Multimedia Critique Paper 1

Multimedia Critique Paper #1
Clayton S. Cook
EDIT 720
Jing by TechSmith
Jing, by TechSmith, is a free screen capture tool. Jing allows you to capture all of, or a
portion of, the computer screen at which you are working. Jing uses crosshairs to choose a
specified portion of the screen in which to capture. Along with capturing still images, Jing also
allows you to make videos up to 5 minutes of sections of the screen as well. When activated,
Jing freezes the screen so you can capture precisely what you want. For example, if you are
watching a YouTube video and you want to capture a specific screen you can do so my activating
the Jing sun. When this is done the image on the screen will freeze so you can drag the
crosshairs over the area you want to capture. Once the capture is made there are several things
you can do to it to customize it to your needs.
When the capture is made, Jing will open a window showing an image of the capture.
From this window you can do several things. You can create arrows onto the image to direct the
attention of the audience to a specific portion of the capture (fig. 1). Along with callout arrows,
Jing also offers the ability to make callout squares, add text, and highlight portions of the
capture. The default color is red but each of the callout colors, including the text color, can be
changed simply using the callout tool bar located on the left side of the window.
Figure 1 Example of Jing Screen Capture using callouts
Ways to Use Jing

There are several ways in which you can use Jing in the classroom setting. One popular
way to use Jing is to create student tutorial packets for students using new software. For
example, a teacher can create screen shots of the login sequence so students can easily
understand how they are to login and where to enter their information. Another way to use Jing
is to use the screen captures and have students sequence the actions or events in the captures to
retell a story. Teachers can also make quick videos using Jing that students can watch for
teaching and review.
Overall Review
Overall, Jing is a very powerful tool considering it is offered for free. The tools offered
by Jing allow teachers, or anyone, to customize screen captures to enhance learning and guide
audience attention to important elements of the capture. Jing is a very clean platform with very
minimal extraneous materials. All of the tools are housed in the Jing sun that is positioned on
the edge of the screen in the position that the user prefers. Jing allows the user to capture the
screen then completely customize it to fit his/her needs. With options to add arrows, texts,
squares, and highlight, Jing can turn a simple screen capture into an information filled image.
Since the tools are in the hands of the user the extraneous material is kept to a minimum with the
important information is enhanced.
Jing can be downloaded at https://www.techsmith.com/jing.html.
Symbaloo (www.symbaloo.com)
Symbaloo is a free bookmarking tool that allows users to bookmark sites by using small
thumbnail graphics as a representation of the site. The thumbnails can be customized, but they
can also be the logo of the site you are bookmarking. Symbaloos can be shared with friends,
colleagues, classmates, and students. Teachers can bookmark sites that students use regularly so
they will have a central place to find the sites. You can also set the Symbaloo as your homepage
so it is the first thing the students see when they log in to the computer.
Symbaloo is a powerful tool to use with students, especially younger students who are
just learning how to navigate and browse the internet. It is very easy for them to locate a familiar
picture and click on it, knowing where it will take them. Not only does it make navigating to
sites quick and easy, it also cuts out the possibilities of students going to any incorrect sites and
possibly accessing inappropriate content.
Pros of Symbaloo
Symbaloo is loaded with pros and not many cons. The biggest attraction of Symbaloo is
it is free! You can create a Symbaloo account for free and immediately start creating your first
bookmarks. It is quick and easy to use and set up.
A second pro for Symbaloo is the neat and orderly way in which it houses the bookmarks.
Each bookmark is shown in a small, square fashion with neat, clean lines. There is no
extraneous information floating around which may guide users away from the desired outcome.
It is very easy to for users to understand what they are supposed to do when using the software
without having to seek out the Help function.
Symbaloo also offers a search function where users can search the database for created
Symbaloos on any topic. A quick search of multimedia brought up over 800 results. You can
browse through each of the results that come up. You can also filter the types of Symbaloos that
are search by specifying tiles, RSS, or NEWS. You can even specify which country the
Symbaloos come from (Fig. 2). Even with such simple search features, there are thousands of
already created Symbaloos for you to use.
Figure 2: Symbaloo search box.
Voki (www.voki.com)
Voki is a multimedia tool that allows users to pair voices to avatars. While this does not
seem all that unusual, what makes Voki unique is that you can pair a voice to a famous figure
from history if you choose, such as Abraham Lincoln. So, students can get their instructions or
assignments from Honest Abe. This adds an element of intrigue and excitement to the normal
bland way in which instructions are delivered to students.
Voki has several choices for membership, including a free membership. However, Voki
does offer trial periods for its three premium memberships: Voki Classroom, Voki Presenter, and
Voki Teach. Voki Classroom is a management tool that allows students to complete homework
assignments and such with Voki. Voki Presenter is presentation tool that allows users to integrate
Voki into their lessons in an effort to increase engagement. Voki Teach is a common-core
aligned, ready to use curriculum created by teachers. Each of these memberships are powerful is
different ways. For the purposes of this study I will focus my attention on the free Voki
membership.
The free membership is easy enough to start, requiring only your name and a valid email
address. However, this is the easiest part of the software. For all the attractions that Voki brings
to the table the things you actually have access to on the free membership are extremely limited.
Making things more confusing, Voki is difficult to navigate and the instruction can be unclear
and muddled (Fig. 3). The interface is jumbled and words are crammed into tiny spaces, making
navigation difficult, even for experienced computer users. If the limited amount of free avatars
and the difficult navigation do not dissuade you, then the location of buttons and windows will.
When creating an avatar using the free membership, the customization window will open on
right side of the avatar you are creating, covering a significant portion of the avatar window.
This makes creating the avatar difficult because you cannot completely see what changes are
happening. Voki is apparently ad supported because there are ads on both sides of the screen
and, occasionally, one will pop up in the middle of your creation and you cannot get it to
minimize or close.
Figure 3: Shows the jumbled interface of Voki
Overall, the overarching idea behind Voki is a powerful one, but the cons far outweigh
the pros. The time and headaches that go into creating the Voki make this potentially powerful
engagement tool practically useless.

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Multimedia Critique Paper #1

Figure 1 Example of Jing Screen Capture using callouts

Ways to Use Jing

Figure 2: Symbaloo search box.

Figure 3: Shows the jumbled interface of Voki

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