tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-300638962024-03-08T11:19:47.518+11:00Teaching and Learning in a networked worldStephan Ridgway's blog exploring the emergence of distribted social networking technologies (web2.0) in the context of teaching and learning in the VTE sector.Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-69004194237951988432008-02-04T22:56:00.000+11:002008-02-04T23:39:17.672+11:00Podcast troubleshootingI have just spent 1 hour troubleshooting the rss feed on the <a href="http://talkingvte.blogspot.com/">TalkingVTE podcast</a> and having fixed the problems I thought I would blog about them to share the solutions.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Problem number #1 - Limited number of podcasts showing in iTunes</span><br /><br />I have for some time wondered why I only see 25 or so podcasts in iTunes when there are many more available on the podcast. This was a frustration late last year when I podcast 2 conferences back to back, elearn07 and mlearn07. Subscribers using iTunes would only see 20 or so episodes, effectively rendering invisible most of the conferences.<br /><br />The podcast comprises a blogger blog utilising a separate feedburner feed for the iTunes/podcast feed.<br /><br />Late last year I implemented a workaround by implementing the new labels in blogger which allowed me to filter the posts to a specific conference. This assisted in viewing the specific conference in the blog but did not solve the iTunes issue. I was not about to create custom feedburner feeds for each label feed !<br /><br />Well tonight I found the solution.<br /><br />See feedburner has a 512 Kb limit on the source feed, over this and it falls over. By default it is set to only scan a small number of posts, well within the 512 Kb limit. You can manually set the number of posts by using the following code as the source url<br /><br /><code>http://myblogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?max-results=x</code><br /><br />where x can be any integer value between 1 and 500<br /><br />If you set it high it may take on more than the 512 Kb and fall over so I just experimented until it worked, mine was fine @ around 120.<br /><br />see a full <a href="http://www.google.com/support/feedburner/bin/answer.py?answer=79626">explanation here</a><br /><br />This fixed my problem and I now see a years worth of podcasts in iTunes :><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Problem number #1 - mp4 file was not showing up in iTunes<br /><br /></span><span>I have recently decided to add vodcast episodes to TalkingVTE. So I added my new post with a link to a *.mp4 file.<br /><br />Result, completely invisible to iTunes. :<<br /><br />Turns out the servers mime type was not set to deliver mp4 so it returned a file not found error despite the correct file path.<br /><br />Easy, I asked the admin to set the following on the server<br />MIME type = video/mp4<br />file type = mp4<br /><br />Now the file could be found however still not post appearing on iTunes.<br /><br />Turns out the problem was I had embedded a youtube video above my url link to the mp4 file and feedburner was setting this as the enclosure instead.<br /><br />Removed the offending embedded video and it all now works. :><br /><br />Now for some more vodcasting with the assistance of a recently installed premiere Elements 4.0<br /><br /><br /><br /></span>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-24463915458148256962007-10-12T07:19:00.001+10:002007-10-12T07:50:20.694+10:00I have joined the legions of tweaters<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1422/565934606_cee1068a60_m.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1422/565934606_cee1068a60_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;">image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/cc_chapman/">cc_chapman</a></span><br /><br />The network effect overcame me last night and I have joined the twitterverse. Not entirely sure why as have resisted it for some time since I first heard about early this year in the <a href="http://www.twit.tv/">twit </a>podcast. No connection to twitter BTW. I guess like many I thought ..<br /><br />What's the point<br />Already am on information overload don't need anymore<br />it's the final dumbing down of the blogging movement<br />I can't write a blog post less than 500 words what hope I have of 140 characters<br /><br />I was reading a Techcrunch titled <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/11/twitter-second-life-spontaneous-web-meetspace/trackback/">"Twitter + Second Life = Spontaneous Web Meetspace"</a> and it got me thinking about the whole idea of dipping in and out of the flow of networked sociation. Connecting to participate in a momentary conversation and then leaving. Something not uncommon in virtual worlds such as second life.<br /><br />Anyway for better or worse, probably the later I have begun my viral journey with twitter.<br /><br /></span>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-27590444029676209382007-10-07T19:07:00.000+10:002007-10-07T19:23:22.233+10:00Berkeley University Lectures Now on YouTube<object height="353" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LKzTMdqmY-Q&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LKzTMdqmY-Q&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="353" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />I could not help but see the irony in this, Berkeley University, California has a collection of it's lectures on youtube, actually quite a few as it turns out, over 300 hours of video on it's own channel. DET NSW offcourse blocks youtube to all it's staff and students, which for many of us who champion open networked learning is indicative of an educational institution out of touch with the times and it's gen C customers.<br />The irony I refer to here is the lectures being broadcast from Berkeley show a form of teaching practice I though had ended in the early 1960's. This is the real thing, "talk and chalk", "sage on the stage" stuff .... On youtube they may be, but their teaching practice seems frozen in time ...Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1692634528569945322007-09-06T08:13:00.000+10:002007-09-06T08:37:34.053+10:00Look to our youth to enrich our democratic foundations<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1305/1331031984_06b9b32727_m.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1305/1331031984_06b9b32727_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rainforest/">Rain.Forest</a></span><br /><br />Been a while since I posted to my Blog but I was inspired to write something this morning in response to watching 2 videos this morning on the protest in Sydney by school students.<br /><br />One published by the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/">Age Newspaper</a> using streaming video linked off their papers website, the other published by the students themselves via <a href="http://www.youtube.com/">YouTube</a>.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Age Media Coverage via the Age titled "School kids upstaged by models"</span><br /><a href="http://media.theage.com.au/?category=Breaking%20News&rid=31373">http://media.theage.com.au/?category=Breaking%20News&rid=31373</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">New Media Coverage via YouTube titled "Sydney students walkout against Bush"</span></span><br /><object height="353" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1Uk99fUrwZE"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1Uk99fUrwZE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="353" width="425"></embed></object><br />I think it very telling in terms of how mass media has been transformed, that when a small group of courages school students get out on the streets and passionately express their views on the state of world politics that the main stream media chooses to focus on a cynical publicity stunt by a men's magazine.