altc2009, conference

What are you going to pack?

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There are always some things I now take with me when I attend ALT-C which I find useful.

6 way gang – instead of fighting people for the power sockets, you can immediately make five friends! Also useful when you are back in your hotel room (halls) and need to charge the laptop, the phone, the iPod, use the hairdryer, etc… Make sure it has been PAT tested!

Coffee – I can’t stand instant coffee, so I take some of those Coffee Bags you can buy or Rombout Coffee filters. Of course if you drink that tea stuff then you can bring your own bags of what you like and are use to. I always pop out and buy fresh milk too!

sothecoffeeisbetter

Chargers – don’t forget your chargers, easy to forget and a nightmare when your phone or laptop runs out of juice. Or you can’t use it for the week.

Velcro fixings – For your poster and bring enough because someone you know will have forgotten to bring theirs.

Camera – to take the odd photo or two, I use mine to take photographs of really good posters so I can review them later at my leisure. Amazing how much detail a 7.2MP image can capture of a poster. I also use it to capture slides in presentations (ie URLS and e-mail addresses), I even use it to photograph flyers so I can carry less.

MiFi or 3G Stick – I am sure that the WiFi at the conference venue will be fine, however whatabout at the hotel, the dinner, the train… I will be bringing my new MiFi which allows me to connect to the internet over 3G, wirelessly through a wifi connection. The MiFi acts as a wireless access point for up to five clients – will probably make four new friends as a result of bringing it to the conference.

Business Cards – always useful to swap, play cards with, pass ones you have received to others who you don’t want to contact you…

Ethernet Cable – I find in Halls that though they may not have wireless they do have ethernet, having an ethernet cable in your bag is useful in this instance.

USB Cables – you never know when you are going to need one.

Spare batteries – for your MP3 recorder, etc…

Spare SD card – in case you lose yours.

Spare USB Stick – for moving files around.

What are you going to pack?

altc2009, apple, ipod touch

It’s only rock and roll, but we (still) like it

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As I have mentioned before, on September 9th, Apple are running a music style event called It’s only rock and roll, but we like it.

appleevent090909

It’s quite normal for Apple to make an announcement at this time of year. In 2007 Apple for example announced the iPod touch. I said before that:

According to the rumour sites, there are good indications that we will see new iPods with cameras.

Will we see the rumoured Apple Tablet?

I think it is a strong possibility, but there are other rumours which state we won’t see it until the first quarter of 2010. I wonder if Apple will announce it, so that developers can develop Apps for it in the same way that they did for the iPhone.

Reading Ollie Bray’s blog he brings to the rumour table, the social side of iTunes.

Again the rumor mills suggest a number of new features of iTunes 9 of which I think the most likely are the introduction of social networking tools or someone else’s social networking tools (eg: Facebook). This will allow you to share your playlists with your friends. If you think about it this makes a lot of sense – Apple knows that the future of the web is social.

I would agree that this is a strong possibility, think about how iPhoto ’09 now has Flickr and Facebook intergration, how easy it is to upload videos from the iPhone 3GS or iMovie to YouTube. It makes sense to add a social element to iTunes.

Some say that we may see the Beatles, possibly.

Whatever happens it will be interesting and fun to see what happens at the event. The Apple event takes place at 6pm BST on the 9th September, which is the same night as the ALT-C Gala Dinner, I suspect that many with iPhones at that dinner will be closely looking at their iPhones to see what new things are announced.

flickr

Weird Flickr Stats

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I use Flickr a fair bit now for uploading photographs. Sometimes to share what I have been doing, other times so I have access to images I can use on this blog or other sites.

I check the stats now and again (as I have a Pro account) and generally get between 150-300 views a day.

Yesterday however the stats went through the roof with 1300 odd views!

flickrstats

No idea why.

Unless someone (or some people) were really keen on flicking through my photographs, I am suspecting that some kind of bot was going through (and downloading) my images.

