Monday, December 19, 2005

Is Frappr and it’s recently set up group forums another step on the way to “Web 2”.

Just about a year ago the font of all things technological wired magazine carried an article by Chris Anderson talked of the concept of the long tail of business. Suggesting internet companies especially and mixed economy companies (with physical and web presence) were able to sell the Harry potters of the book world and also obscure very niche texts. The bookseller analogy could be replaced with music seller what ever. Because they can analyse and to an increasing degree predict customer purchasing behaviour.

Parallel to this long tail development has been the social networking an interaction component of the web. The growth of blogging instant messaging in all its form voip like skype and Google talk and recently Frappr . Frappr is an interesting on an amalgam of goggle maps api that members of a Frappr community place a marker on expressing there physical location recently Frappr have gone on stage further and added an ability to create group forum linked to the mapped community www.frappr.com.

This really is a model of a tool for social interaction/communication rather than the information source the web has been till. Academic Internet Book publisher Tim O’Reilly released his Meme Map diagram http://www.flickr.com/photos/36521959321@N01/44349798 describing some of what he and other futurologists are calling Web 2.0. It seems this gives individual groups tools making your great strengths your network of those holding knowledge rather than you holding knowledge your.

Implications for society are vast larger number  networks of individuals not confined by geography a phrase I first used in ALT C 2004 “Digital Nomads”. That are joined by non distinct fuzzy connections and personalised connections that go way past our current model of personalization as akin to consumer choice in the supermarket.

The internet the web whatever is becoming a social place with social interactions as the norm rather than the exception.

Friday, November 18, 2005

BBC NEWS | Technology | Pocket answer to digital divide

Pocket answer to digital divde they way |I and many others are thinking. The personalised toool of choice not one we say everybody must have the same a "PC".

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Dublin Core Meta Data generator on the fly !

This is very geeky but if you’re into metadata neat!!!
Dublin core meta data generator
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dcdot.pl

blogs into PDF

Every wanted to turn a blog into a nice clean PDF

Well this site does exactly that short blog but brilliant site

http://www.rss2pdf.com

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | Growing up with the wired generation

Interesting review from Techology Guardian on a MTV report on the wired genration qwith some amazing statistics .

I quote
"But the effects of technological advancement are unavoidable. Three out of four children have access to the internet via a computer at home. One in three children who use the internet makes friends online. Children in the UK aged between 10 and 19 own approximately 7.5m mobile phones, on which they send many of the 89m text messages written daily. And one pound in every 10 of disposable income was spent by teenagers on mobile products and services this year."

True digital natives !! Prensky eat your heart out.

Friday, November 11, 2005

Tackling Social Exclusion through technology



Tackling Social Exclusion Through New Technologies

Well worth a read if you are interested in the so called digital divide

New Report from Office of Deputy Prime Minister – Social Exclusion Unit. 1st November 2005
Inclusion Through Innovation:
http://www.socialexclusion.gov.uk/downloaddoc.asp?id=768

Becta Expert Technology Seminar

Becta Expert Technology Seminar - Enabling flexibility
      FREE seminar
      Thursday, 8 December 2005
      Manchester Conference Centre
 
Providing access to learning at a time and place that suits the learner can be achieved in many ways, through services extended by academic institutions; in the home and the library; through the learner's own personal device of choice (phone, handheld or portable computer) To deliver true 24/7 access to learning for all learners will not only impact on the traditional educational institution, but will also have considerable social implications.
How realistic is this vision when coupled with the flexibility inherent in the personalised learning and 14-19 reform agendas?

What role can current and emerging technologies play in assisting to bring about anytime anywhere learning and to what extent should we invest in technological solutions to ensure flexibility for all learners, educators and administrators.

