tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22019214135186976472024-02-20T13:41:39.729+00:00Carol's thoughts on life, ICT and whatever comesHello and welcome!
Here you are likely to find short and possibly infrequent posts. They will most likely be linked to the use of ICT within or without of the curriculum. I hope what you find is useful in some way. Please leave me a comment or send me a message :-)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.comBlogger247125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-24181549184422728122017-04-19T11:16:00.001+01:002017-04-19T11:16:56.769+01:00Experimenting with LoomThis looks such a useful resource for teachers. I made a very short video, posted it straight to Facebook, now I am going to try the embed code:<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="394" src="https://www.useloom.com/embed/5bd5cf2c40f94c25916a2ae03452ce56" width="630"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
This works from a plugin in Chrome, no messing with editors etc., the video is stored in the cloud, I think I can download it - trying that next...<br />
All in all, so far, it looks really good!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-68644243561173658392016-07-07T18:54:00.000+01:002016-07-07T18:54:53.629+01:00Photospheres 2 - trying indoorsI have been studying photospheres to see how people are using them!<br />
What I would like to achieve is to make conversation or story starters.<br />
One image which I saw, and it looked really good, was inside a workshop which gave me a whole new set of ideas.<br />
<br />
I thought that if I could do that I would add in all sorts of artefacts to create different scenes.<br />
<br />
I tried a 360 photo in my office - there is lot in here that could be used to start a discussion, books, photos, ornaments, two dogs, technology, all sorts. My office is far too small, the image was totally jumbled, I think each shot overwrote what went before.<br />
<br />
I moved into our largest room, the living room, this is quite a big room. The first three tries were dreadful, bits of coffee table, books, chairs all got jumbled up. I moved the coffee table over to the patio windows so it was not in the middle of the room and got a reasonable, though far from perfect 360 photograph. I had set up just a few props to see if it was possible, the teddies in the chair, a photo, open wooden box, flowers - most of which are no use as they are not clear.<br />
<br />
I think it needs to be a big classroom, school hall or similar to be able to set up an indoor story starter. Outdoors it is easy to makes 360 photos but detail can't easily be seen so anything that a teacher wants to inspire discussion or story writing would need to be near the photographer and fairly large.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!3m2!1sen!2suk!4v1467913243573!6m8!1m7!1sF%3A-I1ZLHgrvw4s%2FV304d7MVhoI%2FAAAAAAAADZA%2FNtgyekVge7MIls9W9nKYCMx85rAEjgjHwCLIB!2m2!1d52.2031968!2d-4.3442506!3f107.83612480133431!4f-21.73545141551905!5f0.7820865974627469" style="border: 0;" width="100%"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-19722512770545814292016-07-05T21:02:00.001+01:002016-07-12T20:53:02.505+01:00Photospheres, how to make and embed themThe Google Street View app (IOS and Android) offers the opportunity to make photospheres: 360 degree panoramic images with the photographer in the very centre of the image and totally unseen. I have spent the week playing with it and finding out what I can do with it. This is by no means complete but a good start for anyone wishing to start creating photospheres!<br />
<br />
<b>To make a 360 degree image:</b><br />
<br />
Download the Google Street View app<br />
Open it on your phone or mobile device<br />
Click on the Yellow Dot and choose to open the camera.<br />
<br />
Line up the yellow dot with the circle on screen and it automatically takes a photograph when in line. Move right and line up the dots, follow round a complete circle, this takes about 10 images<br />
Move the camera up or down and follow the dots again. There are five levels of yellow dots to follow and take images. (NB if your phone does not have a gyroscope you will only be able to go round in a circle around you and not complete the 360 recording.)<br />
<br />
Once you have completed all of the images needed touch the tick and the app starts stitching the images together to create the 360 degree image. This stage takes a few minutes.<br />
<br />
Soon after you complete it it will be available to <b>Publish</b>. The app automatically records where the image has been taken, and that position is where the image will be recorded in Google Maps once it is published. At this point it is available to the public.<br />
<br />
Publishing it puts it into two places:<br />
<ul>
<li>it will be in your photos in the 360 folder. From there you can upload it to Facebook where it will appear as a 360 degree image.</li>
<li>it will be on Google maps, but I found it fairly difficult to find! In Google Maps click on the double arrow in the bottom right corner to open images. Click on the little peg man to open the next menu which shows photospheres marked by tiny blue circles. Find the one which you want</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>An example of finding your photospheres:</b></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqcYQhKw14c6zk3R3nWIgUVnxJSkBPjBYUrxAID8YV3M2h7uR-M01ij2Odu1NXxtnjMALM9_ZcHzAklSsYaaMkqb84lx1aS2u8Hwv7nzyWoQwKoY3C0FViXPQL53cfp6e__-PEq2oYV8/s1600/photopheres.PNG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyqcYQhKw14c6zk3R3nWIgUVnxJSkBPjBYUrxAID8YV3M2h7uR-M01ij2Odu1NXxtnjMALM9_ZcHzAklSsYaaMkqb84lx1aS2u8Hwv7nzyWoQwKoY3C0FViXPQL53cfp6e__-PEq2oYV8/s400/photopheres.PNG" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
<b>To embed a 360 Degree image in a blog or web page</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibFVKIlkrwy9AKUfWwkf_3pFEB5LQO2WoN1d2olGiou84jFoSMhKsjgFz7w6hgBHRnh1KwNnXGDHg4ubDgyMK2Z8p9OcOPQc3WdkBlRArFaPvMUwwM4IBJTOFSR_hfFVghnu0pbPqVXtY/s1600/share+embed.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: black;"><img align="left" alt="Google Maps menu" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibFVKIlkrwy9AKUfWwkf_3pFEB5LQO2WoN1d2olGiou84jFoSMhKsjgFz7w6hgBHRnh1KwNnXGDHg4ubDgyMK2Z8p9OcOPQc3WdkBlRArFaPvMUwwM4IBJTOFSR_hfFVghnu0pbPqVXtY/s320/share+embed.PNG" title="" width="217" /></a> Choose Share or Embed from the Google Maps left side navigation menu (see image left) and copy the embed code. NB you will need to access the source code of your blog, forum posting or web page to be able to paste the embed code into.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvULhUShOdNomhhsv7wMvQsI165bNEBXu0Bq7cUfn71mqprmS1LBw5iVqajRfBO1bdZCjy7vyRlA1rzh5OexGtub9_FKJiGAEjTtqNmYUA2cyWuv7vEMtrhHoZzKtgI0Epf6VtU6CFiJw/s1600/html.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvULhUShOdNomhhsv7wMvQsI165bNEBXu0Bq7cUfn71mqprmS1LBw5iVqajRfBO1bdZCjy7vyRlA1rzh5OexGtub9_FKJiGAEjTtqNmYUA2cyWuv7vEMtrhHoZzKtgI0Epf6VtU6CFiJw/s1600/html.PNG" /></a><br />
In Blogger this is clicking on the html side of the page tabs.<br />
<br />
<br />
In many blogs look for the greater than followed by the less than<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgs80ySYQ2CPcwQs38pnUxseQxaNMso5FAw06P2ekcB5ED-aWJrISEhWAieyyt_HETauXmwRZC-AcY0MphpZ7YroICCJK39X1TxrF5JkAun_iNgUWCA6aTpo-GeK91AK8p-aINE59koxU/s1600/html2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgs80ySYQ2CPcwQs38pnUxseQxaNMso5FAw06P2ekcB5ED-aWJrISEhWAieyyt_HETauXmwRZC-AcY0MphpZ7YroICCJK39X1TxrF5JkAun_iNgUWCA6aTpo-GeK91AK8p-aINE59koxU/s1600/html2.PNG" /></a> symbols to be able to embed code.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
You may need to alter the size - mine is bigger than many spaces will allow! I have changed the dimensions given (400 x 600) making it 100% wide and 480 long so hopefully it will show accurately on a mobile device but this may have to be changed yet - this is all new to me!<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m0!3m2!1sen!2suk!4v1467665106225!6m8!1m7!1sF%3A-2sDTo2HkC5M%2FV3pytFqAtVI%2FAAAAAAAADWk%2FK5zg08msb4sajrK6ErndnAon9lHS6gppwCLIB!2m2!1d52.2119045!2d-4.3422279!3f347.02478914940923!4f-28.41504661864822!5f0.4000000000000002" style="border: 0;" width="100%"></iframe><br />
