eZedia World e-Newsletter

1. eZeMatte 1.0 for iMovie
eZedia announced last week the release of the first in a series of Apple iMovie enhancement plug-ins. eZeMatte 1.0 for iMovie allows users to overlay an image over an iMovie clip - add borders, frames, themes, logos or any customized graphic.

"Users can either use one of the 10 overlays that comes with the eZeMatte plug-in or create their own customized overlays for their iMovies, including adding borders or company logos to a movie or clip," said Stefan Embleton, President and Chief Executive Officer of eZedia Inc. "This is the first in a series of plug-ins from eZedia, following our mandate of producing incredibly powerful authoring software that lets everyone communicate through the digital medium."

"I can use eZeMatte to put our company logo or better titling on videos in iMovie without getting into Final Cut Pro. Quick and easy." Bruce Mitchell MacTechnics User Group

"The power and stability of Mac OS X combined with the ease of use of iMovie 2 has created an incredible opportunity for developers to create plug-ins and for consumers to make great iMovies," said Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "The eZeMatte plug-in gives iMovie users another great feature that makes movie-making an even more exciting and enjoyable experience."

Learn More	More Themes
Show Me	Create Your Own Themes
View Sampler	eZeMatte Forum

2. Apple iMovie and eZediaMX
Easily incorporate digital videos (DV) into an eZediaMX project with a little help from Apple's iMovie. iMovie is a great way to import DV from a camera, edit it and save it as a QuickTime Movie for use in eZediaMX.

Just plug your digital video camera into your Mac and start up iMovie. Flip the Mode Switch to Camera mode, as shown here.

Click Import to capture the video to your hard disk.

You can then use iMovie to add special effects, titles, transitions and more. (And of course you can use eZeMatte to add graphic overlays to clips!) For more information on how to use iMovie, visit the iMovie Tutorials Page.

Once you're finished creating your masterpiece, select File Export Movie... In the Export pop-up, select "To QuickTime". In the Formats pop-up, select "CD-ROM Movie, Medium".

Once the QuickTime movie is saved, just drag it into eZediaMX and you're done!



3. On Your Mark: A Guide to eZediaMX Movie Timecode
Did you know you can sequence events in your eZediaMX project based on the exact time of a Movie Object? This lets you activate voice-overs, text descriptions, graphics and even other movies, all timed exactly to a movie or sound.

To do this, link a movie or sound to a timecode Container Object. Then link the Container Object to a Branch Object with the various times in each branch when you want something to activate. You can then link each branch to the objects you want to activate at those times.

This method can also be used to move between frames by linking the branches to GoTo Objects. Just be sure to deselect "This Frame Only" on the objects to have the movie play across several frames with the background changing in time.

eZediaMX Movie Timecode Tutorial

Sample eZediaMX Movie Timecode File Windows | Mac OS

4. Partners in Learning
By Drs. Jane & Michael Madden
Francis Marion University

In recent months, there has been increasing discussion at the U.S. Department of Education web site on the issues of literacy and student achievement. There is no question that the challenges facing educators are significant and that somehow we must have the students as partners in this enterprise if we are to succeed. A critical factor in that process is student engagement. Let's face it. The longer a student's attention is focused on a task in an active, engaged manner, the greater the likelihood for the comprehension and the retention of concepts. At the same time, the more energy that emanates from the student to maintain their own attention, the less enervating it is for the teacher in that classroom.

There are a number of good examples of this type of approach and how it benefits both the student and the classroom teacher. At the Apple Education site, teachers in Minnesota talk about the transformative effects of incorporating iMovie video production on fifth grade student learning. In this situation, "students show off their mastery of a full range of research, writing, and analytical skills" through the planning and production of a one-minute video on an educational topic. Sixty-seconds may not sound like a lot until you have to put it together. A well-planned one-minute segment can be a significant mental exercise. More importantly, the article reinforces the notion that transforming the environment to include video production results in the students staying involved in a demanding task much longer, with higher achievement as the end product.

Learning to make short iMovie video clips is both exciting and instructional, but then teachers need to ask, "what next?" That one-minute segment becomes much more powerful when placed in an integrative environment like eZediaMX. For teachers, this kind of multimedia authoring tool fosters their students' literacy skills, time and task management strategies, and ability to structure an argument and communicate their ideas clearly. At the same time, it provides opportunities to engage a wide-range of learners, especially those who have remained on the sidelines in our classrooms, despite our best efforts.

eZediaMX, together with Inspiration, a popular concept mapping program, make powerful team members as students plan and develop their projects. Inspiration (and for younger children, Kidspiration), enables students to shift between a diagrammatic and outline view of their undertaking and to easily rearrange elements. In the process, students see relationships and further clarify their thinking. Inspiration concept maps also allow teachers to quickly assess their students' thought processes. From a management perspective, the well-constructed diagram shortens project development time, clarifies structure, and keeps students focused on the content.

From the single word or phrase in the concept map, it is but a short step to identifying, gathering, and creating the video, audio, and text elements the students want to include in their eZediaMX projects to make their points. All the while, they are remaining focused and engaged. As the projects develop, their thinking becomes much more visible to themselves and to others, offering opportunities to participate in a natural collaborative process that provides the context for the development of communication and digital literacy skills (as outlined in ISTE's National Educational Technology Standards for Students).

Just as Inspiration frees students to rearrange points in the development stage, eZediaMX's environment gives them equal flexibility when they move from the abstract concept map to the representation level offered by the multimedia. Editing and refining is easy, as the name implies. With eZediaMX's logic tools, students have the power to make their points in creative and sophisticated ways. Also, the fine-tuning of projects provides a natural context for building editorial and problem-solving skills. Teachers don't have to force it, as the educators at the Apple site pointed out, the students want to do it. Now, that's a win-win situation!

About the Authors
Dr. Jane Madden is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at Francis Marion University and is the Director of the Grants Development Program on campus. Dr. Michael Madden is a Professor in the School of Education. Both are the co-authors of two successful Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grants. eZedia has been a research partner in both federal grants. No remuneration was received for the writing of this article.

5. What's new at eZedia
eZediaMX Badges
Download eZediaMX Badges

Proudly proclaim you made your project using eZediaMX 3.0! Add an eZedia Badge to any eZediaMX project. Place it on any color, pattern or image background!

eZedia Forum
eZedia is excited to offer you a new way to connect, share ideas, and discuss our eZediaMX media integration software. Be sure to check out this discussion area for great ideas and innovations, read the FAQs or post a message or question.
Join the eZedia Forum

Online Opinion
Your opinion counts. In the bottom right hand corner of every page on the new eZedia web site, you will see a [+] icon. Click to rate the page, then fill out the comment card. Your feedback will help us further improve our eZedia web site and satisfy our users.
Explore eZedia today!

Events
National Educational Computing Conference 2002 (NECC)
San Antonio, Texas
June 17 - 19, 2002

Press Release
New eZedia Plug-in Available for iMovie 2
April 11, 2002

Training
eZedia Introductory & Advanced Workshops
Monthly 2002
Winnipeg, Manitoba

---

Look for the next issue of eZedia World in May 2002.

eZedia World welcomes subscriber feedback, story ideas as well as editorial contributions to our monthly newsletter. Please e-mail us your ideas at ezediaworld@ezedia.ca.

© 2000-2002 eZedia Inc. All rights reserved. eZedia, the eZedia logo, and eZediaMX are registered trademarks or trademarks of eZedia Inc.