The E

Educators exploring eLearning

Shanetechteach says goodbye to The E.

Feb 21

Posted by theenews in Administration | 2 Comments

I have tried to keep The E updated and posting tips regularly, but this task has become greater than the time and dedication I can contribute to it. There have been some consistent and regular contributors – Sam Owczarek and Tony McCormack, however the initial plan of multiple educators contributing to a common publication to be used across schools has not been realised. Since the last post on December 23 2010, only one new post has been drafted but no comments or questions regarding the existence of The E have occurred. This tells me The E will not be missed. I’m not concerned or angry by this, but relieved really. It is therefore with regret I say goodbye to The E.

Thank you to all who have commented, retweeted, liked and supported this attempted project. A special and loud thank you to Sue Waters and the Edublogs crew who sponsored us with a pro subscription. Thank you also to Kate Beitz who designed and contributed the logo.

Good night.

Explore the human body with Google Lab’s Body Browser

Dec 23

Posted by theenews in Online | No Comments

google

Google Labs has a lot of interesting projects in development. A recent release is the Body Browser. Google’s Body Browser utilises the latest in web development technology incorporating WebGL to provide a 3D exploration of the human body. Therefore to utilise the Body Browser, users need to be running a WebGL compliant browser. Your options are currently Google Chrome 9 Beta, Mozilla Firefox 4 Beta and Safari on OSX 10.6. Once your browser is installed there is some command line trickery required, details here.

The Google Labs Body Browser allows users to “peel back” the layers of the human body to reveal anatomical details. At any stage of the exploration, a URL (that leads to what the user is currently viewing on their screen) can be shared. This provides an ideal way to teach and learn human anatomy. The only drawback is many students may not currently have WebGL compliant browsers.


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All about you – personal portals.

Dec 20

Posted by theenews in Online | No Comments

aboutme

There is some excitement recently as personal portal host About.me has opened to the public. About.me allows a user to create an online space that represents their complete online activity. Essentially, a user builds a page and then imports their life feeds (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc) onto the page. About.me has a free option, plus premium services for those interested.

A similar service, Flavours.me has existed for a while. Both of these services differ from personal information portals like iGoogle, Netvibes and Pageflakes as their purpose is simply to promote you.

If you have been looking for a public space to become your personal landing page, head over to About.me and sign up.

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Spring cleaning for your computer – CCleaner

Dec 17

Posted by theenews in Laptops, desktops and netbooks | 1 Comment

CCleanerWindows only.

Windows is renowned for becoming a cluttered mess over time, although whether this is the result of Windows as an operating system or the user is debatable. If you want to keep our Windows installation lean and clean, and therefore more efficient and possibly quicker, then Piriform’s CCleaner is for you. CCleaner can be installed locally or as a portable application. Running CCleaner provides four main functions, however the Cleaner and Registry Fixer will be most relevant to the majority of users.

The Cleaner cleans unused files from your system. Depending on the options you select this clean can be cursory or thorough.  The registry fixer will scan the registry for what it terms issues, then cleans those issues after backing up the registry.

The first time you run CCleaner, the process may take some time. This decreases with use.

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Organise your research with iCyte.

Dec 14

Posted by theenews in Online | No Comments

icyte

iCyte is an online service that provides a way for users to organise, annotate and save their web research.  iCyte has been a free service, however will move to a commercial model in January 2011. Bonafide educational users can create a free account here.

iCyte captures web pages and PDF files and stores them in cytes (think folders). iCyte can store PDF files located on your local hard drive as well as one stored online.  Cytes can be private or public. Private cytes restrict contribution to the cyte owner, however viewing of the cyte is dependent on the provision of a link. Links can be shared across social networks Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn or mebedded into webpages or course management systems. Public cytes are ones the user has invited others to contribute to. This invite is by email. There is also an RSS feed option for each cyte.

Adding to a cyte is simple through the browser add on. When on a relevant site, click “Add to cyte” and a pop up box controls all your options.

If you are looking for a way to present a series of content specific web pages and PDF files, the iCyte could well suit your purpose.

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Game analysis on the iPhone – Dartfish Easytag

Dec 10

Posted by theenews in iPhone / iPod Touch apps, Mobile devices | 1 Comment

dartfish

Dartfish Easytag is a free iPhone app that allows the collection of occurrence statistics. An occurrence statistic is recording every time an action is observed. This concept is most commonly used in sports, which is where the Dartfish suite targets, but could be applied across a range of situations where the user want to record occurrence statistics. The app requires the user to create panels. Panels have editable labels. Occurrence is then recording by touching the relevant label.

The data from this app can be imported into commercial versions of Dartfish software, or used as is on the iPhone.

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Wondersay – animate your text.

Dec 8

Posted by theenews in Online | No Comments

wondersay

For those who like to apply fun effects to text, Wondersay has launched a Beta product that does this simply and quickly. Based completely online, Wondersay takes your text input and applies set animations. This animation can then be embedded or linked to.

Have some fun with your text, animate it with Wondersay.

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Linking to timeframes within a YouTube video.

Dec 6

Posted by theenews in Online | 9 Comments

YouTube

Often times in education we wish to use only a certain component of a YouTube video for a specific learning purpose. Whilst beginning a YouTube video at a specific timeframe has been possible with a little URL hacking, it is now much simpler thanks to Google. All a user needs to do is pause the video (on the YouTube site) at the specific point they wish to start, then right click on the video frame. There is now an option to “Copy Video URL at current time.” Using this link will guide viewers to the video on the YouTube site at the designated starting timeframe.

This currently only works with videos on the site, not with embedded videos currently.

If you are interested in other URL hacks for greater control over your YouTube videos for learning, Google has an extensive set of instructions here. These instructions wok with both the embedded player and videos on the site.

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Beyond slideshows – using Powerpoint for learning.

Dec 1

Posted by theenews in Laptops, desktops and netbooks, Learning tool. | 1 Comment

Microsoft Powerpoint, Apple Keynote and OpenOffice Impress are powerful software programs commonly used to build slideshows and presentations.  Each of these programs have much greater capability built in with many more possibilities  beyond building slideshows. A range of interactive (click and go) solutions can be built,and the export options enable a range of publishing formats.

The Rapid e-Learning blog, at http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/, offers a range of tutorials and how to’s for increased usefulness of these programs. Although the Rapid E-Learning blog focusses on Microsoft Powerpoint, the tutorials can be simply adapted to either Apple Keynote or OpenOffice Impress.  A recent posting outlined how to use PowerPoint to build a tabbed notebook.

Do yourself, and your learner’s, a favour. Explore the range of possibilities within your choice of presentation software. Use the Rapid E-Learning blog as a handy resource for this purpose.

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Fun times – personalising your desktop.

Nov 29

Posted by theenews in Laptops, desktops and netbooks | 1 Comment

Disclaimer – this post offers no functional advice!

Personalisation of a computer, in particular the desktop, can create a sense of ownership of a device. Personalisation goes beyond changing the background picture and posting shortcuts on the desktop. A simple yet effective method is to install an icon pack. Icon packs provide a range of icons based on a specific theme, for example Back to the Future, Looney Tunes, or The Simpsons. There are many repositories on the internet offering free icon packs or single icons. Try iconspedia and deviant art for a range of free icons.

You can change the icons for your desktop shortcuts by right clicking and selecting properties.

Have you personalised your desktop? Submit a screenshot and a short description to The E.

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