Youtube from the comfort of your webcam

Just a quick post on a handy Youtube feature. It allows users to record video (within a webrowser) via their own webcams and publish to the account. Ensure that the webcam is installed and functioning. I have used Google Chrome with good effect. you may be asked to install Shockwave.

How well this works for you is very much limited to the upload speed of your internet connection, please check your Internet Service Provider if using at home or off campus. If you are using on standard broadband it could be around 0.5mb upload. some of the fibre networks are now 1.5mb+ which are more likely to cope. Plymouth University Campus has excellent bandwidth, I found no problems upload this way. You have the option to review the footage before publishing. Remember, when selecting the publish button always change the setting for the new upload to either private or 'only with link' unless you don't mind the default 'live to the world'!

Did you know that as long as your Youtube account is in good standing, adding your mobile phone number to confirm you are 'human' by a verification code allows you to unlock the 15 minute limit on a standard account... it is all explained in the youtube support. Just don't break copyright or you loose all privileges.

Practical uses of using a webcam:

• Video diary
• saves using your hard drive space
• Access to the Youtube video editor to cut out errors
• Add other videos in the editor and inter-cut with transitions
• Video available to anyone on the web (if desired)

Have fun....

From Post 92 to Post Digital

I and a mix of other staff and students attended Lawrie Phipps' (from JISC) excellent seminar today, here at the University of Plymouth.

To quote Lawrie's abstract:

'...explore the journey that universities have made from the early days of technology in learning, through to what appear to be ubiquitous VLEs and on to post digital universities, where technology is both invisible and essential... [to]...argue that, as part of this journey, institutions must re-evaluate the meanings of knowing and understanding and adapt their work to accommodate the new demands placed on individuals and organisations by the digital era.'

Included in the presentation was the following video (Slide 5 'In the Beginning'), which rather humorously depicts a sort of medieval approach to modern day tech support for 'a book'. The parallels of this to new and emerging technologies make this video rather poignant and Lawrie's reasons were to emphasise that technology should be intuitive. If you need a manual the technology is not really that good. Amusingly 'a manual' is mentioned in this video (English subtitles provided):

Lawrie also asked the attendees to role play in groups of 6 (Vice Chancellor, Head/Dean of School, 2 x Academics, a Learning Technologist and a student). Each group was given a scenario, ours was related to improving academic support for students, and to report back to the Senior Management Team (SMT). Although we were suppose to pretend to be someone else, I still ended up as a Learning Technologist (LT)...

If you're reading this Lawrie, sorry, I know you wanted roles changed... However, from my own perspective it was very interesting to see 'how' pivotal the LT is when it comes to linking in the needs of the user with the technology. I will add that some expectations were even above and beyond job role! We did however come to some sort of solution (we only had ~15mins) and that was to use web cams (video meetings etc), perhaps a forum (for questions and answers) for students not having access to this technology. Students could also be placed in charge of monitoring the forum content to ensure smooth running. This would further reduce the amount of support required of academics, hopefully improve support, but equally enrich the student experience. The main outcome from all the groups was that of empowering the students or the over riding student voice, at the end of the day, this is what it is all about.

Further details on Lawrie's presentation are available on Plymouth University's Technology Enhanced Learning website.

Download Lawrie's Video by Dave Hurrell (University of Plymouth TV and Broadcasting Services)
~29mins - Lawrie talks covers timeline slide Post 92 to Post Digital
~33mins - Give students admin rights?