” is a subject better known through its constituent technologies, such as bar coding, two-dimensional coding, magnetic encoding and electronic coding, including the much vaunted radio frequency identification (RFID)”
The Centre puts these technologies in context by taking visitors through scenarios. Visitors can move unaccompanied through the demonstrations and use the equipment. There are a range of scenarios in which you can use the equipment including a hospital, airport, warehouse, retail outlet, manufacturing plant, town hall and they are planning to create a classroom of the future.
Ali Marie and I tried out Brio last week. It is a free web meeting service with which you can you communicate and collaborate through an online personal meeting room.
Brio is built on Adobe’s Flash platform, and operates inside a web browser.
It allows you to:
Host unlimited online meetings with up to 3 meeting participants.
Interact through screen sharing, chat and whiteboards.
Access a meeting via a personalized URL.
Distribute documents and files to meeting participants.
Use integrated VoIP, teleconferencing and multi-point video.
We found that access to the meeting was quick and the screen sharing worked well but we had some difficulties with the sound. It’s worth a try even though the numbers who can participate are limited to 3.
We are planning to run E Guides forums to provide support for staff developing e learning solutions within Work Based Learning and Adult & Community Learning organisations. These will give E Guides the opportunity to share good practice, develop new skills in the hands on technology sessions and network with other providers. To tell us what kind of form you would like these forums to take you can fill out our survey.
Miro is a free open source video platform which enables you to play any video file, save Youtube videos etc. The Miro site says:
“Unlike tiny videos on websites like YouTube, Miro videos are usually very high quality and look great when watched full screen. Since Miro downloads videos completely before you watch, your videos will never skip or stutter while they are playing.”
When you download Miro you can then choose for the programme to find all the videos on your computer. I found some I didn’t even know I had.
On the Miro website there is also a guide on how to make internet TV and covers shooting, editing, publishing and promoting the film.
Have been playing around with myUdutu, an online learning authoring tool with which you can build your own courses. You can choose a theme, upload your logo, include assessments with audio and text feedback options, create slideshows, add & stream narration, add groups, scenarios, add flash, videos, documents and links.
You can extract the course into a zip file which has your self contained course in SCORM 2004 or SCORM 1.2 compatible format which can then, according to myUdutu, be:
loaded into your existing CMS
distributed via CD
hosted on your own webspace
kept for your archives
It is free to author, preview and pilot it but there is a watermark (which you click to remove) on the pages until you choose the publish live option. Then it appears to be that you must purchase screens for hosting which are $1 each. I’ll post a sample course when I’ve finished creating it.
WiZiQ is a free virtual classroom with live audio-video communication, chat, content sharing, and session recording capabilities. A demo is available on the site and from what I’ve seen it looks very straightforward. The video below also gives a brief outline of the features:
A quote on the VastPark website describes this as “the Ning of virtual worlds”. VastPark is a 3D interactive platform which apparently allows you to create your own world. It is being labelled by some as the next Second Life.
The program has been in development since 2003 and since then the founder, Bruce Joy, says the focus has been on:
“how to scale the virtual web up to millions of worlds; how to connect them together; and how to solve the infrastructure issues so that no one person or company ‘owns’ the virtual web. Although our ‘beta’ software implementation requires Microsoft Windows®, our underlying framework is absolutely cross-platform and non-device specific.” (Bruce Joy, October 2007)
The Beta 2 version has now been released and you can sign up for the closed beta here. It seems to be an interesting development so I’ll be keeping an eye on progress.
Gliffy is an online tool which enables drawing and sharing diagrams online. One of the advantages is that you do not have to download software. You simply join sign up for Gliffy and use it in your web browser. The basic version is free and you can upgrade to a premium account which is ad free and has additional features e.g. private files. You can create flow charts, mind maps, network diagrams, floor plans, technical drawings etc. and collaborate with colleagues/students on your design. Gliffy has been around for a while and we featured it on our Web 2.0 course in 2006 but it has a new look and additions.
I’ve just been told me about a human anatomy visualisation tool called Visible Body which I have downloaded and had a play with. It features a 3D, interactive human anatomy model. You need Internet Explorer to run it. The video here gives a brief overview:
In Touch Care in Sheffield use 3D resources which they purchased from Amazing Interactives as part of their LIG2 bid (Learning Innovation Grant) and have found them to be extremely effective teaching aids for their Health & Social Care, Oral Health and Childcare courses. Jo North, the Executive Director of In Touch Care, prepared a podcast for us on the developments made through strategic planning, excellent technical support in house, investment in 3D interactive aids, simulators and staff development in the use of these tools, two parts of which you can view in the video section of our social networking site mrscyhspace. The videos are not edited in a whizzy way yet but are still useful as Jo North sets out very clearly each stage of her organisation’s e learning journey and describes how the 3D and other tools have been used effectively.
Some professionally made videos about In Touch Care can be viewed on their website.
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