<br />
<b>Tips:</b><br />
<ol>
<li>Don't try to take a 360 in bright sunshine - the photographer casts a shadow and it is hard to look up into the sun to take that particular image!</li>
<li>Straight lines are a little tricky to get accurate - make sure that for the higher and lower level photos you actually turn round holding the phone steady to orientate the higher lines well.</li>
<li>Try to keep on the spot, concentrate on the feet.</li>
<li>Watch out for moving pets, if they appear in an overlapping image but not in the one being overlapped you seem to get an extra bit of image added in - thus putting all of it out of line.</li>
<li>When you think you have finished taking photos, check that the whole outside of the recording circle is complete! This morning I took photos, got to the end and realised there was still a small gap in the white edging. I retraced my 360 path and found two missed circles, the very first image I took had black spaces that I did not understand but now I realised I missed two shots!</li>
</ol>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBv0oeg4dMwZbmAdfTAtBazpU2LQhOaQWbejRP5y0Jv2d6kzHlk3omwHYK_5emwj9xT96O6-KSXP-2BnGtumWyktqW9z71sFzjjBdIl1HdTXyxSpMoLp6jcPg-FpNmwgXATDKwNo-PAc/s1600/circle.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBv0oeg4dMwZbmAdfTAtBazpU2LQhOaQWbejRP5y0Jv2d6kzHlk3omwHYK_5emwj9xT96O6-KSXP-2BnGtumWyktqW9z71sFzjjBdIl1HdTXyxSpMoLp6jcPg-FpNmwgXATDKwNo-PAc/s320/circle.png" width="320" /></a><br />
<ol>
</ol>
<div>
First ideas about what we could do with it in education:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>use it for description work - what can you see, smell, feel, hear... speaking or writing</li>
<li>use it as a story starter, put items on the photo to inspire story telling (See tomorrow's blog for a story starter, it is all planned!</li>
<li>use it as a conversation starter, where is it, have you been there, where was your last holiday....</li>
</ul>
<div>
Finally for the moment - it works really well with Google cardboard for a totally immersive experience.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
Many thanks to <a href="http://www.letstalkonline.com/" target="_blank">Heike Philp</a> who first told me about the Google Street Map app and what you could do with it! I have really enjoyed finding out as much as I could.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-37938513042978455552016-01-24T13:16:00.001+00:002016-01-24T13:16:10.782+00:00Starting to make videos for flipping the classroomI am going to do a series of very short posts leading people new to making videos for the flipped classroom gently through the process!<br />
<br />
Many of us will already have several devices capable or recording video and sound, it is a matter of deciding which is the best quality for your purpose.<br />
<br />
This first post is simply to find the resources that you can use and try them out.<br />
<br />
Do you have a smart phone with video taking resources? Experiment with it. You may need a holder but before you spend any money try filming yourself just for one minute by holding it and taking a selfie video. Listen to it carefully, is your voice loud enough? Clear enough? Look at it, is your image clear, good enough for someone to watch two or three minutes of you talking on a regular basis?<br />
<br />
Before you decide on using your phone what else do you have? Flip cameras, small hand held camcorders and many digital cameras have the capacity to take digital video. Try them! Will they pick up your audio?<br />
<br />
Do you have a laptop with a built in web cam? Try it and watch and listen!<br />
<br />
Do you have a headset with a mic? Plug that into your laptop, does that help? It should block out most of the background sound in your surroundings.<br />
<br />
Do you have a desktop with a web cam? Again it will be much better with a headset and mic rather than using its own mic which will be further away from you and so quieter as well as picking up all the background sound around you.<br />
<br />
Do you have a tablet capable or recording video and sound? Does it have its own tiny headset as the iPad does? If so prop that up and record yourself again with an eye and ear for quality of sound and picture.<br />
<br />
Do you have an external mic that you can plug in and have hear you? If so try it out and again listen to the quality! I have a very good quality mic but a small web cam - they will not record synchronously! The video lags behind the audio - much more infuriating that slightly poorer quality sound.<br />
<br />
So - first things first! Try everything out that you already have a find the best combination to use.<br />
<h4>
Web sites that may help</h4>
<a href="http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/infokits/discovering-digital-media/creating/how-to-use-a-digital-camera/" target="_blank">How to use a digital Camera</a> from Jisc<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=phone+tripods&tbm=shop" target="_blank">A Google search for phone tripods</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.geeksquad.co.uk/articles/Gaming/2012/09/how_to_choose_a_gaming_headset" target="_blank">Information on choosing a headset</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-1107476223613742882016-01-24T12:43:00.000+00:002016-01-24T12:46:52.406+00:00The Future of E-Learning<a href="http://elearninginfographics.com/future-elearning-infographic/" title="The Future of eLearning Infographic"><img alt="The Future of eLearning Infographic" class="attachment-progression-single-uncropped wp-post-image" src="http://elearninginfographics.com/wp-content/uploads/Infographic_Future_Of_ELearning.jpg" height="3213" width="500" /></a><br />
<small>Find more <a href="http://elearninginfographics.com/" title="The No.1 Source for the Best Education Infographics">education infographics</a> on e-Learning Infographics</small>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-26860897606683018262015-06-21T19:47:00.000+01:002015-06-21T19:47:10.635+01:00Demonstrating ThingLink<img style="max-width:100%" src="//cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/584179435649892354/1024/10/scaletowidth#tl-584179435649892354;1058670298'" class="alwaysThinglink"/><script async charset="utf-8" src="//cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js"></script>
http://thinglinkblog.com/2014/12/18/6-amazing-appsmashes-to-inspire-creativity/Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-13861294041449231322015-06-21T19:19:00.000+01:002016-08-21T18:06:59.798+01:00Demonstrating ThingLink<div class="" id="magicdomid20">
<img alt="" class="alwaysThinglink alignleft" height="669" src="//cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/542414573383188480/1024/10/scaletowidth#tl-542414573383188480;1043138249'" style="max-width: 100%;" width="500" /><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//cdn.thinglink.me/jse/embed.js"></script></div>
http://thinglinkblog.com/2014/12/18/6-amazing-appsmashes-to-inspire-creativity/Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-12061147925980672422015-01-17T18:39:00.001+00:002015-01-17T23:42:29.826+00:00Learning Minecraft 1The first session as part of EVO 2015 was 16 Jan 2015. Thanks To Filip and Kalios who got me started!<br />
My intro - I live in Wales, have been a teacher for far too many years. Love making machinima and would like to make some in Minecraft - once I have learned how to manage the game itself.
I tried it a few months ago but never got very far - just kept getting killed!
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/QLhibBYUq3c" width="560"></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uOYgSRfhmho" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-52438642570085766422014-04-12T00:06:00.002+01:002014-04-12T00:08:18.938+01:00Ebbe Altber's keynote speech at the Virtual World’s Best Practice in Education<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #141823; line-height: 115%;">I just listened to
Ebbe Altber's keynote speech at the Virtual World’s Best Practice in Education.