      This FREE seminar will try to address some of these questions and has the following themes

      1. Access to learning at a time and place that suits the learner (VLEs/external access)
      2. Services extended by academic institutions (ISPs, WMAN)
      3. The learner’s own personal device of choice (Phone, handheld or portable computer)
      4.  Digital divide (there will be a panel discussion on this subject)
      5. Personalised learning and 14-19 reform agendas
      6. Current and emerging technologies

      Register for this forthcoming event http://www.becta.org.uk/etseminars/et_register.cfm?id=7  

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Learners are mobile rather than mobile learning

Currently at hand held learning event at goldsmiths organised by www.handheldlearning.co.uk loads of stuff to Blogg but here is an interesting concept from professor Mike Sharples formerly Birmingham University now Nottingham University on mobile learning. He is now suggesting or from my interpretation an interesting thought on mobile learning that the key thing is that “learners are mobile” more than “learning is mobile”. It’s about the learner behaviour rather than the device simple but clever thought more later. Yep up blogging at 4.00am from hotel in deepest Greenwich    

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Yahoo offer Podcast search

First it was google offerring blog search now Yahoo have given us a tool to search for podcasts.

http://podcasts.yahoo.com

Friday, October 07, 2005

Google give Gmail an RSS reader

Google give Gmail an RSS reader

Google have brought out an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) click here for explaination reader to work with gmail. Basically this allows to you to keep track of websites and blogg with RSS feeds without laboriously having to visit each site. Up till now I have used www.bloglines.com to keep up to date with stuff. After migrating from the excellent live bookmarks in Firefox which is fine for one or two site like BBC news to blog lines 2 months ago.

I’ve shrunk the URL using www.tinyurl.com who also a great tool bar button to shrink any URL you’re looking at

Link to google rss reader http://tinyurl.com/btudr

Interesting tool though bloglines is great too. If you use gmail at worth a look  at this new tool.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Moodle making the papers

Moodle Making the papers excellent piece on innovative use of the Open source learning Platform Moodle by Egglescliffe School in Teesside.

http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/story/0,,1583832,00.html

Moodle a platform to follow.

Checkout it out www.moodle.org

Monday, October 03, 2005

The Personal Internet communicator by AMD

The Personal Internet CommunicatorAffordable, Versatile Internet Connectivity for the Masses

The hardware manunfacturer have produce a computer the size of a thick paperback. Plug in your keyboard and mintor and away you go the suggested spec all an estimated cost of $299 USD.

Download PDF on the product
Hardware Configuration


  • Compact, ergonomically designed system case with optional accent colors

  • Unit dimensions

  • 5.5" wide x 8.5" deep x 2.5" high

  • 3 lbs.

  • AMD Geode™ GX processor

  • 4 USB ports – support printers, Flash memory, disk drives, and network adapters

  • 10GB 3.5" internal hard disk

  • Stereo headphone/microphone jacks

  • VGA port – supports resolutions up to 1600x1200 at 85 Hz

  • Fanless, quiet operation

Software and Applications
  1. Windows® Powered Operating System

  2. Web Browser – Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0

  3. E-mail

  4. Macromedia Flash Player

  5. Windows Media® Player

  6. Presentation viewer for Microsoft® PowerPoint®

  7. PDF Viewer

  8. Windows® Messenger

  9. Microsoft® Windows® 2D Game Pack

  10. SoftMaker Word Processor and Spreadsheet applications– compatible with Microsoft® Word/Microsoft® Excel®

  11. Image viewer – .jpg, .bmp, .png, and .gif filetypes

  12. Zip/Unzip compression utility

The 100 dollar laptop

The 100$ laptop is launched those concerned with the global digital divide have set out theyre stall

The MIT Media Lab has launched, at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland in January 2005.a   research initiative to develop a $100 laptop—a technology that could revolutionize how we educate the world's children. To achieve this goal, a new, non-profit association, One Laptop per Child (OLPC), has been created. The initiative was first announced by Nicholas Negroponte, Lab chairman and co-founder.

The BBC are keeping us upto date on progress http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4292854.stm the design using innovative and robust technology such as flash memory and wind up power supply and running a version of linux looks to try and bring technology to a larger part of the world population than ever before .

Geographical refencing of RSS feeds

I know this American but an interesting georeferencing of RSS feeds.
Wondering if there are any blogs/RSS feeds in your neighborhood? You can find out with gFeedMap, which puts FeedMap'd blogs onto Google Maps. It's at http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~kkalu/gfeedmap/browse.php and is affiliated with neither Google nor FeedMap.
FeedMap, at http://www.feedmap.net/BlogMap  , lets you geocode your 'blog and generate a little badge-sized map that indicates where you are. gFeedMap takes that geocode information and allows you to browse for location by searching city and state. Searching New York, NY generated a map with dozens of tags. Mousing over them gives information about that blog -- unfortunately sometimes the tags get in the way. Clicking on the tag takes you right to the 'blog.
If you're already on FeedMap you can get your own map. Just choose BlogMap from the menu on the left.