My images are copyright me, however I do licence them under a Creative Commons licence so that people in education can use them without having to pay a fee or royalty. However I don’t licence them for commercial use.

It will be interesting to see what happens today.

altc2009, gloucestershire college

Glossy Poster at ALT-C 2009

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I shall be “presenting” a poster on Glossy at ALT-C 2009.

Here’s a sneak preview…

glossyposter450

Abstract

The Glossy project undertook a large-scale development and implementation of mobile learning across Gloucestershire College utilising the mobile devices that learners already own.The project put in place an infrastructure at Gloucestershire College that allows learners using devices that they already own and college devices to access learning activities and content. The project created a student wireless network that can be accessed by learners’ own devices to access a range of content and learning activities through the college VLE.The aim of the project was to enable learners to access learning at a time and place to suit them in order to improve retention and achievement. The project provided mobile devices to learners in selected groups; including excluded learners and learners with learning difficulties and disabilities.

The project allowed the college to provide suitable hardware and software based in the college libraries that allows both staff and learners to develop, create and convert content for use on a range of mobile devices.The poster will show the key issues, challenges and opportunities that mobile learning offers institutions. It will show the key stages that are required to allow institutions to utilise the mobile devices that learners already own. The difficulties of working with diverse learner devices will be outlined on the poster because understanding them is vital to any discussion of sustainability.

The poster, through a range of examples, will show how important it is to address the differing attitudes of staff, IT support needs and staff development.

The Glossy Project did much more than start Gloucestershire College down the road of mobile learning, it had an impact on the whole culture of the organisation in the use of not just mobile technologies, but also other learning technologies, audio, video, podcasting, wireless and use of the VLE to enhance and enrich the learning experience.

The project had an impact on 14,000 learners during the lifetime of the project, ran from November 2007 to July 2008. It continues to have a benefit even though the project has finished, as the infrastructure enables mobile learning to continue.

iphone, m-learning, psp

Mobile Learning Thoughts

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Often when people mention mobile learning they automatically think about mobile technology, notably mobile computers, specifically Windows Mobile PDAs and iPhones.

For me it is a different philosophy, much more about learning when mobile.

It was walking around different colleges which made me realise that when it came to mobile learning, it wasn’t about getting PDAs running learning content (though I am sure there are scenarios which they would enhance and support learning), but was much more about using the devices our students already have.

These could include

One end result of this was a presentation I gave at the 2006 JISC Online Conference, available here, which looked at how to use a range of consumer mobile devices for learning. I also made a video of the presentation which was made available to delegates at the conference for their mobile devices.

Since then, three years later, the market has moved forward quite dramatically, it is now even easier for learners to access audio, video and web content on their mobile devices. Devices such as the PSP, the iPhone, the Nintendo DSi are more widespread and are also much more connected and can play a lot more content.

One of the key factors has to be how easy is it for the learner to access that content?

Another barrier to overcome is to realise that the mobile device is only one tool that a learner may use for learning. So though a learner may listen to audio, or view video on a mobile device, assessing their learning may take place using a traditional computer or a pen and paper. For me mobile learning is not about learning on a mobile, but learning when mobile.

A (paper) notepad can be used when mobile, though mobile devices do allow for a more interactive, collaborative, engaging learning experience.

Certainly this model is how my institution is moving forward in terms of mobile learning.

altc2009, apple, ipod touch

Apple iPod Event

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On September 9th, Apple are running a music style event called It’s only rock and roll, but we like it.

appleevent090909

It’s quite normal for Apple to make an announcement at this time of year. In 2007 Apple for example announced the iPod touch.

So what will be announced?

According to the rumour sites, there are good indications that we will see new iPods with cameras.

Will we see the rumoured Apple Tablet?

I think it is a strong possibility, but there are other rumours which state we won’t see it until the first quarter of 2010. I wonder if Apple will announce it, so that developers can develop Apps for it in the same way that they did for the iPhone.

