eLearning Guild - Florida

mLearning - Judy Brown

www.mlearnopedia.com
www.judybrown.com

Alex Tokman talks about the Microvision Pico Projector

LegacyCaptivateLoader: dealing with pre-existing scripts in your Captivate SWF

New: LegacyCaptivateLoader class for Flash lets you embed Captivate in Flash and communicate between them

Pipwerks has published a great article that addresses some issues that plague Captivate users who need a little extra control and customisation.

"Many of us use a Flash-based course interface (a.k.a. ‘player’) to load Captivate SWFs and other content. A well-known stumbling block for this kind of ‘loaded SWF’ approach has been Captivate’s lack of ActionScript support — Captivate won’t allow a user to add a simple line of custom ActionScript anywhere. This means that Captivate does not natively support direct SWF-to-SWF communication.

Here’s a common scenario where this might be a problem:

A developer wants to load a Captivate SWF into a ‘player’ SWF. She wants the Captivate SWF to automatically unload when it’s done playing. To do this, she’d simply like the Captivate SWF to call an ActionScript function named “unloadMe()” at the end of the movie.

Since Captivate doesn’t support custom ActionScript, this seemingly innocent bit of scripting can’t be done… at least not natively."

Read the whole article here.

Adobe merges business units serving PCs, mobile

"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc (ADBE.O) said on Monday it was putting under one roof businesses selling software for computers, phones and consumer electronics to make them run on a single technology platform. "

The announcement is part of a series of management restructuring moves Adobe is making following the planned retirement of two long-time executives, effective May 1. A spokeswoman said no employee job losses would result.
The move represents the further consolidation of its 2005 Macromedia acquisition with the broader Adobe organization while also recognizing the growing convergence of once-distinct software and the need for it to run across a range of devices.
Read more here on Yahoo News.

Opera Mini 4.1 Beta

Opera has released the beta version 4.1 of their super Opera Mini browser for mobile devices

better, faster stronger ...

The native browser for Nokia devices is already pretty good - it's based on the same WebKit foundation that has also the foundation of Apple's Safari browser used by Mac and iPhone. But I really like Opera Mini - it's very fast, by virtue of the use of Opera's proxy server and some sweet compression that reduces the size of the download for most web pages.

New features include:-

• up to 50% speed improvements,
• auto-complete feature for URLs
• the ability to search for specific words within a page (something I've long missed on my mobile browsers!)
• a new file manager for easy access to your system when uploading and downloading files..

Opera Mini is a Java application, so should run on most devices that support Java. This version now works on Blackberries too.

If you haven't tried Opera Mini yet, then you should try this version because it adds desktop-like speed to your mobile browsing, even on slower EDGE connections.

mobile,browser,opera mini

European eLearning Summit

Nottingham University, Nottingham, England

19th to 21st August, 2008

The European eLearning Summit (EeLS) will take place over the period 19th to 21st August. The summit venue is the East Midlands Conference Centre, located at Nottingham University, Nottingham, England.

Built on the history of the popular EuroTAAC Authorware and eLearning conference, EeLS is bigger and better than ever before. With quality presentations from eLearning professionals sourced from across Europe, EeLS has detailed and up-to-date information useful to all eLearning professionals, from Educational Designers and Developers, through to managers, educators and corporate planners.

This year, EeLS has been sponsored by Adobe and by the eLEarning Guild. We are looking forward to an amazing conference with all things eLearning from Toolbook on the iPod through to Captivate bootstrapping!

There is a special 20% discount for eLearning Guild members too.

Pico-projectors Almost Ready for Prime Time

Brighthand reviews tiny mobile projectors at CTIA

Texas Instruments

Microvision

Brighthand has a nice review of Pico Projectors (pocket-sized projectors) as shown at CTIA this week.
Sounds like Microvision has the edge right now with it's super-tiny laser projector. Microvision tell me that the projector can give up to a 100 inch diagonal screen, and can fit in a cell-phone sized device. Watch out for cellphones with these tinyh projectors in 2009.

Quote of the year so far

M-learning will change pedagogy by making 24/7 mobile accessibility important.

From the Mobile Learning Blog

“M-learning will change pedagogy by making 24/7 mobile accessibility important. It is a matter of time before m-learning reaches the market-driven stage of the product life cycle.
Advances in mobile networks, such as broadband wireless systems will change education pedagogy and supporting software forever. Since mobile technology is more reliable in most of the world, especially the third world, it will become the norm across continents”.

I agree!!! Go to the mLearning Blog to read more about *Australia's* perspective on mLearning.

eLearning Guild Annual Gathering

The eLarning Guild's Annual Gathering starts April 14th

And I'll be there!