 

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

First aid Podcasts

Hi all

If you are a first aider at work or interested in first aid maybe for public services courses I have come across a brilliant site using podcasting.

http://www.sja.org.uk/firstaid/info  

Now I reckon that’s one of the best uses of this technology I’ve seen for a while revise for your exam or update your skills on the bus or the tube.  Neat fit for purpose blah blah

Andy Black

Net calling kits hit High Streets




VOIP kits for use without a pc are hitting the highstreet
Simon Turner, managing director of DSG International, which owns PC World, Currys, The Link and Dixons, said Freetalk, was a "wake-up call" for traditional telecoms companies.
"The days of old-style fixed-line phone calls are numbered," he said. DSG expects about half a million users to sign up for the new service within a year.
Its also predicted according to the International Data Group, up to 11% of UK broadband users will have a Voip service by 2007. I reckon that’s a conservative figure . See full article on the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4289488.stm

Mobile market shifts its focus



The mobile market is changing and spreading into new markets and technologies such P2T Push to talk broadcast from mobiles using a kind of voice packet is catching hold. In the developing world away from its major core use area in the states worth a look.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4290528.stm

bloglines

Getting into followoing blogs and other feeds using say active book marks in Firefox and finding your browser favourites looking like a disaster area. Then try bloglines a web based blogg /feed agregator   http://www.bloglines.com try the sign up its free icon create your account add your feeds and off you go.

Sure there are other services of this type I just havent heard of them yet let us know via the blog of course.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Bloggs in schools

Bloggs in schools

Interesting link re blogging and use in schools
http://www.shambles.net/pages/school/blogs/(note: there is a link to a second page at the bottom of this first one)

ESRC report: 'InterActive Education: Teaching and Learning in the Information Age

ESRC report: 'InterActive Education: Teaching and Learning in the Information Age'
From the NAACE newsletter
The Press release from ESRC accompanying the publication of the report 'InterActive Education: Teaching and Learning in the Information Age' claims that 'despite the government's £1bn commitment to increase the use of information technology in schools, few teachers make full use of computers in the classroom.'The release proceeds:'The findings of the four-year project at the University of Bristol confirm recent reports by Ofsted and OECD, which found the use of ICT in schools was 'sporadic' and 'disappointing' in the UK and internationally. The ESRC study reveals that many teachers fear that computers would interfere with 'genuine' or book-based learning, particularly in the humanities and creative subjects, and use ICT only for administration and routine tasks.Professor Rosamund Sutherland, who led the research, says that teachers could be helped to make more effective use of computers in a wide range of subject areas. The project centred on partnerships between researchers, research students and teachers from ten institutions, which explored ways in which ICT could be used in English, history, geography, modern languages, science, music and mathematics.'Seventy per cent of the teachers who took part in the study were able to incorporate computers into their classroom,' says Professor Sutherland. 'After working with researchers they generally had a more positive view of technology and said that it enhanced their role as a teacher and had a beneficial impact on the learning environment.'If you would like a copy of the report emailed to you,(it has not yet been placed on the ESRC website) please contact Lance Cole, Lesley Lilley or Becky Gammon at ESRC on 01793 413032/413119/413122 .

Wallace and Gromit The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Wallace and Gromit The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Topical bit of fun

Oscar Stringer writes: Film Education have released a free interactive CD called Wallace and Gromit The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, one copy will be sent to every school in the country or you can get a free copy from the website. http://www.filmeducation.org/ The CD has an excellent section on story-boarding for animation, well worth a look.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Consoles to plug digital divides?


Consoles to plug digital divides?
We need more computers for the developing world - so what about old games consoles, wonders technology analyst Bill Thompson writing for the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4275448.stm

Bill points how new games platfroms leads to old ones been thrown away . The thought provoking piece talks of linux of Playstation (yes Sony do supply one legally) see article at http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/2004/03/25/ps2_linux.html

and Xbox can also support linux but Microsoft obviously don’t allow it.
The argument is that simple games platforms can be modifyed to allow access to those in developing countries to the internet and other computer functions ..

Sounds a great idea.

