Hi
I am having a hard time using a digital projector on an iMac running Tiger. I can make it work on the OSX side but I can not make the projector connect on the Windows side. Any ideas? Thanks! Kris
Archive for the 'Education' Category
MacEdders online conference Wed Aug 8th
Published by July 29th, 2007 in Education and Professional development. 3 CommentsJenny Ashby has organised a MacEdders online conference on Wed Aug 8th at 7:00pm Melbourne time. As this is an online event using Elluminate you can attend from home as long as you have internet connection. Around 50 Macedders have registered. Elluminate - a Live eLearning solution & collaboration software - is a fabulously immersive web conferencing tool that certainly has to be experienced to be believe.
Please contact Jenny if you’d like to join in the conference. Jenny’s latest BEAUT podcast also has a plug for the conference and more information about what each presenter is talking about. Check it out: BEAUT Podcast 15
Radiologik freeware for school radio stations
Published by July 9th, 2007 in Education, ICT, Podcasting and Music. 0 CommentsRadiologik is a freeware DJ tool that would be of interest to teachers and students alike. I remember when my students produced three CDs of music in GarageBand for the school International Food Day.
This would have been a great way to broadcast interviews with the creators of the “world music” themed tunes in between the tracks.
Radiologik is a set of two programs that seeks to address the specific needs of radio broadcasting in an accessible and focused way.
It is being developed for LPFMs, online streaming radio stations, and school radio stations and it should grow to support commercial operations over the next year.
The DJ portion is ready for prime-time now and along with the scheduler (now in public beta testing) you can have a fully-automated station.
Thanks to Bronwen for bringing to my attention Skitch - the latest highly intuitive tool from the guys at Plasq. ICTs that have *FUN FOR ALL AGES* written all over them are hard to find. Three years ago when Comic Life appeared on the Mac platform it became a quick way to show the amazing simplicity of the OS X interface and the iLife suite integration. Apple loved it so much they began include it free on most Macs. Last month Plasq announced a ComicLife beta for Windows. The Windows beta of ComicLife is currently down but will be up again soon. Treat your Windows using pals to a nice UI! First time users are regularly amazed at the ease of use Comic Life provides. Skitch has a similar “wow why hasn’t anyone done this b4?” factor. For Skitch sign up is req’d to try the beta - I don’t have any invites yet but Plasq promises more soon. Please email me and I’ll pass one on. Possible uses of Skitch in the classroom:
- Quick screen-cap and draw function has the most immediately obvious use in an educational setting.
- The UI offers many neat features like not having to select the text tool - just start typing.
- Web-sharing across schools and annotating resources and user-guides.
- Using iSight to capture live video shots that one can scribble and jot on.
- Re-size and crop by simply dragging a corner + all sketches are vector and scaleable.
Film Festival open to Aussie kids
Published by May 15th, 2007 in Education, ICT and Video. 0 CommentsEvery year as a part of Universal Children’s Day Graeme Johnston of Coomera Primary School organises the fantastic “Dream A Better World” film festival. So get your iLife suites warmed up and get creating! From Graeme via the MacEd list:
Just a reminder that the 7th annual ‘Dream A Better World’ Film Festival for Australian Primary Schools is on again in 2007 - 2nd December at Dreamworld.
Just enter a 3 min film made by your class, with some teacher guidance, on an environmental or humanitarian theme and enter it in the festival.
Great prizes on offer from our sponsors and also a great way to showcase your kids skills and talents. All levels of “experience” welcome. By the way most entries are made on macs.
More details and entry forms at
http://www.coomerass.eq.edu.au/filmfestival.htm
Apple has an interesting project going where students can produce a video using clips of the quite famous band Modest Mouse. This may be of interest to students of Media Production. Via the Apple EdCommunity website:
Here’s what we’re looking for. Modest Mouse want a video for their new single “Missed The Boat”. They know there are tons of talented fans and video directors out there who have what it takes to put it together. So that’s where you come in.
Thanks to http://applemacs.edublogs.org/ for the hot tip.
iPhone is perfect for ePortfolios!
