photos are sized on the page.
  3. Click Next to continue. A message appears informing you that your photos have printed successfully. Click Finish to close the Photo Printing Wizard.

Students would like to order some prints of a few of the volcano photos to frame as a keepsake of their trip. They can do so by using the Online Print Ordering Wizard to order prints over the Internet from professional photo processing sites.

To order prints of your photos online

  1. On the Start menu, click My Pictures.
  1. Click to select the photos that you want to print. To select more than one, hold down the CTRL button as you click each one.
  2. Under Picture Tasks, click Order prints online.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions in the Online Print Ordering Wizard to complete your order.

You can select additional photos to print or clear photos that you decide not to print. You can then choose a printing company of your choice, and follow the instructions to place an order. Each company has different procedures and requirements.

Using Music and Audio to Enhance Class Projects

With Windows XP, you and your students can vitalize and add depth to class projects by incorporating music into them. You can also accommodate individualized needs by communicating the information in a way that is more aligned to that students individual learning style. Exercises can be brought to life through the proper use of audio. Just think of the applications in language learning , ESL (English as a Second Language), and LD (Learning Disabled) classes! To learn more about the various ways that Windows XP helps you to add and organize music and audio, read the following sections:

  • About Windows Media Player
  • Create a CD
  • Customize Your Music

Windows XP offers a new experience in storing, playing, and sharing music. Incorporating music into your curriculum is easier than ever before. You can play audio and video files, listen to CDs, organize your music, and access Internet radio stations worldwide—all from Windows Media Player. Windows Media Player works with My Music to provide a central storage location for all your music files. The My Music folder contains links to music-related tasks that can help you learn about your music, whether it’s genre music for a class project, recorded music made by students, or studying an artist. Also, don’t forget that curriculum content can be generated for digital learning systems like Microsoft Class Server that allow integration of audio material into the main learning and exercise documents.

About Windows Media Player

So, what is Windows Media Player? It is a comprehensive tool for music and video—whether you're watching video clips with students, organizing your personal music library, or creating customized compilations for a class project, you can do it all by using Windows Media Player. Windows Media Player is a unique application that you and your students can use to:

  • Listen to, copy, and even create CDs
  • Listen to Internet radio stations
  • Catalog your music by album, artist, or genre
  • Use the Media Guide to locate audio files on the Internet
  • Watch DVDs on your computer

Because music is stored in Windows Media Audio 8 format, Windows Media Player can store twice the CD-quality music as MP3, using the same amount of disk space. As an easy way to preserve space on your computer, you can save your music to a CD and add it to your collection. Students can work collaboratively to compile CDs to accompany class projects, and even distribute the CDs at fundraising events.

You can even personalize the look of Windows Media Player by using new customizable skins. A skin is a file that changes the appearance and functionality of Windows Media Player, giving you greater creative control of your desktop. You can change the skin by clicking Skin Chooser, or download additional skins from the Internet.