Adobe Visual Communicator 3

Yesterday Adobe announced Visual Communicator 3 will be ready for market in the Fall of this year.

This is a great tool no matter what grade level you are teaching! The strength of Visual Communicator is the ability to "green screen". It "offers hundreds of customizable graphics, music and special effects to create video presentations that look like a television newscast. When presenting in front of a backdrop, users can digitally replace the background with an image or video. The teleprompter allows users to speak confidently without missing key points or memorizing lines. Video presentations can be delivered via email, the Internet, CD, DVD, or live over a Channel One Closed-Circuit System."

You can download Visual Communicator 3 and take it for a test drive before it's market release from the Adobe Labs website for free.

I first started using this product about 4 years ago (when it was a part of the Serious Magic family, which Adobe acquired in October 2006.) My students had great fun with it and produced some great products. We initially used it for our open house display. My former school in Canada was a large high school of over 2,000 students (grade 10 - 12) and once a year we had a huge open house evening for all perspective year 10 students. Every department pulled out their best with displays, presentations and events. Our computer labs were up on the 5th floor in the tower so to draw the crowds up we had a group of kids posted at the main floor stairwell "DJ'ing" it up with music they had composed and a kiosk running with a "newscast" overview of the multimedia program. They had (very quickly I might add) created the newscast in the afternoon and had it ready to go for that evening.

Check out a great website that fellow Adobe Education Leader Robert Zdrojewski has setup with examples and ideas on how his students from Amherst Middle School in Buffalo, NY are using Visual Communicator.

Setting up a TV Station like Amherst Middle School or having students use Visual Communicator 3 for digital portfolios....you won't be disappointed with the ease of use and unlimited curriculum areas you will be able to use Visual Communicator 3.