Audio recording -- host at SoundCloud, a Web service

This assignment will give you practice recording audio, but, more important, use it as a chance to become familiar with the Audacity user interface.

Record an introduction of yourself using Audacity. This will go on your blog, so tell the listener whatever you think is important for them to know about you. You might mention your studies, work, family, hobby -- whatever you wish to be part of your introduction.

Don't settle for a low-quality recording. Experiment with microphone placement and recording level so that there is no clipping, but you are using the dynamic range of the recorder. You are not finished until it sounds good.

When you are proud of your recording, export it with the name intro.mp3 and upload it to your account at SoundCloud. Check to be sure it sounds good.

(Do not record it using the SoundCloud online recorder -- record using Audacity and upload it to SoundCloud).

Write a post on your blog with a link to your audio introduction on SoundCloud. Don't forget to make the link "hot" so I can click on it to hear your introduction.

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Experiment with .mp3 compression

Record a few sentences using Audacity. Make a monaural recording with a sample rate of 44100 Hz and 32-bit, floating point samples and export it as a 128 kbps .mp3 file.

That should be a CD-quality recording.

Compress the file by saving it at 112 kbps. Unless you have excellent ears and an excellent playback system, you will not be able to hear the difference between the compressed version and the original.

Compress the original further, trying different data rates until you can hear the difference.

Print a screen shot of the .mp3 option set at that data rate.

Turn that in along with answers to these two questions:

What was the file size of the original recording?

What is the file size of the compressed version in which you can begin to hear a difference?

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Narrated video of a PowerPoint presentation

This assignment will give you practice with audio and video editing.

You are to make a narrated video of the presentation you prepared for this assignment.

When it is finished, upload it to YouTube.

Print a screen shot of the video on YouTube to turn in.

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Audio editing -- Mary had a little lamb

This assignment will give you practice with audio editing.

You are to record Mary Had a Little Lamb. See if you can make it sound as good as my grandson Lucas' rendition.

Use earphones so you can listen to the music as you sing.

Pay attention to the volume levels -- don't let the music drown your singing out, but don't make the music too quiet.

When you finish, save a screenshot of your Audacity session and upload the song to Soundcloud. Add a post with the screenshot and link to the song to your blog.

Here is the instrumental sound track.

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Audio editing -- Nixon speech

This assignment will give you experience with audio editing.

This is an excerpt from Richard Nixon's Watergate "I am not a crook" speech:

Let me just say this. I've made my mistakes, but in all of my years of public life, I have never profited from public service.
I've earned every cent.
And in all of my years of public life, I have never obstructed justice.
And I think too that I can say that in my years of public life that I welcome this kind of examination because people have got to know whether or not their president's a crook.
Well, I'm not a crook.

Cut the sound file and move a few words around, until it contains:

I have profited from public service, and welcome every cent.
I have obstructed justice.
People have got to know their president's a crook.
I'm a crook.

When you have the words correct, add a second track with patriotic music. (Not too loud, so we can hear Nixon).

When it sounds good to your ear, save a screenshot of your Audacity session and upload the audio to SoundClound.

Finally, create a blog post with the screenshot of your Audacity session and a link to the audio file on SoundCloud.

You will need two sound files to begin with:

• Nixon's original speech
• Some patriotic music

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Audio recording -- host on your server

This assignment will give you practice recording audio, but, more important, use it as a chance to become familiar with the Audacity user interface.

Record an introduction of yourself using Audacity.  This will go on your Web site, so tell the listener whatever you think it is important for them to know about you.  You might mention your studies, work, family, hobby -- whatever you wish to be part of your introduction.

Don't settle for a low quality recording. Experiment with microphone placement and recording level so that there is no clipping, but you are using the dynamic range of the recorder. You are not finished until it sounds good.

When you are proud of your recording, export it with the name name intro.mp3 (so I can check it) and upload it to your Web directory on sws.csudh.edu. Check to see that you can play it back in a browser.

When it is working, print out an Audacity screen shot of the recording to turn in.

Next write a post on your blog with a link to the recording on your server.

Print out a copy of that post to turn in as well.

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Compress an image

Here is an image of Lucas:

(Click the image to enlarge it, then right click to download).

The image is in the JPEG format and is 107 KB. Compress the image two times, once saving it as a JPEG and once saving it as a PNG file. Compress both until the file size is less than 50 kilobytes, then print them to turn in. Which looks best?

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Make a head shot

Here are two pictures of Lucas:

Make each into a tightly cropped, 200 by 200 image that contains only his face.

The starting pictures are similar -- one is just larger than the other.  Click on the image to get the full size copy to download.

Print you two final, cropped images to turn in.

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Image characteristics

Here are links to two pictures of Lucas:

• Lucas1
  
• Lucas2
  

One was taken with my camera set at high quality, the other with my camera set at low quality.

