Now here's an interesting challenge!

One of the blogs I follow is Jane Hart's Elearning pick of the day. Although the sites she highlights are sometimes of no interest to me, more often they fall into the "could be worth bookmarking" category. Then, every so often, she adds a link to one which is right up my street.

Like today.

The 140 University delivers learning in regular nuggets of 140 words, by means of Twitter or Facebook. There is a variety of subjects to sign up for and the material is archived to review later.

I'm not a Twitterer and not really a fan of Facebook either (though I have accounts for and have used both), but this could be something I'd like to take advantage of and I might well sign up to see what's what. It's also got me wondering how we might use this idea and take it further. Any ideas? Do share them here, in the comments!

Uploading photos

Lizzie wrote in the previous post, about her difficulties with uploading photos to this blog and sometimes, to Flickr. I have had similar problems in the past and can share one or two thoughts which might be of help.

Firstly, sometimes the photo doesn't upload because of a problem with Blogger - or Flickr - in some remote place, not on your computer. We tend to think that any problem we encounter must be down to something we are doing ourselves and that's not always the case. Web-based services such as these often have problems of their own. You can check if this is the case on their central website - I think there's a link from the Blogger sign in page - where sometimes, they report service interruptions.

Another possible reason is that the file you are trying to upload is too large. If the photos are only to be viewed on screen, then there's no need for them to be anything larger than about 100kb. Next question, how to reduce the file size...(cue Jane Carter-Dunn!)

Another thing could simply be that your own internet connection is busy. Might be worth trying again at a different time of day. Early evening and late afternoon is often the worst time, when all the schoolchildren are home and checking their email and playing games online. Try sometime mid afternoon, perhaps, or early morning.

Of course, you may still have problems....in which case I'm probably no help at all! But of course, I'll always encourage you to keep trying and exercise max patience (something which I find extremely difficult!!)

A few links to share

It's easy to tell when I should be doing something else...I start following links on websites! There were some goodies to share today:

Aviary tools looks a useful place to find web based programs which can be accessed anywhere

I'm not a language teacher, so can't evaluate LiveMocha objectively, but it looks a pretty useful site which might interest your learners, as does Xlingo . Another language site which might be worth exploring is italki, especially the facility to communicate with a native speaker. I might exercise the usual internet cautions with that one however, reminding myself of some basic internet security advice before beginning a conversation!

Finally, I'm not sure that the ability to make a balloon starfish qualifies as an essential life skill but who knows when such a skill could come in useful? The 5 min website has plenty of displacement activities, most of which take slightly longer than the name suggests.

Hmmm...I wonder if learning to make a balloon starfish would count as CPD? I'm off to reflect on that right now.

Crochet, the WI and the Docucam

One of the most impressive pieces of Technology we have at our disposal for teaching is the docucam IMHO, and I was thrilled to be able to use it again today.

I was asked by the Gloucestershire Federation WI to give a class on crochet.

A phone call last week informed me that the class was oversubscribed and could I take more students than my maximum? This is usually a difficult decision, as demonstrating crochet is quite a daunting task with large numbers when you try the traditional... "gather round" ...demonstration technique.

Using this traditional teaching technique there is also the consideration of mass disruption every time you wish to demonstrate. By using traditional methods with large numbers of students, means the merry - go - round of all your students getting out of their seats and standing around.. then going back to their seats trying to remember what you said and continuing with their work. Often a nuisance for both tutor and students.

So this morning 15 students arrived at Cherrington Village Hall to learn the art of crochet. We arranged 3 large tables with 5 chairs at each one, so the students were seated in groups.

.

(students working)

Using the docucam meant the students never need to move out of their seats, and could see the demonstrations on the screen in real time and perhaps even more important they could follow along crocheting at the same time as I was demonstrating. Naturally this had the advantage that if they experienced a problem. I could easily do a quick replay of the technique or skill I was demonstrating. {Note to self.... make sure to have a manicure before using docucam, as hands are magnified onto the screen!}

(this is a photo of the screen with my rather anaemic hand demonstrating how to hold the yarn in the left hand)

Of course I also used the docucam to show patterns to the group, as well as finished crochet items and these are easily seen on the large screen.

The two and a half hours seemed to fly by this morning and I feel sure the learning was enhanced by the use of the docucam. The result of using this technology was a relaxed, hard working group of students who have asked me to return and teach them some more crochet skills. I am more than happy to do that with my trusty and wonderful docucam to help me.

NB -click on photos to enlarge.

So how do you use the docucam in your teaching?

Maggie H.

Eco font

I've just come across this new font which claims to use 20% less ink than a standard font when printed out, yet still be as legible. I've downloaded it and will give it a try.

Of course, when printed out in a "normal" size, the holes won't be visible - or so they say.

Anyone already used it? Comments?

Download and find out more here http://www.ecofont.eu/

Next big thing?

I'm not sure how we'd cope with the permissions etc but I wonder if this might add a little something to our classes?

In the Times yesterday:

"...websites such as YouTube and Flickr already allow you to upload videos from computers but now mobile phones and a new breed of video camera (such as the Flip Mino) are upping the ante - allowing gig-goers or flaneurs to upload direct to the web without a computer"

(I had to look flaneur up in case it was something rude!)