<br /><br />It's important to note that these young people expressed their democratic rights as citizens to speak out in civic space, a space that has been largely taken over by state security forces during <a href="http://www.apec.org/">APEC</a>. This group of young people showed enormous courage to speak out in the shadow of a disgraceful fear campaign run by the State Government, Police, military & the Department of Education which warned students that they should stay away for fear that they would be met by the overwhelming force by the state in the streets and be flagged as truants by their schools. Surely a low point for our democracy, the defence of which is something George Bush & John Howard ironically use as a justification for the Iraq war.<br /><br />However apart from the freedom of assembly, one other tenant of a free and democratic society is a healthy public sphere where citizens can enrage in free and public critical debate.<br /><br />When I watched the Age Newspapers coverage of the event I was stuck by the degree to which mainstream media has become dominated by commercial interests promoting consumerism. It's bad enough that a ghastly men' magazine attempts to piggy back off a youth protest to promote it product but that the Age Newspaper chooses to make it the main focus of it's coverage of the event.<br /><br />Some quick research on the web shows that <a href="http://www.zooweekly.com.au/">Zoo Weekly</a>, those who staged of the publicity stunt, is owned by <a href="http://www.emap.com.au/">Emap Consumer Magazines (UK)</a> which is part owned by News Magazines (a division of News Limited)<br />Source: <a href="http://www.magazines.org.au/default.asp?page=/about+mpa+%26+members/our+members/emap+australia">Magazines.org</a><br /><br />News Corporation purchased a 7.5% stake in Fairfax late last year so basically this is a form of cross promotion by News Media for one of it's magazine media investments. Would not surprise me if went their to cover it.<br />Source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fairfax_Holdings">wikipedia</a><br /><br />Compare that to the new media coverage on the event on youtube, the students captured the media and had it up on the site within 24 hours of the event being staged.<br /><br />Citizen journalism combined with social networking technologies such as youtube provide a far more effective medium to enrich our ailing public sphere that the mainstream media.<br /><br />If the president of the US and the Prime Minister of OZ wish to genuinely understand and foster the forces that will enrich our democracy then they should look to these young people not solutions based on fences, water canons, f18 jets etc.<br /><br />Our democracy will only be protected indeed revived by free an open discourse in public space.<br /><br />PS no good trying to watch the student coverage while at work or at school within DET NSW as it's blocked, but you can watch the biki clad babes, what does that say ... well that's another post I think ...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/apec" rel="tag">apec</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/youth" rel="tag">youth</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/socialnetworking" rel="tag">socialnetworking</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/citizenjournalism" rel="tag">citizenjournalism</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/democracy" rel="tag">democracy</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-15990069833418772072007-05-17T22:33:00.000+10:002007-05-17T22:54:59.577+10:00ipod Nano and Belkin TuneTalk Stereo reviewIn a <a href="http://tlnw.blogspot.com/2006/10/apple-ipod-recorder-review.html">previous post</a> I reviewed the Apple iPod recorder + Belkin TuneTalk Stereo recorder attachment. Since then I have purchased and extensively tested the second generation <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/">iPod 8G Nano</a> in combination with the Belkin TuneTalk Stereo.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/501595371/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/215/501595371_11c2bcf08f_m.jpg" alt="8 Gb 2g Apple Nano with Belkin Tune Talk" height="240" width="206" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a></span><br /><br />As you can see from the photograph the Belkin TuneTalk is designed for the ipod video so it looks a tad wider than the Nano, nevertheless it fits to the connector perfectly and has never given me any troubles during recording.<br /><br />I have examined the features of the Belkin TuneTalk in my previous post so I won’t repeat it here. I have used the combination of the 8Gig Nano and the Belkin in a wide range of setups and circumstances with great success.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Battery Life</span><br />Apart from its size and weight, the main advantage of the Nano compared with the ipod video is battery life. I have been able to record for up to four hours continuously. The battery indicator reads red somewhat prior to the battery being drained and I gather this is due to the large current confusing the battery monitoring system. If I am recording a conference I can charge it up over the lunch break and be back on track for the afternoon session. Offcourse the Belkin also allows you to connect a lead to a usb port and power the Nano while recording<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Recording format</span><br />The Nano & Belkin combo has the functional capacity to record to the following formats<br />High Quality – 44000Hz, 16-bit, Stereo uncompressed *.wav format<br />Low Quality – 22050Hz, 16-bit, Mono uncompressed *.wav format<br /><br />This is comparable to a range of external recording attachments such as the <a href="http://www.xtrememac.com/audio/earphones_recorders/micromemo_nano_2g/">Extreme Micro Memo</a> or the <a href="http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/italkpro/">Griffin Technology iTalk Pro</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Memory Capacity</span><br />The Nano records in uncompressed *.wav format so the files generated are quite large.<br /><br />In High Quality mode - 1 hr = approx 800 Mb<br />In Low Quality mode - 1 hr = approx 160 Mb<br /><br />With the 8 Gig Nano you have sufficient room to do a whole days recording quite comfortably. I mostly record using the low setting as I typically distribute my podcasts @ 22 Khz, mono, 32 kbs encoding which means all I have to do in post processing is mp3 encoding.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Accessing the recorded files (using windows)</span><br />There are 2 ways to access the recorded files on the Nano<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Access the files directly from the Nano</span><br />The Nano will work as a memory stick so all you need to do navigate to a directory titled “Recordings” and copy the files to a convenient location for post production editing.<br />Once you have a copy you can then delete the files, this way once iTunes loads it will not copy the files off the Nano into the iTunes libray.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotpEijdl-ZFrCiRkenVVOt1P9GBlwIK1Y8uZAauGlm3LspGrzSiZUVDVPTV9bfzo7sWOIttS0ubPpKStFxlp3B_Ct1PMbIkX32BFhSAfqcVBigTL6iQxuOh0xZCrCPQ-cddlbPg/s1600-h/file_explorer.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 418px; height: 92px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhotpEijdl-ZFrCiRkenVVOt1P9GBlwIK1Y8uZAauGlm3LspGrzSiZUVDVPTV9bfzo7sWOIttS0ubPpKStFxlp3B_Ct1PMbIkX32BFhSAfqcVBigTL6iQxuOh0xZCrCPQ-cddlbPg/s400/file_explorer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5065509158698154178" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Using iTunes to access the files</span><br />If iTunes opens while recordings are present on the Nano you will be prompted to move them to the iTunes library. This moves the recorded files to the root of the music section of your library and will be synchronised to the Nano in the normal fashion.<br />You can physically find the files on your computer under in the root of the <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">mymusic>iTunes>iTunes Music</span> directory.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN7IWoo4d6ZqnwwXusTx1l0TUg7MFXgULnF3lJwzr1kd8pewWL34jvNIXPV_ikLjmQKLgoL5Qt02WgyEZ9tnv3tJ-VKy-tq4y-l_UpT6LDPhrZUihcL2owHP_JZUpOlcZjZqZQFQ/s1600-h/itunes_recrodings.