Tag Archives: tintin

e-Learning Stuff – Top Ten Blog Posts of 2011

A somewhat quieter year this year with just over 150 blog posts posted to the blog.

As I did in 2010 and 2009 here are the top ten blog posts according to views for this year.

10. Using the VLE more

This posting was very much an opinion piece on how learning technologists could engage teachers in using the VLE more to support learners. The key behind this quite short post was about moving the responsibility of using the VLE to the practitioner, and their continuing personal development in the use of the VLE.

9. Moodle 2 Teacher’s Guide

This post proved popular and it was an opportunity to remember where I had seen this great guide to Moodle 2, but also embed it into the blog using Issuu.

8. 100 ways to use a VLE – #89 Embedding a Comic Strip

The eighth most popular post this year was from my ongoing series of ways in which to use a VLE. This particular posting was about embedding a comic strip into the VLE using free online services such as Strip Creator and Toonlet.

It is quite a lengthy post and goes into some detail about the tools you can use and how comics can be used within the VLE.

The series itself is quite popular and I am glad to see one of my favourite in the series and one of the more in-depth pieces has made it into the top ten.

7. Paper Camera – iPhone App of the Week

This review of Paper Camera as part of my App of the Week series certainly struck a chord with many who thought the app was excellent.

This really nice image manipulation app creates cartoon or sketch like images from either your photographs, or applies the filter in real time so you can see what your image will look like through the live image from the camera.

The review which included images I had created using the app, demonstrated to readers what the app was capable of, but also some of the limitations. For me I only review apps that I use and think can be of value to my readers (well apart from one or two exceptions where I want to tell people not to buy the app).

6. “The Best Moodle Tools You’ve Never Used”

Tools such as Moodle have a range of functions that I know many of our staff are using, but of course not everyone knows everything. I like this presentation from the Columbian MoodleMoot 2011 by Michelle Moore, in which she explains some of the other functions of Moodle that can be used to enhance and enrich course delivery.

I do like that I can embed presentations such as this into my blog using a service such as Slideshare. It means I can easily share things I have found, but also curate them with other finds for sharing with others.

5. So how are students using mobile phones?

A simple infographic on how US students were using their mobile phones proved popular and demonstrate their is real interest out there about mobile learning and the use of mobile phones for learning.

4. Podcast Workflow

This was probably my favourite post of the year and is also the longest blog post I have ever written at nearly 4000 words! The post outlined how I recorded the e-Learning Stuff podcast and went over the planning, the technical techniques for recording, editing and distribution. It was a post that I had been writing for a year or so, but back in July decided to finish it off and get it published.

3. Tintin – iPhone and iPad App of the Week

So my third most popular post on my e-learning blog is of a review of a game for the iPad… It’s not even a very good review, as at the time of writing that blog post I hadn’t even played the game as I wanted to see the film first! The reason why it is popular is that the blog post had quite a high search engine ranking and people clicked to see what it was about… I expect they were slightly disappointed.

2. Ten ways to use QR Codes

This post was a very reactionary post to all the posts I was seeing at the time about how to use QR Codes.

Sorry, this is not a blog post on ten ways to use QR Codes, but it is a blog post about what you actually can do with QR Codes. There are in fact only five ways to use QR Codes! Once you know what you can do with QR Codes then you can build learning activities round those functions.

Got people thinking.

1. The VLE is Dead – The Movie

So the most viewed post this year was from 2009 and is the video of the VLE is Dead symposium that I was part of at ALT-C 2009. Considering this post was originally published in September 2009, the fact it is my most popular posts demonstrates the enduring substance of that debate. Is the VLE dead? Well the debate isn’t, it’s alive and well.

Tintin – iPhone and iPad App of the Week


Tintin – iPhone and iPad App of the Week

This is a regular feature of the blog looking at various Apps available. Some of the apps will be useful for those involved in learning technologies, others will be useful in improving the way in which you work, whilst a few will be just plain fun! Some will be free, others will cost a little and one or two will be what some will think is quite expensive.

This week’s App is Tintin.

Explore the exciting world of The Adventures of Tintin in the official iPhone & iPad game of the movie! Treasure and adventure await those who seek to unravel the Secret of the Unicorn!

NEW THRILLS AT EVERY TURN
Sneak your way past guards, engage in a swordfight, pilot a plane, solve puzzles, race a camel and discover many more exciting experiences.

MEET TINTIN’S FRIENDS
Tintin can’t do this alone! He’ll need the help of his friends. You’ll take control of his dog Snowy, Captain Haddock and even the legendary Sir Francis Haddock during the great Age of Pirates.

FUN FOR EVERYONE
Players of all ages will enjoy the game. Accessible controls allow you to easily interact with the environment. With just a swipe of your finger (or a tilt of your device), you’ll be exploring the world, collecting items, and fighting off villains.

A BEAUTIFUL, 3D WORLD
Every building and character was carefully recreated in stunning 3D graphics that perfectly matches the style of the movie. See for yourself what it’s like to walk through Marlinspike Mansion, the desert, and the Karaboudjan ship.

£4.99

It’s half term (well it is where I am) this week and this week’s app is a new game based on the recently released Tintin film.

The iPad (and the iPhone) are fantastic gaming devices, when I first bought the iPad one of the reasons I bought it for myself was (at the time) I thought the main use of the iPad would be for video and casual gaming. Since then I have been very surprised by how much I use the iPad for lots of different things. I have also found it very useful for work, research, reading, writing and doing lots of other stuff (well have a look at all the apps I have reviewed).

One area where I probably have used the iPad less is in the more indepth serious game. It’s one thing to use the iPad to play a single game of Boggle or Solitaire, it’s another thing to spend a fair bit of time playing an adventure game. However there are some splendid games out there, my family really enjoyed playing Lego Harry Potter for example which I reviewed here.

Tintin is a similar indepth game that has beautiful graphics and certainly reflects the look and feel of the new Spielberg film.

So what about the gameplay? Well to be honest I haven’t played it yet, so no idea, mainly as I want to watch the film first before I play the game. When I was younger I enjoyed reading the Tintin books and have been looking forward to this film for a while now.

So purely on looks I am recommending this game, as for gameplay, well I’ll let you know once I have had a game after watching the film!

Get Tintin in the iTunes App Store.