Embed Video: HTML5 or Flash?

Using the iframe tag, below, this video will either play through a flash player if viewed on a common browser, or switch itself to HTML5 if that is the preference of the browser. A welcome finding for anybody trying to optimise embedded video for both desktop and mobile devices.

Universal Design Principles Checklist

The Universal Design Principal Checklist is a tool for VET providers to assess materials and communications and enhance accessibility for everyone. It was designed by the Qld Department of Education and Training. These principals apply to face to face, hard copy, elearning and mlearning design and delivery.

Moodle Moot 2010 PodCast

Moodle 2.0 is a game changer

Here are some of the highlights from Moodle Moot Melbourne regarding the new Moodle 2.0 as demonstrated today by Martin the Moodle man.

• 20 new themes that look and feel like a whole new moodle
  
  
• Blocks can be "Docked" as a drop down menu on the left hand side of the page creating far more space and efficiency on the page.
  
  
• Blocks can be customized to appear on every page, or on selected page views.
  
  
• Private Files block, allows users to upload private files to a repository, and intergrate with external repositories such as Google Docs, Flickr and so on.
  
  
• User Blogs can be integrated with Twitter through RSS feeds, or any Blog, the cool thing, you can Filter the Feed by Filter Tags.
  
  
• There is a Comment Block, allowing for user comments to be left on every page in moodle.
  
• The Workshop Module has been made more user friendly.
  
  
• All Activities and Resources and be 'Checked' off with a tick box when viewed/completed.
  
  
• Community Hubs, are a place where Moodle Creators can share courses or sites centered around common learning areas. A Hub could also be created for use just inside an organisation.
  
  
• More about Moodle 2.0 to come...
  

Student Data, Google Docs & iPhone

A good combination made real with Educate 2.1 (free download), this Australian made app is for Trainers who track students data and programs with Google Docs. I'm yet to trial this to see if it fits everything we do, but if you've got an iPhone, Student Data to manage and you already use Docs, it would be well worth a trial of your own.

Neovet Moodle Moot Prezi

I'll be using Prezi for my Moodle Moot presentation on Embedding New Media, this July in Melbourne. I love how new presentation tools, such as SlideShare, Screenr and Prezi, work both offline and online, giving way to flexible delivery. Prezi is yet to add audio, so the trick for the full blown presentation experience is to combine Prezi with Screenr and simply record audio over your Prezi and then republish as a Screenr object.

Below is my prezi, or here is the full Audion Version of my presentation, part 1 and 2.

Embed with new media on Prezi

Searching for elearning tools?

Learning Tools Directory : Over 3,000 tools listed

C4LPT - Center For Learning and Performance Technologies

Of particular interest to me is the mobile tools directory, which no doubt will become the fastest growing area in coming years.

2015 Mobile Web takes over

A report compilled by Morgan Stanley and boiled down by Mashable confirms that indeed mobile web will overtake desktop web by 2015. Elearning design, therefore, can not be done without considering mlearning design. Another interesting finding was that facebook is the largest repository of user generated content in the world, could it be time that FB becomes the most logical place for a powerful LMS?

Related Article - Facebook, Google, as an LMS?

Mobile Web Design

What makes a good mobile web design? It involves usability, browser compatibility and needs to just make sense on a small screen. Here are 6 of the top mobile site designs recommended by Mashable.com. For some design tips visit Authentic Boredom for a beginners guide.

Mobile bring the news OutBack <--

Here is the situation. I'm holidaying outback in the NT with my new little family, and just had a great night at my sisters wedding, that involved dancing to dub beats in the desert with fresh Barra served round the fire.

I wake up this morning at our Katherine based accommodation and take the baby for a walk to give my wife an extra sleep in. I go to grab the Weekend Australian at the Kiosk, which by Sunday morning, should have arrived for my ritualistic devouring.

They don't have it, and say it's probably not even in town. *my goodness*, it occurs to me, that as my Blackberry Storm has been picking up pretty good Internet data even on EDGE, that if i had an iPad with the new The Australian app, I could be the one guy in town with the nations leading newspaper. It surprises me since there are so many good articles written about NT issues in The Australian, and that the locals wouldn't even know about it. iPads and other 'reader' devices will bring change to the landscape of print media not just for the big city in Australia, but even more so for those places, where newspapers can't be expected to arrive before the news gets old.

p.s. We found a paper delivered a day late for $4.80, for same price we could get every issue on the iPad for a month.

mLearning Solutions Magazine

Learning Solutions Magazine has a dedicated section to mLearning which showcases new development tools while discussing compatibility issues and teaching strategies. I particularly like this article by Ara A. Ohanian, that suggests it is not only a more sophisticated set of technologies that is bringing mLearning to the tipping point of usability, but also the emergence of more sophisticated mobile users.

Speed is everything to mlearning

Mobile content is about to become that much more engaging and useful for training as users will benefit from the increased speed of 4G, set to be 10 times faster than 3G, that is a real game changer in terms of usability.

At the end of this video you will see that you can stream Video from your mobile device with only a 2second lag, to a variety of online formats.

HTC EVO video

Japanese Mobile Novel a best seller

Mobile Phones are being used by a new kind of author to generate content that has gone mainstream in the form of best selling novels. 5 out of last year’s 10 best-selling novels where written by text authors, with love stories messaging but containing little of the plotting or character development found in traditional novels.

Three of the novelists in the top 10 where first time novelists. What does that say about mobile technology allowing a new kind of content creation and with it, a new kind of content developer to reach the masses.

Read the full article @ NYT

e standards for mobile learning

Anybody working on future mlearning development in Australia, should be aware of the Australian Flexible Frameworks estandards for mobile learning. This comprehensive list of technologies best used for optimal results is a work in progress as mlearning rapidly evolves.

The standards include mobile audio, video formats, general formatting and content delivery standards for mobile browsing/learning.

mlearning Blogs and Sites

mlearning Blogs mlearnopedia David Schrag mLearning World

mlearning tools Kaywa - QR reader and Mobile Blogging Tool MOMO - mobile moodle Mobile Learning Engine W3C - CSS for Mobile Prfile 2.0

Moodle for iPhones

Moodle4iPhones Open Source project

Mobile Shoot to Go

QR codes can be used to create quick access to elearning content or experiences at a specific location, using the image "hard linking" of QR codes.

Later this year I want to test QR codes in a workshop based setting, where participants can 'shoot' to link to elearning via smart phones, preloaded with a QR reader.

Find a QR reader for you phone: List of QR Readers