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN7IWoo4d6ZqnwwXusTx1l0TUg7MFXgULnF3lJwzr1kd8pewWL34jvNIXPV_ikLjmQKLgoL5Qt02WgyEZ9tnv3tJ-VKy-tq4y-l_UpT6LDPhrZUihcL2owHP_JZUpOlcZjZqZQFQ/s400/itunes_recrodings.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5065509914612398290" border="0" /></a><br /><br />You can copy them to another location for post production editing and then delete them from the library using iTunes.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrGcFeJAtIKvwBxuveAlJhrxEnA6tq7Slqsdipwcvb6akDMQSyGmMhduJxpQ27HGFyFuOhHRD-uaIgeswaoIuWcbV39_l56KIl479LQtBxkWd_ecVcmGvOypwlgiYlln6ha_egg/s1600-h/library_recordings.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrGcFeJAtIKvwBxuveAlJhrxEnA6tq7Slqsdipwcvb6akDMQSyGmMhduJxpQ27HGFyFuOhHRD-uaIgeswaoIuWcbV39_l56KIl479LQtBxkWd_ecVcmGvOypwlgiYlln6ha_egg/s400/library_recordings.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5065510472958146786" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Recording quality</span><br />I have used the Belkin/Nano combo in the following contexts and had fabulous results.<br /><br />Using the internal microphone on the Belkin with auto gain<br />Using an external visivox SCM VOX lapel mic<br />Using a mixer with line in on the Belkin<br /><br />Here is a sample podcast recording using line out from a mixer<br /><a href="http://talkingvte.blogspot.com/2007/03/talking-vte-episode-3.html">http://talkingvte.blogspot.com/2007/03/talking-vte-episode-3.html</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/428963314/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/164/428963314_ec2f722b52_m.jpg" alt="Talking VTE Episode #3" height="135" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a></span><br /><br />Here is a sample recording using external visivox SCM VOX lapel mic<br /><a href="http://talkingvte.blogspot.com/2006/12/library-20-getting-from-here-to-there.html">http://talkingvte.blogspot.com/2006/12/library-20-getting-from-here-to-there.html</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/501595395/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/223/501595395_81c9b80a36_m.jpg" alt="8 Gb 2g Apple Nano with Belkin Tune Talk and SCM VOX lapel mic" height="209" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a></span><br /><br />Overall I have been very impressed with the results from the Nano/Belkin Tune Talk combination, it is now what I recommend to teacher who want to purchase a field recording unit for podcasting. Hopefully Belkin will bring out a unit better suited to the smaller profile of the Nano. Micromemo has released a unit specifically for the Nano, however for the moment I still prefer the Belkin.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/podcasting" rel="tag">podcasting</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/ipod" rel="tag">ipod</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nano" rel="tag">nano</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tunetalk" rel="tag">tunetalk</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope07" rel="tag">nswlearnscope07</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/clcommunity" rel="tag">clcommunity</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-25537160856079399552007-02-20T08:12:00.001+11:002007-02-20T10:15:45.612+11:00The Next Five Billion Users<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chinapix/136654941/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/46/136654941_8ac3ad1eaa_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);" /></a><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px;font-size:0;" > <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chinapix/136654941/">Cell phone</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/chinapix/">www.nataliebehring.com</a>. </span></div>For those interested this is a very interesting podcast of the supernova conference held in 2006. Titled "The Next Five Billion Users" it's a panel discussion on network covereage both broadband and mobile in India and China.<br /><br />In many ways it is the mobile network which is the primary and preferred means of connectivity for populations such as India and China compared to users in developed countries like OZ. There is an interesting presentation on the Internet in China as well.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail1637.html">http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail1637.html</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/mlearning" rel="tag">mlearning</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/clcommunity" rel="tag">clcommunity</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1162274650354668252007-02-09T10:51:00.000+11:002007-02-09T10:32:36.858+11:00Apple iPod recorder + Belkin TuneTalk Stereo review<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/284308230/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/103/284308230_8022604395_m.jpg" alt="Belkin TuneTalk Stereo Recorder on a 5G ipod" height="240" width="180" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a></span><br /><span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />An interesting feature of the 5G iPod video and the new second generation <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/">iPod 2G Nano's</a> is their capacity to record 44/22 Khz 16 bit audio. The trap is that you have to buy a third party attachment to realise this potential.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I recently purchased a <a href="http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=277970">Belkin TuneTalk Stereo</a> to test with a 30 gig iPod video. </span></span><span><span style="font-family:arial;">The Belkin Tune Talk Stereo is a audio recording attachment designed specifically for the 5G iPod video. </span></span><span><span style="font-family:arial;">The unit is made by Belkin and sells for around $90, and are currently available in Australia. </span></span><br /><span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />As a podcaster I was interested in being able to use the iPod as an audio recorder. Many of our teachers and students have Apple iPods and this represents an effective way to provide them with the capacity to record audio for podcasting or digital story telling.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Features</span><br /></span></span><ul><li><span><span style="font-family:arial;">Internal omnidirectional stereo microphone</span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-family:arial;">Can be used with most Ipod cases</span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-family:arial;">External microphone input (3.5mm stereo), "Plug in Power" compatible</span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-family:arial;">Line in via external mic jack</span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-family:arial;">Real time adjustable gain for varying input levels</span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-family:arial;">Clipping indicator led</span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-family:arial;">Charge while recording with included cable</span></span></li></ul><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/284308126/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/107/284308126_daa90c00a4_m.jpg" alt="Belkin TuneTalk Stereo Recorder" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Click on the image above to see a larger flickr pic with notes</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">It plugs straight into the connector on the bottom of the iPod even with a cover attached. It's a very snug fit and feels a very solid and secure connection. Wether the iPod is switched off or on, once connected it will jump to a menu ready to begin recording. On the top is the internal stereo microphone. Along the bottom from left to right are a cable connector which when used with the supplied cable, provides full functionality with itunes and usb power, an AutoGain switch and an 3.5mm external microphone/Line in jack.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The auto gain switch has 2 settings</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ON</span> – In this mode the automatic gain control is operational for either the internal or external microphone. This is the only mode the internal and external mics will work as the other mode sets the input to line levels which renders the input sensitivity too low for the signals from the mics.