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Archive for the 'ILT' Category
Digital ethnography :: Michael Wesch and students producing remarkable stuff ::
Local wiki :: Installing Apache and UseMod on Xubuntu ::
Slideshare - half way there :: Slideshare.net lets you share slides. Imagine if you could record sound and time transitions... ::
Test from Flock :: The social browser has limited blogging tool built-in. ::
Blogs in education 2 :: Mohamed Taher has assembled a nice page of links ::
Trying and using :: Jason Fried's short blog post is all about communities of practice ::
48 things to do with an interactive whiteboard :: From JISC North West. Value added over projector? ::
Photos now on Flickr :: Kodak EasyShare C310 for quick snaps ::
Classification of VLE courses :: Alan Staley gave a talk at the Moodle User Group meeting today. He showed one slide that struck me as being a very useful way of explaining the various ways of using Moodle to teachers. This simple (well, simple when you see someone else explain it) diagram provides a classification scheme for VLE courses. ::
Paparazzi App for Mac OS X :: This small app allows you to enter a Web address and then save a PNG graphics file of the whole page - screen grabs that are a couple of thousand pixels high. ::
Kubrick with white background :: Change two image files in the default WordPress theme to produce a white page area with sparse header image. I wanted a high key look with plenty of space and no 'boxes'. ::
Planning summary :: YouTube screencast of RBL session 5 deals with distance travelled, the planning and milestones for resource based learning projects, the way I intend to use progress reviews to support participants in carrying out their project plans, and some quick hints on a piece of writing that is due in shortly. The screencast took two takes of about 7 or 8 minutes to produce. The visuals are simply the slides I will use in the f2f session anyway. ::
Probability screencast :: 9 minutes and 46 seconds on basic probability, including the probability scale, expected frequencies, mutually exclusive and independent events, possibility space diagrams and even a without replacement problem. All aimed at a GCSE Intermediate group. The .mov file was produced by 'presenting' a PowerPoint while speaking a commentary recorded using iShowU screen cam software. YouTube provide the hosting and convert the .mov to a Flash movie. ::
Delete key on iBook :: Option-Backspace does deleting... ::
YouTube version of screencast :: The screen design screencast MOV was uploaded to YouTube. I'm now waiting for it to be 'processed' so that the video can be watched. ::
Screen design in RBL :: A screencast made on Mac OS X using iShowU and Video2SWF to produce a flash movie with synchronised sound. ::
Embedding a YouTube video :: Just a trial of the tags for embedding. This post should show the Tiny Dot video about the scale of the solar system posted by saulatali79. ::
:: Intellectual property rights may damage innovation and split markets. Lessig explains using the Google Book Search as an example, through the medium of a presentation with sound track. ::
Journalism Project :: In previous years, we have used a collective blog for journalism students with the tutor acting as editor. Perhaps it is now time to encourage NCTJ students to set up their own blogs on blogger or similar and self-publish (with safeguards for the College). ::
E-learning notes :: Download a 34 page handout that describes the various ways in which a teacher in an FE College in the UK might support students using various ICT/ILT/e-learning facilities. This is a draft, and I'm starting with the text and then adding photos, screen grabs and Web addresses later. Some of my colleagues will actually scan a handout like this and read parts that attract their attention. ::
Interactive Whiteboards :: What is an Interactive Whiteboard? How can I use it? A description of the two main kinds of whiteboard ('hard' and 'soft' or membrane boards), and the two main modes (screen annotation and whiteboard). ::
PowerPoint: three viewpoints :: MS PowerPoint makes it easy to produce screens with a mix of images, text and embedded sound and video clips. Microsoft have included a set of 'slide layouts' based on bullet points and screen-width text containers. Both Tufte and Godin are critical of these templates for contrasting reasons. ::
PowerPoint for screen based packages :: PowerPoint allows you to associate actions with buttons and other objects on slides. You can switch off the slide transition and use PowerPoint as a system for producing screen based learning packages. This 12 page handout covers the basics... ::