Ebbe is the new CEO of Lindenlab. The best news is that he wants to make the
metaverse easier for all - consumers and creators! This speech was good news to us all!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #141823; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He told us he was there to start the dialog, to figure out
where to go from here. He has looked at branding and TOS and integration... “I
am working with legal counsel to figure out how to make it more obvious or very
obvious that creators own content” and Second Life are not wishing to lock it
in but to make it easy to move to OpenSim. “We have a breadth of content creators for
many purposes. This is unique to SL. We should support everybody.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is still so much to do to make the metaverse so much
easier for all consumers and creators, even with all of the work that we are
doing it is still too hard for many users. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nobody else has an environment this open and where users
take it where they want to take it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Future Technology</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Most of the responses here are verbatim but not in speech marks in case
there is something not perfectly accurate! <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are developing core tech, including Oculus. There is
already a beta version<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As the hardware develops, we will be next to it, we want you
not to be looking at the world but being in it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With Oculus we have worked focused on viewing experience, not
yet the user interface.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The keyboard disappears; we want to explore how to make
changes in how you interact with the world. With a full time liaison, you can
think up a million things we COULD do but we need to prioritize. You won't all
agree on what is top priority. It takes a lot of resources and time to engage
in that conversation and that is a cost. Many are not up to speed on the topic,
are biased, or are not experienced. It can add a lot of cost to involve
everyone in design, we want to be more transparent, we want feedback, to learn
from you, to correct things, we learn from watching what you do.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Someone asked about the bad press
and if it was possible to improve that status. </b>
</span>Ebbe said that SL got overhyped too early, some was self-inflicted,
and maybe there was a hope that tens of millions would use it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There came a backlash, it became bad or negative, that is
unfortunate, there is a lot of good stuff happening here, not seen outside. We want to correct this. The market is
starting to embrace virtual reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Could the linden dollar spread
outside Second Life? </b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ebbe replied we
would love to do that but it is a massive undertaking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I spoke earlier of compliance, to do compliance on a scale
that bankers are comfortable with, we are fortunate to be so far along, nobody
else is this far, we want to make safer
high volume transactions. We are talking about that, we have done all the compliance
work to be in line with state and federal regulations.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Are there any current projects you
can share that will make the viewer easier to use and more intuitive?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One effort was not received well, to simplify it. I don't
know why yet. Ultimately, in order for SL to grow, it has to become easier to
use. It takes too much time to engage and immerse people and make them
functional… we can't go mass market as we are today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Following up, are there any plans in
improving transparency with 3rd party viewer -
innovations may come faster</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We do a decent job of collaborating with open source, Oz
Linden interfaces with third party players.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That community adds value to provide other viewers optimum
for other audiences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">WE can't do everything for all, those with disabilities,
those on other platforms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We need those communities to help us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think we have a good relationship with the open source
community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is a double edged sword, some open source developers took
advantage and did nasty things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>What tech from HiFi be used in SL?</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ebbe- I hope it will create many advances many can benefit
from to move virtual worlds and virtual reality forward. The more new hardware
and interfaces, it moves us all forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Philip and I know
each other well, some of us will visit them in a couple of weeks to see demos<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">how we can help each other, it is early stages - I am
transparent with Philip, we have assets that are valuable to them, and I hope
we can collaborate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am interested in the work they are doing with bringing
emotion into your avatar experience, see the expressions on a face, what emotions
can be expressed visually, they are working in that area.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I want to be sure we provide that level of emotional
capability to our avatars<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are aware that latency increases and impacts performance,
further away from America you have increased latency and reduced sense of functionality
, we are testing what aspects cause these issues, we have to create a lower
latency tech, we need to push less data over the pipe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: red;"><b>You had mentioned that you
were looking to allow people to export their content/ Will there be an export flag that will help?</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nothing we are doing technically prevents export. Many get
their content out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Maybe it is third party solutions, we are not preventing.
Are we making it simple enough from our viewer?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Maybe we need to make that more streamlined, we are not
preventing it, but we don't want it to be easy for others to rip people off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have to look at that. It's a permission issue?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ebbe should there be permissions to allow export?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I need to understand it better. If you own it you can take
it. Ownership is a complex issue for us to reduce copybotting and stealing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We don't want to be inflexible, permissions, monitoring
tools, preventing fraud, we want to protect you and your creations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the foreseeable future we will be working on the main
grid without restricting what people can do, once we solve it so adults can use
it, then we can go to attract other audiences, other special cases but no teen
grid in the near term, I would love to do it, but it is priorities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We need to make SL more welcoming, If ease of use and
quality and tech more flexible, we may arrive at a place where it would not be
cumbersome to offer to more dedicated special audiences, but this is not a top
priority.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As people start to be inworld, with their relevant projects,
they will see how their work can improve.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I hope more Lindens will come inworld to interact with users
so that can be a more normal comfortable thing. If we do special meetings, what
topics, who would facilitate? How do we make sure something actionable comes
out of it? If there are interest groups, like an ed group, that wants to have a
more regular check in, we can see which Linden would like to participate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As in RL every hobby and interest group, there are only a
few Lindens, how can we engage, that is a challenge. I am happy to spend some
of my time learning but how to do it fairly and efficiently?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have to do what will have the most benefit for the most
people<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">None of this would exist without all we have done together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If the community has things to do, if they want to invite us
to participate, today you will find more people who can and are willing to
participate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are all ears we want to figure out how to engage with all
of you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unless we do something technical, nothing will change. If we
have conversations, that won't be enough to create change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My dream is to make this something a huge number of people
can enjoy and contribute to, this is just the beginning, there is more to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Facebook buying Oculus is excellent. They see the future we
have all been working on<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OnLive third party using our open source technology will
make a viewer for the tablet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We do have conversations; we collaborate with all 3rd party
teams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They improved their pricing model.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can reach out to individual Lindens if you think they
are interested.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ebbe - like an
interest group catalogue to know meeting times and formats. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I know Torley. I understand his role. He can go inworld and hang out as
much as he feels he has the time to do so.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are here. We are willing to listen and dialog. We want to talk about the future. The doors
are open again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We want to know how to make you successful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That's it. I'm here. I'm happy to talk with all of you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I want to learn and listen. I want to make you successful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-6212831049421708602014-04-09T22:08:00.002+01:002014-04-09T22:08:37.661+01:00Philip Rosedale talking about the future of education in Virtual worlds<div class="MsoNormal">
A few notes taken whilst listening to Philip Rosedale
talking about the future of education in Virtual worlds.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He says that in addition to hardware, we need fast networks
and low latency, and software that enables high speed transmission - then we
can be emotionally connected with everyone. We can literally see into the eyes of our
students. High Fidelity is starting to make this available right now!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The architect or structure for moving forward - identity
continues to evolve, avatars need to express and experience empathy to create
more dedication to their avatar. Choices - mechanisms to identify folks become
necessary – so that you can prove who you are! We need a shared marketplace
that is independent of all servers where you can exchange content.