<br /><br />The auto gain works by monitoring the signal level and increasing the amplification when the signal gets low, acting to even out the overall signal. This is great if you have speakers situated at varying distances from the microphone. However Auto gain is a problem when you have background noise as this will be amplified.<br /><br />My experience has been that the audio quality recorded using either the internal or external microphone have been superb.<br /><br />Sample Audio file recorded with internal Microphone<br /><a href="http://ssielearning.tafensw.edu.au/audio/acal06_20061007_michael_coghlan.mp3">http://ssielearning.tafensw.edu.au/audio/acal06_20061007_michael_coghlan.mp3</a><br /><br />Sample Audio File using Visivox external microphone<br /><a href="http://ssielearning.tafensw.edu.au/audio/talkingvte_20061205_stephan_ridgway.mp3">http://ssielearning.tafensw.edu.au/audio/talkingvte_20061205_stephan_ridgway.mp3</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/284308145/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/106/284308145_3cd7ec4c85_m.jpg" alt="Belkin TuneTalk Stereo Recorder with mic" height="240" width="180" /></a><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">OFF/Line in</span> – In this mode the automatic gain is turned off and the input sensitivity of the external microphone socket is reduced to line levels. This is used when you are recording from a device with line level output ie mixing deck, computer output, cd player etc. I have connected this to mixing decks at conferences with great results. I often record interviews using a <a href="http://www.visivoxtechnologies.com/products.htm">visivox microphone and preamplifier</a> which outputs at line levels. Once again, the recordings using line in mode have been superb.<br /><br />Sample Audio File using Visivox external microphone and preamp<br /><a href="http://ssielearning.tafensw.edu.au/audio/rtf_forum3_20061128_vox_pops_stands.mp3">http://ssielearning.tafensw.edu.au/audio/rtf_forum3_20061128_vox_pops_stands.mp3</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Battery life</span><br /><br />One of the draw backs using the 5G iPod video with the Belkin is the limited battery life. Because the ipod records in uncompressed format the data rate is large, resulting in the hard drive being continually in operation. My experience with recording using the sample rate of 44 Khz is little more than one hour. On their website Belkin provides the following guide to recording times with 5G ipod video.<br /><br />Battery life estimates:<br /><br />30GB High Quality: 1 hour, 50 minutes<br />30GB Low Quality: 2 hours, 55 minutes<br />60GB High Quality: 2 hours, 55 minutes<br />60GB Low Quality: 4 hours, 30 minutes<br /><br />Approximate Total Recording Capacities when used with external power supply via the TuneTalk USB port:<br /><br />High Quality: 94min/GB, 43 hours on a 30GB iPod, 86 hours on a 60GB iPod<br />Low Quality: 378min/GB, 175 hours on a 30GB iPod, 350 hours on a 60GB iPod<br /><br /><a href="http://www.belkin.com/support/kb/kb.asp?a=3905&langid=">http://www.belkin.com/support/kb/kb.asp?a=3905&langid=</a><br /><br />I frequently record conferences where I need to connect to a mixing deck and leave it record for hours at a time. For this application, I continue to use my trusty Iriver mp3 encoder. If you are recording interviews which last for 10 min or so, the ipod video is ideal. This is offcourse a limitation of the ipod itself rather than the Blekin and can be overcome by using one of the new 2G ipod Nano’s which use flash memory and have longer battery life. (see a future review)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/284308198/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/122/284308198_84af701793_m.jpg" alt="Belkin error message" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /></span></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span>One problem I did encounter was that if I plugged the unit into the ipod video while turned off it would navigate directly to the voice record menu and fail to record, returning the error message shown above "Cannot record because no microphone attached"<br />Did some searching of the apple support forums and found I was not alone in encountering this bug. Turns out, if you turn the ipod on prior to connecting the Tune Talk it all works fine.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Conclusion</span><br /><br />Overall the Belkin TuneTalk Stereo is a great tool to enable audio recording on your 5G ipod or 2G Nano. It has numerous features such as the external power lead & auto gain which set it apart from it’s competitors on the market. Would be great if it encoded directly to mp3 and had some input level adjustment; however the quality of the recordings I have made have been superb.<br /><br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/podcasting" rel="tag">podcasting</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/ipod" rel="tag">ipod</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tunetalk" rel="tag">tunetalk</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope07" rel="tag">nswlearnscope07</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/clcommunity" rel="tag">clcommunity</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-19585797412157579522007-02-09T08:09:00.000+11:002007-02-09T11:30:19.165+11:00Awesome podcasting tool<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdCi-u_bM29cdYfJI6YMjKyoGKMY__qBGTW33MU_likFaVCbmZJ4zULX1ewrenXAbgl2NfFfglLVtPnRnpmKjXsJIbRRqqlu383FLZhaxmGTqRG9UOUuKYKF9Fs6eHmrN8R9Tng/s1600-h/ikeyplus_angle_lrg.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdCi-u_bM29cdYfJI6YMjKyoGKMY__qBGTW33MU_likFaVCbmZJ4zULX1ewrenXAbgl2NfFfglLVtPnRnpmKjXsJIbRRqqlu383FLZhaxmGTqRG9UOUuKYKF9Fs6eHmrN8R9Tng/s200/ikeyplus_angle_lrg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5029277222677643762" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >While I was podcasting the TAFE NSW Libraries Conference 2007 last week the audio technician inquired if I had heard of the <a href="http://www.ikey-audio.com/">iKey</a> portable recording unit.<br /><br />I have subsequently found the product on the web and am in raptures over this products potential as a portable podcasting tool.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhSyYt3taLV0Ob6Q-5ZETD1Mvt-DgtHJXHoK1r3H-Fl3Ue9AM1ZD014_sYrf0pYou4aJE7P9k2Y_r9gd4SPxaV2sIT7616nfGhQrjxvo-RKE0hvRXNXE6V8dVElQLuCjdsqgwxw/s1600-h/pop_up_rcaplus.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhSyYt3taLV0Ob6Q-5ZETD1Mvt-DgtHJXHoK1r3H-Fl3Ue9AM1ZD014_sYrf0pYou4aJE7P9k2Y_r9gd4SPxaV2sIT7616nfGhQrjxvo-RKE0hvRXNXE6V8dVElQLuCjdsqgwxw/s200/pop_up_rcaplus.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5029298830658109970" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >The newly released <a href="http://www.ikey-audio.com/ikeyplus.htm">iKey Plus</a> model has every thing one would want in a portable recording tool.<br /></span><ul><li>Line in (rca)<br /></li><li>3.5 mm microphone input with Phantom power</li><li>even supports phono in (yes you remember those)<br /></li><li>mp3/wav redording</li><li>vu input level display + input level adjust<br /></li><li>Headphone monitor output<br /></li><li>Battery powered (4 AA) + DC charger input<br /></li></ul>Plus a host of other features which you can check on the product website.<br /><br />The best feature of the iKey plus is the usb port on the side. This means that any USB 2.0/1.1/1.0 storage device can be hooked up as the storage medium for the recordings. How cool is that, usb memory stick, portable hard drive and yes even an ipod. Connect your 8 gig Nano up to this unit and you have an awesome high quality field recording unit with all the flexibility and versatility one would need for any circumstance.<br /><br />Now the rub might be the cost, however a goggle search on the previous model, iKey revials a number of Australian suppliers retailing it for $300.<br /><br />As soon as I can source one I will have one, keep you eye on the rss feed for a review.