Sunday, 10 August 2008
Handy programs to put on a USB stick
The first program I really felt I needed to carry around with me was Audacity - it was a program I was using a lot to introduce lecturers to podcasting, and it wasn't installed by default on the University's computers. So here's a great idea - keeping a selection of useful programs on a USB stick/flash drive. Useful for any trainer, especially in those institutional settings where you don't have admin access to the computer.
Audacity portable is here along with other portable applications from the same source.
Portable Apps is a menu driven 'work suite' for your flash drive (or any external drive - could be a external hard drive). You download the PortableApps.exe file, and when you run the setup (choosing either a full or a lightweight version) it installs working applications on your flash drive.
If you're not convinced, read a review of portableapps and another from Web Worker Daily
Here's a list from Snapfiles (with the downloads)
More tips from the blog Less Gravity
An alternative site of portable apps from the Italians WinpenpackLabels: flexible working, freelancing, homeworking, m-learning, mobile computing, portable apps, technology
posted by Helen Whitehead 11:11 AM
Monday, 24 September 2007
Final reflections on the ALT-C conference #1
I was looking through my notes from the ALT conference and realising that I hadn't quite finished reflecting on the sessions. It seems unfair that the later sessions should miss out on reporting.
I tried to attend some sessions that were relevant to my areas of expertise and some that were new to me. A session on reusable learning objects made me realise that there are some things I know next to nothing about yet. Understanding RLOs requires quite a high degree of technical knowledge in XML etc. I have just enough knowledge to appreciate what the developers were doing, and the principles behind it, and how they can be used - but I don't think I'll be creating RLOs any time soon without further training! One of the sessions covered use of the XML editor (plus) software Xerte, free from Nottingham University.
Generative learning objects were the next new thing - they can be reused to adapt to other uses. One example was a "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" game template which could be used with questions sets from different subject areas.
One of the important messages was to separate design from content so that new content could be easily be put in. I certainly found that the case at NCSL last year when I was editing the XML files in the introduction to learning course to update the content: I didn't have to alter too much of the Flash.
Finally, I learned about umbrella learning objects (ULOs)
Key features of RLOs:
* can be placed in a different course or VLE
* can be edited by the tutor to update it (not just by a techie)
* can be repurposed, e.g., in a different subject area
My favourite session was an early morning session on Mobile technologies for Learning and Assessment. Gareth Firth from the ALPS CETL and Rob Arntsen from MyKnowledgeMap told us about the use of PDAs for learning and assessment (both summative and formative) in IPE by students during hospital placements.
We got to play with the PDAs, download a video, take a picture and upload it to a website. An internet-ready PDA went immediately on my birthday list - unfortunately the cost of using the mobile internet probably means I won't use it much! The PDAs in the study were run on an unlimited data contract and text and voice were disabled. Ultimately, text and voice should be billable to the students themselves while data is still paid for by the institution. I AM going to get one though.
Interesting to think of students accessing their assessments everywhere from hospital (are they actually allowed to use mobile devices in all hospitals?) to home to Tesco! (The pharmacists in the study were working on placement in supermarket pharmacies.)
Reasons for using mobile technology include:
* record assessment IN the workplace
* don't need to re-key anything later, e.g., reflections
* integrates with VLEs, e-portfolios, etc.
I learned more from this than from Dylan Wiliams keynote, also about assessment, because his was about assessment in the classroom. Still very important, but perhaps not as exciting as in Tesco!Labels: ALT-C2007, altc2007, inter-professional education, IPE, m-learning, mobile learning, PDAs, reusable learning objects, RLO
posted by Helen Whitehead 10:34 AM
Tuesday, 4 September 2007
Tensions between personal space and social space in mobile learning
The session on mobile learning by Dr Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Dr John Cook, Professor Tom Boyle, Mr John Traxler was very interesting. Agnes and her colleagues were good presenters.
I did, however, find my personal devil's advocate surfacing. So much of mobile learning seems to be about the devices, and it seems to me that as technology moves on, and converges, we will all have devices that unite TV, phone and computer technology and we will laugh at the days when we tried to deliver learning via SMS.
I've tried to decide on a meaning for mobile learning - or m-learning before - at much length, with others at a conference. In this presentation it seemed to be mostly about the location interacting with the person - and the person interacting with other people's responses to that same location - great for studying the architecture of a building, or an ecosystem on a field trip, but not much use for "studying chemistry on the bus".
I liked the idea of social space as hyper-local - but I'm still not sure about the local emphasis. Am I not m-learning if my wearable computer is connecting me to a seminar on psychology from Australia while I am walking down the road? Not connected with the location but very much mobile learning.
Like Tim Rudd earlier, John Traxler reminded us to think about the future in new ways - not just to design a faster horse (from the quotation from John Ford).
A very interesting and practical symposium.Labels: ALT-C2007, alt-C20071216, altc2007, m-learning, mlearning, mobile learning
posted by Helen Whitehead 7:57 PM