Intel views of potential of African market for mobile computing

Interesting piece of Intel view of African market for Mobile Computing and interesting one as this year’s mobil learn conference is in South Africa
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=qw1127231101752B232
Mlearn conference web sites worth a good look. http://www.mlearn.org.za

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Safe blogging

Safe blogging

A real hot issue from the BBC A handbook that offers advice to bloggers who want to protect themselves from recrimination and censors has been released by Reporters Without Borders.

Read article here

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Becta Expert Technology seminar on sustainability 13th october Free !

Becta Expert Technology Seminar on Sustainability Thursday 13
October 2005 British Library, London

Are current levels of investment in ICT in education sustainable?
What policies need developing to ensure that current and planned ICT
provision and training can be sustained at local and regional level?
How can institutions assess the true total cost of ownership of ICT?
What is effective re-use and recycling, and what are the financial
implications?
This seminar will look at different models which address these
questions at the national level, the LEA level and at the
institutional level. It will also assess how common standards and
specifications can help support a sustainable infrastructure

Becta Expert Technology Seminars are aimed at
*     LEA ICT support staff
*     National and regional organisations involved in advising,
delivering or procuring ICT services for schools, colleges and the
cultural sectors
*     Central and local government representatives
*     Government agencies
*     Established educational ICT suppliers and companies wanting to
know more about the UK education market

Registration is now open for this event at
www.becta.org.uk/etseminars/forthcoming.cfm

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Opera Now free from adds and charges

Opera now free . this alternative browser to IE and Firefox etc used to come in a version that was free with banner adds or a paid for version without adds. Well basically the add free version is just that free !!! Download it from http://www.opera.com/

Paper on M learning

Paper on M learning
M learning my prediction for the next big thing coupled with bloging. The Epic group have produced a white paper on m learning which you can order for free via the following page worth a read and its free :

http://www.epic.co.uk/content/resources/white_papers/m-learning.htm

A magnificent series of 7 things you should know about

A great find yet again on educause the site that gave us the guide to e-portfolios .But this series seven things you should know about. the following

Blogs

Video Blogs

Podcasting

Wikkis

Clickers

Social book Marking

Great no nonsense stuff especially liked social book marking

Friday, September 16, 2005

TechNews Its not about blogs !!

I know you all know about Bectas TechNews but just in case you don’t!! The September edition of Becta’s TechNews is now available.You can subscribe and download from link below.

 http://www.becta.org.uk/technews


It’s got stuff on the:
BBC backstage support for developers
Talking Online
Research on games in Education

And of course anlysis of blogging (oops I said it wasn’t about Blogs) well sort of  !!!

And of course much much more !!

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Got the research “Buzz”

ResearchBuzz is designed to cover the world of Internet research. To that end this site provides almost daily updates on search engines, new data managing software, browser technology, large compendiums of information, Web directories -- whatever. If in doubt, the final question is, "Would a reference librarian find it useful?" If the answer's yes, in it goes!
ResearchBuzz is available in two flavours:

  1. ResearchBuzz Free Version –

  2. ResearchBuzz Extra -- For $30 a year ($20 for educators, librarians, and students) you get the regular ResearchBuzz and additional news and resources and a weekly article on some aspect of searching
Stay up to date with the latest in search engine http://www.researchbuzz.com

A web based wordproccesor and collaborative tool ??

Writely a webased wordprocessor that allows you write a document and store it securely on the web and for you to choose who you allow to accessit. You can make it more public by publishing to blogger directly from it.

Writely is a web word processor that provides simple and secure document collaboration and publishing on the web using only the browser.
 
1. First, you create a document:
Either by typing it in, or by uploading a Word document, html, text or image file. Use our editor to format the text, add tables, images, etc.

2. Next, you share it with others:
Enter people's e-mail addresses to grant them access to the document.
Send them a message from Writely to tell them about it.

3. Then, you can edit it together online:
If another person starts editing the same document, a small notice will appear.  Your changes will be automatically sync'd with theirs every few seconds.


Try it here

Google unveils blog

Google unveils blog search site

Google has just taken a huge step in the maturing of the blogginig phenomena. The site imaginatively called “Google Blog search” (catchy eh!!!)
Google will index all bogs that publish so-called feeds that automatically tell readers when they are updated. It will also gather data about blogs that tell other indexing sites about the entries they have made.
As well as searching via the dedicated blog search page, Blogger users will be able to look up other blogs via a special box on the web-journal writing site.
See how the BBC perceived view on the matter
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4244944.stm

Google blogg search site
http://blogsearch.google.com

About Google Blog search on google http://www.google.com/help/about_blogsearch.html

Friday, September 09, 2005

Shining light on mobile life

Mobile life gets a new tool
The projector even for those who use PDA’s or smart phones to run presentations as always been a much heavier item but not anymore. Toshiba and Epson are both producing battery powered projectors using LED bulb technology to cut down power useage.