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/podcasting" rel="tag">podcasting</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/ipod" rel="tag">ipod</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/mp3recorder" rel="tag">mp3recorder</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope07" rel="tag">nswlearnscope07</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/clcommunity" rel="tag">clcommunity</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-84923045124414247202007-01-31T10:45:00.000+11:002007-01-31T10:55:09.128+11:00Reluctant entrant to the moblie age..We took receipt of 3 <a href="http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/au/en/ho/WF06a/1090709-1113753-1113753-1113753-1117925-12573438.html">HP iPAQ hw6965</a> PDA’s here @ Sydney Institute this Month. I have been chosen to participate in the ANT trial to see how we can use the technology to support teaching and learning online.<br /><br />Now despite being a self confessed technology geek I have resisted owning a mobile phone till this point. Figure I am on line 24/7 via the Internet so why pay more for the mobile network where you get fleeced by telcos charging exorbitant rates for access. I have been mobile for a while, Laptop with sype credit, wifi @ home etc. I figure why pay twice to accedes the same network at 100th of the speed on crappy stripped down browsers on tiny screens.<br /><br />Well things change and the planned upgrade to the 3g network in OZ to HSDPA made me think perhaps the mobile network might now start to be of some use.<br /><br />So I made a new years resolution that 2007 would be my year of getting onto the mobile network and exploring the mlearning field. I was looking at the new <a href="http://www.cnet.com.au/mobilephones/phones/0,239025953,339271384,00.htm">Nokia N95</a> gps, map nav, wifi, 3g HSDPA and a 5 mega pixel camera.<br /><br />The arrival of the iPAQ has somewhat pre empted this, and it’s not 3g and the camera is a tad crappy but meets all the other criteria of what I was looking for in a mobile device.<br /><br />So I went out and purchased 3 prepaid sims cards from Telstra (all of $3) and enabled the service for GPRS and MMS, a tricky job in itself. Should see the email Telstra sent me to manually configure the phone for their networks as the phone was not listed on their list of phones which could be automatically configured on the network. (turned out the generic settings sent are working fine) All looks to be working fine now, but gee does it churn though credit, I am on my second $50 refill and have spend less than ½ online. Installed Skye, Opera and have a 2 G Micro SD card coming so I can get some mapping software installed.<br /><br />Slowly getting my head around all the mobile discourse gprs, edge, enhanced edge, gps, mms …. good grief I though web2.0 was bad for jargon :><br /><br />Looking forward to getting my teeth into a project where I can explore the potentiality of the device as a teaching and learning tool.<br /><br />My new number is on my skype profile for those who want to connect.<br /><br />Will blog my journey ..Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1166039972290242522006-12-14T06:54:00.000+11:002006-12-14T11:09:03.066+11:00Edublog Awards!!<p><a href="http://incsub.org/awards/category/finalists/"><img src="http://fraser.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/edublogaudio_1.gif" alt="edublogs awards" border="0" /></a></p>How cool, <a href="http://talkingvte.blogspot.com/">Talking VTE podcast</a> has been nominated for an Edublog award, in the category “Best audio and/or visual blog“.<br /><br />Alex Hayes’ <a href="http://alexanderhayesblog.blogspot.com/">personal blog</a> has also been nominated for the Individual Blog section.<br /><br />The main purpose of the awards is to demonstrate the huge variety of excellent practice going on across the world, to provide a showcase site for everyone interested using social software to support informal or formal education, and to have some fun along the way.<br /><br />This year there are ten categories:<br /><ul><li>Best audio and/or visual blog </li><li>Best group blog </li><li>Best individual blog </li><li>Most influential post, resource or presentation </li><li>Best library/librarian blog </li><li>Best newcomer </li><li>Best research paper on social software within learning and teaching </li><li>Best teacher blog </li><li>Best undergraduate blog </li><li>Best wiki use </li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">If you are fans, help us win by voting online!</span><br /><br />It’s easy: scroll down to the “Best audio and/or visual blog“ and then click “count my vote”.<br /><br />Voting ends Saturday 16th December.Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1159185403120691552006-09-25T21:34:00.000+10:002006-09-25T22:05:29.816+10:00Apple's vision for connected learningAttended a workshop hosted by Apple Australia last friday titled <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">“NSW TAFE Digital eLearning Workshop”</span> @ the Apple Executive Briefing here in Sydney.<br /><br />This was organised by the TAFE Online II, “Access to New Technologies” project to further our knowledge about what Apple has to offer in terms of networked learning and technology assisted education in general. As part of the ANT project many TAFE institutes have purchased ipods to trial podcasting & vblogging so this was of particular interest to attendees.<br /><br />While this session was always going to be a marketing opportunity for Apple to promote their products & services to the education sector it was a good opportunity for us to see their vision for networked education and play with Tiger (their latest OS), Garage Band (their podcasting software) & iTunes (their podcasting aggregator).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.flickr.com/109/251728445_7d546e37ca_m.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://static.flickr.com/109/251728445_7d546e37ca_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.flickr.com/109/251728445_7d546e37ca_m.jpg"><br /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a></span><br /><br />First up was Steve Doyle, National Professional Development Manager who delivered a most interesting and passionate presentation titled “Innovation in Education”. Steve outlined some of the challenges faced by educators in reaching and engaging a connected generation of learners and their unique learning styles. He showcased some great examples of how Apple technologies have been enabling students to form dynamic networked learning communities including a Year 4/5 student podcast <a href="http://podkids.com.au/">Podkids Australia</a> from the Orange Grove Primary School in Western Australia.<br /><br />Listening to Steve one got the distinct impression that Apple understands the implications of the contemporary shift towards networked collaboration, knowledge sharing & user driven content underlying web2.0 and has sought to position itself strategically in the market to appeal to users who want a user friendly, integrated suite of networked tools to build networked learning communities.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.flickr.com/88/251728762_228440f826_m.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 273px; height: 151px;" src="http://static.flickr.com/88/251728762_228440f826_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a></span><br /><br />Next up was Stuart Harris, Software Product Marketing Manager who gave us a very quick tour of “Tiger” Apples latest iteration of their OSX operating system. He then showed us iLife which basically integrates and networks Apples line of software for everyday life online. iPhoto managing and sharing ones photo’s, iWeb for creating an online presence, blogs, wiki etc., iMove for managing and sharing digital video & offcourse Garage band for audio and podcasting.