has something interesting on it for a change!
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=410082
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Back in the day.......
I thought I would share my e-learning experience (not te-L as it was not teaching) with you all.....
~~~wavy lines~~~
~~~wavy lines~~~
The year is 1986, the month was September, Sperry Rand and Burroughs merge to form Unisys, becoming the second largest computer company, and I was a few months away from taking my First Class exam (I was an air cadet, respect to 2210 Cowley Squadron)
I was just a geeky 13 year old boy with a passion for computers and a love of military helicopters....one evening on my way home from an evening of Drill and Aircraft Recognition I began to think about my impending exam....
So I thought to myself....why don’t I combine my programming skills with a need to pass this exam. Well two weekends later I had put together my very first e-learning application, written on a Spectrum + in BASIC.
It went through two rewrites, the first version required the person to enter the entire answer, an example of a question would be:
What engine powers a DeHavilland Chipmunk?
A) Gipsy Major 8
B) 2× Turbo-Union RB199-34R Mk 103 afterburning turbofans
C) 2× Rolls-Royce/Turbomeca Adour Mk 102 turbofans
The answer would have to be typed in full in order to get the marks.
This was a bit long winded so the second revision changed it so only the letter had to be entered.
It worked, a few others used it and we all passed the exam (I got a merit so I didn’t do too badly, perhaps if I had spent more time studying than programming it may have been a distinction!)
and FYI:
B belongs to a Panavia Tornado and C belongs to a SEPECAT Jaguar!
We now leap forward in time to the year 2001 (cue Also Sprach Zarathustra!) we all survived the Y2K apocalypse and I’m working as a web developer / designer at a company called CCH Seminars (Part of teh Chroner group who are massive!). CCH Seminars provide seminars for accountants (ptew ptew) so they can top up their CPD points and carry on fleecing clients legally.
6 months before I started someone had the idea of recording the lectures onto CD and sticking them online instead of having accountants (ptew ptew) travel to seminars.
So I turned up and my primary job was to look after the site and also to look into developing it into THE central point for accountants (ptew ptew) to get their CPD points online.
The recording of the seminars proved to be too long so a shorter length (10-15 mins) was suggested. While this was more popular with the listeners the governing bodies wanted something visual as well.
So we took what was an mp3 file (or a podcast years before they became 'trendy') stuck it into Flash and used Flash to provide the visual stimulus.
The governing bodies were happy, so were the 450 accountants (ptew ptew) who bought the product, as they could enrol online, download the seminars and watch/listen to them from home.
However, it was 2001 and accountants (ptew ptew) had dialup both at home and at work so downloading around 20 x 5MB files took ages!
So I developed a CD-ROM version which meant that instead of downloading the files they were sent out on a CD-ROM. We pretty much double the number of accountants (ptew ptew) within a few months of launching the service.
I looked into the following technologies to increase the accountants (ptew ptew) learning experience, these were:
Online Forums - We were going to advertise these as place to ask questions
Online Chat Room - The plan was to use these for live Q&A sessions with guest presenters. Very expensive chat room software was bought and set up in a test environment.
Unfortunately due to redundancy (yeah....after making them all that money through my hard work and research) these were never introduced.
There have been various other e-learning projects that I have undertaken but these were small one-offs and a bit pants!
So there you go.....blazing an e-learning trail since 1986!
~~~wavy lines~~~
~~~wavy lines~~~
The year is 1986, the month was September, Sperry Rand and Burroughs merge to form Unisys, becoming the second largest computer company, and I was a few months away from taking my First Class exam (I was an air cadet, respect to 2210 Cowley Squadron)
I was just a geeky 13 year old boy with a passion for computers and a love of military helicopters....one evening on my way home from an evening of Drill and Aircraft Recognition I began to think about my impending exam....
So I thought to myself....why don’t I combine my programming skills with a need to pass this exam. Well two weekends later I had put together my very first e-learning application, written on a Spectrum + in BASIC.
It went through two rewrites, the first version required the person to enter the entire answer, an example of a question would be:
What engine powers a DeHavilland Chipmunk?
A) Gipsy Major 8
B) 2× Turbo-Union RB199-34R Mk 103 afterburning turbofans
C) 2× Rolls-Royce/Turbomeca Adour Mk 102 turbofans
The answer would have to be typed in full in order to get the marks.
This was a bit long winded so the second revision changed it so only the letter had to be entered.
It worked, a few others used it and we all passed the exam (I got a merit so I didn’t do too badly, perhaps if I had spent more time studying than programming it may have been a distinction!)
and FYI:
B belongs to a Panavia Tornado and C belongs to a SEPECAT Jaguar!