But Toshiba will continue its proud history of launching ground breaking technology first see article at :
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7957

No news if they will support wireless connect to PDA, smartphone or PC/Laptop but heres hoping.

BBC opening up creative archive

More exciting news from the BBC see the news story here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4225914.stm

More importanltly creative archive website here.
http://creativearchive.bbc.co.uk

Thursday, September 08, 2005

The 4th World Conference on mobile learning

The 4th World Conference on Mobile Learning, mLearn 2005, will take place from 25 to 28 October 2005 in Cape Town, South Africa.  This annual conference is the key research and networking event for researchers, strategists, educators, technologists and practitioners from all over the world.  Previous mLearn conferences have attracted participants from more than 60 countries, and is, therefore, the world's largest conference on mLearning and emerging ambient technologies. Including Geoff Stead of Cambridge Training and Development (CTAD) and Bob Harrison of Toshiba
Check the website out
http://www.mlearn.org.za

Great mobile learning website

Great mobile learning links by Jari Laru who works at The Research Unit for Educational Technology in Finland. Jari works in the Department of Educational Sciences and Teacher Education at the University of Oulu, Finland. The unit focuses its research and teaching on the issues dealing with the use of technology in learning and education. Our core functions include research and teaching in the area of educational technology. Worth a look  http://www.mobilelearning.tk

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

ALT C




Hi all

Having recently prsented a short paper the Assocaition of Learning Technologists (ALT) annual conference (ALTC). Entitled  “Give em the tools and they’ll talk” .

Below you will find link to Paper absract and related prsentation will soon follow you are also directed below to past papers that will inform you as to my other work.
Link to Abstract
1) Mainstreaming and Cultural Change with a Learning Platform - how to do it, or how not to do it: the Dave Allen approach to cultural change

http://ferl.becta.org.uk/display.cfm?resID=4951

2)Collaborative Technologies: Overview of collaborative technologies

http://www.becta.org.uk/etseminars/presentations/presentation.cfm?seminar_id=30§ion=7_1&presentation_id=74&id=2608

Mobile Learning White Paper by Epic group

Interesting white paper by the epic group. Worth a read.

Link here

Monday, September 05, 2005

Blogging tool for Word

Blogging tool for Word

Our friends at Blogger one of the widely used blogging tools have just made bloggers lives easier. The plug in for Microsoft word allows you to write your blogg posting in word and publish direct from Word. So allowing you not to use bloggers own editor. It also allows you to spell check in Word (great news for me)save a lot of cutting and pasting.

Check it out here

Saturday, September 03, 2005

elgoog googling backwards

Thanks to Geoff Stead at CTAD for this Have you ever googled backwards?
try http://elgoog.rb-hosting.de/index.cgi
try typing in a search term, but remember to type it backwards!

Thursday, August 11, 2005

DTI launches £1million 'grid computing' drive

DTI launches £1million 'grid computing' drive.

The Department of Trade and Industry today embarked on a £1 million drive to promote the use of grid computing by British blue-chip companies.

This phenomena spanwned by CETIS project searching space for signs of radio pulses using your desktop laptops spare computing power and more recently by cancer research UK for screening gene data .

Link to story

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Edublog

edublogs.org is a no-profit adventure into providing free WordPress blogs and hosting for teachers, students, researchers, librarians, writers and anyone who is interested in or working in education. http://edublogs.org

A directory of Education bloggs could be the start of the new Edu" Google" ?

Text results services successful

QCA moving with times interesting small scale project.

A new system which allows students to learn of their exam results by text has been hailed a success.

A total of 58 teenagers received notification of their results via mobile phones on Monday - a day before the results were officially released.

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) said the pilot had "worked well" adding that it could now be rolled out to schools across Scotland.

link to story on BBC

Tim Berners Lee on blogging the read/write web

Hi all

Fascinating interview with Tim Berners Lee 14 years since the first web site. He examines the blogging phenomena and where it could lead us.