I think we could extend the group to include learners and tutors, don't you?

Oh my, we'll all be media stars before we know it!

Inspiring Tutors in Adult and Community Learning

That's the title of the presentation Jane C-D and I made at the eCPD conference this morning, showing all the good things Gloucestershire AdEd tutors are doing and sharing here on the blog and elsewhere. We took along some of our Flip video cameras, Pogo printers, eePCs, Sony cameras and Panasonic voice recorders and set the participants in our workshop a ten minute challenge: what could they achieve in such a short time with these nifty bits of technology?






In no time at all, they were filming, printing and recognising what powerful tools these were for recording learning and the air of excitement in the room was wonderful to witness.



We made a list of the achievements in those ten short minutes - quite a long list, actually.

They:

used Flip video to record learning :: bluetoothed an image from phone to pogo :: found the webcam on an eepc :: made a bluetooth connection for the first time :: printed using the pogo :: fell in love (with the pogo!) :: used the voice recorder :: found the USB on the Flip :: took advantage of peer support :: uploaded video to an eepc :: took a still photo with a digital camera :: recorded evidence using a camera :: identified further applications of the equipment in their own teaching :: took a photo with a mobile phone for the first time :: recognised the importance of learner involvement :: recognised the importance of recording the process of learning as well as the outcome :: had FUN!

Thanks to all the participants in our workshops - we had a ball working with you and enjoyed sharing what's going on in Gloucestershire with a wider audience. Thank you Sally, for being such great technical support and for holding it all together for us!

We're very proud of the work our tutors are doing and thank everyone for sharing so many great ideas.

Hurry - only a few places left!

My phone has been ringing all morning and I'm delighted that our Camel Bazaar is attracting so much interest.

If you'd like to come along and haven't already booked a ticket for this inspiring afternoon, please ring 01452 425923 or email me as soon as you can to reserve your place.

Worth all the bother (?)

Sometimes, the prepping and planning for a teaching session seems more bother than it's worth, don't you think? My work today involved just the odd bit of paraphernalia - just five bags, two boxes, a sewing machine and a laptop. I'll admit, at times I felt that was five bags and two boxes too many.

I decided to use laptop, projector, docucam, speakers...needed extension lead and screen too. Samples and sewing machine, paperwork and other kit filled the boot of the car completely. Setting it up took a while - of course, you knew the room would be upstairs, didn't you? - and the wire spaghetti around my end of the table was such a trip hazard I banned everyone from that side of the room.

Was it worth it?

You bet!

The expressions on the faces of the participants in my workshop were priceless, for this is a group not noted for making best use of technology. However, they embraced the whole shebang with enthusiasm and the evaluation comments made particular reference to "that great camera for showing details" and one said how she "loved all the computer stuff".

What did I do? I was teaching craft judges who normally work in village shows and used the comments of the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel as examples. We had recorded a short clip from the programme and included it in the powerpoint presentation I used during the day, complete with (loud) music, thanks to the speakers (which are excellent). The whole thing was contained on a memory stick and I had nothing to do but click the mouse button to get it all running smoothly. Worked a treat! Later, I used the docucam when we were discussing the finer points of the "competition entries" and found it so much easier than passing the things around.

Even more interesting was the discussion which followed, about the potential of using laptops and other kit. This group are ready, willing and able to take this further and I fear will be disappointed if I don't come up with something equally surprising next time. Ideas on a postcard, please!!

Movie making

In preparation for our workshop later, I'm busy movie making! I am, however, having difficulty getting the focus right on the video function of the Cybershot, but haven't given up yet! as you can see, the gorillapod is proving useful and has been worth its weight in gold.

After shooting three or four video clips, I decided to get the manual out...

I've now changed the setting, by means of the button shown and BINGO! The video I'm recording is now crystal clear and the sound quality excellent. Of course, the file size is huge, but I'll copy it to a memory stick later and delete the "mistakes".

Why didn't I read the manual earlier?

We're here for you

A post from Aleksandra prompts me to invite our new friends, recently signed up for the AdEd interest blog, to introduce yourself and post a message. One of the joys of being here is to share ideas and experience and it's really easy to post a message and a photograph - if you're not sure, drop one of us an email and we'll help.

So, we now have artists and craftspeople, family learning specialists, at least two linguists and tutors who can advise on special needs issues, together with quite a few multi-talented administrators! Anyone else?

In particular we'd like to hear about how your students are reacting to your use of technology to enhance their learning. What's the most useful piece of kit? Or rather, which piece offers the greatest of reward for the least effort?

In my opinion, it's digital camera 10 points, docucam 9, Mimio nil. Anyone going to persuade me to love the Mim?

An invitation

At our meeting today, Jane and Gill were sorting out some training for the Art and Craft Dream Team. We thought we'd record the discussion so you can see how the idea worked out. We just about got all the details sorted before the camera battery went, but will answer any questions in the comments, of course!

Sara, Lizzie, Maggie - hope you're able to join us at GL14 in Cinderford on the 6th May from 3.30pm till around 6pm. As you heard, we've negotiated some funding from the training budget for a bite to eat too, so you won't go hungry!

If other Dream Team members are interested in a similar workshop, do leave a comment here and we'll be in touch.