1. Which one was taken at high quality?
2. What is the size in pixels of the high quality image?
3. What is the size in pixels of the low quality image?
4. How many pixels in Lucas1?
5. What image format do these images use?
6. What is the aspect ratio of Lucas1?
7. What is the aspect ratio of Lucas2?
8. Which image has the most information? (explain)
9. Which image has the highest resolution? (explain)

Make and post a square thumbnail picture of yourself

Prepare a 250 by 250 pixel, closely cropped image of your face. (I will check the size).

Be careful not to distort the shape of your face -- the final result will have an aspect ratio of 1:1. You will probably have to crop your photo in order to make it square. That will leave a square image, which can be re-sized to 250 by 250 and saved.

(Hint: The "Rectangular Select" tool has a "Fixed Ratio" option).

Focus on your face, and crop out most of the background. Feel free to cut off part of your hair, one of your ears, etc., for example:

Adjust the contrast and color so that it looks good on the screen.

When you are pleased with the image, post a copy of it and a copy of the picture you started with on your blog. Give it the label "Asst. 18".


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The Google Docs word processor

This assignment will introduce you to Google Docs word processor and give you practice writing a short document,

Use Google Docs to write a short description of the best class you have taken at CSUDH. (If this is your first semester, select the best class from a previous school). Let the reader know the name of the class, who taught it, what it covered, what you liked about it and why it was important to you.

When it is finished, print it out to turn in. Also print a copy of your Google Docs home page with a listing of this document and any others you may have created.

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Revise a poorly written short document

This comment was left on a blog post on PowerPoint presentations:

I think that power points are very imporan in the lectures bacause it gives you a visual reference to what the teacher is talking about.
Also if the teacher makes the power point presentation available the student can access it at anytime. I have had some good and bad experinces with power points.The good power points had videos and funny pictures. While the bad ones lack subtance had too many spelling errors and fail to capture audince.

I rejected it because it was so poorly written.

Turn in the following:

1. Read each sentence or fragment aloud. Which have grammatical errors?
2. List the point or points you think the writer is trying to make.
3. Rewrite the post in your own words.

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Write a blog post

This will familiarize you with blog search and posting, and practice writing a short document.

Using the search box or labels, find a post that you find interesting on our class blog. Write a short description of it and post the description on your blog.

You should summarize the post in the first sentence -- to get the reader interested -- then go on to say more about what the post said, why you chose it, and where it fits in our class outline. Be sure to include a ckickable link to the post itself in your post. That way, an interested reader can refer back to the original.

Print a copy the description on your blog to turn in. Be sure to follow format I outlined above.

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Analyze an ineffective email conversation

This assignment highlights the waste and confusion that can occur when Internet conversation is not precise and responsive.

Carefully read this email conversation. You may have to read it a few times to get a clear picture of the situation and the various participants. It is an actual conversation, not a fictitious example.

Once you are clear on what happened, answer the following questions:

1. Can you find places where someone tries to stay on track by quoting previous statements? Where? Was this effective?
2. Can you find a place where someone makes a commitment to do something by a given date? Did they carry through?
3. Are there indications that one party or another was not carefully reading other's statements? Where?
4. What were the costs to the organization of this ineffective conversation?

Print your answers to turn in.

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Conversation using a blog comment

This assignment will give you practice with conversational writing.

You will be posting a comment on a blog. Find a blog on a topic where you have some knowledge and opinions -- look for a blog that you would like to subscribe to and continue following. It can be on any topic, not necessarily related to our class -- perhaps sports, music, cooking, the stock market, etc. -- whatever interests you.

Read the current and recent posts on the blog, and post a comment on one of them.  Your comment should be relevant to the particular post you selected, and must contain at least one quote from that post.

Remember that you are conversing with the person who wrote the blog post -- you might want to ask him or her a question, disagree with something they said, add something they overlooked, etc. Think of it as conversing with your keyboard.

Print out a copy of the original post and your comment showing the quote to turn in.

If the blog owner replies to your comment, print that out as well and you will get extra credit for the assignment. Similarly, if you send them an email and they reply, print the exchange out and you will get extra credit.

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Michael Wesch presentation

This assignment has two goals -- to get you thinking about the roles of classroom architecture and questions in learning and to give you experience with careful, mindful Internet writing of short documents.

Watch this video excerpt from a talk in which Michael Wesch discusses the role of classroom architecture and questions in education.

Then write your answer to one of these questions:

1. How did listening to Michael Wesch make you feel? Do you recognize yourself in what he says?
2. What stops you from participating in classroom discussion?
3. Which online discussion tools have you used and were they effective?

Think carefully about the question you chose and draft your answer, then watch the video again and make any changes that come to mind.

Next, set your answer aside for a day or more and rewrite it. Read it aloud -- your ear will catch grammar errors and awkward sentences. Run it through the Microsoft Word grammar and spelling checker. Show it to someone else for feedback.

When you have an answer you are proud of, enter it into this database and print a hard copy to turn in.

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