Testing testing

I have absolutely no idea what will appear here, if anything at all. Bear with me and hope for something more exciting than a knitted scarf.

Update: really interested to see comments left on the Voicethread website appear here too. Why no have a go yourself here? If you don't feel like starting your own Voicethread, why not leave a comment on mine - see how easy it is.

I must say, it's great seeing and hearing comments like that, too. Wouldn't your learners like to receive feedback in that way?

Thank you Jane C-D for yet another nifty distraction!!

Exciting!

Having read good things about the PhotoStory program, I thought I should investigate so this morning I downloaded it and played about a bit. I created a sequel to the video we made way back in the early days of this blog and was keen to share it with you all. You may like to watch the video first, to remind yourself of the scenario and the relevance of the Raspberry Crunch.



The photos were all taken during the meeting when we introduced the Sony cameras. As you can tell, I enjoyed playing with mine! I uploaded a series of them into PhotoStory and added music and captions. I recorded a narrative too, but decided that was one step too far so deleted it.

The PhotoStory saves in .wmv format, which means they can be posted here on the blog easily. I think I'm going to have more fun with the program - just think what could be done with holiday photos, for example.

But bringing myself back to our AdEd focus, it would be a great way to put together evidence of a process - eg recording the making of an item in a craft class or the creation of a piece of artwork. I may well have to try that out for myself. Watch this space.

(BTW, who's going to be the first to spot the continuity error?)

Achievement

Of course, I ought to have focused on my achievement, wouldn't you say?

Whilst not exactly achieving what I set out to do on Saturday - I still can't blog from my mobile phone - I learned to update my phone's software and had enough confidence to set to and download the latest version and complete the task yesterday. It's quite a nerve-wracking process when you are told right at the start that it's going to wipe everything off the phone in the meantime, and reminds you to back it all up first.

All was well, however, and I have now discovered another layer of this clever little beast. I'm beginning to understand the feeling which prompted one of the Nokia chaps to comment to his colleague on Saturday "Hey, I've never been so deep inside an N95 before, have you?"

I'm sure I've only scratched the surface!

Frustrations

Lizzie's post yesterday left me thinking about the process of conquering a bit of electronic paraphernalia - in this case, my mobile phone.

I've had my flashy Nokia N95 for about a year now having bought it to replace the ipod, camera, PDA and Nintendo I carried around. OK I'll admit it - I have the boredom threshold of a gnat and unless I have "stuff" to keep me entertained and amused, I can get pretty crabby. No, I don't suppose you have noticed...

The idea was that my bag would become lighter, thereby improving my posture and reducing the risk of back trouble, I'd have only one thing to charge and wouldn't need lots of different wires and cables, saving energy in the process. You see, that Nokia N95 was going to make a huge contribution to the global situation by sorting out everything but world peace. (I can justify the purchase of anything, given the chance)

Trouble is, one of the main features of the thing has remained a mystery. I have not been able to send a photo taken with the camera to my blog. Mobile blogging is not one of my skills - yet!

Nokia claim this is easy to do. Vodafone tell me that of course it can be done. Which is why I spent two hours with a handful of delightful young men in the Nokia store on Regent Street on Saturday morning, none of whom were able to resolve the issue completely. I've come several steps along the way however, and am not yet defeated. I am told that it's a Vodafone problem...

How is this relevant to AdEdInterest? Well, it reminded me of how we learn in small steps. I might acquire the essential skills pretty quickly (I could make a call from my phone from day one) but it takes a good deal longer to learn the more challenging aspects and some may remain unresolved for quite some time. I was reminded once again that we need to sit back for a while and consolidate before tackling a challenge again with different people, maybe a different approach. Sitting back for a while and letting the dust settle doesn't mean I've given up though - I'm still "working towards" blogging from my phone.

I learned a lot from those young Nokia tekkies - not only about my phone but about myself too. I'm more tenacious that I thought I was and am not prepared to give up yet - Vodafone, watch out! All credit to those patient young men who spent so long trying to do the impossible in such good humour, too.

getting to grips with all this

I have been rather silent re posting on the blog - but I have been 'head down' trying to get to grips with this flood of new technology. I am getting there - far too slowly for my liking - but to summarize progress so far: just managed to work out how to post a blog! - can show a DVD on big screen using projector and computer. I have put some photos on Flickr. I am checking out copyright, as I have a series of commercial textile DVD's felt making, Indian textiles etc. and it would be great to use short clips in class. Feel quite confident with camera, but havn't used it to record student comments yet - hope to try on Saturday. I have made several collections of photos to show as slide shows in class (starting points for inspiration, example of textile work and recording progress and achievements). I have been using the docucam for a while and found this easy to set up with just projector - but am stuck at the moment as far as connecting to computer as well. Grey USB lead plugs into docucam but I can't find port on computer for the small connection on the other end of the computer. I feel I need a USB lead with 2 (normal sized) USB connections. The Epsom photo printer is excellent and very user friendly. Am working out the cost of printing. The ink cartridge that cam with the kit only lasted for 15 pictures. I studied the Epson printer manual when I was away from the equipment and got really excited, because I read that you could store photos from the camera directly onto a disk. Unfortuneately the model we have doesn't have a disc. It does have a USB port so I plan to try to save directly onto a memory stick. (page 37 of manual) I hope so - because it is very easy to follow instructions on Epson printer and so students could come up and select pictures taken on the camera to build up a personal record of photos. Otherwise it is possible to connect an external device (disc) to save photos. If gathering a personal selection of photos to record progress and achievement can be made easy students can do this themselves. The more learners can take responsibility to do this themselves the better, as there is the big question as always, on time management. Saving photos this way can be quick and simple and done during a session. Learners would need their own memory stick however. A disc would be cheaper.
With the help of a big son I have got going with the MP3 player. All this is totally new to me - but I am so excited (partner could say obsessed!) about it all - just wish there were more hours in the day - having to use the night! I have lots of ideas and will share some of these on next blog. Just wanted to blog that I am on the case to use equipment. Children find it all quite amusing - when they came for a meal the table was covered with technology instead of the usual well laid meal table!