Hyperlinking, or a doorway from one place to the next has to be clear – with
maybe a look-up system like DNS?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We will be developing an internetwork of virtual worlds –
Opensim and Second Life have started. Open source and open protocols need to be
used. (No off switch)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Currently we have to use a mouse, with 2 degrees of freedom,
up/down or side to side, the new software has up to 12 degrees of movement!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We should be able to host a rock concert will need hundreds
or maybe thousands of machines – we can do it! We are experimenting with this
at High Fidelity. You can get a lot of machines on line quickly so it is
technically feasible. If everyone on the internet were talking at the same time,
there aren't enough servers. There are 1/2 to 1 million physical servers and SL
uses a significant percentage of them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next generation of VWs is likely to be built on shared
machines! The implication is that to get access to all those machines that is
several orders of magnitude higher than we have now...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On a tech side note, like the Oh Wow of Oculus, we have to
see more stuff in the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When you fly up in SL, why can't you see the whole thing? We
need a technology even better than SL that allows us to see 10 miles in the
distance.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The hardware that we are going to see come on the market are
fundamentally open the doors <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The new hardware, led by Oculus, will open the doors to higher
and easier ways to interface with virtual environments. The Leap and Connect
are powerful. In High Fidelity we use
the short range version.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Without the learning curve, the population will grow.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Architecture needs to be open.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We will be able to teach, seeing the eyes of the students –
students really looking at you and paying attention! We can do things with specialised
audio with higher power machines. The big challenge is getting more machines in
the mix.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The privacy issues are going to be rich. When people have
their own VW servers, we make decisions of trust as avatars coming into
servers. We must have negotiations with the server.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For lots more info read <a href="http://highfidelity.io/">http://highfidelity.io/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://joyardley.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/hifiprogress/">http://joyardley.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/hifiprogress/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://highfidelity.io/blog/author/philip/">http://highfidelity.io/blog/author/philip/</a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvuPw6rm8XTFl43-fkIwDnY4_ATDHAaAIEFmHLnkiNuYuthM8xVAdLYX8ncf_1IiEgkkfoysATmS9ddhnYlx8Dpx_3_BLpMTENPN6Fk1QRw3OEB910Pr4cJcny14IPMfIqoMH0DVYW7g/s1600/Phillip+Rosedale.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvuPw6rm8XTFl43-fkIwDnY4_ATDHAaAIEFmHLnkiNuYuthM8xVAdLYX8ncf_1IiEgkkfoysATmS9ddhnYlx8Dpx_3_BLpMTENPN6Fk1QRw3OEB910Pr4cJcny14IPMfIqoMH0DVYW7g/s1600/Phillip+Rosedale.PNG" height="209" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-76064384321451172642014-04-09T15:20:00.004+01:002014-04-09T15:20:41.686+01:00<div class="MsoNormal">
Well having finally settled in mid Wales, New Quay to be
exact we are developing a whole new lifestyle. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTiX7xeRKzjEJYcmzRddkOH4cxA1dQnoFHMV6QsHeVSKmEV7AfSrn5ssEVFPCuvswd1DW-fMR52_s3P8z6-iiYUlNURO43eUdByXdZ1LXnDayho4s00dghDz3pfIvu0FoMmDCtfWzSV24/s1600/IMG_0573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTiX7xeRKzjEJYcmzRddkOH4cxA1dQnoFHMV6QsHeVSKmEV7AfSrn5ssEVFPCuvswd1DW-fMR52_s3P8z6-iiYUlNURO43eUdByXdZ1LXnDayho4s00dghDz3pfIvu0FoMmDCtfWzSV24/s1600/IMG_0573.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Things we do now that we never did before</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Live according to the tide times – we plan the whole day around the tides being unable to walk along the beach at high tides we need to go when it is low tide J What a shock to go doggie walking and to find water up past the entry point to the beach because I was not watching the tide tables!</li>
<li>Do almost all of our shopping online! I used to live about 4 miles form a big, well known supermarket and dropped in most days to pick up odds and ends or do a proper shop. Now, to get anything close to a big supermarket, and the term big is somewhat exaggerated here, we have to drive over 20 miles! When we do approach one of the two slightly larger towns, Aberystwyth or Cardigan we have a mile long list of bits and pieces to pick up.</li>
<li>Drink less coffee – I still can’t get used to the taste of coffee made with soft water</li>
<li>Wash hair less – again a soft water issue</li>
<li>I am still trying to perfect the art of drying and utilising seaweed – I know it is good for us, just not getting it right, yet!</li>
<li>Getting really good at remembering to take bags shopping – I get cross at having to pay for carrier bags but it is against the law for bags to be given out freely in Wales</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Things I wish were better:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Bandwidth! That and the hills will be the two reasons
that we leave here in a couple of years. Every day without fail my internet
drops – enough to put the router out and create the need for a full restart –
it drives me crazy. One very famous internet provider say we should get better
when I complain – then, two weeks later send me a text saying they hope my problem
is over now – I ask why it would be – they can’t answer!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Things that we love:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Waking up to see the sea</li>
<li>Walking through the woods and on the beach</li>
<li>The people</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b>Things
we don’t love:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;">
</div>
<ul>
<li> Sandy, salty windows after a storm</li>
<li>Mud</li>
<li>The poor workmanship in the house meaning it is almost being rebuilt to get it into good order despite having a great report from the surveyor! </li>
<li>Local Time – Pembroke time / Cardigan times / Welsh time etc – tomorrow often does not mean tomorrow, it is a term related loosely to some point in the future. This afternoon is not necessarily referring to any time today - just guess!</li>
<li>The nearest train station being more than 20 miles away</li>
</ul>
<div>
We will stay here for a while, we are too far away from out family really, have very mixed feelings about where we belong still talking about where our kids are as "home" but it is a complete change and mostly great :-)</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-33702399178070049392013-11-10T16:20:00.000+00:002013-11-10T16:20:47.746+00:00 Testing a wordsearch maker<br />
<div style="background: white; text-align: center; width: 400px;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="475px" src="http://www.wordsearchmaker.net/wordsearchplayer.aspx?puzzleid=5c16a9d3-af62-49b5-a0c3-58e2fc2e4f9e&w=400&h=300" width="400px"><noframes><a href='http://www.wordsearchmaker.net/wordsearchplayer.aspx?puzzleid=5c16a9d3-af62-49b5-a0c3-58e2fc2e4f9e'>Free Word Search Puzzles</a></noframes></iframe><a href="http://www.wordsearchmaker.net/">Make Your Own Word Search</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-5511799542019203942013-10-03T13:10:00.001+01:002013-10-14T14:11:56.201+01:00Aesop’s Fables - Machinima to aid language learning<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just recently I have been working with Hazel Workman to create
whole new set of machinima based on Aesop’s Fables. We both love second
Life and it has become great fun to see how we can be portray the characters,
as there are just two of us so some crowd scenes have had to be done with
various chroma key techniques, these are Hazel’s speciality! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Machinima is such a new form of video we have been trying to
think of new ways to engage language learners with them to enhance language
teaching.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
See the ones created so far:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTC04DLQU3U">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTC04DLQU3U</a>
- The Bear and the Two travellers<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCeFESuaEdg">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCeFESuaEdg</a>
– The Fox and the Woodcutter<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slhk60n3Id0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slhk60n3Id0</a>
– The Dancing Monkeys<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SFuZKtvDhk">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SFuZKtvDhk</a>
– The Milkmaid and her Pail<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymW3QKuHWXg">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymW3QKuHWXg</a>
– The Fox and the Cat<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3mTRcmS5bM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3mTRcmS5bM</a>
– The Dog and his Shadow<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m97xBVQnWfc">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m97xBVQnWfc</a>
– Heracles and the Lion<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3HOMP1c_RI">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3HOMP1c_RI</a>
– The Fox, Cockerel and Dog<o:p></o:p><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbBuBh-URc&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbBuBh-URc&feature=youtu.be</a> - The Dog and the Wolf<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GUDyZo4ff-A">https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GUDyZo4ff-A</a> - The Fox who lost his Tail</div>
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<h3>
So what can we do with these machinima in language classes?</h3>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>First thoughts:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">To start with there is lots of discussion in
these stories, there is unfamiliar, maybe old fashioned language to be investigated.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">The quality of English is poor, it is hard not
to improve it whilst recording them – advanced students could work to improve the
language of the tales.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Students could do their own retelling of the
story. Project the machinima, without sound into the classroom and allow
students to relate their version of the story to their peers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">As a longer project allow students to use the
video footage and make a new soundtrack and thus produce a new machinima.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Students could do a complete re-write of the
story set in current times with two people instead of two animals, act them out
in class, and possibly make a video of the new story.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -18pt;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Investigate how some of the morals have become everyday
idioms, this could lead to lots more work on idioms. Following are the morals
and a few idioms that I consider possible offshoots or at least would make good
discussion openers in brackets.</span><!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Misfortune tests the sincerity of friends. (A
house divided against itself cannot stand.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->There is as much malice in a wink as in a word.
