Make sure to animate your creations
video prompt: an ocean wave moving dramatically and a boat moving on the wave
*animated with Firefly Video Model https://t.co/BQmrN7kDiq pic.twitter.com/G5cMqcVuTW
— Kris Kashtanova (@icreatelife) May 16, 2025
On 03/29/2024,
in collaboration, curriculum, digital storytelling, digital video, education, education technology, educational games / serious games, engagement / engaging students, Learning Experience Design, multimedia, participation, pedagogy, play, productivity / tips and tricks, real-world assignments, skills, social media, storytelling, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, youth,
by Daniel Christian
3 Steps for Creating Video Projects With Elementary Students — from edutopia.org by Bill Manchester
A straightforward plan for facilitating multimedia projects helps ensure collaborative learning and a fun classroom experience.
Having elementary students make their own videos instead of consuming content made by someone else sounds like a highly engaging educational experience. But if you’ve ever tried to get 25 third graders to use a video editing software platform that they’ve never seen before, it can get really frustrating really fast. It’s easy for the lesson to become entirely centered around how to use the software without any subject-area content learning.
Through years of trial and error with K–6 students, I’ve developed three guiding concepts for elementary video projects so that teachers and students have a good experience.
Supporting Students As They Work Independently — from by Marcus Luther and The Broken Copier
4 tools that have helped me improve “independent work time”
Movement-Based Games That Help Students With Spelling — from edutopia.org by Jocelyn Greene
Games that combine spelling with physical activity can make it easier for young students to learn new words.
Like actors, students are often tasked with memorization. Although education has evolved to incorporate project-based learning and guided play, there’s no getting around the necessity of knowing the multiplication tables, capital cities, and correct spelling.
The following are movement-based games that build students’ abilities to retain spelling words specifically. Ideally, these exercises support them academically as well as socially. Research shows that learning through play promotes listening, focus, empathy, and self-awareness—benefits that build students’ social and emotional learning skills.
Quizlet Survey Reveals Students Crave Life Skills Education — from prnewswire.com by Quizlet; via GSV
The survey’s key findings included:
- Financial and life skills uncertainty: One-third of recent graduates don’t believe they have or are unsure they have the financial and core life skills needed to succeed in the world.
- Appetite for non-academic courses: 68% of recent graduates think non-academically focused courses in formal education settings would better prepare students for the real world. This belief is especially strong among respondents that attended public schools and colleges (71%).
- Automotive maintenance skills are stalled: More than any other skill, nearly one in five recent graduates say they are the least confident in handling automotive maintenance, such as changing a tire or their oil. This is followed by financial planning (17%), insurance (12%), minor home repairs (11%), cooking (11%), cleaning (8%) and organizing (8%).
- Financial planning woes: A majority (79%) of recent graduates said financial planning overwhelms them the most – and of all the life skills highlighted in the survey, 29% of respondents said it negatively impacts their mental health.
- Social media as a learning tool: Social media is helping fill the skills gap, with 33% of recent graduates turning to it for life skills knowledge.
From DSC:
Our son would agree with many of these findings. He would like to have learned things like how to do/file his taxes, learn more about healthcare insurance, and similar real-world/highly-applicable types of knowledge. Those involved with K12 curriculum decisions, please take a serious look at this feedback and make the necessary changes/additions.
How Can Educators Build Support Systems for Students Eyeing Technician Jobs? — from gettingsmart.com by Dr. Parminder Jassal
Key Points
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Integrating technical skills into the high school curriculum can inspire and prepare students for diverse roles. This approach is key to fostering equity and inclusivity in the job market.
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By forging partnerships with community colleges and technical schools, high schools can democratize access to education and ensure students from all backgrounds have equal opportunities for success in technical fields.
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High schools can expand career possibilities by providing apprenticeships as viable and lucrative alternatives to traditional four-year degrees.
On 03/16/2024,
in art, career development, collaboration, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, design, digital audio, digital storytelling, digital video, drama/theater, educational games / serious games, media/film, multimedia, music, play, skills, story, storytelling, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities,
by Daniel Christian
Below are some items for those creatives who might be interested in telling stories, designing games, crafting audio-based experiences, composing music, developing new worlds using 3D graphics, and more.
