eLearning Infusion

I had a terrible moment last week when I turned on my iMac, an audible clicking and humming that got progressively worse. On top of that, there was no familiar Apple logo, instead a flashing folder icon with a question mark… no hard drive found!

Thankfully, just the week before I had purchased a new 1TB Western Digital network drive, compatible with Time Machine, so I knew I had a full backup.

So the question now was, do I replace the hard drive myself or take it to the shop? Always up for a challenge, I ordered an replacement 500GB drive for NZ$86 and jumped onto YouTube to see if any one had posted a how-to movie. Thankfully they had, there were a couple of excellent video walk throughs for replacing hard drives on a 20″ or 24″ iMac. Apple also provide an instructional DIY pdf. My model is a 20″ Late 2006 iMac, the last before the aluminum models came out.

So feeling pretty confident, the hard drive arrived and I got stuck in, only to discover that once I had the casing off and the LCD ready to come out, that my model iMac was different to both of those in the how-to videos and the Apple instructions.

The major differences are that the hard drive is located in the middle left side rather than the middle top, and that the LCD is connected with 3 cables (2 on the left and 1 at the bottom) rather than just 2.

So a few carefully considered cables detached and screws undone, the hard was replaced in no time at all. A Time Machine restore is happening as I type.

So the lesson to be learned is, back-up your data and back-it up frequently. If you own an Apple and are not using Time Machine, you should be. Hard drives can and do fail at any time.

Lesson number 2 is that DYI hard drive replacement is relatively easy in an iMac. Save yourself some dollars and give it a go.

Nick Hardware hard drive, iMac, replacement

The good news for me is that I now have an iPhone, a lovely new 16GB 3Gs. As part of a research initiative, my colleagues and I at CORE were invited to submit a proposal for an iPhone or Android.

“…the submission needs to include the reasons why you want an iPhone, the things you hope to achieve in work, and teaching and learning. You also need to confirm your willingness to make the minimum 6 blog posts over the next 6 months, along with any potential ULearn presentations…”

Here is my successful proposal. If you view it I suggest you do so with the sound off as it was late at night when I recorded the audio and it is a bit monotonous!

Now I can fully explore the place an iPhone may have in terms of the ongoing accumulation of thoughts, learning and reflection in an mPortfolio after posting about the possibilities several times previously..

Nick Hardware, mLearning CORE, iPhone

The past couple of weeks has brought about some major changes to way we are administering our email and calendering systems within our school. We have taken the step to switch our email over from being administered on our own server to the convenience and power of the mighty Google.

The switch happened seamlessly, only requiring a phone call to Inspire to change our MX records to point to Google not to our school’s server. Everything else was completed online, and once Inspire flicked the switch over our Gmail was up and running within a couple of hours once the domain name change had propagated around the globe. After Google had authenticated us as an educational institute, which took about 10 days, we were upgraded to the Education Edition and now have add free services, more comprehensive admin features and the ability to create and manage 100’s of users, all for zero cost. It is very easy to administer the services and like any Google product, there are discussion forums on any conceivable problem you may encounter.

The change has meant some new learning for staff as they have shifted from using Apple’s Mail, to the web based Gmail. Email addresses have remained the same. Those already using Gmail welcomed the transition but others, as with anything new, questioned the need to do it. Managing this change is always the key to making it work.

So why did we change? Here are some of the key reasons.

• Google apps becomes a one stop shop for school admin. Our existing set-up was a mish mash of systems that meant going to a variety of places to view calendars, check email, shared contacts, chat, video conference, book facilities etc. Google apps gives us that under one log in.
• Anytime anywhere access. While previously available, the ease of the new system makes the old method seem very clunky.
• Collaboration! Collaboration! Collaboration! The Google Apps package is built around the notion of sharing, participation and working together.

The one disappointment I have with the Google Apps package is that Google Reader is not part of the service. To access this, you needs to have a separate Google account. Having Reader as part of this service would really make it the hub for all your professional learning network needs. I would also love to see Google’s Custom Search function put in the package.