(A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Not everything you see is what it appears to be.
(All that glitters is not gold or a<b><span style="color: #ffff33; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A </span></b>Leopard
can't change his Spots.<span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="color: #ffff33; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span>)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Do not count your chickens before they are
hatched. (Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Better one safe way than a hundred on which you
cannot reckon. (Better to be safe than sorry.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping
at the shadow. (A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #000020;">We
can easily represent things as we wish them to be.</span> (Sail under false colours, or, Something is
not be what it is cracked up to be.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Cunning often outwits itself. (As cunning as a fox, or too clever by half,
too clever for your own good.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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If you are able to use the machinima please share you
experiences. To check on the rest, there are more in development, subscribe to
my You Tube Channel: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmTOaApJW37OjkBmtkGw3xw">http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmTOaApJW37OjkBmtkGw3xw</a><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-18276963878717517732013-09-07T19:46:00.003+01:002013-09-07T19:46:53.298+01:00Minehead and Estate Agents all over the placeOne day we crossed the peninsular and went over to investigate all
along from Minehead. We drove around looking at houses, eventually about 2pm we
drove along the front, right out of the main area there was plenty of roadside
parking and we came across a space right outside a pub with gardens. They were
happy to have the dogs and we were happy to eat. We climbed the steps up to the
beer gardens, ordered dinner chatted and looked around, it was lovely, lively,
and there was lots of music at ground level. We did not spot any houses that we
wanted to visit for a second time and returned to the caravan.<br />
<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was looking at houses on the web and spotted a house in
Minehead that we had not seen. It was a good write-up, sounded like it had
potential, looked nice, so we decided to go back and see it and another one on
the Wednesday. Armed with the post code we retraced our steps and parked
outside the house, it was right next door to the pub, the pub’s garden was adjoining
the house garden, but none of the high level gardens showed in the picture!
When we got back and looked at the picture on the web there were blue sky and
clouds where we could see gardens… hmmmm – what a waste of a journey! The
second house which we wanted to see, rural, large gardens etc looked pretty on
the picture, no-one mentioned the electric pylon on the edge of the land
overshadowing the house and garden – again it was not shown in the photos –
what is the point, some of what I have seen goes beyond poetic licence and in
my opinion is verging on blatant dishonesty.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
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I put a couple of requests for info in, stating quite
clearly there had to be an acre of land or more, the condition of the house did
not matter and it had to be rural and subsequently got blasted with hundreds of houses none of
which had land or were rural… I think everything in my price range had been
sent.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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So far the British seaside around the areas that we have visited
have been a huge disappointment. It is true that we have not been around the
coast much in the UK in recent years. When and why did all the beaches ban
dogs? That seems sad to me. Things have changed become more commercialised than
ever and have largely been spoiled (IMHO) I am sure that others will disagree. <o:p></o:p><br />
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Broad Haven Beach</div>
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Boton Haven - a pretty but tiny bay</div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Charmouth allows dogs after 6pm so each evening we drive the 13 miles there to walk along the beach and looked for fossils or just looked at what the children there had found as they walked along proudly clutching their finds. </span></div>
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As well as the beach there is the actual river mouth too.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-79774747688215016622013-09-07T19:10:00.002+01:002013-09-07T19:10:09.356+01:00Surprise in WeymouthWe searched along the coast towards Weymouth for suitable houses to buy and approached Portland towards lunchtime. We stopped to eat and were suddenly surprised by seeing The Red Arrows - it was a festival day in Weymouth! So from the suburbs we had an amazing presentation. Sadly most of it was behind houses and telephone wires, we had been totally unprepared to take photos, we never knew it was happening!<br />
<br />
A friend posted this video link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRaK2ni9UAg&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRaK2ni9UAg&feature=youtu.be</a> thanks Hazel :-)<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-71404832324862532042013-09-07T19:07:00.005+01:002013-09-07T19:07:56.523+01:00The joys of caravanningCooking in a caravan is an art form – I have not mastered
it. There is nowhere to put anything! It is a nightmare. The most success that we have had is to barbecue any
meat and veges suitable for cooking on the bbq and cook rice, potatoes etc on
the small stove.<br />
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We did have a lovely lunch, it was glorious sunshine so we sat
outside, it was hot so I had a Crabbies – I love ginger beer! I had not
realised that there was a tiny drop left in the bottle, so when washing up
after dinner H picked up the bottle and told me I had not finished my drink, I
had already washed the glasses so I tipped the bottle into my mouth, there was
less than a mouthful – and a wasp! So now with a smashed up toe and severe limp
I had a swollen tongue having been stung in the mouth – the joys of caravanning.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another joy of caravanning - where did all of the laundrettes go? We have searched the web which lumps laundries and laundrettes together - and gone to laundries... travelled miles to wash the laundry!</div>
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How I long to soak in a hot bath - showers are fine for getting clean but I consider my bath an essential part of the night time ritual - relaxing! No bath in three weeks equates to not much sleep in three weeks, that failure to relax along with the fact I can't have all of the windows wide open is not good and apparently I had conversations out loud with unseen people every time I dropped off to sleep last night :-(</div>
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Also if one uses a multi plug for charging phones and a laptop the resulting buzz for people listening to me in Second Life, where I teach for two days a week is a nightmare - so no charging phones or ipad or anything else whilst trying to teach - I am learning!!</div>
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One funny moment - was when approaching the Severn Bridge I put on the iPad to see how much the toll was going to be - it asked beautifully whether I wanted to link to my own network, I had left the phone providing data access on whilst it was packed away in the caravan which we were towing :-)<br />
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The sites which we have been on have cut the field grass, but not picked the grass up, so every time one of us or one of the dogs comes into the caravan, especially when it is wet, we bring soggy grass cuttings in. We must hoover up about 6 times a day just to keep it bearable.<br />
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I can't, for the life of me, understand why anyone would ever want to go caravanning. The only joy so far has been meeting some lovely people.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-15256172780213550842013-09-07T18:50:00.000+01:002013-09-07T18:50:09.879+01:00Starting the searchWe started searching went all around Lyme Regis, Bridport, across to Weymouth – all around that area and saw two delightful building plots, sadly beyond our price range once you have taken actually putting a house on the land.<br />
<br />
We soon discovered that most beaches have banned dogs so it is really difficult to find somewhere for the dogs to have a good run and ours are used to space. Charmouth beach, which has rapidly become one of the places I love most in the world allows dogs on after 6pm, so each evening we headed to the beach to take them for a lovely long walk. Neither had seen the sea, so it was interesting at first, now as soon as they spot it they think we are going for a walk - a nightmare once we got to Wales and started touring the coast!<br />
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We did a little fossil hunting, but, sadly after smashing a rock with a bigger rock, the bigger one glanced off the one I was trying to break and hit my toe - I now have a self-inflicted black, swollen toe and am likely to lose the nail :-(<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-54075730631683546282013-09-07T18:48:00.000+01:002013-09-07T18:48:56.656+01:00Starting in Somerset<div class="MsoNormal">
We left Phillip's for a two hour drive to Somerset, but never took into account Stonehenge - a ten mile traffic jam - so it was a four hour journey!<br />
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<br />
We arrived at Forton House in Chard, Somerset about late afternoon
and the owner directed us to a hard standing pitch, and told us where to plug
in the electric – great! It was raining and chilly. We got water, made a coffee
and sat, with two dogs, in the fully loaded caravan, the awning taking up all
of the middle ground, and contemplated our next move. To put the awning up was
pointless in the rain, we thought we should put all of the stuff for the awning
(camping chairs, table, the awning itself in the car and just settle into the
caravan for the evening when we got a knock at the door. Two mobile homes had
pulled in and one had no power as we were plugged into the only socket which
they could reach…. So we moved! The site is tiny, enough room for 5 caravans, a
toilet block and electric and water, the main reason we chose it was for the
dogs. The house has four dogs, the site and all of the grounds are dog-proof
and the owners were happy for our dogs to roam free. Finally we piled most
stuff into the car and settled down in the caravan for the evening. The whole