CREATING THE SOUNDS OF LIGHTFALL — from bungie.net; via Mr. Robert Bender
The sounds of any game can make or break the experience for its players. Many of our favorite adventures come roaring back into our minds when we hear a familiar melody, or maybe it’s a special sound effect that reminds us of our time performing a particularly heroic feat… or the time we just caused some havoc with friends. With Lightfall sending Guardians to explore the new destination of Neomuna, there’s an entire universe hidden away within the sounds—both orchestral and diegetic—for Guardians to uncover and immerse themselves in. We recently assembled some of Destiny’s finest sound designers and composers to dive a little bit deeper into the stunning depths of Neomuna’s auditory experience.
Before diving into the interview with our incredible team, we wanted to make sure you have seen the Lightfall music documentary that went out shortly after the expansion’s release. This short video is a great introduction to how our team worked to create the music of Lightfall and is a must-see for audiophiles and Destiny fans alike.
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Game Dev Diaries: The Hidden World of Audio — from lianaruppert.medium.com by Liana Ruppert, via Mr. Robert Bender
Every game has a story to tell, a journey to take players through that — if done well — can inspire wonderful memories that last a lifetime. Unlike other storytelling mediums, the art of video games is an intricate interweaving of experiences, including psychological cues that are designed to entrance players and make them feel like they’re a part of the story. One way this is achieved is through the art of audio. And no, we aren’t just talking about the many incredible soundtracks out there, we’re talking about the oftentimes overlooked universe of audio design.
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What does an audio designer do?
“Number one? We don’t work on music. That’s a thing almost everyone thinks every audio designer does,” jokes Nyte when opening up about beginning her quest into the audio world. “That, or for a game like Destiny, people just assume we only work on weapon sounds and nothing else. Which, [Juan] Uribe does, but a lot of us don’t. There is this entire gamut of other sounds that are in-game that people don’t really notice. Some do, and that’s always cool, but audio is about all sounds coming together for a ‘whole’ audio experience.”
Also relevant/see:
The New Stack of Entertainment, Tensions of the AI Age, & Navigating Cambrian Explosions — from implications.com by Scott Belsky
Let’s explore some fun albeit heretical Hollywood possibilities, face key tensions, and talk about how to stay grounded with customer needs.
On the Transformation of Entertainment
What company will be the Pixar of the AI era? What talent agency will be the CAA of the AI era? How fast can the entertainment industry evolve to natively leverage AI, and what parts will be disrupted by the industry’s own ambivalence? Or are all of these questions myopic…and should we anticipate a wave of entirely new categories of entertainment?
We are starting to see material adoption of AI tools across many industries, including media and entertainment. No doubt, these tools will transform the processes behind generating content. But what entirely new genres of content might emerge? The platform shift to AI-based workflows might give rise to entirely new types of companies that transform entertainment as we know it – from actor representation, Hollywood economics, consumption devices and experiences, to the actual mediums of entertainment themselves. Let’s explore just a few of the more edgy implications:
On 02/28/2024,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, art, communications, content development, aggregation, repositories, digital audio, digital storytelling, digital video, drama/theater, emerging technologies, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, entrepreneurship, experimentation, future, media/film, multimedia, music, Natural Language Processing (NLP), new media literacies, participation, platforms, play, productivity / tips and tricks, story, storytelling, tools, vendors, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces,
by Daniel Christian
How a Hollywood Director Uses AI to Make Movies — from every.to by Dan Shipper
Dave Clarke shows us the future of AI filmmaking
Dave told me that he couldn’t have made Borrowing Time without AI—it’s an expensive project that traditional Hollywood studios would never bankroll. But after Dave’s short went viral, major production houses approached him to make it a full-length movie. I think this is an excellent example of how AI is changing the art of filmmaking, and I came out of this interview convinced that we are on the brink of a new creative age.
We dive deep into the world of AI tools for image and video generation, discussing how aspiring filmmakers can use them to validate their ideas, and potentially even secure funding if they get traction. Dave walks me through how he has integrated AI into his movie-making process, and as we talk, we make a short film featuring Nicolas Cage using a haunted roulette ball to resurrect his dead movie career, live on the show.
On 02/21/2024,
in 24x7x365 access, Adobe, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, collaboration, communications, creativity, digital storytelling, platforms, productivity / tips and tricks, story, storytelling, tools, United States, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
Adobe Brings Conversational AI to Trillions of PDFs with the New AI Assistant in Reader and Acrobat — from news.adobe.com; via AI Secret
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SAN JOSE, Calif. – [On 2/20/23], Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) introduced AI Assistant in beta, a new generative AI-powered conversational engine in Reader and Acrobat.
