Category: Digital Media

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Screencast

A screencast is a video that shows a recording of anything shown on-screen and normally makes use of a voice-over, typically explaining what is happening on screen.
A screencast can have additional supporting materials such as overlaid video (often the speaker), graphics, images and sound effects.
The creator of the screencast uses screencast software to record the on-screen activity and then uses either the same software to edit and prepare the  final video, or will import the screencast recording into third-party editing software for further work.

Because screencasts can have many different uses, they are quite popular and the basics can be learned in minutes.

Example uses include:

  • Demonstrating how-to do an activity on a computer
  • Providing student feedback
  • Introducing a software or web product for marketing purposes

Learn More

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Alistapart 342: A Pixel Identity Crisis

A Pixel Identity Crisis: Now that hardware is changing and pixel densities are growing, pixels are struggling to find relevance as the stable unit they once were. Browser zooming is one thing and has been covered on QuirksMode. But what is a pixel on high resolution devices today? Why does the 640px × 960px iPhone 4 claim to be 320px × 480px in the browser? The truth is that there are two different definitions of pixels: they can be the smallest unit a screen can support (a hardware pixel) or a pixel can be based on an optically consistent unit called a “reference pixel.”

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Notes on ebooks

I have been collecting links across the web about every aspect of ebooks and thought I may as well share it here as it grows. Feel free to comment/email with any useful resources.

Last updated 13 May 2012 and listed with my latest finds at the top

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Podcast: I have no idea where this podcast is heading…

After listening to one of his podcasts at the weekend I contacted Craig Taylor to see if I could be on it. He kindly accepted and thus ensued a series of tangents around e-learning, how us FE/HE types and corporate folks converge (measuring success and ROI).

I super briefly met Craig earlier this year at the Plymouth e-learning Conference and via twitter/podcast felt like I knew him enough to cheekily ask to chew his ear off!

I suggest you subscribe to his podcast and stalk him on twitter.

Listen to our podcast

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Speaking: Mobile learning at Bath Spa

In my talk today at Bath Spa I set out to touch on key aspects of mobile learning, what is mobile learning and why we might be taking the time to care. Below are my supporting notes:

What is mobile learning

  • If you read nothing else, the JISC Mobile Learning infokit is a great body of work to get you started
  • It isn’t just about wheeling out devices, it is about seeking ways to enhance our teaching and learning by taking advantage of the opportunity and constraints
  • Mobility of people with devices opens new doors
  • Context is king
  • There are 100s of devices (demo’ed 3 tablets) and there can be social pressure on students to get the devices everybody else has
  • Mobile learning is leading to transformation in the classroom AND institutions are having to address this. Many institutions are are starting to address this with steering groups, research and initiatives such as “mobile clinics“.

Why Mobile learning?

Further signposts

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A New Perspective on Crime Scenes

Over at the NYTimes is a great piece “A New Perspective on Crime Scenes” about crime scenes that make use of a panoramic camera (Panoscan) to capture the scene.

What really caught my attention was the audio descriptions for each scene that really bring the scenes to life. The images are used in court and also to preserve a crime scene for years to come.

Found via Kottke of course.

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Rekindling my happy snapping

For the first time in a looong time I have picked up my Canon 350D. I got the camera a few years back after a freelance gig but I was always hung up on the features and we never took to each other.

Maybe this time will be different.