caravan system is computerised – with a wonderful book of instructions, I
followed them to the letter about 5 times, we eventually got heating about 11pm
– overnight when we did not want it, but I thought I had cracked it, thought
the next evening would be sorted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sunday morning was lovely, sunshine, once everything had
dried up we pulled out all of the awning poles, set it all up, introduced the
dogs to their beds in the awning, I set up my computer ready for teaching and
all seemed well. Evening arrived and it
began to feel cool, and cooler, and cold, did the heating come on?? No, despite
my best efforts, not until 11pm… we began to think there must be a timer
somewhere – but no, this is an on-going problem.<o:p></o:p><br />
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We went out looking at areas and for houses, spent ages
trawling estate agent sites, I really and truly decided that estate agent sites
are very poor. Some we printed off, those of houses we were interested in
lacked house names and addresses, not even having reference numbers so that
when we phoned it took the agent ages to find out which house we were wanting
to see. <o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-37032793156642292592013-09-07T18:47:00.000+01:002013-09-07T18:47:35.177+01:00Selling up<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
With an acceptable offer on the house we said “yes,” they
said “great” followed by “is about 6 weeks to move out okay?” We said “yes,” they came back and said “can
you move in three?” :-) That is where the story starts. The following Saturday we bought a huge
trailer, started to pack and move the stuff we wanted to keep to our son’s very
large garage, we started selling and giving away much of 25 years’ worth of
unneeded household items. The following week, after a quick investigation we
bought a huge caravan and awning, kept packing, picked up the caravan, loaded
it up, kept moving stuff and finally almost three weeks later I spent my usual
Friday teaching on the internet sat at my desk in an empty room, almost no
other furniture in the house and just about ready to leave. However we were not
completing the sale until the following Tuesday so we decided to take advantage
of the weekend to attend Cropredy festival, a long-time favourite!! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Cropredy was lovely, great music, lovely weather and very
relaxing after the hectic preceding couple of weeks.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Also a wonderful video clip!</div>
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9eS8Xjox4k">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9eS8Xjox4k</a></div>
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After returning home and packing the last few bits,
including our mattress on the Sunday, we had to sleep in the caravan in the
drive for the Sunday and Monday nights. The trailer, with the last few bits in,
was taken and unloaded and then left at our son’s house and, Tuesday, moving
day, dawned. I sat on the floor in a completely empty house, near the hub to
teach until 5pm, when we loaded the dogs and computer into the car, hitched up
the caravan and set off. First stop for a few days was our son’s house, the
first caravan place that we booked had managed to double book so there was not
going to be power or hard standing until the following Saturday. We spent the
five days getting used to living in the caravan – not easy – especially since
we could not put up the awning. However it was made much easier by the use of a
nice bathroom, washing machine, space for the dogs, fields for the dogs to walk
in etc. Actually looking back after two more weeks this was luxury.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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Driving round the estate with Phillip we saw fields of sunflowers, they were beautiful!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-4036637540482145892012-09-25T21:09:00.001+01:002012-09-25T21:11:09.331+01:00Nexus 7 - My first quick look<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yesterday evening I bought a Nexus 7 and have had a short
time to start to get a feel for it. My first impressions:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Setup – quick and easy, </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">it linked instantly to wifi, no problems at
all.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">It is a lovely size, I can hold it comfortably
in one hand whilst keying in messages, or searches with the other! The touch
screen is very quick and responsive, it rotates as required.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">I have done a podcast test, I downloaded an
audio recording app which can be e-mailed, so I made a recording, as if I was a
student, posted it to me as a teacher and used the recording to add to a group
podcast in Audacity! Sadly I had to do a file conversion before I could use it
in Audacity – but that was my first trial, there may be an app that will do it.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">It has a WordPress app – yay </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; text-indent: -18pt;">J</span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"> I have not used it
yet, but I guess I should be able to update the WordPress blog that I work on
frequently if not at a computer.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">I downloaded Google Drive – so have access to
all of my own and shared Google docs, brilliant for collaboration.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">I downloaded two camera apps, one takes a
picture and reproduces it in sketch format, at can also be used as a video
recorder. The other tool real images and then had masses of effects that can be
added to the image. Sadly the camera is forward facing only, so can be used for
face to face VOIP apps such as Skype, could be used for interviews, but it is
not a device to take photographs of places.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">Pocket / Chrome / Dropbox / Flip / Facebook /
Linkedin and maybe more apps yet, I just signed into and got my content – perfect!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">I clicked on an arrow saying Navigation – and found
a beta satellite navigation system. I put in our nearest town and watched it
find the town. I put it down and went into the kitchen but could soon hear
talking – it was telling me where to go. Even in an old stone house it had
found satellites to follow. When I did go into town later – it led the way! I
was amazed.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">The TED videos, BBC News - great..</span></li>
</ul>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have not had time to play with much yet, I am still
looking for apps to perform various tasks but first impressions are that it
would be perfect for a school device. It links wirelessly, has loads of
opportunities for learning and collaboration and the price, at £199 for the
16GB one is good. Its 9.5 hour battery
life is great for school, I guess that this is if it is used constantly, I have used mine for an
hour here and there today but it is not showing signs of running down yet, it
has more than half of its battery image still showing power. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Two things that I would like to see for my own use:</div>
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3G accessibility </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A mini sd card for extra storage, though I can use Google Drive</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A forward facing camera</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However I think it is a delight, I am thrilled with it!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-39800374694477093612012-06-18T20:25:00.002+01:002012-06-18T20:26:46.280+01:00Herons Day 2I started to watch for the heron about 4.30 this morning - there was no sign! I stood for ages with the camera ready and saw nothing except the usual bunnies! Eventually about 9am I gave up, came downstairs, made coffee, put toast on, looked up the field there there was a heron! In fact when I got the long range lens out it was two together!<br />
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<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Back upstairs to see two beautiful big birds in the field, they are different, I am guessing one is male and one female as they are </span><span style="background-color: white;">territorial</span><span style="background-color: white;"> usually.</span><br />
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<br />
At first they stood close together, then moved apart. One marched off into the bushes and I thought he would fly over to the pond to try fishing - but Bob (beagle) disturbed them and they flew off.<br />
<br />
We visited an aquatic centre and bought a water jet heron scarer and have now removed the netting - it just spoiled the pond!<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-60148651616995722932012-06-17T20:12:00.001+01:002012-06-17T21:36:44.327+01:00The HeronOur young beagle, Bob, just came running down the garden growling and looking back, tail between his legs. We thought someone must have got over the fence at the top of the field and be walking down. For Bob to be running and worried though is unusual, he is usually brave and loves people. He is more likely to have gone to meet them, but no, in this case a heron was swooping out of the sky down to our fish pond!<br />
<br />
Having reached safety and looked back Bob realised it was a bird and turned to chase him off.<br />
<br />
We put netting over the pond, we are convinced a heron cannot get the fish, it is two feet deep and has straight sides down to the bottom so there is no-where for a heron to stand in the water and fish but it may explain why one of the plants has been tipped off it's block and into the bottom of the pond twice in two days! The plant is not balanced well enough to stand the weight of a huge bird being added to one side of the pot.<br />
<br />
Bob has not taken his eyes off the pond since, he has chased the heron off again three more times, but heron has spotted dinner and will be awaiting his chance!<br />
<br />