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Simply open Reader or Acrobat and start working with the new capabilities, including:
- AI Assistant: AI Assistant recommends questions based on a PDF’s content and answers questions about what’s in the document – all through an intuitive conversational interface.
- Generative summary: Get a quick understanding of the content inside long documents with short overviews in easy-to-read formats.
- Intelligent citations: Adobe’s custom attribution engine and proprietary AI generate citations so customers can easily verify the source of AI Assistant’s answers.
- Easy navigation:
- Formatted output:
- Respect for customer data:
- Beyond PDF: Customers can use AI Assistant with all kinds of document formats (Word, PowerPoint, meeting transcripts, etc.)
Along these lines, also see:
- Adobe Acrobat gets an AI assistant. — from bensbites.beehiiv.com
- Adobe Acrobat — from adobe.com
5 ways Sora AI will change the creator economy and how to take advantage of that — from techthatmatters.beehiiv.com by Harsh Makadia
Essential skills to thrive with Sora AI
The realm of video editing isn’t about cutting and splicing.
A Video Editor should learn a diverse set of skills to earn money, such as:
- Prompt Writing
- Software Mastery
- Problem-solving skills
- Collaboration and communication skills
- Creative storytelling and visual aesthetics
Invest in those skills that give you a competitive edge.
The text file that runs the internet — from theverge.com by David Pierce
For decades, robots.txt governed the behavior of web crawlers. But as unscrupulous AI companies seek out more and more data, the basic social contract of the web is falling apart.
On 08/30/2023,
in Bias | Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), communications, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, ethics, ideas, internet, liberal arts, library / librarians, media/film, Michigan, multimedia, online media, parents/guardians, platforms, play, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, psychology, publishing, quality, research, social media, society, sociology, storytelling, strategy, technologies for your home, television, United States, universities, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
Don’t Be Fooled: How You Can Master Media Literacy in the Digital Age — from youtube.com by Professor Sue Ellen Christian
During this special keynote presentation, Western Michigan University (WMU) professor Sue Ellen Christian speaks about the importance of media literacy for all ages and how we can help educate our friends and families about media literacy principles. Hosted by the Grand Rapids Public Library and GRTV, a program of the Grand Rapids Community Media Center. Special thanks to the Grand Rapids Public Library Foundation for their support of this program.
Excerpts:
Also relevant/see:
Kalamazoo Valley Museum’s newest exhibit teaches community about media literacy — from mlive.com by Gabi Broekema
On 08/25/2023,
in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, career development, change, digital audio, digital storytelling, education, education reform, education technology, K-12 related, Michigan, podcasting, society, sociology, story, storytelling, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teachers, United States, youth,
by Daniel Christian
Letter from the Editor: Experienced teachers are leaving Michigan schools. This is why. — from mlive.com by Matthew Miller
They talked instead about issues like pay, stress and the sense that they no longer had the solid backing of school administrators.
Sue Harper, who retired this summer from Kreeger Elementary in Fowlerville, blamed what she called “bulldozer parents.”
…
“I have never been one to quit anything, and teaching is my passion, but this is not teaching,” one teacher wrote. “This is hours of endless paperwork, this is social work, this is counseling, this is parenting, this is babysitting, this is coaching, this is everything but teaching.”
Also relevant/see:
Low pay, culture wars, and ‘bulldozer parents.’ Why Michigan’s best teachers are calling it quits. — from mlive.com by Melissa Frick and Matthew Miller
Now a change management coordinator for Fifth Third Bank, she said, “I don’t take the stress from my job home. I don’t feel guilty, like I always could be doing more for someone.”
Thousands of experienced teachers have retired or left the profession in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic first closed schools and shifted classes to Zoom.
Teachers say they’re burnt out, tired of a lack of support and lack of respect, feeling the impact of the increasingly acrimonious politics surrounding public education.
And finally:
- Michigan Teacher Shortage Study: Comprehensive Report — from epicedpolicy.org by Tara Kilbride, Katharine O. Strunk, Salem Rogers, & Meg Turner; published in January of 2023
Let’s Use ChatGPT to ‘Think Different’ About K-12 Schools — from gettingsmart.com by Kara Stern
So, in addition to asking ChatGPT to think like a school communications professional, a principal, or a teacher, what if we asked ChatGPT to think like the populations we’re serving, as a way of improving the education (or UX) we’re delivering?
