Published by Paul Reid June 16th, 2007
in Education, Software and Web 2.0.
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.
....... continue reading Skitch in the classroom
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It contains 425 words, 1 image = an estimated 1:42 mins reading time.
Published by Paul Reid April 21st, 2007
in Education, Hardware and Web 2.0.
It’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.
....... continue reading iPhone is perfect for ePortfolios!
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It contains 779 words, 2 images = an estimated 3:07 mins reading time.
Published by jjakes April 20th, 2007
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.
....... continue reading Please excuse the intrusion….
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It contains 287 words, 0 images = an estimated 1:09 mins reading time.
Published by Jenny Ashby January 28th, 2007
in Education, Podcasting and Web 2.0.
Last year I made BEAUT podcasts and managed to publish 10 podcasts. My BEAUT Podcast Vol2 has been accepted in the iTunes music Store. It should appear tomorrow or later today. If you do a search for BEAUT you will find it. I would love to have some feedback on the podcasts. Somethings mentioned may be local but a lot is for all educators using Macs. This latest podcast (11) has a great tip on keeping a track of enhanced or as Dan Schmit says interactive podcasts.
Published by Paul Reid January 28th, 2007
in Education, ICT and Web 2.0.
This online service called FlipClip takes short-video clips and transforms them into small flip books traditionally the domain of quirky gift shops. This is an interesting way to share and preserve short clips your students make in the physical world - great for clay animation made with iStopMotion or for clips with subtitles in iMovie. Basically you upload 15 or 30 seconds of video to the website and select a book size. They print out several frames from your video and assemble a book which animates when flipped. Check out a short video clip here. Surprisingly they aren’t very expensive considering they are personalised. Pricing works out to AUD$11 per book, and $13.40 for postage. A bulk order of 25 books can be sent for the postage price of AUD$34. Some technical info from the FlipClip website:
The ideal resolution for a FlipClip is 640×480, and there are some great cameras available now that will record movies at that resolution or higher. Although FlipClips can be printed from any resolution video, short clips (under 30 seconds) at 320×240 or 640×480 are optimal. Frame rates aren’t as important, so you can safely record at 10 or 15 frames per second and still have a great looking FlipClip. FlipClips.com currently restricts the size of file uploads to 25 Megabytes, so you may want to edit your video’s length and, if possible, compress it before uploading. FlipClips are intended to be used for movies, where flipping the pages reveals the motion.
....... continue reading Flip Clips - for the web2.0 tool-belt
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It contains 290 words, 1 image = an estimated 1:10 mins reading time.
Published by Paul Reid January 26th, 2007
Welcome to AusMacEd - this is our official launch post to the group blog.
Good luck to all AusMacEdders and may the force be with you 
As promised I’ve been working on a multi-user blog for Australian educators using Macs and iPods (and iPhones). The goal of AusMacEd is to bring our vibrant discussions about the huge potential of Apple based solutions in Australian education out onto the internet in a pro-active and web2.0 manner. So this is a personal invite to be the first to the *LIVE* launch of http://ausmaced.org.
I intend to let the Maced list know later this weekend. If you think there are any issues or ideas that need discussing related to the launch please contact me. In the meantime if you have the time and inclination please make a post and comment to get things kickstarted. As they say on Windows click to “ start”
If any of you are interested in joining a voluntary AusMacEd moderation and administration team of the website please do let me know. Recently I began a new role in the Curriculum Through ICT section of WA’s DET so I may be a little pushed for time in the next month as I get my head around the new position.
Some background. The idea of ‘AusMacEd’ for came about for these reasons:
....... continue reading Happy Australia Day - AusMacEd is *LIVE*
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It contains 275 words, 1 image = an estimated 1:06 mins reading time.