I have every camera we possess ready but I am always too far away to catch any recognisable footage :-( I have stood in an upstairs window with the camera in hand for a long time, I will return in the early morning :-) The bird will return!<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-42676096432192229112012-03-29T13:10:00.000+01:002012-03-29T13:10:55.489+01:00My Personal History of EdTech<div class="MsoNormal">After listening to Gavin Dudeney’s IATEFL talk a few days ago, not from Glasgow sadly but from the Glasgow Live website <a href="http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2012/sessions/2012-03-21/past-it-call-edtech-history">http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2012/sessions/2012-03-21/past-it-call-edtech-history</a> I started thinking again about my own tech history! I am going to try to record a bit of it as children and young people who live in the current situation will have no idea of the fun and games we went through to get anything sensible from a computer <span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When my twin boys were about 5 (1986ish) years old we bought them ZX Spectrum, it had to be loaded by cassette and I would spend hours trying to load games for them only for it to fail 9 times out of ten at the very last hurdle. I am sure the boys thought I did it deliberately! It was always my fault and they were stuck playing Space invaders or ping pong on the old Atari until I succeeded! About a year later we bought a new ZX Spectrum with a floppy disk drive - we paid a huge amount of money for each game (on one disk so it was actually a very tiny program in reality). I was puzzled for a long time about why it was called a floppy disk, when in fact it was anything but - it was encased in rigid plastic!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At the boy’s school they had a computer - I saw it and was instantly smitten! I went to the local comprehensive school when they ran a six-hour computer course and was introduced to Write, and PaintSpa, I was able to type and correct my work and create amazing images instantly. It is hard to imagine the joy in being able to edit work for the first time without having to re-write the whole thing.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I bought a second hand green screen Apple 2E with 5.25 inch floppy drives where one had to load an operating system then the program required - and thought it was magic! I spent hours playing 1 game, learning, writing - that was pretty much all I had the software for.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I went back to teaching in 1988 after having the family I eventually I became the ICT Co-coordinator, my interest in technology had been noted and I was endlessly trying to persuade the old <a href="http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=812">RM 380Z</a> and <a href="http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=600">RM 480Z</a> to do whatever was required. Gradually over the next few years we got several <a href="http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=1011">Nimbus machines</a> with Windows 3.1 and dot matrix printers that used piles of fan folded printing paper and made such a clatter whilst printing it was almost impossible to work in the same room. I was a teacher not technician but it was I who had to change printer ribbons, paper, sort out problems etc!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then in about 1993 we got a Nimbus Turnkey with 256 KB Ram, a colour screen and a small hard drive - no clue now how big it was but it had programs on it, one could click on an icon and the software would load - it was so easy! I used to take this computer home every weekend to do all of my planning, and, as when I trained I did a teaching certificate and all the new young teachers had degrees, I had signed up to do a degree course with a local University. So, I had three young children, a full time job and was doing a degree - the computer was amazing to type up my essays but these days of course it would have helped me do all of my research as well <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Around about the same year, in the winter, I was invited to a University in Oxford to see the World Wide Web. I went, I saw, I returned to school the next day and said told everyone it would be great but there was so little there for children we should leave it for about 6 months or a year before trying to get it. Of course whilst I was there I had entered some sort of competition, I don’t remember it or what I did, but the next day I got a phone call and I had won - a year’s ISP service and a modem along with the latest whizzy, all singing and dancing multi-media computer! Everyone was delighted - the Parents’ committee said they would pay for telephone line into my room - THE HEAD WAS THRILLED - I had seen it and knew I had to do something special make it work though there was nothing there for the children…. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">The phone line was duly installed and the machine arrived, I installed the modem, fought for about 3 days to get an e-mail out and to find anything for the children to see - interesting times!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I discovered digital cameras. They were way out of my price range but I knew that I could not move forward in web page creation without one! I heard of a company updating theirs and they offered to sell me one of their old ones for £350. I bought it and took so many sets of about 20 photographs - it would take 20 before having to be downloaded to the computer! In those days they did not have external storage, just a small internal space. Soon after I saw a Sony Mavica - over £500 but I could put floppy disks in it and my class could take as many photos as they liked. I had an endless supply of floppy disks in my pocket or handbag it was wonderful! Note - it was I that bought the first cameras and the first scanners <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> not the school!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We started making web pages, I downloaded a free html manual and learned how to write for the web. I had made some lovely pages of the children’s work and pictures, I worked and worked to make them look good, then uploaded them - and - no pictures. It took ages to work out that the photos named with a capital letter at the start e.g. Fish.jpg, was not acceptable - all letter had to be lower case! There were so many tiny things like that which caused pages not to work but were hard to find I spent many hours troubleshooting - but - got very good at it! Amazingly that skill, though hard learned, served me very well for the rest of my career, I could look through pages of code and spot mistakes when other people were getting desperate because something was wrong.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Very soon though my class were making good use of the internet. We entered projects from all around the world, won some competitions including the children’s own web page production and I took children to London to receive awards, we had the Cat in the Hat project arrive from the US and we shared beanie diaries with a school in Herefordshire somewhere. Many children in the school had pen pals all over the world - I gave up every lunchtime and before and after school to allow pupils to write e-mails. We made web pages about all sort of subjects. Children who did not read or write well made animated lines to go on the web pages, we charted the growth of our school pond tadpoles - we did all sorts!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Still it was really only me in the school that used it! I spent hours trying to encourage other teachers and inspire them - but it was a step too far for the most part. Then in one week two things happened - there was an earthquake in Turkey and one of our teachers had a son who was there teaching. The earthquake was at night and she came in in the morning pale, stressed and understandably very worried. At morning break I checked the e-mail to find a message saying “Carol please tell mum I am okay, phone lines all down but Janet Network seems to be working.” He managed to get a message out to us at school to say he was okay! He had found an open means of communication so the family were able to keep in touch over a very troubled few weeks. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The same week one of the other teacher’s daughter was applying for a midwifery course and she had to do a presentation at her interview. She had decided to talk about Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (Mad cow disease in humans) but had not been able to find anything in the libraries and the family did not know what to try next. I did several big searches and in about 20 minutes had unearthed and printed off so much data, including the original letter to the Lancet identifying the disease. Suddenly the whole school was in favour of using the internet - they began to see its potential.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My own tech story though had started to move out of school. I had been asked to lecture at a local university so I was out of school one day a week doing that for a while, I was also doing conferences and the class was filmed doing all of their lovely ICT work as part of the NOF training project. All my spare time was spent fixing up old office computers donated by various local offices, installing sound cards and speakers, loading CD Roms on them so that the “good” educational computers in school were not wasted by only playing CD Roms. We had banks of old PCs, mostly only running one or two programs and a couple of CD Roms - that was enough to fill them up! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In 1998 I bought my first laptop. I took it to school and we could do so much more - we could take it to the pond with sensors and measure the water temperature - we could do all sorts out of doors for the first time. We soon discovered - much to out amazement - that you could not see the screen out in the daylight so one child would carry the computer as if his or her life depended on it, and other would hold their school jumper over the top to cast a shadow over the screen so that they could do whatever they were doing <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;">J<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I guess school-wise that took us up to about July 1998 when The NGfL project started putting the internet and computers into all schools. There was an opening for me then to aid the county with ICT training for teachers and soon I moved out of school into the Advisory Service. The last thing I did as I left school was post the order for the new, purpose built, ICT suite network. I was never to use it with children!!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At home, I had bought my first brand new multimedia computer in 1995. It has a whole 1GB hard drive and I assured my husband no-one could ever use all that! (With a doubled amount of RAM, software bundle and printer that was about £1600 - they were so much dearer then!) My words have haunted me ever since - the following Christmas my husband bought me a 5 GB hard drive and I thought it was heaven. Just a few weeks ago when I bought my latest computer - 12 core and 12GB Ram, 2TB hard drive with a 1.5 TB external hard drive sat on my desk as the back-up, that first one seems just so far away it is laughable!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>With three young teens in the house the change from modem and dial up, into always on internet was a massive change. It enabled my children to use the internet for homework and all sorts when I was not there - when I was there it was always MY computer!