The Future of Learning

The 12 Apps of Christmas

Finally, to complete this short run of postings presenting iPod Touch/iPhone apps, here is an Apple advert with the Twelve Apps of Christmas.

See the apps in the commercial on the App Store

[Thanks to iLounge]

Pocket Chalkboard

Another iPod/iPhone App today, this one with thanks to Frances Brisentine (from the Arkansas Dept of Education) who sent me a list of quite a few she uses.

Features include

• black or green chalkboard colour
• different chalk colours
• realistic chalk and eraser sound
• partial erase with duster
• stroke by stroke replay of last saved drawing
• save drawing as an image

Pocket Chalkboard costs £0.59.

Pocket Chalkboard is just one of the Apps from Cross Discipline Technology

Visit Paris - with your iPhone

Thanks to all of you who have submitted apps for my iPod/iPhone list mentioned in yesterday's posting.  This one particularly caught my eye:

"Vist Paris" allows you to discover the History of the France‘s capital city, through 50 creative videos and a GPS system : relive in pictures the building of Notre Dame cathedral, or the last days of doomed Queen Marie Antoinette. Meet Eiffel before his Tower, learn what’s under Sacré Coeur church, see where the Statue of Liberty was born, and the unknown Louvre ...    

“Visit Paris” can be used from now on without an internet connection. All you need to do, when you first connect via wi fi, is to download all or some of the videos, and you will be able to w them as many times as you like, and you will avoid roaming charges when you make your next trip to Paris!

Watch the video ...

Visit Paris is avalaible in lite and complete (1.99$) versions, in English and French on the iTunes Store.

What matters now - a free ebook

Seth Godin has organised a new ebook.  He explains more on his blog posting ..

"Now, more than ever, we need to shake things up. ... Now, more than ever, we need a different way of thinking, a useful way to focus and the energy to turn the game around.

Here are more than seventy big thinkers, each sharing an idea for you to think about as we head into the new year. From bestselling author Elizabeth Gilbert to brilliant tech thinker Kevin Kelly, from publisher Tim O'Reilly to radio host Dave Ramsey, there are some important people riffing about important ideas here. The ebook includes Tom Peters, Fred Wilson, Jackie Huba and Jason Fried, along with Gina Trapani, Bill Taylor and Alan Webber"

He explains the deal ...

"it's free. Download it here. Or from any of the many sites around the web that areposting it with insightful commentary. Tweet it, email it, post it on your own site. I think it might be funmake up your own riff and post it on your blog or online profile as well. It's a good exercise. Can we get this in the hands of 5 million people? You can find an easy to use version on Scribd as well and from wepapers. Please share."

This is Seth's orginal blog posting

iPhone Apps for Education

Over the last year or so I've been building a list of list of apps (including optimized sites and web apps) for the iPod Touch and the iPhone that are useful for learning, performance support or productivity purposes. Here it is:

Apps for the iPod Touch/iPhone

However,I recently came across this huge list of iPhone Apps for Education, made available via Scribd (and embedded below):

ICTAC MEMO iPhone Apps for Education

Moodle 1.9 for Second Language Teaching

Jeff Stanford emailed to tell me about his book, published by Packt, described as "A recipe book for creating language activities using Moodle 1.9".

Moodle is in joint 14th position on the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009 list, and is in fact the only Learning/Course management system/Virtual Learning Environment on the list.

About the book

This book breaks down the core components of a typical language syllabus – speaking, pronunciation, listening, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, and assessment – and shows you how to use Moodle 1.9 to create complete, usable activities that practise them. Each chapter starts with activities that are easier to set up and progresses to more complex ones. Nevertheless, it's a recipe book so each activity is independent. We start off with a brief introduction to Moodle so that you're ready to deal with those specific syllabus topics, and conclude with building extended activities that combine all syllabus elements, making your course attractive and effective. Building activities based on the models in this book, you will develop the confidence to set up your own Moodle site with impressive results.

About the author

Jeff Stanford is from London, UK, and has worked in over 20 different countries. He has more than 20 years experience as a language teacher and teacher trainer, which he has applied with abundant enthusiasm to ICT for the last ten years. He is a portfolio worker and each of the strands of his professional life have contributed to this book: as an associate tutor on the MA TEFL course at Leicester University; as a communication skills tutor; as a web site designer; and as a teacher trainer.

Moodle 1.9 for Second Language Teaching

[More articles and books in our Moodle Readling List]

10 Advent Calendars

We're well into December now, but I've come across a number of different advent calendars this year.  Here are just 10...

1. Woodlands Junior School Online Interactive World Advent Calendar - and no peeking!
2. New virtual advent calendar from the Guardian
3. Musical advent calendar - the year in review - from the Guardian
4. Advent Calendar Online - with a daily game
5. Bach Christmas Calendar - from the BBC
6. Goethe Institute Advent Calendar 2009
7. Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar - at the Boston Globe
8. Mathematics Enrichment Advent Calendar
9. Appvent Calendar - every day a free iPhone game
10. Electric December - Watershed’s annual countdown calendar, featuring an inspired selection of short films from young people across Europe.

Do you have a favourite advent calendar to add to the list? If so please leave the details in a comment below.

NGRAIN

NGRAIN does interactive 3D visualization around complex equipment - operating, maintaining and repairing. Their technology allows them to "crunch" down these 3D models and put them onto laptops and even PDAs,and thus get them into the classroom.  This visualization allows learners to practice, practice, and practice on the computer screen with great results - enhanced learning, increased throughput, less wear and tear on the real equipment and hard trainers, and less instructor workload.

They have focused mainly on the military market in Canada and the US and use resellers to spread the  technology and solutions in over 27 countries.  NGRAIN is currently looking for a trusted courseware/ISD company to representing in the UK.  If this is of interest, please contact Brian Douglas - bdouglas@ngrain.com

Edublog Awards 2009

This is the 6th year of the edublog awards and this year there are 19 categories.  Hundreds of sites were nominated over the last few weeks and these have now been whittled down to a shortlist in each category.

Very many thanks to all those who nominated me and my blogs; I am very pleased to appear in the shortlists of the following three categories.  (In fact, BOTH Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day and Social Media in Learning have been nominated for Best Individual Blog!)

You can view all the shortlisted nominated sites in one easy list here - a great place to find out about new blogs and other resources - and of course links to the polls where you can vote. Voting closes Wednesday 16 December.

Good luck to all the nominees!

Intel's Technology Wiki

Gabi Witthaus emailed to tell about this technology wiki:

"It's a nice concept from Intel - they have created a wiki for members of the public to share their technology stories. It's arranged according to a timeline (going back to 4,500 BC, and with entries up to 2050). When you mouse-over it, you can click on individual items and read about the technologies of each age, and contribute your own stories."

And as they explain on the wiki itself ..

"Got the feeling that the timeline doesn't tell the full story? See a gap? Fill it in. Edit stories to add detail (or correct a mistake). Add personal anecdotes about the effects convergent technologies have had on your life. Add a completely new entry. It could be a technology that isn't on here yet. It could be about a technology that hasn't been invented yet. Share it with us.

Intel Technology Wiki

[Some more examples of wikis in our Showcase]