We now leap forward in time to the year 2001 (cue Also Sprach Zarathustra!) we all survived the Y2K apocalypse and I’m working as a web developer / designer at a company called CCH Seminars (Part of teh Chroner group who are massive!). CCH Seminars provide seminars for accountants (ptew ptew) so they can top up their CPD points and carry on fleecing clients legally.
6 months before I started someone had the idea of recording the lectures onto CD and sticking them online instead of having accountants (ptew ptew) travel to seminars.
So I turned up and my primary job was to look after the site and also to look into developing it into THE central point for accountants (ptew ptew) to get their CPD points online.
The recording of the seminars proved to be too long so a shorter length (10-15 mins) was suggested. While this was more popular with the listeners the governing bodies wanted something visual as well.
So we took what was an mp3 file (or a podcast years before they became 'trendy') stuck it into Flash and used Flash to provide the visual stimulus.
The governing bodies were happy, so were the 450 accountants (ptew ptew) who bought the product, as they could enrol online, download the seminars and watch/listen to them from home.
However, it was 2001 and accountants (ptew ptew) had dialup both at home and at work so downloading around 20 x 5MB files took ages!
So I developed a CD-ROM version which meant that instead of downloading the files they were sent out on a CD-ROM. We pretty much double the number of accountants (ptew ptew) within a few months of launching the service.
I looked into the following technologies to increase the accountants (ptew ptew) learning experience, these were:
Online Forums - We were going to advertise these as place to ask questions
Online Chat Room - The plan was to use these for live Q&A sessions with guest presenters. Very expensive chat room software was bought and set up in a test environment.
Unfortunately due to redundancy (yeah....after making them all that money through my hard work and research) these were never introduced.
There have been various other e-learning projects that I have undertaken but these were small one-offs and a bit pants!
So there you go.....blazing an e-learning trail since 1986!
Monday, 25 January 2010
Response to TV Web University
The report mentioned that the couple had got rid of their tv years before their youngest child was born, whic judging by the age of the child, would be when had very slow broadband connectivity. Therefore I am to presume that it was a lifestyle choice and not a choice based on what tv and movie content was available on the internet at that time.
There will never be a 100% 'web' university, there will always be a need for human interaction with a tutor, lecturer or fellow classmates. The same argueement can be applied to e-learning, some think it will replace classroom learning but it is just another tool to be used in education.
There is a an EDU channel for YouTube, while this is a step forward towards the web university it only allows for one way transfer or knowledge.
While some may welcome the move towards using the net as a tool to reach the masses but it has to be backed up with the right level of support, i.e. forums, so you can post questions regarding the content of the material.
While there are successful 'web' universities, the Open University being a prime example, they do have a very good t-el model in place however they still have a lecturer or course leader the studetns can ring and talk to.
Online content can work, it has been proven, but there must alwasy be a 'human' element to any sort of learning at that level.
And that's how I roll.....
There will never be a 100% 'web' university, there will always be a need for human interaction with a tutor, lecturer or fellow classmates. The same argueement can be applied to e-learning, some think it will replace classroom learning but it is just another tool to be used in education.
There is a an EDU channel for YouTube, while this is a step forward towards the web university it only allows for one way transfer or knowledge.
While some may welcome the move towards using the net as a tool to reach the masses but it has to be backed up with the right level of support, i.e. forums, so you can post questions regarding the content of the material.
While there are successful 'web' universities, the Open University being a prime example, they do have a very good t-el model in place however they still have a lecturer or course leader the studetns can ring and talk to.
Online content can work, it has been proven, but there must alwasy be a 'human' element to any sort of learning at that level.
And that's how I roll.....
Friday, 22 January 2010
My very first tel project....
will be a laptop simulator which all new helpdesk and library staff will use to simulate configuring and connecting to the wifi service here at the university.
First step is to take screen shots of a laptop with the XP OS on it, next will be to put these together in Adobe Flash using buttons to simulate mouse clicks.
When finished it should look and feel exactly like you are using a laptop to configure wifi....
If this works then the next project will be to create one for laptops using Vista :)
I would consider doing on for Macbooks but they are a bloody nightmare what with all their different versions of OSX!
And that's how I roll......
First step is to take screen shots of a laptop with the XP OS on it, next will be to put these together in Adobe Flash using buttons to simulate mouse clicks.
When finished it should look and feel exactly like you are using a laptop to configure wifi....
If this works then the next project will be to create one for laptops using Vista :)
I would consider doing on for Macbooks but they are a bloody nightmare what with all their different versions of OSX!
And that's how I roll......
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
And so it begins....
Well judging by the amount of content of Blackboard and the first lesson this will be a 'challenging' course!
This is the first time with Justin but I did do a module with Richard during my BSc so I know what too expect....
Lets just hope things carry on this well :P
This is the first time with Justin but I did do a module with Richard during my BSc so I know what too expect....
Lets just hope things carry on this well :P
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