Supporting students through e-mail :: Staff development notes: I may turn these into a script. Just a few points on how to use e-mail effectively with students. ::
G24 launched :: PDF newspaper free download from Guardian Unlimited ::
River of News :: Minimalist pages show just the news stories as they update ::
One projector with networked PC :: What to do if one arrives in your room ::
Customised images :: Some web applications that let you choose and customise pictures ::
An activity for teachers :: a bit of that reflection and story writing... ::
Wikispaces :: wikispaces.com provides relatively cheap wiki hosting ::
One laptop per child? :: Learning through play ::
Blackboard patents LMS… :: Keith patents breathing... ::
Video podcasting a course :: Richard Treves has analysed a free course on Google Earth and found that 'build it and they will come' does not always work ::
Interaction in large classes :: Inexpensive 'technology' to get all students responding ::
Loop the cable when holding the mike… :: How to reduce cable noise... ::
MoodleMoot 2006 :: Milton Keynes and the Open University go moodling... ::
Teach yourself with Google? :: Can students teach themselves using the Web? ::
Common denominator of bloggers :: It may be the technology ::
GCSE Map finished (well, begun) :: Now I have the topics mapped, it is time to start adding bits of content ::
Geometry Applet: Triangle :: Draggable triangle with perpendicular height ::
GCSE: Algebra map :: Time to start putting some content in soon ::
MSIE Beta 7 :: Tabbed browsing and RSS feeds in a side bar... ::
Calendar wallpaper :: Photoshop and then copy paste a calendar in ::
Seeing your content through someone else’s eyes :: Winner of recent BBC redesign contest does a Being John Malkovich ::
e-learning or just doing the job these days? :: e-learning definition used by OFSTED very broad and includes ILT/ICT ::
Flash: Consolidation :: This timeline is all my own work and I didn't look at the textbook... Lesson 2 and 3 applied to an animation showing how the area of a parallelogram is calculated... ::
WriteRoom: minimal text :: Hog Bay software provide a small app that turns your iBook or MacBook into an Alphasmart with built in hand heater ::
email: plus addressing :: External mailing lists and registrations can be a source of spam. Use plus addressing to keep tags on where the spam is coming from ::
Tinderbox: GCSE map :: Tinderbox from Eastgate systems allows rapid development of complex web sites and a visual map of 'emergent structure' of a teaching task ::
1 Gigabyte on the Web :: 1 Gb storage for files on the Web. ::
Online learning :: Just some notes for colleagues for a training session ::
Flash Lesson 2: Animation using motion tween :: If you have any version of the Flash Player from 5 upwards installed on your browser, then the yellow and blue grid above should show a blue square and a red triangle moving around and changing their opacity. The animation loops once and then stops, and the frame rate is 15 frames per second. According to [...] ::
Learn to Write :: Being able to express thoughts in writing is key to any career ::
Flash Lesson 1: drawing tools :: Flash Journalism by Mindy McAdams, lesson 1. Why is a maths teacher using a book aimed at journalists? ::
Videos of experiments :: Sound track acts as anchor to video ::
What is a VLE? :: 4 minutes and 15 seconds on what a Virtual Learning Environment can do for you ::
Blogs and VLEs :: Does the blog act as a gateway to the VLE or does the VLE contain the blog? ::
Digital speech recorders :: Cheaper digital speech recorders can't produce CD quality but may have plenty of uses in the classroom - just put an external mic on! ::
Moodle at shefcol :: Moodle at Shefcol according to Julia DugglebyBlogging by meSeb Schmoller’s fortnightly mailing is now published by typepad. Seb is inviting guest contributions, and I was honoured to be asked to contribute. I wrote about using blogger as a way of getting colleagues interested in online support. My contribution meshed in with Julia’s about the next [...] ::
Lectures on demand :: “Some lecture classes have 250 students, so I question the effectiveness of a didactic lecture for an hour.” Dr Bill Ashraf will be distributing lectures by podcast soon in place of live lectures in a theatre. In groups of 250 plus I can see his point: no one ever asks a question in a group of [...] ::
Flash Journalism! :: Not tabloid hacks with fast habits but a book about how to use Macromedia Flash to make Web based news stories. One included exercise is about synchronising sound with image transitions: flash lessons here we come... ::