<br /><br />Apple is definitely tapping in to the Zeitgeist with these tools especially with the social networking dimension and it all looks very good on screen. My only concern is that they are creating closed communities within the iLife network which is essentially a subscription based service aimed @ facilitating networking and content sharing amongst other iLife subscribers. While the support for rss means outside users can subscribe to member feeds it seems to me it is not a truly open & public network when it is so tied to proprietary software and hardware.<br /><br />This leads me to the other concern; the tendency towards locking users into a total solution which is so tied to a platform and associated technologies. A case in point is the ipod, the speakers were keen to promote the use of “enhanced” podcasting with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding">AAC</a> file format, Garage Band, iTunes & ipods. Many of these enhanced AAC features such as file markers which trigger web links or image changes are not features of AAC standard itself, but of the Apple proprietary file-format that wraps the AAC bitstream.<br /><br />This is yet another example of a large company extending on open standard but tying it to their platform and products in this case iTunes and ipods. Microsoft tried thus with java and internet explorer, the resulting in the browser wars of the late 90’s. Ultimately this back fired with the developer community favouring open standard css and some would argue the decline of IE itself.<br /><br />As impressive as the presentations and the technologies on display were I could not help thinking that Apple has jumped on the web2.0 phenomenon to market it’s products and image as a hip connected company. A case in point was that I asked if the presentations could be recorded and podcast, this was a day for “knowledge sharing and collaboration” after all, the public relations manager flatly refused on the grounds of “commercial in confidence”. The Apple notebooks we were all using to train on the “connected software” were not connected to the network for “security reasons”. This sounds like a company paranoid about free and open networks rather than embracing the connected communities. Still in all fairness to the speakers, they work for a large organisation whose management is grappling with how to position themselves for the future in a networked world.<br /><br />Those of us who work in DET share their situation!!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Links</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/tags/applebriefing/">flickr stream from the day</a><br /><br /><a href="http://podkids.com.au/">Podkids Australia podcast</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.apple.com/ilife/">Apple iLife</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/course/view.php?id=868">TAFE Online 2 - Access to New Technologies</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/vte" rel="tag">vte</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope" rel="tag">nswlearnscope</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope06" rel="tag">nswlearnscope06</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/clcommunity" rel="tag">clcommunity</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tol2" rel="tag">tol2</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1158617400893651052006-09-19T07:59:00.000+10:002006-10-31T16:49:17.820+11:00mLearing in Education<span style="font-weight: bold;">Team Workshop 6 - 15 Sept. 2006</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"mLearning in Education" – Paula Williams (Teaching & Learning Development Unit, OTEN) & Phil Lantry (Head Teacher, OTEN)<br /></span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/246274428/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/30/246274428_de8a3e969e_m.jpg" alt="Alison & George" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">image by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a></span><br /><br />In last friday's session Paula Williams & Phil Lantry from OTEN presented to the team on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile-learning">mLearing</a> in education. We had a great turn out with attendees from the numerous LearnScope teams across the institute and staff members from the BAIT Curriculum centre.<br /><br />Paula and Phil delivered an engaging overview of web2.0 and the mobile network and how as educators we might use networked mobile devices to facilitate student centred learning.<br /><br />It was a very hands on session with Paula getting us to participate in a simulated workplace assessment using a moblog to submit audio and images.<br /><br />Phil demonstrated the concept of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_area_network">personal area network (PAN)</a> using bluetooh, a wireless protocol built into most mobile phones. Learners had to connect to Phil's laptop using bluetooth and submit a video of their colleuge tying a knot in a piece of rope.<br />Just goes to show, mLearning does not have to be expensive or use the telco's network to submit work for assessment.<br /><br />Interesting to note that Microsoft is endeavoring to harness the power of social networking in it's upcoming <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/zune_social_networking.php">Zune mp3 player</a>. Users will be able to share full length sample tracks - your favorite songs, theirown recordings, playlists, or pictures with friends wirelessly - device to device.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/aflf" rel="tag">aflf</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/vte" rel="tag">vte</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope" rel="tag">nswlearnscope</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope06" rel="tag">nswlearnscope06</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/clcommunity" rel="tag">clcommunity</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/mlearning" rel="tag">mlearning</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1158491471866173372006-09-17T20:57:00.000+10:002006-09-18T08:46:46.033+10:00TALO Swap and Meet 2006: The journey begins ..<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.flickr.com/95/234323516_68a3269faa_m.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://static.flickr.com/95/234323516_68a3269faa_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The annual <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">TALO (Teaching & Learning Online) Swap and Meet 2006</span> convenes today in Dunedin. For those on the team not familiar with TALO, it's a networked learning community engaged in all things eLearning, flexible delivery, online education, networked learning, and web 2.0.<br /><br />Each year we hold a f2f event where community members meet for an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_space_conference">open source conference</a>.<br />The 2005 Swap and Meet was held in the Blue Mountains in Sydney.<br /><a href="http://talo.wikispaces.com/taloswapmeet05">http://talo.wikispaces.com/taloswapmeet05</a><br /><br />This year the event is being held in New Zealand with the theme of “The Future of Learning in a Networked World” It’s somewhat of a travelling road show this year beginning in Dunedin on September 18 to 20, then traversing to participating institutions to continue open space meetings with local audiences.<br />You can see a very cool Google Maps based web2.0 service which will chart their journey using Community Walks @<br /><a href="http://communitywalk.com/map/18879">http://communitywalk.com/map/18879</a><br /><br />If you have a spare moment or 2 over the next over the next 12 days I highly recommend you pop in and check out the progress of the conference and participate in the online conversations.<br /><br />Hey with so many web2.0 gurus and devotes in one place there is bound to be lots of interesting online social network working activity happening in the form of blogs, podcasting, vblogging, moblogging etc.<br /><br />Good entry points to the network are<br /><br />TALO wiki<br /><a href="http://talo.wikispaces.com/">http://talo.wikispaces.com/ </a><br /><br />The Future of Learning in a Networked World conference wiki<br /><a href="http://flnw.wikispaces.com/">http://flnw.wikispaces.com/</a><br /><br />The Future of Learning in a Networked World conference blog<br /><a href="http://learningnetworkedworld.blogspot.com/">http://learningnetworkedworld.