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Somewhere during that few years my kids acquired cell phones. I did not want one - didn’t like them and could see no reason for having one. As I was driving across country lanes in the dark through the winter my husband thought I should have one for emergencies… Wow - how many phones since then? Now, of course, my iPhone goes everywhere with me!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">One of my best friends at the time had packer her daughter off to Uni with a new Win 95 machine and after a couple of years this young lady had all of her dissertation notes and what she had already written on the computer - no back up of course - that was not really done in those days! My friend, thinking she was keeping her daughter up to date, took a Windows 1998 update disk up on one of their visits and installed it. This was in Manchester and I was in Oxfordshire. I got a frantic phone call saying it had failed and all of the work was lost, disaster had struck and what could they do? My friend was expecting me to solve the problem despite 200 mile difference between us. I sat and thought - I told them we could try something, it was a last ditch attempt and if it failed it would be a professional recovery job it would completely trash the machine. They were desperate to try anything. It took me a few minutes to work out but I gave them the DOS instructions (then I knew DOS, now I have forgotten it!) I had to tell them every character and space, it was to uninstall the win 98 upgrade but having never seen it I trusted to luck it was named in the same convention that other MS software at the time was named. Once that was complete I gave them the DOS code to load Win 95 and it worked!! Windows 95 loaded and the work was there. I could not begin to do the same sort of thing now.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another time I got a phone call from friends, they just said the computer was not working. They had tried and tried to reboot it and nothing happened. I switched it on and watched - far from nothing happening, I could see a whole lot happening! I could see red lights flashing for the hard drive, but no display. I switched it off, and on - and realised that the computer was booting up as usual, if I pressed enter in the right places it loaded. Obviously I checked all of the plugs and knew it was only the monitor causing the problem. I did a boot up in safe mode, something totally new to them, changed the display settings to get them as close to right as I could, then booted up in normal mode to fine tune it. They thought I had performed magic!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">My Christmas present about 2000 was iPaq - a wireless PDA - out of its time really, I could only link to the internet at home and at work, and then only get mail and synchronise calendars - though that was a first!! Whoops forgot the Psion - whatever did that do? ;-) But mobile devices - the Psion, iPaq, laptops, netbooks, currently iPad and iPhone have meant that I have been linked to the web pretty much full time for the last 12 years, kids these days have no notion of not being connected. I listened to a man talking about his son clicking on the Club Penguin link on his desktop when the family was on holiday - and totally distraught because it did not work. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At Easter 2000 I attended the first Apple Institute a teacher training session in Cheltenham. It was all about video work - something new to me! One of my colleagues was in some far flung exotic place and he knew I was on this training course. He phoned my home - I was not there of course, and told my husband about the price of small digital camcorders wherever he was. He knew it was less than half of the price they were here and I had been looking at them. My husband said - well if she wants one you had better bring it - so at the end of the Apple course and the Easter holiday I had a “small” digital camcorder. It still works actually but has been well and truly overtaken by the much, much smaller modern Flipcam which I still have and use if I am not using my phone!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I guess most of what has happened in technology since then is already well documented. Web 2.0 is a completely different story as are all of the gizmos and gadgets that go with computing. It is various anecdotes from the early days I keep remembering - I may well add more later.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-41216165390465587642012-02-08T11:01:00.000+00:002012-02-08T11:01:17.371+00:00My Avatar and Me<div class="MsoNormal">I watched the film My Avatar and Me through last night, twice in fact. It has subtitles which I generally cannot be bothered with, and as I do not usually watch films, often losing interest in the first few minutes, that is somewhat of a record.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It reached me on so many levels, firstly the lost, lonely visitor who first arrived in Second Life, I have seen so many! Mike Proud, the man building a dream, in a world here everything seems possible. Meeting Helena and building another dream, but was that Mike’s dream or Helena’s? I feel that it was Helena’s dream. She spent lots of time in-world with a person who she seemed to fall in love with and who, apparently, loved her to distraction, wanting her enough to start saving to get to Paris as soon as he could. Was it a case of when she realised Mike wanted the dream to become reality she disappeared? If so I guess for her there was no other way out! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Who is the mysterious Helena? Is she still in Second life, living her dream somewhere else with a different name? Does she already have a real family and is using Sl to pass the time away? Is she old and lonely creating her life with a beautiful young avatar? She must have had had money , building an island in SL then seeming to reside there almost permanently says to me that she did not work, so to have money but not work – could she be retired? Could she be an accident victim, have money but not freedom to live as she would like to in real life? If she really is the beautiful young blonde, with money then living her whole life in Second Life does not make sense, she would be out and about partying!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We see the film from Mike’s side, clearly it is his story, his film, and symbolically burying his laptop to end his dream before returning to his real life girlfriend is his ending. It is Helena who worries me, who is supporting her over this lost love and subsequent loss of her island, friends and chosen lifestyle? I wish I could reach out to her and offer friendship.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">There are many people in Second Life who are completely open about their lives, who they are, what they do etc., but as many, maybe even more who hide behind a mask. I think this film shows the real danger of living a pretend life, and spending so much time in Second Life that real life and responsibilities get forgotten or neglected. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I guess the story has played itself out in various ways more than once. So sad!<o:p></o:p></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2201921413518697647.post-69626118180752895282011-12-27T16:10:00.001+00:002011-12-27T16:11:27.683+00:00Life after Redundancy<span lang="EN-US">Well it is one full term after I have been made redundant and my life has done a complete 360</span><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: '0', serif;">0</span></sup><span lang="EN-US"> turn around. I am not doing what I have been doing for the last 20-odd years but teaching English to Air traffic controllers and many more people needing to learn English either for their jobs, for fun or simply interest, at Language Lab in Second Life, and enjoying every minute! It is interesting to change jobs, I could not imagine enjoying anything as much or more than my ICT consultant role, and it is not quite the same, but there are advantages! On mornings like some we have had already, with thick black ice for miles around and snow in various parts of the area that make grateful to be working at home and not driving miles every day. I do not spend a fortune of fuel, food away from home or “working” clothes – jeans are my working clothes. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">On the downside though it is not and 8 – 6 type of job! The worst session timewise I had to do was between 2 and 4 am. I don’t usually get those, 1 – 2am was another cover I did, but on the odd occasion, as I do not have to get up early, it does not really matter! Then again I could always say no!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">When I see newspaper and TV reports about people who were made redundant the same time as me and I realise how far removed from work many of those people are, when I hear about people sending off hundreds of job applications and not even getting answers, and similar stories, I am very grateful to have the opportunity to use existing skills, and learn new ones to provide myself a part time job!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In January I think I have 12.5 hours a week scheduled, so far I have also done lots of cover work for things like Thanksgiving, when many teachers are at home with their families for the festival or covering other people’s power failures (we are totally dependent on both power and the internet, there is no plan B!) and as the teaching is so new to me it is still taking me more than an hour to plan and make resources for every hour delivered (I am sure I will get better) so it is currently about a half time job. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I spend far more time now as my teacher avatar than my normal avatar, that is strange, even old friends have got used to her now and see more of me as her than as me </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span lang="EN-US"> I have not quite grown into my role yet though, experiential learning – doing, being part of, experiencing, living it, all quite different to experiential learning in the classroom and I need to get better at providing and living it!!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">I am just so grateful to the many English teachers out there who share their resources and ideas, without them I think I would be really struggling to get through each week. I have a batch of EFL teaching/ learning books and between those and the websites they inspire me to keep learning and have provided so many ideas that I can use in the classes their work is absolutely invaluable to me! Thank you one and all!<o:p></o:p></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08215805179729102461noreply@blogger.com0