Berners-Lee on the read/write web In August 1991, Sir Tim Berners-Lee created the first website. Fourteen years on, he tells BBC Newsnight's Mark Lawson how blogging is closer to his original idea about a read/write web.

Link here

Eduforge opensource software for education site

If yor interested in Open source on for all the firefox Moodle fans out there look at :

Eduforge (www.eduforge.org) has recently been upgraded with the help of the eXe Editor Project (www.exelearning.org).Eduforge is an open access environment designed for the sharing of ideas, research outcomes, open content and open source software for education.

All are welcome to use our community resources or start your own project space. Registration is free. Eduforge offers a wide range of collaborative tools as well as project spaces for the development of educational software, content or to faciltate collaborative research and
discussion.

Eduforge link

Monday, August 08, 2005

Mobile Bloggs a nice RAMBLE

Mobile Blogs, Personal Reflections and Learning Environments
Describes how mobile blogs for personal reflection may be related to institutional learning environments, drawing on experiences from the RAMBLE ProjectAt Oxford University by Paul Trafford .

DeL eTools - RAMBLE (Remote Authoring of Mobile Blogs for Learning Environments )
Ramble listing on JISC

More informative RAMBLE Project website click here

Blogging and Mobility going to be HUGE !

Digital Natives, Digital Imigrants

Are learners today different than 15 years ago ??

Its been around a while but if you have read the work of Marc Prensky his website is at click here he did digital native stuff to download click here .

Really interesting stuff anybody got a view?

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Eduvsion Bridging the Educational and Digital Divide

Hi all

you people promoting the mobile way andys got a favour to ask give this lot a plug seems a really good project not convinced its the solution but interesting . They are behind the Handhelds in education article mentioned a couple of days ago in the blog.

The project trying to bridge the educational and digital divide. Interesting project EduVision, a project funded by the BioVision Foundation, seeks to assist countries in improving their education systems by providing appropriate information technology tools for the classroom. To lower the overall cost of primary and secondary education, EduVision aims to replace physical textbooks, notebooks and stationary items with a single integrated system (EELS) which will follow each student throughout the course of their education.

link here

Mobile Blogs, Personal Reflections and Learning Environments

Interested in the impact of bloggs in education then read article by Paul Trafford VLE Administrator Learning Technologies Group at the University of Oxford. In the piece he describes how mobile blogs for personal reflection may be related to institutional learning environments, drawing on experiences from the RAMBLE Project.

link here to article

Overcoming the digital divide or short cutting telephony development

It'’s often said we should apply developed world models of development to the "so called developing world”. This appears to be particularly true in the growth of mobile phone networks in Africa. It appears that many states are missing out the landline stage of telephony infrastructure and opting for mobile networks. With entrepreneurs buying phones and renting them out per call within there communities. ItÂ’s also helping global recycling as your old discarded handset is often sold to such individuals read the interesting Economist article at
Link here

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Blogging Bonkers

The BEEB are suggesting one blog is being created every second
see the story here

good expression or mindless tripe

Handhelds in Education Kenya

?? An interesting piece. Lot of work suggesting in telephony developing countries are missing the landline stage and going mobile but missing out desktops and going handheld Kenya where a trial project using handheld computers could help reduce the costs of education in poor communities


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/4727617.stm

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Conference on Learning with Handheld and Mobile Devices

In association with TERU (Technology Education Research Unit), Goldsmiths College, a conference on learning with handheld and mobile computing devices is to be held at Goldsmiths (in the new Will Alsop building) on Oct 14th & 15th.It is hoped that this will become an annual or biannual research gathering for educators, academics and developers to share ideas, knowledge and experience. Merlin John from the TES has been raising awareness for the event in the TES Online and PalmOne have come on board with a little sponsorship. We have managed to secure a leading group of international speakers and workshop hosts, the opening keynote address will be provided by Martin Ripley of the QCA and the closing keynote by Professor Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan with the event attracting both academics, policy makers and teachers. Indeed the reason that half of the conference falls on a Saturday is to provide more access to teachers who generally will find a Friday more difficult. The event is non-profit making and a two day pass is only £75 including lunch and refreshments. Single day passes are also available with the Saturday pass being just £30.
There is a microsite for the conference at this address:

http://www.handheldlearning.co.uk/hl2005

and some material on the TES website here:

http://www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2097461

and here:

http://www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2097459

Backstage at the BBC open source

Backstage at the BBC

Those lovely public servants have done it again with an inititative that appears to give a thumbs up to open source. Worth a real good nose around

http://backstage.bbc.co.uk

Thursday, July 21, 2005

Third National Workshop and Tutorial on Handheld Computers in Universities and Colleges