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />Flickr tag<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/flnw/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/flnw/ </a><br /><br />Community Walks Map<br /><a href="http://communitywalk.com/map/18879">http://communitywalk.com/map/18879</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1157691628440995172006-09-08T14:21:00.000+10:002006-09-08T15:46:56.596+10:00Introduction to Adobe Breeze<span style="font-weight: bold;">Team Workshop 5 - 1 Sept. 2006</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Introduction to Adobe Breeze" – Stephan Ridgway, TAFE NSW, SI, Learning & Innovation</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.flickr.com/96/236534422_7912be4022_m.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://static.flickr.com/96/236534422_7912be4022_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Last Friday Stephan Ridgway presented to the team on the synchronous communication platform "Adobe Breeze meeting" which is being rolled out to TAFE NSW institutes across the state.<br /><br />The roll out is part of a trial being run by the <a href="http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/course/view.php?id=679">Tafe Online II</a> sub project <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Access to New Technologies</span>. The aim of the Access to New Technologies project is to implement a range of new technologies and conduct trials in Institute learning environments across TAFE NSW to evaluate breeze and a range of other tools to support online teaching & learning.<br /><br />Sydney Institute has set up a <a href="http://sydneyinsituteprojects.wikispaces.com/Wireless+technology">steering committe</a> which will oversee the project implementation and the evaluation process.<br /><br />Stephan demonstrated the following features<br /><ul><li> Overview of Breeze and platform functionality</li><li> Logging in</li><li> understanding the host, presenter and participant profiles</li><li> Using the Camera and Voice Pod</li><li> pods, layouts and their functions</li><li> Using the attendees pod</li><li> Using the text chat & Q & A pods</li><li> Using the note pod</li><li> Using the share pod</li><li> Using the File Sharing Pod</li><li> Using the Poll Pod</li><li> Using the Web Links Pod</li><li> Presenting using the Share Pod</li></ul>Don't worry if you missed the workshop you can access the information on the workshop 5 wiki page including an audio recording of Stephan's presentation and links to his wiki etc.<br /><br /><a href="http://tlnw.wikispaces.com/TLNW_Workshop_5">Workshop wiki page</a><br /><br />Check out the session <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/tlnw5/">flickr stream here</a><br /><br />There will be lots of upcoming PD opportunities for staff across the institute to receive professinal development on breeze in the near future.<br /><br />The next session for TLNW is <a href="http://tlnw.wikispaces.com/TLNW_Workshop_6">"mLearning in education"</a> by guest presenters<br />Paula Williams (Teaching & Learning Development Unit, OTEN) & Phil Lantry (Head Teacher, OTEN)<br />Friday 15th Sept from 11am to 1.30pm at Ultimo College, Library Building D, Ground floor, Room 45<br /><br />Email Nicola or Stephan if you are coming along, we have also sent out an invitation to all SI LearnScope teams to share the learning.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/aflf" rel="tag">aflf</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/vte" rel="tag">vte</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope" rel="tag">nswlearnscope</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope06" rel="tag">nswlearnscope06</a><a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/clcommunity" rel="tag"></a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1156849440079241072006-08-29T20:51:00.000+10:002006-08-29T21:57:24.256+10:00vbloggers in action<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.flickr.com/73/227101087_259c322612_m.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://static.flickr.com/73/227101087_259c322612_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Went to a "Sunderland" pub on Broadway @ the end of Harris St. on Monday night for a few after work drinks with Sean Fitzgerald & Dianna Khabbaz and who should turn up but the vblogging team from "<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/chaser/war/vodcast/">The Chaser's War on Everything</a>"<br /><br />How cool was that, Sean and I had just finished presenting to the <a href="http://nswlearnscope.wikispaces.com/017">edisabilities</a> learnscope team on podcasting and vblogging and there it was being recorded right before our eyes. Sean even used there vblog as an example.<br /><br />They just walked in with 2 cameras, vacuum cleaners and a couple of the main characters and recorded their segment and then they all left. Most people in the pub were completely oblivious to their activities or if they were did not care.<br /><br />If you have an ipod or itunes you should check out their vblog, it's very funny and a great example of how mainstream media are utilising web2.0 techniques to distribute and syndicate their content. I suspect will have a whole new audience who just subscribe via rss rather than watch the tv show on ABC.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/"></a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/aflf" rel="tag">aflf</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/vte" rel="tag">vte</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope" rel="tag">nswlearnscope</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope06" rel="tag">nswlearnscope06</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/web2.0" rel="tag">web2.0</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/networkedlearning" rel="tag">networkedlearning</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/clcommunity" rel="tag">clcommunity</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1156655161991367052006-08-27T14:57:00.000+10:002006-08-27T15:08:12.390+10:00Web 2.0 technologies and their impact on education, teaching and learning<span style="font-weight: bold;">Team Workshop 4 - 25 Aug 2006</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Guest presenter - Guest presenter - Sean Fitzgerald,</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">“Web 2.0 technologies and their impact on education, teaching and learning”</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.flickr.com/59/224796853_4a84a88322_m.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://static.flickr.com/59/224796853_4a84a88322_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Last Friday Sean Fitzgerald presented to the team on the web2.0/networked learning and it’s impact on teaching and learning.<br /><br />He outlined the defining characteristics of what has come to be know as web2.0 and demonstrated how it is changing the way people use the Web and altering social institutions.<br /><br />He argued that a cultural shift may be required within educational institutions like DET/TAFE in order to adapt to the changes brought about by Web 2.0 technologies.<br /><br />Don't worry if you missed the workshop you can access the information on the <a href="http://tlnw.wikispaces.com/TLNW_Workshop_4">Workshop 4 wiki page</a> including an audio recording of Sean's presentation and links to his wiki etc.<br /><br />Check out the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/tags/tlnw4/">session pics on flickr</a><br /><br />If you wish to participate in the conversation about networked learning it’s technologies and the techniques for harnessing it’s potential for education join the <a href="http://clcommunity.blogspot.com/">Connected Learning Community</a>.<br /><br />Let us know if you are coming along by emailing Stephan or Nicola.