Tuesday Whiteboard: reflections and edges :: We were looking at finding a value for the intercept of a straight line graph when the scale of the graph made it difficult to have an X axis that started at zero – we were setting up and solving a simple equation within a context. This second whiteboard processed using ScanR was taken in [...] ::
Monday Whiteboard :: The photo above shows one of today’s whiteboards as imaged using my Olympus Camedia point and shoot – the images are 1600 by 1200 pixels. I resized the image above using Photoshop Elements with bi-cubic resampling. No other adjustments have been made, the flat image is typical of this camera. A quick e-mail to ScanR.com [...] ::
scanr.com ordinary whiteboard to web :: Scanr is a Web service that claims to “convert photos of whiteboards and documents into searchable PDF files”. The ‘searchable’ bit applies to pictures of documents with typed text (see later). The service certainly makes converting fuzzy badly lit images of (ordinary) whiteboards more readable. The ‘whiteboard’ function can also be used to convert [...] ::
Moodle on a stick :: Moodle 1.53 and 1.6 can be 'installed' on a USB stick. Just make sure the drive letter assigned to the stick stays the same on each machine ::
Pictures for PowerPoints :: Yotophoto is a search engine for copyright free or free use images ::
Simple Sound :: Anyone got recommendations for simple digital sound recorders? ::
Bodmas Moodle :: Re-installed Moodle 1.53 stable ::
blog.ac.uk :: Anyone going? ::
Inspiration Version 8.0 :: Inspiration now does Buzan style mind maps in addition to the more flexible free symbol maps provided previously. ::
Flash from PowerPoint :: Open Office 2.0 can export PowerPoint presentations as rudimentary flash animations ::
Blogs in education: podcast :: Script and MP3 of a short talk on blogs in education ::
Presentation Zen :: Blog about presentations ::
Preview in Mac OS X :: Preview allows you to cut diagrams out of PDF files and save them as PNG or JPG files ::
Superposition of two sine waves :: Spreadsheet shows effect of adding two phase shifted sine waves ::
Straight line graphs :: Pop some graphs on the gcse blog and ask for the equations by e-mail? ::
City centre land use :: Google Earth and data handling activities ::
Google Earth :: Google Earth for Mac OS X ::
Textwrangler: remove blank lines :: To remove blank lines from a text file in Textwrangler, you have to run search and replace, tick the ‘use Grep’ option and then search on the pattern ^\r. Replace with nowt and the effect is magic. A boon to the ‘everything in one big text file’ advocates. The pattern < /?[^>]> can be used to [...] ::
GCSE Mind Map :: Put the whole of GCSE Maths where you can see it ::
Netscape 8 :: Netscape 8 for Windows has a spyware/adware scanner built in ::
OpenOffice 2.0 on Mac :: OpenOffice is an Open Source office application produced with a large amount of support from Sun Microsystems. Because the application is open source, you can burn CDs and pass copies to students (or anyone!). Students have downloaded the package and used the Impress presentation component to produce presentations – laptops are often sold with [...] ::
Calculating with large positive integers :: The demonstration version of Reduce for Windows (scroll down page when it loads) – a computer algebra package – can be used to factorise large prime numbers (and polynomials!) as a way of demonstrating the properties of large numbers. Interactive sessions on a projector (the fonts are a bit small but there is no [...] ::
Mac OS X exploit :: Note added 6 March 2006 :: It looks as if security update 2006-001 addresses these two issues, at least as regards Safari and Mail. I picked this one up through software update some days ago. Its hassle Apple week, with a ‘drive by download’ exploit appearing and being reported on the front page of the BBC [...] ::
Hot Potatoes :: Quiz suite written by esol teacher is at version 6 and getting seriously useful ::
Writing about charts :: Excel on projector helps provide rapidly updated charts to trigger discussion ::
Wikis in school :: MeatBall wiki page about educational uses of wikis and other links ::
Planet transit times 2006 :: The transit time of a planet can help you find the planet in the sky and can help plan observing trips ::
Pie charts :: MS Excel or any spreadsheet on a projector with whole class questions ::
Digital divide: Southern Africa :: Some projects in Southern Africa aim to reduce the impact of the digital divide ::
AlphaSmart 3000 arrives :: Minimal instant on keyboard usable on trains and allows capture of text in meetings and in odd corners of time. ::
Essay planning with PowerPoint :: MS PowerPoint can help you plan writing - forces focus on structure ::
