Media and Learning 2013

Slidemotion is an automated web service enabling users to create videos with music from users’ photos, with no skills and in a few clicks. The service has many features and offers various possibilities to personalise the videos. Users can make unlimited number of free videos during the 30-days trial period. This free temporary version comes with a limit, so videos can be created with 15 visuals. After 30 day trial finishes users will still be able to play and share all of their videos but will not be able to create new ones. It is also possible to try the premium version by spending free credits, so users can decide if they like premium features and continue by purchasing a plan.

PlagTracker is a service online that uses a checking algorithm to scan content for plagiarism. It is fast and easy to use and when it detects plagiarism, it provides also a list of all the sources, to make it easier for the user. The system does not save uploaded contents. A single document can be checked an unlimited number of times. The limit of words for a document to be checked for free is 5000. To exceed it, it is possible to subscribe for the premium version.

Pixabay.com is a collaborative repository for quality public domain images. People can upload photographs or graphics to the website, and they will be screened to see if they are suitable for distribution. The images so uploaded will go under Creative Commons Deed CC0 into the public domain.
Although it is not possible to claim ownership of any image in its original state or license them granting exclusive rights as they are, it is possible to adapt and use the images also for commercial purposes without attributing the original author or source. For details about this, look the page of terms and conditions.

IrfanView is a fast, small, innovative freeware graphic viewer that can be also used for editing. It is intended as free only for private, non-commercial and/or educational use (schools, universities and libraries) and for use in charity or humanitarian organisations.
The software is currently supported and a list of recent changes can be seen on the website. A FAQ page quite rich of useful information is also provided on the website.
Some IrfanView features:
• Many supported file formats
• Multi language support
• Thumbnail/preview option
• Paint option - to draw lines, circles, arrows, straighten image etc.
• Toolbar skins option
• Slideshow (save slideshow as EXE/SCR or burn it to CD)
• Show EXIF/IPTC/Comment text in Slideshow/Fullscreen etc.
• Support for Adobe Photoshop Filters
• Fast directory view (moving through directory)
• Batch conversion (with advanced image processing)
• Multipage TIF editing
• File search
• Email option
• Multimedia player
• Print option
• Support for embedded color profiles in JPG/TIF
• Change color depth
• Scan (batch scan) support
• Cut/crop
• Add overlay text/image (watermark)
• IPTC editing
• Effects (Sharpen, Blur, Adobe 8BF, Filter Factory, Filters Unlimited, etc.)
• Screen Capturing
• Extract icons from EXE/DLL/ICLs
• Lossless JPG rotation
• Unicode support
• Hotkeys
• Command line options
• PlugIns

Language support can vary with the version. The current version supports the languages listed aside. English is anyway always supported.

The Digital Image Rights Computator (DIRC) program is intended to assist the user in assessing the intellectual property status of a specific image documenting a work of art, a designed object, or a portion of the built environment. Understanding the presence or absence of rights in the various aspects of a given image will allow the user to make informed decisions regarding the intended educational uses of that image.
The DIRC program functions through a series of query pages, each of which directs the user to provide input about one specific aspect of a given image’s rights profile. Each query sequence concludes by directing the user to a highlighted portion of a color-coded grid, which indicates an image's suitability for your desired use. Supplemental notes below the grid may draw your attention to other available options, or remind you of additional risk-assessment considerations.

Audiolingua is a collaborative bank of authentic audio resources, recorded by native speakers, for a freely pedagogical or personal use, according to the rights of use which are detailed in the legal notice. Its aim is to train oral comprehension for anyone who would like to improve this language skill and to provide language teachers with authentic resources.
The mp3 files are classified according to the reference levels defined by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. You can listen to the audio files online, download them one after another or also register to the podcast.
Audiolingua contains recordings in 10 languages.

KidsTube is a free educative video resource for educators featuring thousands of approved and filtered videos, images and blogs: all of them are kids safe and/or specifically meant just for kids.
The website also allows to upload one’s own videos and create groups or join others’ groups and engage in educative discussions in such an awesome community of people.
It is possible to browse and watch videos without being registered. The registration is needed, though, to upload and share videos. The user-friendly interface makes the website simple to use.

This free application facilitates the embedding, editing and customization of Youtube videos.
Among the most important features of Embedplus:
• Start your video at a certain time
• Ignore boring parts of the video
• Add annotations to videos
• Movable zoom service that allows you to dynamically magnify the area you point over
• Crop interesting parts of a video
• Instant replay service
• Instantly watch videos at a slower rate to clearly see what happens
• Real-time reactions, an option for seeing people’s reactions to the same video you are modifying
The website contains also a special page about how the application can be used in the context of teaching / training. Using EmbedPlus teachers will be able to :
• Highlight turning points in videos they want to share with their students using the jump buttons on the player
• Skip irrelevant parts in a video
• Offer additional information beyond what is presented in a video using annotations.
Students on their part can use it to:
• Get a closer and clearer understanding of video contents covering complicated events using the slow motion and zoom effects that EmbedPus offers
• Easily access their videos and view text and other objects within a video

Namathis organizes more than 10,800 educational videos from the Internet, 2,000 in english, 8,000 in spanish and 800 in portuguese (and increasing). It aims to offer video lessons about different subjects to help High School and university students in their studies.
Namathis seek and organize Youtube.com videos in matters so that the student can reach different video explanations upon the same topic. Students can also comment and ask the community about it.
Students have just one place to access the videos of the subjects they are studying; they can watch more than one explanation, so they can understand thoroughly what they are learning. They can share comments and questions with teachers and students over a specific theme.
Students can access academic contents in a flexible way. They catch up when they miss a class and, above all, they can revise the material as many times as they think it is necessary to prepare an exam
Teachers can add videos about a subject they consider useful not needing to sign up for it. Also they can answer questions of the students, taking into account that thousands of students could be helped this way.
Educational video authors in Namathis are viewed more times because they are enlisted by subject-matter and topic. Besides, every video includes a link to the author's channel in Youtube, boosting up its visibility.

ActiveWatch publishes a new educational product aimed at secondary school pupils to better understand news production and to learn how to question and verify credibility of information in the media.

The pedagogical kit was developed within the ONAIR European project for media education, an initiative of the Sapienza University in Rome, and it benefits of the support of the Romanian Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports.