app of the week

Retro Camera – Android App of the Week

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Retro Camera – Android 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 Retro Camera.

With Retro Camera you’ll take delicious old-school pics your friends will drool over. 5 cameras, 5 sets of vintage vignetting, film scratch & cross processing effects for that off-the-hip analog look. Inspired by the old Lomo, Holga, Polaroid, Diana & toy cameras whose iconic styles we treasure. Instant Nostalgia now free.

Retro Camera comes with 5 different cameras:

The Bärbl – An East German classic, naturally faded with a scratched film and medium vignetting, the perfect all-round choice.

The Little Orange Box – The Soviet Staple with aggressive cross processing and scratched square film. It’s crappy plastic lens leaks in light and exhibits strong vignetting. Black and white option for even more emotion.

Xolaroid 2000 – Its inspiration is obvious! We love the candid snapshots this camera produces – you simply can’t fail, every shot is a keeper. Blue / Green cross processing effects and timeless contrast. Black and white option for that classic touch.

The Pinhole Camera – A DIY gem and more unpredictable than Schrödinger’s cat. Full bleed developing and vignetting through the roof, be sure to give this cardboard chimera a go.

The FudgeCan – The perfect rig for outdoors; developed on square film that wasn’t quite stored… or developed right. But therein lies the charm that’ll make your pics with this beauty, memorable and instantly nostalgic.

Free

On my iPhone I have lots of camera and photography apps and they can be used to create some nice photographic effects, Instagram is one I use a lot.

The Google Nexus One does have a nice camera and if you want to get some nice effects for your photographs similar to the effects you can get with the many iPhone camera apps then you might want to look at Retro Camera for Android.

The App is ad supported, so you do see ads in the apps, you can buy the Pro version which is add free for £2.99.

There are five different cameras each with a unique effect.

The advantage of these kinds of apps for learners is that they speed up the process of taking and manipulating images that they want to then use in their assignments, projects, presentations and web activities such as wikis and blogs.

Of course you can get superior results using a proper DSLR and Photoshop, but though that may be the road that media and art students would travel along, students in other curriculum areas may not have access to the kit to do this. Those students probably do have a phone.

I was pleased with the results from the app and would certainly recommend it to anyone who has an Android phone with a camera.

mobile

Turn off that phone! Mobile technologies in the library

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At UKSG’s 34th Annual Conference in Harrogate I ran a couple of breakout workshop sessions on the use of mobile devices in the library.

Is there a role for mobile devices in the modern library? What are the issues, challenges and opportunities of using mobile devices to support learning and resource discovery in the library? Is it time to stop telling people to turn off their mobile phones? From communication, collaboration, storage, notes, books, journals and more, mobile technologies are changing the way in which users can and are using libraries.

The presentation first looked at the importance of changing cultures and resistance to change, before we discussed in small groups the potential of mobile devices in the library.

Here are my slides from my presentation.

This is a recording of the workshop.

Download the recording (in mp3 format).

Nicole Harris wrote a very nice review of the session.

100 ways, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #46 Ask the learners

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I am still surprised by how many practitioners don’t even consider asking and listening to their learners about how the VLE could support them in their studies.

I remember a conversation from a few years ago with an HE institution and they said that something like 70-80% of the calls to their VLE support line were from learners having problems finding content on their VLE. The reason they couldn’t find the content, was because it wasn’t there. The students were using the VLE with some of their lecturers and made (what they perceived) to be a valid assumption that other lecturers would use the VLE in the same way. They weren’t and as a result, difficulties in finding the content and the calls to the VLE support line. Imagine also how many learners who were having the same problem and didn’t call the support line.

These learners wanted to use the VLE, they had an idea of how they wanted to use the VLE and were not able to use the VLE in the way they wanted as some of the staff had decided not to use the VLE in a consistent way as their colleagues were.

The lesson to learn is that consistency is not only important for learners, but listening to what learners were asking and wanting is also important.

One of our business staff decided that he should ask the learners how they wanted to use the VLE. What came out of the exercise were some really interesting observations from the learners about how they wanted to use the VLE. As a result the business team decided to change the way in which they used the VLE across all their courses.

One of the challenges for learners is understanding the functionality of the VLE, but the question we should be asking them is not what functions they want to use on the VLE, but what their needs are, and using the VLE to meet those needs if appropriate.

So we should never be asking our learners, “do you want to use a wiki on the VLE?” More we should be asking “what do you find difficult, where do you need help?” and then using the VLE to solve those problems.

At the end of the day, learners should inform practitioners about how they want to use the VLE and not lead how it should be used. They however shouldn’t be ignored. Where we can let them inform, but also be aware that the learners are there to learn and using the VLE to enable them to learn to new things and new ways of doing them is also valuable.

So are you asking your learners?

stuff

Purpos/ed 3×5

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For the Purpos/ed campaign a couple of weeks back I wrote 500 words on the purpose of education, which you can read here.

The campaign continues with the 3×5 campaign.

For mine I took a photograph of mine (less worried then about rights) that I had taken at Blaise Castle in Bristol.

Purpos/ed

For the words I chose a quote from Kevin McLauglin. To be honest there were lots of quotes I could have chosen and though some were already “taken” by others, in the end I chose Kevin’s words as I liked the inevitability that learners will learn somehow, but with the right guidance that learning can grow, like a tree hence the picture, and enable the learner to survive the storms and challeneges thrown against them. They can thrive whether it be hot or cold, wet or dry.

100 ways, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #18 Reading a journal

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A journal, how on earth can you read a journal or magazine on the VLE?

A printed paper thing!

Well….

Of course we are talking about electronic journals, e-journals.

e-Journals are of course easy to access through publishers platforms, online collections or library catalogues. If you know which article or issue you are looking for then you should be able to find it…

Of course if you are researching a topic or subject than that might be a little more challenging. You might not even know which journal you should start your search at.

So how do you inform learners about where they should be looking or beginning to start searching?

Signposting or linking to specific journals or articles on the VLE is about increasing access to resources for learners.

This is not to say that learners should never start searching from scratch, but is this always necessary? Isn’t the learning process also about the subject sometimes in addition to the process. Reading lists of journals and journal articles are useful support tools for learners, by linking to the electronic versions and placing those links on the VLE, you can save learners time. This is time saved in both getting hold of those links (or typing them in) and the use of e-journals allows the learners to access the articles at a time and place to suit them too. Placing them on the VLE means they can refer back to them at a later date and also saves time for the practitioner or academic as the following year they can use the same list again with a new cohort of learners.

Open Access journals can also make this whole process even simpler in terms of authentication and access.

So with the preponderance of e-journals now available, it is possible to “read” a journal on the VLE.

vle

VLE evolving – DLE, ILE, VILE, IDLE, FIDDLE and PIDDLE

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The concept of the VLE is evolving or being replaced. It makes sense to some to rename the VLE to demonstrate how the VLE is evolving and how it is been used.

The Devolved Learning Environment DLE is a way of taking a VLE and devolving it to the learners who then have more control over the environment, how they use the environment and what they use the environment for. Devolving the learning environment empowers the learner and allows them to take more control over their learning within an institutionally provided learning environment. This is of course different to a PLE, a Personal Learning Environment would not be provided by the institution, whereas the DLE would be. In a VLE such as Moodle devolving the LE to a DLE can be done easily with roles. Moodle doesn’t at a basic level differentiate between users, differentiation can be accommodated with roles.

The Individualised Learning Environment or ILE is when the VLE evolves to meet individual needs, the problem with an institutional VLE is that a common format and process is used for all learners, which assumes that learners are all the same. By designing the institutional VLE to allow for individualisation, creating an ILE, then it creates a more personalised learning environment. There is a need to avoid using the word personalised, as this could cause confusion with the accepted PLE acronym. One option might be to call it a Personalised Individualised Learning Environment, or PILE. However there is a difference between personalised and individualised, so maybe a better acronym would be a IPLE, an Institutional Personalised Learning Environment, though I think there would still be confusion with the PLE.

The Virtualised Individualised Learning Environment VILE is a variation of the ILE. The ILE is dependent on the individual having an individualised learning environment, by

The Individualised Devolved Learning Environment, or IDLE, takes elements of the devolved learning environment and adds a level of individualisation to the institutionally provided devolved learning environment. This allows learners not only to be able to have more control over their learning, but can also create an individualised learning environment. A variation of this is to add extra features for individualisation and as a result we have the Finely Individualised Devolved Delivery Learning Environment FIDDLE.

Adding a level of personalisation to the IDLE gives us the Personalised Individualised Devolved Delivery Learning Environment, or the PIDDLE is taking the concept of both the individualised and devolved institutionally learning environment and adding a layer of personalisation. This creates a very different animal to the bland and vanilla institutional Virtual Learning Environment.

So is your VLE evolving into a PIDDLE?

web 2.0

Web 2.210.07⅝ SP1

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The first incarnation of the web as was used back in the 1990s is often referred to the web, the plain web. With the increase of social networking, user generated content and the Twitter in the last years, the term Web 2.0 has been used to describe how the web has evolved.

However the web has continued to evolve and in a similar way that we describe software the time has come to add a few numbers onto the end of the 2.

You will read about Web 3.0, but this would indicate a major shift change in how we use the web and to be honest Facebook isn’t some incredible seismic shift in how we use the web, it’s basically a cleaner better looking MySpace! Even though we all use Facebook, the fact that there are still people using MySpace (and even Friends Reunited, according to the e-mails I get from them) has Web 2.0 really evolved into 3.0? I think not.

Likewise though The Twitter is now five years old, the concept is still pretty much the same, make a posting of 140 characters and hope for the best that not only does it make it through to Twitter, but that The Twitter remains up long enough so that your 14 followers can read it.

If you think Twitter is a newcomer to the web, remember it is only one month younger than the other stalwart of Web 2.0 YouTube which is also only five years old.

Facebook is in fact older at seven year, but was only really open to everyone just five years ago…

So in the last five years, the key services that we have been using for social networking and user generated content haven’t really changed, so how on earth can we talk about Web 3.0 when actually very little is different now to what it was five years ago when all we talked about was Web 2.0.

Of course the key difference is the number of users using these services, but I do wonder if that should be a measure of the web? When Windows 95 became really popular, did Microsoft suddenly decide to change the name to Windows 96 or 97?

Success doesn’t define the evolvement of a numbering system.

However we have had a fair few changes in the web, so to leave it at Web 2.0 isn’t quite right. We have Foursquare for example, the stalking service that is akin to collecting Pokemon cards or Scout badges. Instagram, a way to share really bad photographs with other bad photographers. Audioboo, a way of sharing drunken conversations and ensuring you can let people know your home is empty.

So with these little improvements, I think we can say that Web 2.0 has evolved, but these are like security patches, updates, maybe even a service pack.

Web 2.0 has evolved, Web 2.0 is now Web 2.210.07⅝ SP1

app of the week, iphone

Phone – iPhone App of the Week

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Phone – iPhone 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 Phone.

To make a call on iPhone, tap a name or number. That’s it. You can tap to call from just about anywhere: a name in your contacts list, a number on a website or text message, even a phone number on a map listing.

Free

Sometimes you find an app that is both innovative and has a real impact. Though most people will get their apps from the App Store the iPhone comes with apps already installed. Some of these are useful such as the Calculator and YouTube and some which are less useful, Stocks and Weather.

One app that does come with the iPhone is quite revolutionary and enables something extraordinary to happen. That app is the Phone App.

Imagine if you can an app that allows you have a synchronous real time live conversation with another person, even when that person is not in the same room, even the same building, or even in the same country. Unlike other communication apps, this app doesn’t require the other person to have an iPhone, another mobile phone or even a computer. The app works even if you don’t have wifi or aren’t in a 3G area.

The process is that you, using a numeric keypad enter a number, this number usually identified to a person (but not always) allows you, using the Phone App, to create a unique secure connection that enables you to have a real time live conversation. These conversations can be as long as you like, as long as you have enough battery. The cost of these conversations is dependent on a plan you purchase from a service provider.

Not only that, but your iPhone has a unique number of its own, so that other people can create a connection, akin to calling across a room, to you, this calling though is not restricted by geography. It is possible to be “called” from anywhere in the world.

It’s not all good news though, I have found that the app can stop working and as a result you lose your conversation. It isn’t always possible to reconnect and continue your conversation. Interestingly the way in which you hold your iPhone can have an impact on how this app works!

As you may realise, the ability to have real time voice conversations has a lot of potential for learning, however you may think that any conversation would be restricted to just two people, but not so. It is possible to have more people in what is called a conference call, and this is provided within the App and as a result you have the ability to talk with up to five different people. The potential of discussions and seminars via the iPhone become a real possibility. Other learning ideas including talking to learners about progress on their course, attendance and other issues.

Yes, you can buy thousands of Apps in the iTunes Store, but this included free app is the only one that has the functionality to enable real time secure conversations without the constraints of geography, check it out.

100 ways, vle

100 ways to use a VLE – #101 as a PLE

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There has been a lot of discussion and debate over the years about the use of VLEs by learners in institutions. There are problems and issues in providing a standardised virtual learning environment to learners, who are all different and have a variety of needs.

The ability to create a personalised and individualised online learning environment is one of the strengths of the concept of the PLE that has been discussed at length at many different conferences (and even on this blog). One of the challenges though, for learners, in using a PLE is that it requires a level of commitment and skill by learners to create their PLE. Though many learners will have the skills and ability to do this, not all do. The institutional VLE is not a replacement for a PLE, and often will be part of a learner’s PLE.

One way that a VLE could be used as a PLE is to provide each learner with their own VLE that could form the basis of their individual PLE. Familiarity will be there if they have used the institutional VLE and the disadvantages of the standardised vanilla VLE can be avoided as each learner will be able to create an individualised, personalised virtual learning environment. The learner would be able to create areas (courses) to meet their needs and invite other learners to collaborate and share in these areas. Common content could be made available to learners to download and install in their own VLE.

Technically with virtualisation it would be very simple to provide learners with an individual VLE to be used as a PLE. In the past each individual VLE would need an individual server, virtualisation allows multiple servers to be hosted on a single server. Even cloud based services could be used removing the need to host the servers on site.

The individual VLE would not be used in isolation and other tools and services could be plugged into the VLE to support the learner concept of the unique PLE.

There are some challenges, administering a VLE, though simple, may not be in the capabilities of all learners. In these instances, learners may want to share a single VLE for their PLE rather than each have individual VLE. Groups of learners in a single cohort might also want to share. Even all learners in a single institution may decide that a single VLE meets their needs for a PLE rather than having a VLE or PLE each. This then allows the learners to focus on their learning rather than managing a learning environment.

Providing individual VLEs for learners to use as their PLEs can be a challenging process, from a technical, administrative and learning process; but may be the answer in meeting the needs of learners.

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