Published by April 21st, 2007 in Education, Hardware and Web 2.0. 1 CommentIt’s been a quiet around here lately. For me, a new job, moving house, adopting dogs, and getting engaged (most importantly) have taken priority 
Alas, quite a few Mac related things have been ticking over in my mind. Or is this an open letter to Jonathan Ive? I’ve fantasised about iPhones place in education before; I’ve also publicly fantasised about ePortfolios before - please indulge me again.
Recently I attended a seminar by Professor Richard Kimbell from, Director of Technology Education Research Unit, Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. This seminar provided an opportunity for educators in W.A. to learn about the use of PDAs and other digital technologies to support assessment. The event was summarised thus:
Embedding ICT across the curriculum (i.e. getting it out of ICT suites) has been a notoriously difficult and frequently unsuccessful enterprise. Embedding ICT into assessment practice might therefore be thought to be even more tricky. The use of mobile / hand-held digital technologies transforms the debate and makes possible a complete re-visioning of the teaching/learning/assessing relationship. The e-scape pilot (just completed in 15 schools) provides glimpses into the possible futures for e-assessment.
I am a Project Developer at a City Learning Centre in North London who is currently delivering on a Masters course called the Transformation Teachers Programme. We currently have 35 teachers on the course, who come from 10 secondary schools, 4 special school and also involves a number of National Strategy consultants. The participants have all been challenged to investigate, through classroom based action research, how teaching and learning can be transformed enabled by digital media and the use of Web 2.0.
We decided to give the staff kit comprising of a Mac Book partitioned to provide both Mac and PC environments, a digital camera and tripod and a selection of software. As approx 90% of the group had never used Macs before, there was a real sense of excitement and concern when they got the kit.
We have established individual blogs for each participant so that they can blog their journey through the project but have also set up a number of blogs to draw out the experiences of the group. Our Apple Mac Blog will seek to explain how the macs can be used creatively in the classroom - the important element here is that these teachers are all so new to the Mac that it is refreshing to see how easy they are finding the transition from PC to Mac. There is also a blog to draw out possibilities for Assessment for Learning. Both these blogs are in their infancy but we are keen to establish international links to be able to both share our experiences and benefit from other peoples ideas so please visit the blogs and add comments or posts as you feel fit.
iPhones in education
Published by February 1st, 2007 in Education, ICT, 1-to-1 and Hardware. 4 CommentsThe big question is - will schools be buying them for Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) access during excursions and outside work? You bet - at least those with money will. It wasn’t until I came across this video, I understood what the web community is so amazed about. Kindy kids will be able to understand and operate that GUI! This montage from Rojo sums the combination up for a visual spatial learner like me:
Unfortunately, being able to access rich media via the school WiFi network changes the boundaries for school ICT resources yet again. With the new wireless capabilities of hubs like AirPort Extreme digital portability enters yet another dimension - can our school infrastructure and systems keep up? This sort of change in expectation displays the need for scaleable network and storage solutions. Instead of portable notebook trolleys will we see racks of iPhones in the library? I’ll check back on this post in 2008 to see where we are at.
Update: Lot’s of other bloggers are thinking about the gaping hole iPhone could fill in education:
Chalkface Project predicts:
“that the iPhone, and its descendants and imitators, will replace desktops and laptops as the workhorse educational computing device.”Electronicportfolios.org’s Dr. Helen Barrett hypothesises:
“Online simulations, games, learning objects, widgets, blogs, a built-in digital camera to collect images; the capabilities of this device could far exceed the way Palms are currently being used in education today. I could imagine many ways that this device could become the next 1-1 platform for learning. I also see a tool that will support the many stages of ePortfolio development, including collection and reflection.”
The Huckleberry mirror is a nifty tool for any MacBook or MacBook Pro doing the same as many educators have been doing with their iSight cameras. The MacBook screen effectively becomes a huge LCD with an Intel processor.
Consisting of an acrylic mirror and two durable plastic mounting brackets, Huckleberry for MacBook is placed above the screen to reflect the built-in camera’s field of view. Instead of filming yourself, it will now film what’s in front of you! The new Huckleberry II for MacBook Pro uses two mirrors to provide a full 180 degree change in camera direction.
Educational uses For Huckleberry:
Capture movies direct iMovie HD.
Create stop-motion/clay-mation video in iStopMotion.
Scan your media with Delicious Library.
Take pictures in Photo Booth.