I need to find out all I can about Wikis, PodCasting, corporate communities and more. Plus I'm trying real hard to learn Flex right now, so I'll be hanging around anybody who can make sense of it for me :-)

Microvision Features Advanced Pico Projector Prototypes at CTIA Wireless 2008

REDMOND, Wash., Mar 31, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- At CTIA Wireless 2008, Microvision (NASDAQ:MVIS), a leader in the development of ultra-miniature projection display and image capture technology for mobile devices will demonstrate advanced pico projector prototypes enabled by the company's PicoP(TM)- display engine. Microvision expects the PicoP will first be incorporated as a handheld accessory product that can connect to multiple consumer devices to project large, vibrant color images onto any surface. Additionally, the Company is designing PicoP to meet the size and power requirements necessary to allow it to be integrated inside cell phones and other consumer devices.
"Consumers want a much better viewing experience than they currently get from their small mobile device displays," stated Alexander Tokman, Microvision President and CEO. "PicoP enabled devices are expected to let consumers project and share large, high-resolution, color-rich images onto any surface from devices such as cell phones, PDA's, laptops, portable DVD players and hand-held gaming devices. Whether projecting TV, digital photos, movies, presentation slides or content from internet browsing to social networking, we are confident that PicoP enabled devices can deliver outstanding experiences to consumers and should soon be some of the hottest new products on the market."

At the Microvision booth #4411, the company is featuring:

SHOW(TM), an advanced prototype of a PDA-sized, battery-powered, 'plug-and-play' pico projector. Microvision's stand-alone pico projector prototype connects directly to laptops, mobile phones, portable media players (PMPs), digital cameras and other mobile devices to project large, high-resolution images and video onto any surface. The projected display is always in focus and can range anywhere from 8 inches (20 cm) to 100 inches (2.5 m) in size depending upon the ambient lightning conditions. A production version of an accessory device is expected to offer approximately 2.5 hours of continuous battery life, sufficient to watch a full-length movie without a need for recharging.

In addition to the public demonstration of the SHOW accessory prototype, Microvision plans to demonstrate in private to select customers the completion of the first embedded PicoP into a fully-functioning, prototype mobile device. Motorola and Microvision are working together to demonstrate this prototype, project market demand, and gauge consumer interest and requirements.

Whether designed as an accessory device, like the SHOW prototype, or embedded directly into a cell phone, Microvision stated that PicoP-enabled devices can project a widescreen, WVGA (848 X 480 pixels), DVD-quality image -- offering a very different experience from the tiny 2-inch display solutions available today on various portable devices. Designed for viewing high-quality projected information in a variety of controlled lighting environments, the PicoP projection angle is nearly twice that of many competing products, leading to an image that is more than 3 times the size for the same projection distance. This, coupled with the always in focus operation, and higher perceived brightness enables PicoP to deliver a compelling and user-friendly experience.

According to Microvision the PicoP display engine has already attracted the interest of numerous device manufacturers, carriers and content providers. Additionally, Microvision has recently announced a variety of agreements with global supply chain partners who are expected to support high-volume production of the PicoP display engine, as well as integration of the PicoP display engine into commercial products.

Adobe offers free web conferencing with Adobe BRIO

Adobe has announced free conferencing for up to 4 people

from CS3: The Creative License Podcast Series

Adobe is giving free podcasts for CS3 on the creativesuite web site.

This week's episode takes a look at the NEW Adobe BRIO service which is the code name for a new FREE version of Acrobat Connect. BRIO allows you to host your own web conferences with up to 3 people including screen sharing, chat, VoIP and webcam.

Direct download: podcast-AC-BRIO.mp4



You can get more informaion about BRIO from Adobe Labs

A sense of scale

Ever think you are really important?

Or do you think you are rather small and unimportant?

Check out this video for a real sense of scale ...

Adobe is revisiting the eol decision about Authorware, to extend it's life on Vista

Ellen Wagner recently outlined a 6-point plan for Authorware

The plan is intended to help companies who have used Authorware over the last 15 years and more who need to continue to support their heritage content.

You can see Ellen's presentation from the recent Adobe eLearning Seminar by clicking the link below:-

Download Ellen Wagner's presentation from the Adobe eLearning Seminar 2007

Global cell phone use at 50 percent

According to Reuters, half of the World's population owns a cell phone

But 59 countries have over 100% penetration!

Click here to read the full Reuters article

"Worldwide mobile telephone subscriptions reached 3.3 billion -- equivalent to half the global population -- on Thursday, 26 years after the first cellular network was launched, research firm Informa said.

Since the first Nordic Mobile Telephony (NMT) networks were switched on in 1981 in Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Norway, mobile phones have become the consumer electronics sector with the largest volume of sales in the world.

