40 apps in 40 minutes

For the latest Norfolk e-learning forum I decided that we should run a session on open source and free software tools. There are so many well known open source and free tools in use such as Moodle and WordPress that setting up the session was a challenge.

I settled on 40 applications in 40 minutes. A whirlwind tour of 40 of our favourite free applications that would hopefully offer something for everyone! I had a list of personal favourites that I needed to add to and spent a few afternoons searching the web for some new additions. After only a few hours I was amazed and the sheer number of free apps and also the quality of the apps. One of the first new apps I found was the awesome highlighter, a brilliant website that lets you mark up and highlight a website – allowing you to copy & paste, save the link and share with colleagues. A really simple idea with so many applications, you can use it in the classroom, presentations theatre or during development meetings.

40 in 40 was pretty fast paced and there wasn’t much time to look at anything in detail other than a couple of videos that I created in xtranormal and animoto to show what was possible.

The response to the session has been great with several people adding their own applications to the list and more commenting that they didn’t realise how many of these apps were available on the internet.

During the session I worked on the basis that if you didn’t like an app or wouldn’t find it useful there was another coming in less than a minute! We published the list on the real projects website alongside our other resources.

My top 3 are

• Awesome highlighter
• Xtranormal
• Animoto

There are so many ways in which you can use the applications and it was great to listen in on some of the discussions afterwards. I’ve seen xtranormal used an an online icebreaker, animation software, for product demonstrations, adverts and for teaching! The awesome highlighter can be used by the web designer and client or the teacher in class.

As I come across more I’ll add them to the list!

We have been looking at the PSP for a few weeks and today we’ve had some success! Sam, Ed and Jonny have managed to get a number of our own games and activities working, albeit with a few tweaks here and there. It was great to see the content and designs working on a new device and our next step is to move some existing content over to the PSP and to see how that looks.

It’s clear that we are going to have to look at how content is developed for the PSP and we’ve already talked about the need for a set of PSP e-learning guidelines. From our research it only supports Flash 6 but that still allows us to do lots of pretty cool stuff.

we’ll keep you updated on how things work out with the PSP.

Norfolk e-learning forum

The next forum event is on the 18th March in Norwich. If you are reading this and want to come along send us an email at info@realprojects.co.uk to book. It is a free event and if you are interested in e-learning and learning technology you are going to meet other like minded people! The event is interactive and you’ll get the chance to interact using the AlphaSmart Neo 2.

If you are still not sure about whether to attend give the office a call on 01603 762772 to find out more.

When I first has the idea to set up an e-learning forum in Norfolk I wanted to make sure that we listened to the people who came and improved the event. I’ve been able to move the event from an idea that I had last year to something that is well supported and valued by those who attend.

Reading this…you might be thinking….how does he know it is well valued!

At our last event I invited the customer feedback company, during the event they ran 2 live trials using their mobile phone feedback system. They asked a simple question about whether people found the event worthwhile and would they recommend the event. It was pleasing to see so many people post comments and then to read the positive ones! I still want to make improvements to the event and continue to improve the sessions.

The feedback system allowed us to view real-time feedback and we were able to collate the most feedback that we have ever had!

Last week I went to a great event hosted by the Norfolk Network. At the event James Duez from the feedback company spoke about his experiences of running a succesful e-learning business and also his current project: The Customer Feedback Company.

James and his team demonstrated a great piece of technology that captures instant feedback sent via a mobile and displayed via a dashboard. The possibilities for this technology are vast, from feedback to workplace assessment. I enjoyed the session so much that James has agreed to come and speak at the next e-learning forum.

Mobile technologies and handheld learning are developing radidly with Africa being the fastest growth area for Mobile Phone ownership. The Guardian also ran an article about parents wanting to receive more information about their children’s performance via mobile phone. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/sep/18/link.link17)

We are currently finalising the details of the event which will be on the 23rd October. The norfolk elearning website will be updated with details of the event in the next couple of days so look out for the booking details.

For more information:

http://www.thefeedbackcompany.com/

http://www.realprojects.co.uk/about.php

http://www.norfolkelearningforum.co.uk/

A few days I logged into my Basecamp account to be greeted by a new page…bascially they are stopping support for IE6! Ok, so more and more people are on IE7, Safari, Firefox with Chrome coming soon but I was still surprised.

I had read a few articles recently where users had come across websites which no longer supported IE6. Ill still be able to view Basecamp via another browser but it got me thinking about a lot of our customers. Many of the organisations we work with still use IE 6, if they are in big companies IT roll-outs can take time.

I understand why people aren’t continuing to support IE6…I have it on my machine as I’m the company IE 6 tester…but it did get me thinking about how websites could fail to be supported on a browser in a matter of months. Could we reach a situtation where developers are coding sites for specific versions of browsers with the user selecting their browser before they enter the website? I’ll be watching what happens with code standards and the increasing number of browsers coming online.

phew…after what seems like months of writing, designing and coding we have managed to upload our new website. We’ve added a lot more content about what we do and improved the layout of the pages. 

This is the third version of the site and we’d welcome any comments about the site.

I’d forgot how tricky it is to get everything together for a new site!

We have just been finalising the date of the next norfolk elearning forum. It has been set for 08:30 Thursday 23rd October. The event will take place at St. Andrews House in Norwich. If you have an interest in elearning or learning technologies please feel free to come along. The event is free but we do ask people to register first. Our friends at the Norfolk Network has offered us the use of the event system so that should make things a little easier!

We are in the process of finalising our speaker for the next event and we will post details as soon as we have them.

the norfolk elearning forum is looking for speakers for its programme of events for the next year. The next event is in October as is held in Norwich. For more information about the event you can visit www.norfolkelearningforum.co.uk