Digital Signposts

Panoramic Video for Learning

 
Screencast  - panning and zooming into 360deg video

Last week the delegates at the Diverse 2011 conference were  treated to a fascinating presentation by Dr Roy Pea, Professor of Education and Learning Sciences at Stanford  University, on using video for classroom observation. Roy described how he used a 360 degree Lucy videocam to develop a model for observing lessons and classroom interactions. The Lucy enables all corners of the class to be filmed simultaneously, together with the surrounding audio; and the DIVER software developed by Roy and his team lets viewers zoom in to, comment and annotate different parts of the video.  This  lets different viewers, including both researchers and trainee teachers, pick up on different events happening in the classroom simultaneously, and from different viewpoints. This method of audio-visual analysis brings together multiple perspectives resulting in a multilayered and multidimensional narratives.

Indeed, these video research techniques could be applied to other situations outside the classroom, a good situation might be an art gallery or museum, where the system could record data on visitors strategies and engagement with exhibits and resources. Of course filming in public spaces, and classroooms, raises ethical issues; and to be effective, needs to be consensual and offer privacy safeguards.

Roy also introduced the audience to  Dot, a panoramic camera lens for the iPhone 4, which  is due to launch and retail at around $99. This looks awesome, and makes 360 degree video capture avaialable at a consumer price point.  As you can see in the screencast above, I have been having a play with one of the video examples from the Kogeto site.  I think it really works with movement as you can follow and zoom in or out on the overtaking cars, or turn back to see something you have passed.  Because every viewing is a different experience, learners can draw their own meaning from a video sequence. Combining movement with multiple viewpoints offers remarkable opportunities for sport and travel based videos. Whether filming a walk through a neigbourhood, recording environmental spaces such as a wood, or simply placing the camera on a table during a conversation; the Dot is sure to offer opportunities for creating innovative video for learning.

 

 

The first casualties of social media?

This analysis suggests that social media has claimed a big casualty, namely Hillary Clinton. It will be very interesting to see who/what will be next. Do our 'traditional' education systems and institutions need to take heed?
via socialmedia

Blogs: from Common Craft

I suspect for many, a new Common Craft video is an eagerly awaited event, and it is probable it won't be long before it is doing the rounds on many educational and / or technology websites. Blogs; (below) is a welcome recent addition that goes beyond the mechanics of a blog and discusses the issues related to the changing face of news in the 21st century.

There is lots to discover at the Common Craft site where you can download the videos, read the blog, subscribe by RSS or email, and access transcripts  or subtitled versions, really useful for further study.  I recommend spending some time there.

Changing the past

Began way back, long before Photoshop. Nowadays, you can do it online, of course.

Via Boing Boing

Tumblr

Thanks to John for reminding me about Tumblr.  Ideal for clipping stuff from the web, together with a source link to see the data in its original context. I have been playing around with with Tumblr since July, and now feel ready to share my clippings in the sidebar as the Digital Beachcomber link.  At the moment I have confined my content to text, but that may change. I find Tumblr's real value in the facility to record and share instantly, when; a) either busy, or b) the author/information says it all.

Rethinking information handling

Exploring the fundamental changes in the way we work with information, Information R/evolution (above) is the new video from Michael Wesch, whose other works include the viral The Machine Is Using Us, and more recently,  A vision of Students Today. Combined, these videos set out some fundamental and inescapable challenges that education systems must address. It is worth noting some business professionals are already aware of the implications. (via The Obvious)

Incidentally, I installed beta version of Leap on my Mac today and the need for folders is becoming less critical by the minute. T

The world's biggest, never ending, slide show

This is seriously addictive. Dave Troy has just released a beta version of Flickrvision; a site that lets you view geotagged images on a  dynamic Google map, in real time, as they are uploaded to Flickr. The effect is hypnotic, photos from around the globe continuously appear and disappear from view, as the map shifts around to accommodate them. The potential is vast, especially as new features are promised to allow developers to customise this service; for example, checking on uploads from a specific location.

In class, even 5 minutes of watching this should inspire students, encourage questioning, help them identify social and cultural aspects around the world and discovering places and their relationships in the wider world. Please comment on any good ideas for educational use.

Footnote: although only a day old, this site has already had  over 1500 posts on del.icio.us

Busy day at Google

Yesterday was a busy day at Google with the release of My Maps and a Mac version of Google Desktop.  My Maps makes it easy for anyone to create their personalised Google maps, by simply positioning a marker and adding text or media to create an interactive map.  I made this in ten minutes. The marker listings on the left are neat, but can't be rearranged, which is a shame.

My Maps includes line and shape drawing tools and the maps can be saved as KLM files for use with Google Earth. However, I think there are there are a some features missing which prevent it from being as useful as it might be. The most important is the absence of any embed code, it would also be nice to  measure distances between markers. An RSS feed for updated maps, tags and  tools that enable collaborative work on maps, (think classes), are also be on my wish list.

There are some problems with  video from third party sites. Google Video and YouTube work fine, but Videoegg did not, and the HTML disappeared, others have also commented that Google strips some HTML elements. Having said that clips from Veoh did work, so I suppose it's trial and error. A final worry is that this may have detrimental effects on some mapping services such as QuikMaps which provide  excellent  tools and support. Whatever the benefits of My Maps we need these third party innovators

I believe My Maps will strengthen the case for using Web 2.0 and social software  in schools. Because it is so quick and easy to use, teachers and students should find plenty of uses, in all subjects and areas of study.

Visualisation Revisited

Hot on the heels of my preceding post, in which I hinted at the value of being able to visualise data in creative ways and exciting ways, comes a new online service from IBM's Collaborative User Group called Many Eyes.  Probably the best way to start with this is to visit the Visualization Gallery and have a play with the some of  the maps, charts, graphs and bubble diagrams available. When you get the idea of how it works, try uploading some of your own data, and then blog it using the embed code provided.  Below is an example showing the totals of birds that I rung together with my fellow ornithologists, in the Bradford Ornithological Group's study area in 2005

I am not a statistician, but I can see lots of applications for this tool, and I am already convinced it will lead to lots of exciting lessons and activities, for both teachers and students. I look forward to seeing what the real data experts amongst us will generate.

Would you like to see some interesting pictures?

With a keen interest in visual ephemera and historical graphics, I was delighted to come across BibliOdyssey, on Boing Boing. The picture above is one of many included in the Fauna category. BibliOdyssey is veritable treasure trove of historical illustrations and ephemera. The hundreds of lithographs, engravings and drawings range from scientific studies to the absurd.

Although many of the images are quite small, this blog; (with a Creative Commons license),  makes a welcome supplement to the hundreds of thousands of photographic images, you can (legally) use, from sources including Flickr's  Creative Commons search or Robin Good's extensive listing. Plenty here then for educators, students and others to to re-use, re-mix and develop.  Keep us posted with the results.