November 2005 Archives
Today's the first day of the 13th International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE2005) and we were invited to share about our HPINIT2 journey.
I have created our presentation using CMAPTools (by IHMC) and the windows version of CMAP can be downloaded here. Download the presentation files here. I have updated the zipped CMAP package with web resources where possible to reduce download size/time. A single non-manipulatable jpeg version of the cmap is also available.
I must take this opportunity to thank Adrian Miles from Australia for spending time to repackage the video prototype 3, otherwise the sharing wouldnt have been possible. You can read more about his development ideas in the hypertext version of his Blogtalk Downunder paper entited "Media Rich versus Rich Media (or why video in a blog is not the same as a video blog)" here.
The "Weblogs in Education" video which I mentioned, featuring Will Richardson and his school & students can be downloaded from the local mirror for your viewing pleasure. There's another video by Teachers' TV in UK thay may also interest you.
The few user guides (HOWTOs) that may help you to start off blogging are listed here:
1. Blogger.com HOWTO
2. MSN Spaces HOWTO
3. Windows XP CL Input method editor (IME) setup guide
4. Bloglines.com (RSS) HOWTO
Hope you have found our sharing useful. Thanks for being with us this afternoon, cheers and have another 2 enjoyable days ahead!
Just noted this off a feed this morning, Klahowya Student Portfolio Solution is a cross-platform, easy-to-use, open source solution for K-12 web-based student portfolios. Have to test/check it out to find out more :|
Here's the URL to access the plugins for Movabletype 3.2.
If you like stargazing like us but often find the "m zeros" obstructing your view, here's a software that will solve that problem :)
Stellarium is free GPL software which renders realistic skies in real time with openGL. It is available for Linux/Unix, Windows and MacOSX. With Stellarium, you really see what you can see with your eyes, binoculars or a small telescope. Stellarium is also used in planetariums.
oh btw, this might come in handy to you when configuring the location: Singapore, Singapore 1'14" N, 103'55" E. For more location, click here :)
The word FREE is always attractive, and it's quite a pleasant surprise to see the word associated with microsoft. In any case, chanced upon this site that claims to have "more than 5,000 downloads from over 2,000 companies � all free." Check it out and see if you find anything useful, might want to share your findings here *lol*
This article gives an overview of the emergent codecs. People are now utilising the mp4 layer for their file encodings. Read this article to gain this know-how.
.m4a for podcast using the AAC format (may also contain either chapters or images or a mixture).m4b for podcasts with chapters and images (as in audiobooks; aka enhanced podcasts)
.m4v for vodcasts using the codec for movie files compatible with video iPods
.mp4 for vodcasts using this general video format
.mov for vodcasts using this traditional video format
Well, videoblogging (or vlog) is slowly taking its place in the family of blogs. Until we solve the problem of bandwidth and video equipments, using vlog in our classroom would not be as pervasive as we would like to. In the meantime, some links/resources for those who would like to explore vlog:
If you would like to start viewing/subscribing to some vlogs, Mefeedia is where you can find thousands of videobloggers (video podcasts), and subscribe to their feeds to watch independent videos in the browser, or even on your video iPod or on your PSP.
Besides Mefeedia, if you are monitoring updates in some vlogs, get FireANT. It is a RSS reader for vlogs, featuring automatic downloads and many other features.
If you want to start your own videoblog today (for free), check out Freevlog, a step-by-step guide to setting up a videoblog for free.
Last but not least, if you would like to just READ more about vlog, download this article entitled "7 Things You Should Know About Videoblogging" by EDUCAUSE. It's only a 73KB PDF! :)
Based on a sample of 4400 radio listeners in ten national markets, Bridge Ratings ... estimates that 5 million people will have downloaded podcasts in 2005, compared with just 820,000 in 2004 ...the podcast audience would reach critical mass in 2010 with 62.8 million users.
The figure in 2005 is 609% that of 2004 and it will be 7658% by the year 2010. Are we harnessing podcasting for our teaching and learning yet?
Click here for the full article.
Published from 1997 to 2003, The Technology Source (ISSN 1532-0030) was a peer-reviewed bimonthly periodical whose purpose was to provide thoughtful, illuminating articles that would assist educators as they face the challenge of integrating information technology tools into teaching and into managing educational organisations.
The website maintains all of the articles originally published in The Technology Source ...
This report from USAToday.com writes about how millions of youth who grew up with a mouse in one hand and a remote control in the other are pourring out their hearts, minds and angst in blogs.
The section on "Advice for blogging" could be useful for teachers who may be embarking to allow students to blog for their subjects:
Anything on the Internet is public. For safety, Parry Aftab, executive director of WiredExperts, and others recommend:- Treat everyone you meet online as if he were a stranger, even after you've traded information. Lying online is easy.
- Leave out identifying information like your name, where you work and go to school.
- Use e-mail addresses that don't use your name and can't be traced to your other online activity.
- When possible, protect your information with passwords.
- Obscure identities in pictures.
- Post only stuff you wouldn't mind seeing on a billboard.
- Team up with a buddy to check each other's sites for problems.
- Teens under 13 should only blog with constant supervision.
The article entitled "Meet the First National Interschool Blogging Champions" is in November's issue of MOE Contact Online. With the event behind, the write-up does bring back much memories :)
The guide is available here.
Wiki is not a new technology; many of us, if not all, have been using Wikipedia as a rich source of information. How this emerging tool's potential can be harnessed for our classrooms is a question we will all ask.
This article by Ren�e Fountain gave some thoughts into the use of wikis for pedagogical purposes. The abstract is as follows:
This article endeavours to denote and promote pedagogical experimentations concerning a Free/Open technology called a "Wiki". An intensely simple, accessible and collaborative hypertext tool Wiki software challenges and complexifies traditional notions of - as well as access to - authorship, editing, and publishing. Usurping official authorizing practices in the public domain poses fundamental - if not radical - questions for both academic theory and pedagogical practice.
The particular pedagogical challenge is one of control: wikis work most effectively when students can assert meaningful autonomy over the process. This involves not just adjusting the technical configuration and delivery; it involves challenging the social norms and practices of the course as well (Lamb, 2004). Enacting such horizontal knowledge assemblages in higher education practices could evoke a return towards and an instance upon the making of impossible public goods� (Ciffolilli, 2003).
Read about this post off Podcasting News, HyperTranscribe is a software that incoporates playback and a convenient window for transcriber's text-input. A demo version is available for download.
A further look at ResearchWare revealed another software, HyperResearch, a qualitative research tool. Not sure how useful this tool is, but thot I'll just document it here in case I need it in the (very near) future :)
3 days ago I made this post and email LLAS and asked if they can make available the PDF version for download. And here it is, they have made it easily available to teachers for download. Cool !
Shared by Shuhua studying in HKU, this game adapted the concept of UNO, and replaced the numbers/symbols with Chinese characters instead. The game is streamed via an Electroserver. Try it today, and if you would like to develop your own web-based flash games, check out this Flashkit forum.
Trying to find a reason to motivate your students to study the language that you are teaching? The Subject Centre for Languages , Linguistics and Area Studies (UK) has published "700 reasons for studying languages". Though the report is only available to UK postal addresses, you can still get a glimpse of it through this online searchable database.
James Farmer has announced in his post that he's offering K-12 students free blog space, as an alternative to blogger.com etc. You may want to test it out and see if it suits your (students') needs :)