Interseting workshop I attended first workshop in 2003

The day will focus on giving lecturers, teachers, staff developers and learning technologists the necessary conceptual and practical background to make informed decisions about deploying handheld computers in their departments, classes and courses. Each delegate will receive a complimentary handheld computer.

Place: Wolverhampton Science Park

Time: 10 am - 4 pm
Date: Friday 4 November 2005

Fee: £ 205 (lunch and refreshments included) Each delegate will receive a complimentary handheld computer.

Speakers to date:

  • Professor Gilly Salmon, University of Leicester, author and authority, 'm-learning and m-moderating'
  • John Traxler, University of Wolverhampton, 'mobile learning - the present and the future'


Further information and online booking:
http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/pdaws

Thursday, June 30, 2005

Location-aware tools

Some interesting stuff here

A team of students has won the UK finals of the Imagine Cup with OneReach, a software tool which enables users to access location-aware blogs and create maps. The design, aimed at travellers, is reported on BBC News Online http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4118422.stm

There are similar location-aware developments such as the Virtual Savannah project developed by NESTA Futurelab and partners and the CAERUS system developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham.

*- Virtual Savannah report http://www.nestafuturelab.org/research/projects/savannah_report_01.htm

*- CAERUS http://portal.cetadl.bham.ac.uk/caerus/default.aspx

Google earth

Geographers strike again , Google have released another Beta freebie:

Google earth, the basic package is a freebie, and lets you fly around a 3D globe, with overhead satellite photos, tilted 45-degree photos, 3D rendered buildings...

http://earth.google.com/index.html


the more mundane but useful google maps a quick way to find restraunts in strange towns and other useful things is well worth a look at http://maps.google.co.uk

Friday, June 24, 2005

Yet another reason to try firefox


Another reason to use firefox livebook marks.


Any site with an atom or RSS feed for example many bloggs or websites including this one http://andysblackhole.blogspot.com can be agregatted as a livebook mark that shows recent additions of the livebook marks everytime you log on .

So choose your site http://andysblackhole.blogspot.com or www.aclearn.net Click on little red white Icon bottom right of screenscreen see icon on this blogg .

For more help google active bookmarks in firefox

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Morphing technology

The pace of technological change observers think has picked up a gear see this excellent use of VOIP peer to peer technology in the form of Skype www.skype.com and third party software to record an interview using skype then to podcast the recorded interview using an RSS feed .
From a great blog called auricle from University of Bath
read more

14 months ago we would all have said whats a podcast ?? now even auntie BBC is in there.
see podcast trial page

MoodleMoot_05 Second Annual UK Conference

Do you Moodle ??

Well go to the MoodleMoot

Summary

Following the first Moodle Conference last year attended by representives from more than a dozen countries, MoodleMoot_05 are holding the second Annual UK Conference for Moodle Users, Administrators and Developers. The Conference will be taking place in Oxford on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 August 2005.

moodle moot website

Friday, June 17, 2005

Interesting article on RSS

Thanks to Rob Englebright at Becta for finding this interesting article on RSS. Techie geek but worth a read

The Importance of RSS
By Kevin Hale
Preface

This essay started out as an explanation for Google’s
foray into personal portal pages, but morphed into “a comprehensive breakdown of the state of
rss, taxonomies, advertising, and how it relates to the future of Google.” What follows is the result of several months of observation, notes and contemplation.

view whole article at http://particletree.com/features/the-importance-of-rss

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

good use of technology or not ?

The Daily Mirror is reporting that Coventry University are recording their lectures and sending them to the students with 3G phones (also providing access to them over the internet).

http://www.mirror.co.uk/printable_version.cfm?objectid=15623619&siteid=94762

Good use of technology or not?

