A conversation with Emily Purser: how to build a community of practice around Academic Language?
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Tag Archives: Experiment
Wk 6 Progress: VM Ware /open source tools pilot
Generally, we seem to have ironed out most of the hiccups (mainly linked to people having problems copying the system to Mac formatted disks or by locking the VM system by not shutting it down properly (have to throw out the lock file to restart in those circumstances). Other issues are mainly about the overall technical complexity of having to load up another operating system and then engage with complex set of programming APIs – a real challenge for many of the students.
Testing VMWare player in labs with FCA staff
Been working with Brogan Bunt and Peter Goodall to get an open-source applications pilot up and running. Brogan wants to run his classes in the ITS labs, but with open-source software. The solution has been to install VMWare player in the labs, which allows other operating systems to be used. THen the students bring in a USB specially formatted with Ubuntu (Linux) operating system and a suite of open-source or freeware applications on it. They create a range of sound/media products with them. Then they take it home and use exactly the same software to do their homework and projects. No need for them to purchase expensive proprietory software at home, nor to treck in to uni just to use software. Let’s hope the pilot works well. Cos so far, it sounds fantastic!
iPad replaces paper, not laptops (from Inside Higher Ed).
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/07/12/golub
This was a good read. In a nutshell:
“The crucial question for academics is: What in our current arsenal will the iPad replace? After using the device, the answer surprised me: the iPad makes a lousy computer replacement, but it does a great job of replacing paper.”
The author Alex Golub also discusses the potential for the iPad and iTunes to revolutionalise access to journal articles that we currently rely on our uni’s library to supply, and make it much easier to just get the articles we want (as opposed to the piles of stuff the publishers bundle in to the subscriptions that we never want to wade through, but have to, to get to the stuff we want.)
ScreenR and SnapzPro
I had our regular monthly catchup today with Rob Wright, to share innovations and eLearning initiatives. We discussed the possibility of doing a pilot for Media Creation Tools in second session, and i mentioned that the Learning Designers were also interested and possibly the Library staff who also create lots of online tutorials. I asked Rob what he used to create the “how to” video on his blog and he said SnapZpro and also mentioned that the Articulate community used and promoted a web-based serviced called ScreenR.
I used it and am very impressed with the ease of use (no account setup/login as i already have a Twitter account) and the quality of the image and audio of the movie it output is great. Here it is:
Helping your Community of Users
Some great things are happening with the Edublogs pilot. We can now see great communities breaking out.
One particular Administrator of these communities has made a quick little video to help their users.
What else are you doing to help develop your community of users?
Flip video camera
I’ve borrowed a Flip high-definition camera and am experimenting with it. I took a few short clips on wednesday, then down-loaded them quickly and easily onto iPhoto on my mac at home. From there it was a drag and drop into iMovie.
The Flip has a pop-out USB connection, so the whole device plugs into the computer like a large, shiny silver USB key. And the interface is so easy to use, only 4 buttons, can’t go wrong. I like!
Changing the way you read a book?
Brainstorming eLearning tech innovations with John
I ducked over to the Innovation Campus for lunch with John Glynn, head of the Business School. We talked blogs and collaboration spaces for communities of students, mobile applications and competitive advantage, case and role-based learning and e-simulations, alumni blogs and videos, and busted a few subtly racist myths of international student habits.
I feel the spirit of innovation growing on campus, and it’s a great place to be.
Chris Moore and his asynchronous student debates
