Two things I would point to:
Better/More Bandwidth for FN communities:
The First Nations of BC (and the rest of Canada, as far as I know) are working hard to connect every community that they can. They are partnering with the provincial government, Telus and other providers, and (to a limited extent at present, sadly) the Federal government to make this happen. The Kelowna Accord would have moved this along even faster, but unfortunately that isn't happening as it should.
The First Nations Summit and especially the First Nations Technology Council (FNTC.CA) are working hard to make this happen and I've met quite a few of the remarkable people behind this initiative. I am optimistic that it will happen, eventually.
Keeping bandwidth considerations in mind:
As Sylvia points out, it is easy to forget bandwidth constraints when designing delivery systems and content. I think we just need to slow down a bit and think about what we are trying to achieve and first make sure we really need that extra bandwidth. Could we do without it? Or, can we have a parallel/low bandwidth version of the page or digital asset? Let's not fall back to the bad old days of silly Flash "welcome" screens that accomplished nothing except eat up time, patience, and electrons and were not "welcoming" at all.
Richard Smith
Posts made by Richard Smith
You might have a course in which not just an individual joins but their whole family and neighbours. Perhaps they don't *actually* join but they fill in a profile that is like a family tree when they start the course.
This would be an interesting moodle plug-in, actually, for the profiles. I am sure in many instances people would find that they are connected in ways that they either didn't know or had forgotten. And they might start talking about their relatives/friends in their assignments.
I was told, when I was doing field work in a FN community, that it was important that I be forthcoming with (and therefore aware of) my family - even if it was highly unlikely that anyone I met would know them. It wasn't about knowing them it was knowing that I was the kind of person who could talk knowledgeably about "my people."
This would build on that attitude. And isn't learning honouring your ancestors?
This would be an interesting moodle plug-in, actually, for the profiles. I am sure in many instances people would find that they are connected in ways that they either didn't know or had forgotten. And they might start talking about their relatives/friends in their assignments.
I was told, when I was doing field work in a FN community, that it was important that I be forthcoming with (and therefore aware of) my family - even if it was highly unlikely that anyone I met would know them. It wasn't about knowing them it was knowing that I was the kind of person who could talk knowledgeably about "my people."
This would build on that attitude. And isn't learning honouring your ancestors?
As you've mentioned in another thread, text is dominant in tools such as moodle. Images are coming along, with photo books and so on, and video is making an appearance with plug-ins that simulate the YouTube experience.
I think it is important to remember that YouTube is not just about posting videos but a lot of those videos are *responses* to other videos. In this way it is dialogic and conversational. Still it doesn't quite capture the quaternity (is that the word?) that you have described elsewhere.
Another approach is the one found in voicethread. If you haven't seen it, check out http://voicethread.com. There the initial object sits in the middle (which could be something started by the teacher or a student) but then it gets surrounded by comments, which can take the form of audio, video, or text.
It might be a useful tool, or if not a tool to use perhaps a model for other tools.
...r
I think it is important to remember that YouTube is not just about posting videos but a lot of those videos are *responses* to other videos. In this way it is dialogic and conversational. Still it doesn't quite capture the quaternity (is that the word?) that you have described elsewhere.
Another approach is the one found in voicethread. If you haven't seen it, check out http://voicethread.com. There the initial object sits in the middle (which could be something started by the teacher or a student) but then it gets surrounded by comments, which can take the form of audio, video, or text.
It might be a useful tool, or if not a tool to use perhaps a model for other tools.
...r
As Sylvia mentioned, I did a little podcast of my presentation this afternoon. I would attach it to this message but it is just over 5mb so I am going to link to it instead:
http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/~smith/etug2006.m4b
You'll probably need to "right click" on that link - most browsers don't recognize the .m4b as a file format that they figure they should be playing, so they just dump it to your screen (yech).
Once it downloads, open it in iTunes or Quicktime (Mac or Windows). Then you'll hear and see the talk/slides.
This discussion forum has been a great experience for me, and I look forward to your afterthoughts... no matter how long after they are...
And perhaps we'll pick it up again sometime in the future on a new/related topic.
...r
http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/~smith/etug2006.m4b
You'll probably need to "right click" on that link - most browsers don't recognize the .m4b as a file format that they figure they should be playing, so they just dump it to your screen (yech).
Once it downloads, open it in iTunes or Quicktime (Mac or Windows). Then you'll hear and see the talk/slides.
This discussion forum has been a great experience for me, and I look forward to your afterthoughts... no matter how long after they are...
And perhaps we'll pick it up again sometime in the future on a new/related topic.
...r
Heather,
I see you've found some good tips already, so I won't go into a big song and dance myself, other than to recommend ProfCast for the "quick win" podcast.
Garageband is very cool but sometimes overkill. The publishing to .mac is incredibly easy, but if you don't use .mac then you have to do the uploading yourself.
I'd be interested in hearing what other first timers use/do.
...r
I see you've found some good tips already, so I won't go into a big song and dance myself, other than to recommend ProfCast for the "quick win" podcast.
Garageband is very cool but sometimes overkill. The publishing to .mac is incredibly easy, but if you don't use .mac then you have to do the uploading yourself.
I'd be interested in hearing what other first timers use/do.
...r