---

'For children growing up today the issue is not whether they will get a mobile phone, it's a question of when', Newman said.

In recent years the industry has seen surging growth in outskirts of China and India, helped by constantly falling phone and call prices, with cellphone vendors already eyeing inroads into Africa's countryside to keep up the growth.

But although mobile subscriptions have reached the equivalent of 50 percent of the population, this does not mean that half the people in the world now have a mobile phone, since Informa said 59 countries have mobile penetration of over 100 percent -- where some owners have more than one phone.

---

According to the International Programs Center of the U.S. Census Bureau, the total population of the world reached 6,634,294,193 on Thursday.

At the same time 2,571,563,279 people were using the most widely used mobile technology, GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), according to global trade body GSM Association.

The second largest mobile technology, CDMA, had 421.4 million users at end September."

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The North America is the biggest market for CDMA. I think that is one of the reasons why the US is not keeping up with the rest of the world so far as mobile technology is concerned.

QR Codes

Are QR codes leading the way to interactive learing on mobile phones?

QR codes seem to be big news in some circles.

With as many as 60 million phones around the world with QR code readers installed, QR codes are gathering recognition.

QR Codes are the '2D' bar codes that are becoming increasingly popular. These are already being used in education, I mentioned them earlier as being used in 'treasure hunt' style learning activities in schools. Here's a couple of links

"...you can scan the code, and your mobile device will fire up a web page. Wow."
wikipedia QR Code
clicmobile.com blog, Mobile 2.0 Categories: QR-codes
Macdonalds introduces qr codes on its sandwiches in Japan

eLearning Guild QR coded their DevLearn eLearning conference guide/
Research Paper: Using Mobile Phones and QR Codes for Formative Class Assessment
Hitoshi Susono, Tsutomu Shimomura

I separated out the last two as they are more associated with mLearning, whereas the others are flag-waving or marketing...

3d Interactivity on a mobile phone?

Wellington Zoo (New Zealand) is using advanced mobile technology to advertise the zoo

With this imaginative fusion of mobile and virtual technologies, you'll never see your phone in the same light again!

I found this on the Mobile Learning blog.

This video demonstrates what can be achieved by the convergence of mobile and virtual technologies. Created as a promotion for Wellington Zoo (New Zealand), it allows printed codes to “come to life” using a mobile phone. As you move your mobile phone camera around the code, a virtual 3D model rotates, pans and zooms as if it were an invisible spectre standing on the surface, viewable only through the camera lens:



View the entire article

mLearning - the thing of the future?

I've been interested in mLearning for the last 5 years

Since long before it was called mLearning. Following is an extract from my MSc thesis, written at the start of 2006, discussing mLearning.

Abstract

Research has show that PDAs, mobile phones and other mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular as tools for delivering training and education resources. The popularity as given rise to the term mLearning – mobile learning (Steve Chi-Yin Yuen, 2004, Harry Ketamo 2002 and others).

This project explores the use of PDAs as devices that can deliver highly interactive training to users. In addition to researching existing projects the developer has created a proof-of-concept application that demonstrates the potential of PDAs as tools for delivering highly interactive and engaging training applications.

The resulting product successfully shows the potential of the PDA as a method of delivery of a complete multimedia educational application.

1 Introduction

Over the last few years the PDA has evolved from an electronic address book to a powerful and versatile pocket computer. Where once it was amazing to see one of these machines hold more than 100 names and addresses, they are now commonly used to surf the internet, read email, read books, play music, play video, read and create ‘office’ documents such as word processor, spreadsheet and presentation documents and control the television in place of the manufacturer’s remote control and play highly interactive 3D games. With expansion cards, a high-end PDA can carry as much as 8Gb of storage. 1Mb is enough for an 800 page novel. 2Gb is ample space for thousands of documents, 25 albums worth of music, or around 25 hours of video.

The mobile phone has also evolved - from a brick-sized device, to one small enough to hide in the average pocket. The cheapest mobile phone has a sophisticated address book, can handle email, sending and receiving text and multimedia messages and will synchronise contact, calendar and message information with PC or laptop systems. “Texting occurs within and between nearly every social situation—driving, going to the theatre, attending classes—despite the abhorrently kludgey interface” (Bryan Alexander 2004). In addition to these features in ‘ordinary’ mobile phones, newer super phones, called Smartphones, are appearing in phone retailers. These phones combine all the power of the best mobile phones with the power of a mid-range PDA.

