Enjoyed watching Scott Lesley’s presentation on Augmenting content with client-side tools. I had not realised that so many Firefox extensions and Greasemonkey scripts specifically designed to enhance open content were available. I am still exploring Scott’s bookmarks on the subject, but here are a few gems:

• Convert a Greasemonkey script into a FireFox extension
• It’s My Learning Environment and I Want It Back
  A users writes a script to add a widget to Moodle.
• OER Recommender
  Totally love this extension. It recommends other useful resources related to the page you are viewing. I found the page explaining the approach and mathematics very insightful. It certainly gave me a few ideas on how I could put some Machine Learning concepts to good use. A big AHA moment here for me…….
• CoScripter
  Record doing a task in FireFox and then share it.

Just been reading the latest ASCILITE Campus Newsletter. I was pleasantly surprised to find yet another homegrown LMS, this one comes from Edith Cowan University and has been in development for 8 years. There is something so special about designing something to meet the specific needs of an institution, instead of taking a “one system meets all needs universally” approach. Check out the demo.

There’s an art to explaining concepts (technical or not) and CommonCraft are definitely gifted with this skill. I’ve really not seen Social Bookmarking, Social Networking, Wiki’s and RSS explained so simply. The videos are creatively made and a pleasure to watch! Something to recommend to Academics wanting to get a handle on the whole social Web 2.0 thing!

I guess the title of this post says it all…

AirPress essentially is an offline blog post editor (WordPress), but its true potential comes from its media capabilities. Pics, audio (mp3), Flash video (flv), webcam recording, webcam snapshot and Flash animation can all be added to posts. AirPress is created in Adobe AIR and Flex.

…Now would it not be great if something like this was able to integrate with Blackboard and Moodle. There is an alternative desktop app to add content to Blackboard called BB Toolbox so I am pretty sure that the Blackboard API would support this sought of thing. Possibilities, Possibilities……..

UCompass have come up with a great concept that injects life into static content. They are calling it the “Content Enrichment System“. The framework consists of:

• a set of tags (fun tags) that allow content from sites like Flickr and Del.icio.us to easily be add to content
• dictionary and search integration - click on any word and a quite comprehensive popup to all sorts of apps appears
• groups tools that overlay content

UCompass also seem to be the first to have created an offline content editor in Adobe AIR and a making great use of Flash Media Server.

A new service from Yahoo will allow teachers to network and share resources - Yahoo! Teachers. Will this be the answer to sharable learning objects? Only time will tell, but it is a great idea and with the suport of Yahoo I hope it takes off in a big way and will eventually be available for Universities. The Gobbler feature, which allows text and resources on a web page to be dragged into a project portfolio and re-used in lesson plans. Blackboard Scholar could learn a lot from Yahoo! Teachers. Imagine lesson plans that could be imported into Blackboard that included collaborative activities.

It’s resolved and the two companies are now working together…. I’m happy that this issue got resolved, but the fine print in the Blackboard Developers Network contract makes me feel alarmed. How could iParadigms sign away intellectual property by joining the Blackboard Developers Network? Will this have a negative effect on companies making building blocks? What about Universities making building blocks?

It seems that iParadigm(Turnitin) has filed a patent suit against Blackboard. Read on at http://www.mfeldstein.com

I really really want to read some of the papers from AIED 2007, but sadly none are available on the website. I can’t think of any valid reason not to allow downloads in the year 2000, let alone 2007. AIED 2003 had the proceedings online. It just makes no sense.

USQ are doing some interesting things in the Virtual World space with AliveX3D. AliveX3D includes a Scene Editor that allows both students and lecturers to collaborate on models. With an objective to “apply the open source and Web 2.0 ethos to future e-Learning applications”, I don’t think the project can go wrong. A rich set of examples are available, these include:

• Hybrid 2D and 3D content in course content
• Multi-user Real-Time Collaboration
• Navigating 3D via 2D Hyperlinks embedded in content
• Educational games (Safety and Maths games)

I discovered AliveX3D via a paper published in the Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education: A WEB 2.0/WEB3D HYBRID PLATFORM FOR ENGAGING STUDENTS IN E-LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Its just nice to see an Australian Uni spending money to research and develop e-learning applications!!! I hope the project receives Carrick funding.