In order to embed the video you have created into a Power Point presentation, you first need to convert it to a .wmv file. All movies need to be in that format to play well with Power Point.I have created a video tutorial to show how to do that with a program I talked about earlier, VideoLAN.
Assuming you have downloaded that program, click the tutorial link below, there is also a .pdf file of the steps needed to convert a file using VideoLAN.

Video Tutorial

Converting Flash Document

When that step is complete, you can simply go to the page in Power Point you want to embed the video and follow these steps.1. Select “Insert” then “Movies and Sounds” then “Movie From File”
2. Browse to the file you want to embed and select “OK”
3. it will ask if you want it to play automatically or when clicked, I suggest “When Clicked”.
4. Test your slide to make sure everything works!

The people at techlearning.com (also the publishers of the free Technology and Learning magazine) understand the limited time available to teachers. They have produced a series called “How To: Cool Tools” that provides simple explanations on how to integrate technology into the curriculum. Most of the articles are relatively short and include several graphics to illustrate the steps described.

As I write this post, the six most recent articles on this site provide ideas for using multimedia (images, video clips, digital stories) with your curriculum. There is an article on “how to take notes online” written by a west Michigan educator. You can even learn how to create your own interactive CD. 

Sometimes, a little variety can go a long way. Consider placing a picture for your PowerPoint presentation inside a shape (such as a triangle, star, circle, etc).  It will take away some risk of being seen as mundane.

The following tip works with PowerPoint versions 2000-2004, and while I have not personally tested Office 2007, I would assume it is still available in that version.

Step 1:
Click on Drawing Tools from the “Drawing Toolbar” (most likely at the bottom of your screen). Select Basic Shapes (or any of the categories) to select a shape in which you want to place the picture.

Step 2:
Right click on the shape, then select “Format AutoShape” from the drop-down menu. Click on the down arrow next to the Fill “Color” and select “Fill Effects”.

Step 3:
From the “Fill Effects” dialogue box, select Picture from the four tabs presented at the top, and then click on the “Select Picture” button.

Step 4:
Browse to find the picture you want to insert inside the shape, then click Insert. From the remaining dialogue box, select OK.

Step 5:
Select Preview if you want to see what the shape would look like, or click OK to accept your choice.

Digital Storytelling has been popular for a few years now, but I appreciated how Ladd Skelly emphasized the importance of preparation. It’s not about the technology – its the content, the collaboration, the mental processing (higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy) that is necessary to create an effective digital story.

This last session was actually a substitution for me. The session I had originally planned to attend somehow didn’t seem so appealing, and because I had seen Ladd present before, I knew I was guaranteed some quality ideas. I’m not going to try to regurgitate everything he said because you can get the big idea from his online handout (http://twi.classrooms.com/workshops/lskelly).

A couple thoughts: Ladd promoted using Microsoft Photo Story 3 for producing digital stories. For years, I had used and suggested Windows Movie Maker, but I can really see the value of using Photo Story 3. While I’m not sold entirely, I want to explore it further. Another option is VoiceThread (and Diane Zoellmer does a great job of demonstrating how to use that).  I was also struck with the role of emotion in a digital story. As Ladd played some examples of the Civil War, the combination of the pictures of slain soldiers and stirring music got to me. We don’t forget things that impact us emotionally. The multimedia in a digital story opens the door for emotional impact.

A couple of great online resources for digital storytelling: Ken Burns (www.pbs.org/kenburns/) and Adobe (www.adobe.com/education/digkids/storytelling).

One final thought shared by Ladd regarding copyright: if the website doesn’t say anything about copyright, it likely means the images (or media) are copyrighted.  The people who are not going to come after you for copyright violation are the ones who specifically state on their site the copyright policies.

Think for a moment about the Mona Lisa painting. When I mention the name, a mental image immediately comes to find. But imagine how difficult it would be to imagine what she looked like if I could only use words to describe her. That’s the power of visual literacy.

Lynell Burmark of the Thornburg Center shared some great insights on research that has been conducted about the impact of images. For example, there are 1,000,000 fibers from each eye to the brain, but only 30,000 fibers from the ear. She likened it to 1,000,000 highway lanes compared to only 30,000 lanes. Yet, it is a common practice to rely more on “hearing” than “seeing” when we teach. We process images 60,000 times faster than we process words. What could happen if we display a picture on the screen and use it to open a class session with discussion?

I also found it interesting that, according to one estimate, there are approximately 30,000 PowerPoint presentations shown daily. However, if most of those presentations are dominated by text and the text is read by the presenter, studies show that retention decreases (we tend to mentally turn off either the slide or the speaker).