The biggest challenge I can see is the dependence of staff on using Word or Pages to create documents and then emailing them as attachments to the recipients. While there will always be a need to do this, a huge amount of this documentation can more simple be shared with users. This is a huge change in thinking and approaching how information is shared and worked on among multiple users. Something to keep modeling throughout the school.

Nick Hardware, Web 2.0, eLearning Calendar, Chat, Contacts, docs, gmail, google, Google Docs, GoogleApps, sites

I few weeks back I was lucky enough, along with the four other efellows, to attend a session on making presentations using such tools as Powerpoint or Apple’s Keynote. The session was run by Roydon Gibbs, a learning and design specialist. It proved to be an excellent practical and theoretical overview of how to plan and structure your presentation for your audience and the message you are wanting to get across. As all the efellows are presenting at ULearn this year, this was a timely workshop to get us thinking about this event.

We briefly discussed the merits of using Powerpoint vs. Keynote (we did not even get on to discussing the Web 2.0 options like SlideRocket or 280 Slides) and the general conclusion was that Powerpoint was the preferred option due to its superior presentation options. This included the ability to view presenter notes, timer and slide previews on one display and the slides only on a second display.

I came away slightly disappointed as I would rather not use Powerpoint and much prefer Keynote. I decided to investigate this and I am pleased to report that all of these options are also available in Keynote. Very simple really, I don’t know why I have not noticed them before!

Here’s where:

Go to the Keynote preferences and click the Presenter Display tab. Select the desired options from the list.

To preview and edit how this will look on your screen, click Edit Presenter Layout… and follow the instructions.

Now click on the Slideshow tab. Select options as required but take note of the 2 options at the bottom of the window. Your primary display is (usually) your laptop’s display and the secondary display is your projector. Use this in conjunction with the Alternate Display option in step 1.

Done. Admittedly, Powerpoint does allow you to preview all slides when in presentation mode rather than Keynote’s previous and next. This is something that may hopefully be addressed in future versions.

Here and here are some more reading on the Keynote vs. Powerpoint debate.

This is a recommended blog on professional presentation and design, Presentation Zen.

Finally, I did learn something that I never knew before, that by pressing the B or W key during presentation mode the screen fades to either black (B) or white (W). Fantastic – no more propping a bit of paper or a magazine over the lens of the projector to temporarily block the image. This great tip works in both Keynote and Powerpoint.

Nick Hardware

I have just read this article:

Developing digital portfolios: investigating how digital portfolios can facilitate pupil talk about learning.
Kate Wall, Steve Higgins, Jen Miller and Nick Packard
Centre for Learning and Teaching, University of Newcastle, UK.

Technology, Pedagogy and Education
Vol. 15, No. 3, October 2006, pp. 261-273

As part of this research project I read a lot of articles in the areas of eportfolios and assessment for learning. Like anything you read, be it a magazine article, novel, or newspaper, as you are reading you can immediately connect (or not) with the text and message. This article was one of those. Throughout reading it I found myself nodding my head and murmuring consent to the ideas and concepts it was discussing as they mirrored some of the central aims of my research.

If you are interested in eportfolios, assessment for learning and thinking skills I thoroughly recommend you source a copy of this article.

Some ideas the conclusions that grabbed the attention of my highlighter:

The combination of a digital portfolio and thinking skills has been revealed to be a powerful one with plenty of scope for development in the primary classroom.

The reflective nature of the pupils’ comments regarding their learning and achievement as part of the digital portfolio gives valuable evidence to support formative assessment theory.

…a digital portfolio has the potential to create independent learners who are responsible for the collection of their own evidence of achievements across the curriculum and this process has impact on the pupils and how they perceive themselves and their learning.

Another couple of reasons why this research interested my was that it included many quotes from students. The students’ voice really gave the article added authenticity for me and less academic blah.

Finally, the fact that this research was undertaken with primary aged children was a breath of fresh air as the majority of research and published articles are predominantly secondary of tertiary education based.

Nick Assessment for Learning, Formative Assessment, Hardware, ICT, Research, ePortfolios education, learning, pedagogy, technology