Give Us Each Day Our Daily Pan: August 2008

A Quote From The Original Give Us Each Day...

It's url is here:
In March of 2006 I started reacquainting myself with QuickTime VR movies. I remembered how relatively easy they were to make and how their file size was relatively small. Susan Abdulezer, distinguished Apple Educator, media developer for District 75 (NYCDOE) and QuickTime guru, taught the CSD1 tech staff the basics of the program about 6-7 years ago. At that time we used QuickTime VR 2.0. This time in OSX I experimented with VR Worx. Panoramic movies are used extensively in real estate and tourist sites. I often felt it's potential has gone untapped for social studies education. By linking one panorama to another, using hot spots, you can explore a given scene's both indoor and outdoor environments. You can also connect two or more outdoor environments with a kind of leap frog effect to help explore larger geographic areas. I've found in my years as a NYC public school teacher that many kids' knowledge of the city only extends to the 10 square block area of their neighborhoods. Perhaps the creation of libraries of city-wide quicktime vr movies can provide some help in broadening their horizons. Certainly the kids can be taught the basics of the program as well and they could be turned loose to create their own portfolios. All you need is a digital camera and a tripod. Freeware and shareware VR programs are readily available. There is also a vast potential for literacy education as such movies can inspire students to write about the neighborhood scenes that they create and explore. Liz Sevcenko, from the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, many years ago had introduced the term "Mapping Memories" to a group of CSD1 teachers with pencil and paper and Tom Beller from his excellent site "Mr. Beller's Neighborhood" has employed such a technique digitally with a NYC base map. I felt that these movies that I was creating needed a home of their own, rather than being thrown into the chaotic mix of my blog, pseudo-intellectualism. Synchronicitiously came along another great Google For Educators innovation called Google Pages, which allowed me to do this as well as link to such helpful tools and widgets such as Google Maps and YouTube. It also allowed me to place an mp3 player below the image above for a musical dedication to my parents Sol and Eva Bellel and to my Uncle Hyman Genee

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Saratoga Springs: The Hampton Inn & Suites Panoramic Movie

A panoramic movie of the combined lounge/dining area of a beautiful new hotel, the Hampton Inn & Suites, in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Ithaca College Panoramic Movie

Ithaca Commons Panoramic Movie

The Commons is located between North Cayuga and North Aurora Streets. It's a little more rough around the edges then I remember it to be about 12 years ago

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Carmel, NY Panoramic Movie

On Fair Street and School Street. In view are the High School and the post office

Ikea Red Hook Panoramic Scene

An in store panoramic movie connected (approximately) to an outdoor movie. The direction from the first to the second is slightly southwest. The water taxi was on its way back to Manhattan.

Ikea Red Hook Panoramic Movie

Prospect Park Expressway Overpass Panoramic Movie

A panoramic movie created on the 8th Avenue Bridge that extends over the Prospect Park Expressway in Brooklyn

Peekskill Panoramic Scene-Paramount Center For The Arts

A panoramic scene linking a panoramic movie created at the intersection of Central Avenue and N. Division Street going south to a panoramic movie at S. Division Street and Brown Street. The historic Paramount Center For The Arts is located at 1008 Brown Street

Saturday, August 16, 2008

The Loft: Lexington, Massachusetts

A panoramic movie taken in the lobby of a beautiful new hotel, The Loft, in Lexington Massachusetts. Address: 727 Marret Road B, Lexington, MA 02421 US

Amherst, Massachusetts Panoramic Movie

A panoramic movie made in Amherst, Massachusetts at the intersection of Northampton Road, College Street and South Pleasant Street. Taken in the early evening of 7/26/08

Lower East Side Comes To Providence East Side Panoramic Movie

A panoramic movie made at the Jewish Community Center Of Providence's summer event called the Lower East Side Comes To Providence East Side, 8/13/08

Tony Bennett's Astoria Home Block Panoramic Movie

Supposedly his home address was 23-18 32nd Street. In the movie that's the short white building with the sun glassed Kver visible

South Street And Market Street Panoramic Movie

In view (if you zoom) are two of the artificial waterfalls that were on display in the summer of 2008

Cambridge (Harvard Square Area) Panoramic Scene

A panoramic scene consisting of three panoramic movies starting with one taken at the intersection of Massachusetts and Bow, then going south to Bow and Plympton (labeled pan 3) and then going north-west to Massachusetts and Dunster (labeled pan 1)

Wheaton College Panoramic Scene

A panoramic scene of parts of the Wheaton College Campus, 26 East Main Street Norton, Massachusetts 02766-2322. The scene connects a panoramic movie taken in the meadow just west of the Memorial Chapel to a panoramic movie taken in the area just west of the Peacock Pond. The latter movie is east of the former. The hot spot is in the vicinity of the chapel. Created 8/13/08

I modified a portion of the college's map to illustrate where the panoramas are, as well as the location of the hot spots