The greatest challenge for me personally, based on additional research conducted by Richard Mayer, is to develop PowerPoint slides with full-size pictures. Then, I should use either words displayed after the initial picture is already seen or a voice-over embedded after the initial display. The research indicates an 89% likelihood that the content in the slide will be retained aand applied using this strategy.

One last thought before lunch – there are now projectors that can simultaneously display two different pictures. Set up two screens and let them slides work together. The advantage here is that a student can still linger on the previous slide if they need more time to process a thought. I know the costs of projectors are high, but that certainly makes sense.

Need a PowerPoint presentation for your class? Don’t have time to create one? Check out Pete’s PowerPoint Station at http://www.pppst.com for free education focused presentations.

A common question asked when people are making major decisions is “What’s in it for me?” Jerry Weissman, in his book Presenting To Win: The Art of Telling Your Story, introduces WIFFY (an acronym for What’s In It For You). If we can play on the words, and insert the term “you” in the question, the focus shifts from ’me’ to the ’students’ you teach. You are still developing a presentation that will deliver the learning outcomes you anticipate, but asking the WIFFY question invites you to step into the shoes of a student and discern how the presentation will lead them to understand the concept you are presenting.

The WIFFY question has one major goal – to keep you focus on what is most important: persuading students to embrace a concept you are teaching. Therefore, every aspect of your presentation must point to the WIFFY. As you prepare your presentation, there are six questions you can ask about the presentation you are developing:

“This is important to you (the student) because… Why is this topic important? Why is it something students simply must learn (besides state-mandates telling you to teach it)?

“What does this mean to you?” How can you explain this concept in a clear, precise manner?

“Why am I telling you this?” Is it only because you’ve always included this segment? Develop a compelling argument on why this topic needs to be taught.

“Who cares?” Be wary of thinking students are going to automatically assume that what you have to present is of great value. Most likely, they could care less.

“So what?” What elements can you include that will make students sit up and take notice?

“And…”  Here’s the WIFFY… How can you get students to ‘buy’ into what you are teaching?

Here’s an easy solution from Jeff Giddens at http://segatech.us/archives/2283 for downloading YouTube videos so you can watch them on a computer without access to YouTube.

One of the things I do in my work is teach educators how to integrate multimedia resources into their instruction. Doing so often makes the learning process more engaging and understandable for pupils. I remind teachers that there are many reputable sources of educational material (for example, the video clips available at Annenberg’s Learner.org, the Library of Congress, TeacherTube, and Unitedstreaming). Sometimes, however, educators want to use instructional video from a site that cannot be accessed at school, a site like Youtube. We all know that, since the site is open to just about any and everyone, all manner of video material is present there–the shocking bad and the wonderfully good. That said, many clips on the site are perfectly safe and useful for instructional purposes.

So, what are educators to do when they want to use a Youtube video but can’t do so at school? There’s a simple way to address this problem. Be aware that the video will need to be downloaded at home or outside of school. This is a prudent move anyway, given that an “oops” experience at home is much easier to deal with than it would be in front of stunned students.

Step #1–Get Firefox.
Download and install Firefox. Yes, you can use Internet Explorer to download video but this tutorial isn’t taking that route. Firefox is a program that, like Internet Explorer, allows users to see web pages. It’s free and won’t mess up your PC. You’ll need Firefox to download videos as described here. You can get Firefox here if you need to download it–> http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

Step #2–Get Riva FLV player.
The videos you are downloading will probably be saved to your computer as an .flv video file. You’ll need an flv viewer ( a program that lets you watch .flv video files). Don’t worry there’s a great flv viewer called Riva FLV Player that’s free. You can get that program from this site:
http://tinyurl.com/22qzk5

Download and install Riva FLV player. It’ll be ready to play the videos you download when you begin downloading them. You also want to make sure that you have the .flv player installed on your machine at school

Step #3 Get DownloadHelper.
Download and install DownloadHelper. It’s an extension for Firefox that allows you to save videos from popular websites like Myspace, YouTube, Google, and others. Go to the site below and click on the green INSTALL NOW button.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3006

You’ll be prompted to restart Firefox. After doing that, the Downloadhelper icon will be visible in the upper right hand corner of your Firefox browser (near the Google search box). If everything was properly installed your browser may even take you the Downloadhelper website where you’ll see this message:

“You just installed DownloadHelper Firefox extension.”

Step #4 Give it a whirl.
Go to Youtube or another site where video is available. You should see that the Downloadhelper icon is animated. If you click on the the little arrow to the right of the Downloadhelper icon, it’ll show you the name of the video you’re about to download. Click on that name and a window will appear. You can rename the video if you wish to do so. After you’ve downloaded the file you should be able to play it.

Step #5 Enjoy!
Save the .flv file on a jumpdrive, take it to school, and watch it.