HCAS Instructional Technology

I have received a call asking of ways to shorten the link that Qualtrics creates for surveys. My first suggestion was posting the link onto a currently existing Website, but the users didn’t want to do this. I contacted technical support at Qualtrics and was directed to tinyurl.com and shorturl.com.

At either of these sites, users input their long url into a form field to generate a shorter link.The downside to this isn’t as as official as an ‘ecu.edu’ link, but it might be worth it if having a shorter link is important.

The E-Learning Queen has posted a great article about the revitalization of  podcasts as a product of the growing use of e-learning tools, mobile devices and access to the Internet through 3G and 4G wireless networks.

Read the Article

**This post is from a comment made by Silvia Garcia in response to a question about mobility & learning posted  to the blog ‘Open Course in Education Futures.’**

Mobility is one of the most important characteristics of learning today as never before. Information comes to us in many ways and at all time. Lots of information. So I think that one of the most important roles of schools today is to make sure that students develop the necessary competencies for dealing with that amount of information. Use what they need and what is good for them.

Smart technology has so many uses for education (formal, informal, independent…) The problem is, how smart we are in using “smart technology”. How smart we are in taking advantage of technology for raising motivation for learning among our students; not by notifying events to come, but by creating new activities that challenge the student’s abilities to use technology wisely.

And we as teachers will not be able to do that if we don’t get familiar with all these artifacts to the point that we are able to transform them into useful devices for education. That is, giving technology a different use and purpose than the one given by technology designers. There is a long way between using technology and being able to transform it.

Reference: http://edfutures.com/blogs/mtapk/mobile-learning#comment-161

About

Switch is a great audio converter that allows users to convert just about any audio file to an .mp3. There are for-pay versions, but there is also a free version, which should meet most needs.

Benefits

1. Batch Conversion (Users can add multiple audio files or folders containing audio files to be converted at one time).
2. Bitrate Adjusting (Users can adjust the bitrate to create smaller .mp3 files for e-mail, Web or etc.)

SEUS (5)

I would give this tool a 5 of 5 on simplicity and ease of use scale (SEUS). Tutorial(s) will be available on the Audio tutorials page early next week.

Website: www.nch.com.au/switch/

One of the most common responses you hear to the question, “How are you doing?” is “Busy.” Most of us spend our days on the move and depend on our mobile devices to communicate and access information like never before. Smartphones are not only tools that can be used for organization, but they give users access to the Internet and a host valuable resources like Websites, podcasts and videos. Many book publishers are delving into providing audio versions of popular texts that can be downloaded for a nominal fee.

BooksShouldBeFree.com is a site where users can download audio books for, of course, FREE! A few popular titles include Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, Alexander the Great and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. According to their Website (www.booksshouldbefree.com/about) BooksShouldBeFree.com only lists books no one holds copyright to, meaning anyone is free to distribute these texts.

Website: www.booksshouldbefree.com

SpanishDict.com

SpanishDict.com, operated by Curiosity Media, is known as the world’s largest, free Spanish learning Website. The site currently has 90 professional video lessons, hundreds of multimedia flash cards sets and two commercial dictionaries.

Site: http://www.spanishdict.com/

Full Text Interview with CEO of Curiosity Media on SpanishDict.com

About

PDFmyURL.com is a great Website that allows users to create a PDF of just about any Web Page, excluding those driven by Flash or or similar applications.

The difference in using this site versus, let’s say Adobe’s PDF, is that the PDF retains all the graphical elements, unlike Adobe.

Site: http://pdfmyurl.com/

How it Works

Just type the URL of the page you want a PDF of into the provided text field.

SEUS (5)

I give this tool a 5 on my SEUS (Simplicity and Ease of Use) scale.

What is it?

Synchtube is a Website that allows users to share and discuss YouTube Videos in real time. As of today, Synchtube has only been released as  a beta version so there’s no guarantee, the site has a future.

Article: Synchtube: A Model for Webclip Social Networking on Future TV Shows?

How it Works

Users visit the Synchtube Website (www.synchtube.com/) to begin sharing their YouTube Video. (Note:  If embedding has been disabled for the YouTube video, it cannot be shared on Synchtube).  Users can opt to create a private room by pasting in their video link then clicking ‘create room,’ or they can click ‘join a public room.’ The status of rooms can also be changed to public or private once a session has begun.

Users are then taken to a page that has an area where the video will play and an area to chat about the video. The room creator then shares the room link with anyone they want to participate in the chat. Participants can choose to remain anonymous or provide a name/alias.

Useful in Education

After reviewing Synchtube, there are some strong possibilities for use in education, especially Distance Education (DE).  YouTube  has become a great resource for educators whether they choose to share their own or use videos posted by others.

Synchtube could be used by instructors to hold synchronous discussions about YouTube videos with their students and could also be used by DE students to discuss videos with team or group members in the same way.

SEUS Rating (5)

I would give Synchtube a 5 out of 5 on my simplicity and ease of use scale (SEUS). The site isn’t overrun with ads and only presents users with what they need, but this may change if the site makes it through its beta version as it has over the years with YouTube.

A Glimpse into the World of Communication & Learning

This video provides some mind-blowing statistics on the effects of the impact communication technologies are having on the world.

I’ve been wondering lately whether or not Blu-ray is going to be around very long. An article from The New York Times discusses the future of blu-ray and Warner Brothers to discontinue support for this DVD format.

www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/technology/05bluray.html