Why I Keep Teaching — from edutopia.org by Rachel Jorgensen
A veteran educator explains why, despite the many challenges, she continues to try to change students’ lives, in turn enriching her own.
EVERY TIME I SHOW UP FOR WORK, A STUDENT MIGHT CHANGE MY LIFE FOR THE BETTER
EVERY TIME I SHOW UP FOR WORK, A STUDENT MIGHT CHANGE MY LIFE FOR THE BETTER
MY WORK HAS INVISIBLE RIPPLE EFFECTS
34 Ways to Quiet a Rambunctious Class — from edutopia.org by Daniel Leonard
From “Silent 20” to imaginary marshmallows, these teacher-tested strategies for all grade levels can help you snap an unruly classroom back to attention.
Per EdSurge:
‘THE MOTH’ GOES TO SCHOOL: For more than a decade, the nonprofit behind the popular storytelling podcast The Moth has run workshops in schools to help students share impactful stories from their lives. Now the group started a spin-off podcast, Grown, highlighting those student stories. Here’s what they’re learning, and why they say storytelling needs to be taught in schools.
The Power of Storytelling for Youth https://t.co/5OyBarJtQp #edtech via @EdSurge
— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 25, 2023
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DC: This article is behind a paywall so I couldn’t read it…but I think we need more *fixes/overhauls* and less coping.
More student centered; less legislative/administration centered. https://t.co/MsEe7058XV
— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) August 25, 2023
On 07/14/2023,
in animation, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, digital storytelling, elearning, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, story, storytelling, tools, training / L&D, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
Animation Tips for eLearning — from learningguild.com by Bill Brandon
Excerpt:
Why use animation in eLearning? Many people may think of animation in terms of entertainment value alone. Animation is far more valuable for its ability to engage learners, explain or illustrate ideas, and improve recall of complex relationships, such as cause and effect.
Look up these specific animation types for use in your projects:
- Whiteboard animation: Not necessary to be able to draw the characters. Multiple brands.
- Stop-motion animation
- Animation programs for beginners
- Free animation software
Also relevant/see:
Be an eLearning Storyteller With Style and Confidence — from learningguild.com by Bill Brandon
Excerpt:
Humans are good storytellers, and humans respond well to stories. We know this from our own experience. Not only that, people remember stories for a long time, far longer than we remember a lot of teaching. Do you recall stories that someone in your family told you? Why don’t we remember lessons from school as long or as vividly? Stories are powerful if we know how to use them. In this article I will introduce you to a way to use stories to achieve outcomes.
Any time you are designing a course, a learning experience, or just pitching an idea to your boss or an L&D stakeholder, it’s a story. Even if it does not seem like one, a successful production—whether it is an animated presentation, a virtual supporting example or other content—is based on some fundamental storytelling tactics. It doesn’t have to begin “Once Upon A Time,” it just needs to be constructed the right way for your purpose – To make it a memory.
On 07/07/2023,
in art, attention, career development, communities of practice, creativity, digital audio, Emotion, engagement / engaging students, experimentation, formal learning, ideas, informal learning, instructional design, K-12 related, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, learning spaces, liberal arts, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, music, personalized/customized learning, project-based learning, society, sociology, story, storytelling, student-related, United States, youth,
by Daniel Christian
Recording Arts as Reengagement, Social Justice and Pathway — from gettingsmart.com
Key Points
- After a successful career as a recording artist, David “TC” Ellis created Studio 4 in St. Paul to spot budding music stars.
- It became a hangout spot for creative young people, most of whom had “dropped out of school due to boredom and a sense that school wasn’t relevant to their lives and dreams.”
- Ellis and colleagues then opened the High School for Recording Arts in 1998.
On 06/28/2023,
in A/V -- audio/visual, content development, aggregation, repositories, creativity, digital audio, digital storytelling, digital video, graphics, media/film, multimedia, story, storytelling,
by Daniel Christian
Virtual Production Primer — from provideocoalition.com by Damian Allen
Excerpt:
…use this handy guide to educate yourself on the terms and technologies at play in Virtual Production.
On somewhat related tangent, also see:
Below is an item regarding the upgrade to Midjourney, which is an example of generative AI that can convert natural language prompts into images.
It’s been less than 48 hours since MJ v5.2 was launched!
And AI Twitter has gone nuts over the new version.
Here are 15 examples + 6 Tutorials of the new v5.2?
(via the amazing @Merzmensch) pic.twitter.com/lz1WaFpEmE
— Rushik (@hey_rushik) June 25, 2023