Personally I think the proposed Mac Tablet has a lot of potential for learners and learning, especially if it has a battery which lasts all day.

The Apple event takes place at 6pm BST on the 9th September, which is the same night as the ALT-C Gala Dinner, I suspect that many with iPhones at that dinner will be closely looking at their iPhones to see what new things are announced.

altc2009, podcast, vle, web 2.0

e-Learning Stuff Podcast #027: It’s conference time…

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altc2008

James discusses what he will be doing at the ALT Conference in Manchester from the 7th-10th September 2009.

This is the twenty seventh e-Learning Stuff Podcast, It’s conference time…

Download the podcast in mp3 format: It’s conference time…

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

Shownotes

iphone, nokia

33 things I do on my mobile phone

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1.    Broadcast live video using Qik.
2.    Upload video to YouTube, TwitVid.
3.    Upload photographs to TwitPic, Twitter and Flickr.
4.    Use Twitterfon to engage with my community of practice on Twitter.
5.    Use my phone as a wireless hotspot using Joikuspot.
6.    Listen to music, podcasts and radio.
7.    Watch videos, films, YouTube and TV shows.
8.    Use it to access my calendar.
9.    Show off photographs that I have taken.
10.    Take photographs.
11.    Shoot video.
12.    Access Maps, find out where I am and where I am suppose to be.
13.    Check the weather.
14.    Play games now and again.
15.    Do maths with a calculator.
16.    Buy songs and Apps from iTunes.
17.    Manipulate photographs and create graphics.
18.    Access the web.
19.    Access Facebook (well not doing much of that to be honest).
20.    Read books and comics.
21.    Create notes and post to web.
22.    Stream video from my iMac to my TV.
23.    Learn other languages.
24.    Scan QR Codes.
25.    Make music.
26.    Control Presentations.
27.    Make lists of things to do…
28.    Record audio and upload to web.
29.    Satnav
30.    Access main computers remotely.
31.    Send SMS and MMS.
32.    Send e-mail
33.    Make phone calls….

altc2008, altc2009, web 2.0

Hood 2.1 – it’s still a Web 2.0 World out there

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Following on from the success of the Hood 2.0 Workshop at ALT-C last year, at this years ALT-C I shall be running another workshop, Hood 2.1 – it’s still a Web 2.0 World out there.

forest

Background

Web 2.0 is exciting and innovative, with new services appearing almost daily. These services can incorporate social networking, video and audio production, sharing, collaboration and user-created content. Some will be useful for providing information and entertainment, some will allow us to create innovative learning activities.

This stimulating and interactive workshop will explore new Web 2.0 services that can be used to solve some of the issues facing learners.

Ideas to be explored

During the workshop participants will be shown different learning scenarios and activities that utilise a range of new and exciting Web 2.0 services.

It is expected that the workshop will utilise the newest and most exciting Web 2.0 services out there, but could include: the use of Audioboo.fm for fieldwork; using Jing to create learning resources and web reviews; and using ipadio to allow learners to create a series of work-based podcasts.

Participants will discuss and debate the Web 2.0 service and the scenarios in small groups, covering how they could be utilised within their own institutions.

The groups will also discuss how the pedagogy needs to drive the scenarios and not the technology, and address how Web 2.0 can empower learners to take responsibility for their own learning. Each group will provide feedback through either a blog entry, an audio podcast or a video presentation. These will then be made available online to allow further comment and discussion beyond the workshop, and also allow other conference delegates to participate.

Intended outcomes

The participants will have a greater understanding of the innovative role of Web 2.0 to support.They will have considered how Web 2.0 can be used to redesign the pedagogy, the curriculum, and assessment methods to secure a substantial positive impact on learning.

The participants will have presented the results of their discussion to other participants and to other delegates through the use of a variety of learning technologies and Web 2.0 services. This will allow them to understand which services are innovations of true value, rather than mere fads.

Photo source.

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