Blogging for classes :: A simple blog can act as a diary for a class. ::
Moodle local :: Moodle runs OK under Mac OS X apache with MySQL 4.0.2x- just needs graphics library ::
Forum user administration :: Gossamer-Threads forum is free to non-profit organisations and has good user management but without bulk upload. Discus Pro costs about ��70 but has user creation by spreadsheet. ::
Central England Temperature :: Temperature records kept from 1659 to present day allow trends to be identified ::
Tinderbox hybrid template :: Tinderbox allows a quick and dirty HTML export template and the construction of a course web site in a very short time ::
GUI Gallery :: Industrial archaeology in the cyber age? We need to preserve the appearance of the older user interfaces and this site does it well. ::
The nice thing about… :: Some links on learning theory ::
MS Excel dynamic graphs :: Use the 'forms' toolbar in MS Excel to link a slider control with a cell. Then you can make 'dynamic graphs'. Projected onto a screen, you can ask students to predict what the result of a change is going to be. ::
MS Excel simulation :: Download a spreadsheet that simulates breeding 60 fruit flies The spreadsheet simulates the results of breeding fruit flies (F2 Generation – Second Filial?) where the expected outcome is a simple 1:3 Mendelian ratio of vestigial winged flies to winged flies The screen shot above shows an anomalous result – a chi-squared statistic well above 3.84, the critical [...] ::
4 colour theorem :: Try using 4 colours to colour in some maps - harder than it looks ::
Interactivity on Web pages :: Java applets and some DHTML Javascript can be used for educational purposes- and you don't have to code a line ::
VCA :: Analogue synthesisers - a hoot with op amps and noise ::
$100 laptop :: Nicholas Negroponte's latest idea for improving education ::
Blogs and forums :: Some differences between blogs and forums - blogs might encourage student involvement more by being less of a 'performance' but forums might be better for a structured activity ::
Cookies and privacy :: That 'no entry' sign causes lots of trouble ::
Copyright free images :: LaTiS Centre Image Archive from Essex University Thanks for this resource – about 400 free pictures. Mostly .jpegs and around 400 to 600 pixels wide with white backgrounds. ::
Online map creator :: The original Online Map Creator Web site provides an online interface to the GMT package Planiglobe is the new simplified interface – faster but currently has few options The original OMC has been around for years and will plot contours of ocean depth and continental height. You can pull the plots down as PS files or [...] ::
Floppy discs in Open Access centres :: Download a handout for students on organising folders in My Computer. Saves all that stress with failing floppies. ::
Bricolage :: “Alternatives to the ‘monolithic’ VLE, including public domain and open source VLEs, are emerging strongly. Some, such as ‘blogs’ and ‘wikis’, are completely different avenues to electronic publishing and collaboration and can be relatively inexpensive. Although UK universities seem to be surprisingly reluctant to spend less rather than more money on technology solutions, one can [...] ::
Open Source Software in Schools :: The Becta report based on an ‘oportunity’ sample of schools using Open Source software to varying extents compared to schools using commercial software (i.e. Windows servers, desktops and Office) has now been published (publication was delayed during the General Election). The BECTa press release has a good summary The full BECTa report Open Source Software in Schools [...] ::
Piles of paper :: Paper has a function and the paperless office isn't going to happen. Looking at how people use paper might lead us to understand where IT solutions might work well. ::
Virtual Manipulatives :: The Natioanl Library of Virtual Manipulatives for Interactive Mathematics is a Web site with a large number of Java applets that invite students to explore Mathematics problems. ‘Manipulatives’ is the US term for things like Cuisenaire rods and Dienes blocks. The Java applets are mapped to the US curriculum based on ‘grades’. I have used [...] ::
Estimation Game :: Java game speeds up estimation with three digit whole numbers. ::
A Hole in the Wall :: “Within three months of opening up of the Internet kiosk, it was found that the children, mostly from the slum, had achieved a certain level of computer skills without any planned instructional intervention. They were able to browse the Internet, download songs, go to cartoon sites, work on MS Paint. They even invented their own [...] ::
