e-Learning Stuff Podcast #014: Half-Term Meanderings

James, Ron and Lilian just chat about a range of different stuff, basically they meander…

This is the fourteenth e-Learning Stuff Podcast, Half-Term Meanderings.

Download the podcast in mp3 format: Half-Term Meanderings

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

James is joined by Lilian Soon and Ron Mitchell.

Shownotes

• The iPhone.
• David and James’s Podcast on the iPhone.
• Lilian Soon’s original blog post on the iPhone.
• The Skype deal James mentions in the podcast only covers landlines and does not cover mobiles.
• The Three Skype Phone doesn’t appear to be available on the Three website, but is available from Amazon.
• Ambrosia’s Wire Tap Anywhere which James uses to record Skype.
• Levelator levels your podcast recording.
• James uses Instant Presenter for the MoLeNET Online Conferences, but is considering using Ustream instead, but would need a Tricaster (available from PlanetDV in the UK) to do this.
• Ron said have a look at Adobe’s OnLocation.
• James uses the Sony HDR-SR10E HDD Camcorder to record video for his blog and for the JISC Online Conference Blog. He then uses iMovie to allow him to crop the HD video

done

• Geoff Minshull runs DirectLearn and uses WebEx for running online conferences. At the last JISC Conference they also used Elluminate for live presentations.
• Gabbly can be used to discuss a website.
• Feedburner from Google allows you to create a better RSS feed.
• Feeder allows you a lot more control over your RSS Feed.

Flash Player for the iPhone, perhaps!

Adobe and Arm have announced that they are working togther on Flash for ARM based devices.

Adobe Systems Incorporated and ARM today announced a technology collaboration to optimize and enable Adobe® Flash® Player 10 and Adobe AIR™ for ARM Powered® devices, ranging from mobile phones to set-top boxes, mobile Internet devices, televisions, automotive platforms, personal media players and other mobile computing devices. The collaboration is expected to accelerate mobile graphics and video capabilities on ARM platforms to bring rich Internet applications and Web services to mobile devices and consumer electronics worldwide.

Macrumors speculates that this could means the iPhone.

This optimization is targeted at the existing ARM11 family (used in the iPhone) and will be available in the second half of 2009. Details are rather sparse, though the implication appears to be that this “optimization” will deliver Adobe Flash to existing mobile devices that are based on the latest ARM platforms.

PCMag further specifies that “devices with at least 200 MHz processors, more than around 16 Mbytes of RAM and a ‘completely capable [Web] browser’ will be able to render Web-based Flash content.” Apple’s iPhone, of course, fits into all these categories, which raises the question whether or not this could finally deliver Flash functionality to the current iPhone.

One of the “problems” with the iPhone and iPod touch is the lack of Flash support.

Lots of mobile learning content is Flash based and therefore does not work on the iPhone.

It is possible to create interactive learning apps for the iPhone using the SDK but that is beyond the scope for most creative teachers who want to use the device.

Buzzword

So I decided to create a quick video on how to use Buzzword, this time it worked.

done

Check out Buzzword.

Adobe Buzzword, well trying to use Buzzword

So I decided to create a quick video on how to use Buzzword… well not everthing went to plan!

done

I am guessing it is proving popular (as American wakes up) and it is causing a little strain on their servers.

Adobe launches Acrobat.com

Though I mentioned Adobe’s ConnectNow earlier today, it is just one part of a larger community release based at Acrobat.com.

The BBC reports:

Adobe has made a move into online document sharing with the launch of the Acrobat.com community site.

It allows people to create, store and share documents online, and hold web conferences to discuss changes.

Whilst there is a nice review of all the services on the ReadWriteWeb blog:

Acrobat.com is the new entry point to Adobe’s suite of online services. Available now as a public beta, from here you can utilize the Adobe web office tools all from one cohesive and integrated suite that allows for anywhere access and online collaboration. At Acrobat.com, you have access to the following web office tools: Buzzword, ConnectNow, Share, My Files, and Create PDF.