<br /><br />Web 2.0 technologies and their impact on education, teaching and learning<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/aflf" rel="tag">aflf</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/vte" rel="tag">vte</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope" rel="tag">nswlearnscope</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope06" rel="tag">nswlearnscope06</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/web2.0" rel="tag">web2.0</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/networkedlearning" rel="tag">networkedlearning</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/clcommunity" rel="tag">clcommunity</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1156112637821471832006-08-21T07:50:00.000+10:002006-08-21T08:29:06.846+10:00Using web2.0 as a tool for teaching & management<span style="font-size:130%;">Team Workshop 3 - 18 Aug 2006<br />Guest presenter - Tony Whitingham, IT Teacher, Randwick College, SI<br />"Using web2.0 as a tool for teaching & management"<br /></span><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/219771841/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/83/219771841_23c82920a7_m.jpg" alt="Tony Presenting" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a><br /><br />Last Friday's workshop was terrific; Tony gave a fabulous presentation on blog & wikis and how they can be used both as a teaching tool and as platform for project management within organisations.<br /><br />Tony provided us with numerous examples of how the private sector has taken up wikis & blogs to foster team collaboration and networked knowledge sharing within their organisations. Many private sector organisations have replaced their static and centrally authored intranets with wikis to great effect.<br /><br />He also demonstrated his own use of web2.0 networked technologies ie.blogs/wikis/podcasts/vblogs in his teaching @ Randwick, Sydney Institute. A great example of just how effective the networked learning model can be when used for teaching & learning.<br /><br />Don't worry if you missed the workshop you can access the information on the <a href="http://tlnw.wikispaces.com/TLNW_Workshop_3">Workshop 3 wiki page</a> including an audio recording of Tony's presentation and links to his wiki etc.<br /><br />Check out the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/tlnw3/">session pics on flickr</a><br /><br />Don't forget we have another workshop this <a href="http://eventful.com/events/E0-001-001259564-3">Friday Aug 25th, 11:00-2:00 pm</a>, with Guest presenter - Sean Fitzgerald, “Web 2.0 technologies and their impact on education, teaching and learning”.<br /><br />Let us know if you are coming along by emailing Stephan or Nicola.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/aflf" rel="tag">aflf</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/vte" rel="tag">vte</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope" rel="tag">nswlearnscope</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope06" rel="tag">nswlearnscope06</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/web2.0" rel="tag">web2.0</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/networkedlearning" rel="tag">networkedlearning</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1155680134348450922006-08-16T08:08:00.000+10:002006-08-16T21:17:42.746+10:00Mother nature can still stir us!!<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/215872331/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/59/215872331_5df6e1d174_m.jpg" alt="Harris Street Ultimo from TAFE" height="180" width="240" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephanridgway/">sridgway</a><br /><br />There is not much that will get us out from behind our computers these days but this literally vacated the "muse" in Ultimo TAFE as people lined at the lift to go outside to experience it.<br /><br />Where I took this photo on level 1 of the there was a line of people with moblies ready to take pictures.<br /><br />I had my pictures on flickr by 8:00pm that evening and tagged sydney hail and within 11 min I was already asked to join a group, the power of social networking and web 2.0.<br /><br />Check out the group pics on flickr @<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/59257763@N00/pool/">Hail in Sydney 15-8-06</a><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/aflf" rel="tag">aflf</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/vte" rel="tag">vte</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope" rel="tag">nswlearnscope</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope06" rel="tag">nswlearnscope06</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30063896.post-1150926811983735322006-06-22T07:48:00.000+10:002006-08-16T21:18:36.176+10:00Welcome team members!Hi and welcome the team blog for the 2006 NSW LearnScope project “Teaching and Learning in a networked world”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Background </span><br /><br />This Sydney Institute LearnScope project will seek to engage key management stakeholders in exploring the potential of web2.0 services for the VTE environment to improve work practices and enhance the flexibility and quality of educational delivery. The core project team will include participants drawn from management, administration, libraries and knowledge management, learning and innovation, educational planning and delivery, Institute Technology Services Unit (ITSU), and teachers (full time and part time).<br /><br />This project seeks to engage management and educational decision makers in the debate around web2.0 and the networked learning model. Web2.0 tools are being used by teachers and students on the fringes of the institute’s formal eLearning framework and there is a need for dialog between net-gen learners and their teachers on the one hand and the predominately digital immigrant management on the other. We also hope to demonstrate that this will address the Institute’s business plan by increasing flexibility and quality of educational delivery in cost and time effective ways.<br /><br />It will also forge strong links with partner RTO’s, community organisations, LearnScope teams, Reframing the Future teams, Australian Flexible Learning Framework national eLearning networks, and other relevant online educational networks.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Distributed Networking model</span><br /><br />The project will utilise a distributed networking model to participate in online learning communities. We will encourage team members to contribute to the learning network through their choice of one or more social software presence ie blog, wiki, start page.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Project Spaces</span><br /><br />wiki<br /><a href="http://tlnw.wikispaces.com/">http://tlnw.wikispaces.com/</a><br /><br />frappr map<br /><a href="http://www.frappr.com/tlnw">http://www.frappr.com/tlnw</a><br /><br />Edna group<br /><a href="http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/course/view.php?id=780">http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/course/view.php?id=780</a><br /><br />Project tag for distributed networks ie photosharing, social bookmarking<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">tlnw</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Networking Partnerships</span><br /><br />We will encourage all project members to actively participate in the following network communities.<br /><br />NSW LearnScope<br /><a href="http://nswlearnscope.com/">http://nswlearnscope.com/</a><br /><br />TAFE NSW, Sydney Institute, National Networks project "Connected Learning Community"<br /><a href="http://clcommunity.wikispaces.com/">http://clcommunity.wikispaces.com/</a><br /><br />TAFE NSW, Illawarra Institute, 2006 LearnScope project “teacherConnect”<br /><a href="http://teacherconnect.wikispaces.com/">http://teacherconnect.wikispaces.com/</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Technorati Tags:</span> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/aflf" rel="tag">aflf</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/vte" rel="tag">vte</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tlnw" rel="tag">tlnw</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope" rel="tag">nswlearnscope</a> <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/nswlearnscope06" rel="tag">nswlearnscope06</a>Stephanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16974071659486013582noreply@blogger.com3