Processing 1.0 β :: Processing is a programming language and environment for people who want to program images, animation, and sound. It is used by students, artists, designers, architects, researchers, and hobbyists for learning, prototyping, and production. It is created to teach fundamentals of computer programming within a visual context and to serve as a software sketchbook and professional [...] ::
Children using the Web… :: The NFER has a long term project (started in 2002) tracking students’ experience of citizenship education. The most recent report is referenced as follows….CLEAVER, E., IRELAND, E., KERR, D. and LOPES, J. (2005). Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study: Second Cross-Sectional Survey 2004 Listening to Young People: Citizenship Education in England (DfES Research Report 626). London: DfES The [...] ::
Audacity sound editor :: Free sound editor available for download Versions for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows Can edit MP3s and .wav formats Can record from microphone or other sources supported by the computer Supports a sound programming language called Nyquist Possibly the best icon I have seen for an open source program – wouldn’t mind getting the T-shirt! I have this idea of [...] ::
The Teddy :: “Teddys would be with their user for their entire lives. They would change in shape and form to match the growing sophistication and interests of the person, but each time someone got a new model Teddy, the information from the earlier version would be transferred to the new. As a result, Teddy would always retain [...] ::
5 by 3 :: Take on the world with a stack of 5 by 3 index cards – one way to get Web sites sorted before clicking on the Dreamweaver icon when building a moderately complex Web site. This page describes card sorting techniques to help plan Web sites. Ideally card sorting can help define content – not so much [...] ::
5 things to do with a forum :: I’ve been using a simple robust Web based forum with a number of students studying an ICT module on an Applied Science course – students include 16-19, mature full time and mature evening class students. Teaching is primarily face-to-face but with online follow up. I used the Gossamer Threads forum as it is free to non-profit [...] ::
Fax your MP :: Fax your MP is a simple service that does what it says. You can fax your MP from a computer connected to the Internet. You just type in your postcode the database comes back with a page about your MP and links to recent votes and speeches you can then type in a fax (or e-mail if the [...] ::
PROPS online newspaper system :: PROPS is an online publishing system designed to mimic the workflow found in a small newspaper. Journalists can write stories which can be assigned by an editor. A story can be tracked through first, second and third re-writes and finally added to an ‘issue’ of the newspaper. Issues can be final (ie published) or staged [...] ::
MindGenius :: MindGenius is a ‘mind mapping’ software tool for making ‘bubble notes’ or ‘mind maps’ – visual diagrams that allow you to explore the links between ideas. Many teachers in humanities subjects use ‘mind maps’ to motivate students doing essay plans and so on. I’ll be using one to help forensic science students produce a report [...] ::
Decode this… :: guvf zrffntr unf orra rapbqrq hfvat gur fvzcyr vqrn bs cynpvat gur yrggref bs gur nycunorg ebhaq n qehz naq ebgngvat rnpu yrggre 13 cynprf, fb n orpbzrf z. v’yy or hfvat vg gbzbeebj jvgu fghqragf nf n fvzcyr rkrepvfr. gur fghqragf jvyy unir gb jbex va cnvef hfr n gnoyr bs crepragntr serdhrapvrf bs gur yrggref [...] ::
Why keep it simple? :: I suggest you use a very simple page design and navigation for course sites In my opinion, that means… ** a home page that acts as a course diary ** a contact form ** a page with downloadable files such as the scheme of work the course diary should have carefully chosen links added each week at the top of [...] ::
Some ideas :: The ILT category has just a few ideas that have worked for me. The emphasis is on things that require little preparation other than the teaching plan 30 minutes a week rule ideas that increase interaction between students in the classroom ideas that keep students in touch with teachers, peer group or the material in the periods between class [...] ::
Using a guestbook to post links for students :: You can use a simple guestbook script (such as Big Sam) to post links and a brief description of what was covered each week for students, especially evening students who come to College once a week and who will inevitably need to miss lessons now and again. The best strategy is to use a script [...] ::
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bodmas.org, Keith Burnett