Owners of cell phones and PDAs do not usually know all that their devices can do because they have become very powerful devices. As the ubiquity of the PDA grows, now that every phone is essentially a PDA too, developers, users, businesses and schools are looking for ways to harness that power to improve their lives and productivity. Training is already an important target function, spawning the term mLearning, as can be seen by the wealth of academic literature on the subject.

Much of the current literature concentrates on delivering web-based content, (for instance Stephen J.H. Yang et al 2003) in part because it can be efficient in terms of file size. High-capacity, cheap memory cards mean it is possible to deliver large quantities of training to mobile devices by removing the need for an internet or network link. With individual memory card capacities are available with as much as 4Gb are affordable for consumer use, and as much as 12 Gb for the business or military applications , these cards have room for significant amounts of high-quality video and other multimedia. The Encyclopaedia Britannica already produces a PDA-friendly version on SD card.

Follow this link to view a larger extract Steve_Howard_MSc_EXTRACT.pdf

Been quiet for a while...

I've been pre-occupied with a number of things for the last year or so

And the Blog suffered for it.

But times they are a changing. With the end of development of Authorware announcement from Adobe, the eLearning industry is making some changes. At least, the niche I've been best known for over the last ten years is changing :-)

Watch this space as I move forward into new things.

The forgoten toll in Mississippi

The forgotten toll in Mississippi

New Orleans gets all the national coverage - what about Mississippi

Some telling figures from the Sun Herald newspaper

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/13402585.htm

Katrina's toll in Mississippi
$125 billion Estimated dollar amount of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina
231 Identified dead statewide
5 Unidentified dead
67 Missing
65,380 Houses in South Mississippi destroyed
383,700 Mississippi insurance claims filed (Katrina and Rita)
$5 billion Claims paid (as of Nov. 21)
141,000 Insurance claims filed in South Mississippi
$1.3 billion Claims paid in South Mississippi
44 million Estimated cubic yards of debris in South Mississippi
21.8 million Cubic yards removed as of Dec. 5
20,447 Red Cross staff and volunteers in Mississippi
5,543,006 Red Cross meals served
42,768 People sheltered by Red Cross
229 Red Cross shelters opened
$185 million Red Cross money spent in South Mississippi as of Nov. 30

Adobe purchase of Macromedia

Adobe purchase of Macromedia

You probably want to know more about Adobe's purchase of Macromedia.

Today Adobe sent this to their various Team Macromedia members, Macromedia User Group managers and other prominent Macromedia community developers.



Dear Macromedia Community Members:

By now you most likely know that Adobe has finalized its acquisition of Macromedia, combining the leading-edge technologies of two pioneering software companies. We?d like to take this opportunity to let you know what the acquisition means to you as a valued member of our community and what you can expect from Adobe in the days ahead.

With the acquisition of Macromedia, Adobe is dramatically advancing its ability to deliver a platform that provides you with powerful solutions for engaging people with digital information. We are now better positioned than ever to assist you in meeting and exceeding your business requirements and goals.

Moving forward, we will bring together some of the industry?s strongest brands and most ubiquitous technologies, including Acrobat, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, PDF, ColdFusion and Flash. Customers who have relied on Adobe and Macromedia solutions will benefit from a consistent platform and common user interface, as well as the outstanding care they?ve come to expect from both companies.

At a high level, by bringing our technologies together, we will provide the community with the software solutions you need to meet the increasing demands of today?s competitive environment. Now more than ever, we are positioned to help you securely extend the reach of your information, business processes and services to engage and interact with customers and constituents online, via mobile devices ? by whatever medium you choose.

As you may know many of Macromedia?s leaders are now in leadership roles at Adobe. Kevin Lynch is now Adobe?s Senior Vice President and Chief Software Architect, Platform Business Unit. Kevin?s responsibilities include the Flash Player, Acrobat Reader, and Developer Relations. David Mendels is now Adobe?s Senior Vice President of Enterprise and Developer Solutions, and is responsible for products like Flex, ColdFusion and LiveCycle. Tom Hale is now Adobe?s Senior Vice President of the Knowledge Worker Solutions Business Unit, which includes Breeze and Acrobat. And lastly, Stephen Elop, Macromedia?s former President and CEO, is the President of Adobe?s worldwide field organization.

Our efforts with user groups around the world, developer events and conferences, and throughout the community will continue as they always have, and we?re excited about how we can enhance and expand our relationships with our development community.

We look forward to sharing more information with the community in the coming weeks. For more information about the merger, please visit www.adobe.com. If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please don?t hesitate to contact me directly, or any of your contacts on the developer relations team.

On behalf of all of Adobe, and the Developer Relations team in particular, I want to thank you for your continued commitment to our community, and I look forward to new opportunities to work together.

With best regards,

Sara Spalding, Director, Developer Relations