This is another version of the online document collaboration services which have been springing up around the web.

Great for learners who want to work on documents at home, in college and/or at work.

Great for learners who want to work in groups of a group assignment.

Great for anyone who doesn’t own a computer, and wants to write stuff.

Adobe ConnectNow for online presentations

Delivering content online for a conference or a meeting can sometimes be problematic. As part of the MoLeNET project I have been delivering a fair few online conferences using InstantPresenter. One of the problems I had with this system was that the screen sharing was Windows only (and those who know me know that I use a Mac).

Today Alan Cann (via Seesmic) told me about Adobe ConnectNow which is a way to meet live over the web and share screens, whiteboards, video conference and then some…

Adobe ConnectNow is a great way to share ideas, discuss details, and complete work together — all online. Reduce travel costs, save time, and increase productivity with a web conferencing solution that is easy to access and simple to use.

The presenter does need to sign up and install a plugin, and the free version allows for three participants. The participants only need to have Flash installed. The full version seems quite expensive, but the quality is really good.

You can see a demo here (from a Seesmic conversation I was having with Alan about it).

Now is this not Macromedia Breeze just reinvented?

Flash on mobiles opens up

The BBC reports that

Adobe has announced a plan to try to get its Flash player installed on more mobile devices and set-top boxes.

Dubbed Open Screen the initiative lifts restrictions on how its multimedia handling software can be used.
Adobe will stop charging licencing fees for mobile versions of Flash and plans to publish information about the inner workings of the code.

In taking this step Adobe hopes to repeat on mobiles the success its Flash technology has enjoyed on the web.

This is excellent news for mobile learning as so much e-learning content out there is in a flash format including a lot of video and audio.

Adobe Launches Media Player 1.0 for Mac and PC

After their success with Photoshop Express, we now see another web application from Adobe.

This is a media player application which works on the AIR platform.

Macrumors says about it:

In many ways, the Adobe Media Player mimics iTunes Video and Podcast functionality by providing users with an all-enclosed application that provides access to network shows and podcasts. Content is sparse at the moment, but Adobe has partnered with a number of content providers such as CBS, PBS, MTV and more. Unlike iTunes, however, Adobe’s Media Player is not presently a “store” and offers free and ad-supported content. Adobe, however, has said that it plans on adding payment systems later to offer purchase and rental options.

Certainly this looks like it could be a real alternative to iTunes for those looking for a way to play podcasts.

Photoshop Express

Adobe have released an online photo editing app which they have called Photoshop Express.

You shot it — now do something to it. Make it pop. Make it impossible to ignore. Upload, sort, polish, and store up to 2GB of photos. All for free. Resize, tint, distort, and more — add your mark to all your images. Then show them off on Adobe® Photoshop® Express or your Facebook page.

A bit of a warning, this is not an online version of Photoshop. This is an online photo editing application which Adobe have called Photoshop Express.

It reminds me a lot of iPhoto and many Mac users will find it pretty simple and easy to use and very familiar, but obviously Photoshop Express also works on Windows PCs.

Unlike (the real) Photoshop which has a pretty steep learning curve this has a pretty simple interface which works quite well.

Certainly worth a look as both an online photo editor but also as an online photo storage tool.

Microsoft licenses Flash Lite and Adobe Reader LE for Windows Mobile Devices

Adobe announced today that:

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq: ADBE) today announced that Microsoft has licensed Adobe® Flash® Lite™ software, Adobe’s award-winning Flash Player runtime specifically designed for mobile devices, to enable web browsing of Flash Player compatible content within the Internet Explorer Mobile browser in future versions of Microsoft Windows Mobile phones. Microsoft has also licensed Adobe Reader® LE software for viewing Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) documents including email attachments and web content. Both Adobe products will be made available to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide, who license Windows Mobile software.

Read the full press release here.