Andy

Accessibility / elearning training materials

A huge thanks to Alistair McNaught at Techdis for this

Accessibility / elearning training materials

Now that we're entering the main staff training season it is worth
pointing out that a set of ready prepared training materials around the
theme of accessibility, inclusion and e-learning is available via the
TechDis website - see

http://www.techdis.ac.uk/getstaffpacks


The packs contain everything you need from themed icebreakers to
presentations, activities and information sheets where relevant. All bar
one are aimed at a non-technical audience working directly with learners.
Packs include:

* Accessible e-Learning
These training materials explore the theme of accessibility in relation to
simple 'home grown' e-Learning, illustrating how simple techniques can
greatly add to the learning experience of many students. The inherent
contradictions of 'universal accessibility' are explored along with
suggestions for providing equivalent learning experiences.
* Benevolent Bill - What Microsoft® does for Accessibility
This pack looks at the range of built in features in Windows and Word that
are either designed to enhance accessibility or can be used creatively to
make learning more accessible to certain groups.
* Checking Accessibility of e-Resources
This pack looks at the current international guidelines for accessibility.
It also investigates the available auditing tools, how they can be used
and how the results can be correctly interpreted.
* Dyslexia and the Use of Assistive Technology
This module gives a basic overview of the common Specific Learning
Difficulties and how Assistive Technology can be implemented to assist
learners.
* e-Assessment
These training materials consider the benefits of assessing online and
draw out the accessibility issues, problems and solutions associated with
e-Assessment.
* Introduction to Assistive Technology within a Learning Environment
These training materials provide a broad introduction to the breadth and
range of assistive technologies available and the issues to consider when
trying to match a learning need to a technological solution.
* An Introduction to Web Accessibility
These training materials provide an introduction to the issues facing
disabled people when accessing materials on the web. They also give an
overview of the disability legislation in relation to website development.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Geoff Stead of CTAD interviewed on Ferl

Another man living on the edge pushing the boundaries of mobile learning worth a really good look at his work . Does a good line in Kite surfing as well.A fascinating interview with Geoff Stead of Cambridge Training and Development part of the Tribal group. In the article he discusses the achievements of the m-learning project that has inspired and engaged young disaffected learners.

click here for link to article

Friday, June 10, 2005

Windows Mobile 2003, Second Edition Overview

The update for windows mobile appears to have some nice features.

  • Display support

The ipaq supports vga display and allows screen orientation to be changed to landscape and automatic scroll bars.
  • Automatic repagination for Pocket Internet Explorer

With Windows Mobile 2003, when you look at a website not formatted for the smaller display using Pocket Internet Explorer, you get horizontal and vertical scroll bars. Under Windows Mobile 2003, Second Edition, websites not formatted for handhelds will be forced into a single column

link to article

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Becta TechNews how to stay up to date with emerging issues in technology

Technology newsletter - TechNews

TechNews is a technology news and analysis service aimed at anyone in the education sector keen to stay informed about technology developments, trends and issues. TechNews focuses on emerging technologies and other technology news.

Each issue contains news related to the following main subject areas:

1. Networking and wireless
2. Hardware
3. Multimedia
4. Software and internet

Each subject area has a news section and a more detailed analysis piece which highlights the potential impact and likely future direction of a particular technology.

How to subscribe to TechNews

wwww.becta.org.uk/technews

Monday, June 06, 2005

Look no wires in business

The BBC in business have done it again a great introduction on one of the possible futures of mobile .

worth a listen or even better download the MP3 of the 5th of June In Business programme.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/inbusiness/index.shtml
Look, No Wires!
In Business looks at the way computing is suddenly discovering the wirelsss world.
The aim is Internet access absolutely everywhere without thinking about the connection, and thosands of businesses are battling for a piece of the action.
Its a great introduction expanding wirless connectiviy Bluetooth and Zigby and the really exciting role of Mesh internet access.
Enjoy

Andy

Friday, May 20, 2005

Shrinking long url's

Ever cut and paste a url into an email and it appears as long as the great wall of china well there a solution "Tiny url".

Go to http://tinyurl.com/ and paste in one of those really long web addresses that wrap round in an email and it will shrink it for you. Fab!

this urlhttp://www.becta.org.uk/etseminars/presentations/presentation.cfm?seminar_id=30&section=7_1&presentation_id=74&id=2608 becomes http://tinyurl.com/aylsc

Go on have try !!!

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Professor David Morrison at Bath praise John Whalley and David Sugden workshop on using PDA's in education at Oxford university conference "Shock of the New in April 05"