Though the BBC may be having (heated) discussions with certain ISPs over the BBC iPlayer and has had issues with the iPlayer on the iPhone; it now appears that you will be able to use BBC iPlayer on your Nintendo Wii.
The BBC’s iPlayer video service will soon be available via the Nintendo Wii.
The video download and streaming service that lets people catch up with BBC programmes will soon be a channel on the hugely popular game console.
Early versions of the service will be available from 9 April but more polished software will be released as the service is developed.
You can already use the Wii with an internet service to access the internet, but certain sites such as BBC’s iPlayer have been unavailable until now.
This now means that you can watch some of the last seven days of BBC TV through your console. Yes you will need an internet connection (and a wireless connection at that) but you can use it to watch old TV.
So…
Well it does provide another reason why it might be purchased (instead of a “real” computer). If our learners are using consoles such as these not just for gaming, but also for watching video, viewing photographs, listening to music, even surfing the web; shouldn’t we try and ensure that we take this into account when we plan and develop e-learning and mobile learning activities and scenarios.
It might not be the “perfect” computer for e-learning or as mobile as a PDA, however for some learners it is the only device which they have substantial access to and therefore can not be ignored.
The BBC launches a version of its iPlayer video on demand service for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch.
The BBC has launched a version of its iPlayer video on demand service for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. It is the first time the software has been available on portable devices. The software, which allows users to download programmes from the last seven days, will work over a wi-fi connection but not over the mobile network.
I am really pleased to see this happen. I do use the (flash version) of the iPlayer on my Macs now and again to catch up with the odd BBC TV programme either I miss or my EyeTV misses.
This will allow me to catch up either at home or say over lunch at work (on our new learner wireless network).
Obviously from a licensing perspective we can’t use this within the college to show BBC programmes to learners, but this does now allow learners who have an iPhone or an iPod touch to watch the useful or interesting BBC programme on the iPlayer.
I really enjoyed reading Bill Thompson’s column on the BBC News website this week, where he wonders about how technology will change teaching.
If every student has a powerful network device that plugs them into the network, and work on digitising every book and other forms of knowledge has been successful, then what is the point of teaching “facts”?
He makes the very valid point.
Just as we try to encourage kids today to learn enough mental arithmetic to decide whether to believe the calculator’s answer, so we need those using tomorrow’s vast supercomputers to have a sense of what is going on that will allow them to judge the validity of the answers they get.
The BBC reports on how the number of Facebook users in the UK declined by 5% in January.
Social networking site Facebook has seen its first drop in UK users in January, new industry data indicates.
Users fell 5% to 8.5 million in January from 8.9 million in December, according to data from Nielsen Online.
To be honest this doesn’t surprise me, my use of Facebook has declined. I use Facebookin order to engage with other e-learning colleagues and friends. There are various groups to which I belong and like to discuss work related issues with people I have met at conferences, events or have known for some time.
However the explosion of zombies, vampires, pointless quizzes, doughnuts, etc… has really put me off the whole Facebook experience. I guess some people find that aspect fun and enjoy and fair play to them, but in terms of social networking and engaging with others it I don’t want that. I have fun elsewhere.
Having said that 8.5 million users is a huge user base. So I won’t delete my account (partly because that can be difficult if nigh on impossible) and will pop in now and again.
BBC’s Click has a nice article on the mobile internet.
It is estimated that just one in five people with phones that are able to connect to the net actually do. But the iPhone, however, is having a profound effect on the willingness of its users to go online.
I have been using the site for that long now, so it’s nice to see that not only is it still around and still very popular, more importantly, all the stories I was reading and using for learning back in the late 1990s are still available as well. For example this story about Sainsburys from 1999 is still online and the links still work!
Too often on the web sites will rebrand or rename and all their old links die or change or become redundant. At least with the BBC News it is possible to link stories from nearly ten years ago.
I suspect most people have seen this amusing video about an early helpdesk call.
Of course if YouTube is blocked in your institution you may have a little trouble.
What most people don’t realise is that when this Norwegian comedy skit (not Dutch as was written in the Guardian today) was first uploaded, it was obviously in breach of copyright. The owners, NRK, had not given permission for the clip to be uploaded to YouTube and a take down order was requested.
However how come you can see the clip above, most people who know me will know that I do know a fair bit about copyright.
Well this is the official NRK version, who have their own channel now on YouTube, so NRK uploaded the video and legally I can embed it into my blog above.
Excellent.
NRK are not the only broadcaster who have their own YouTube channel, so do the BBC. YouTube is becoming more and more useful and less and less problematic as it use to be.
The BBC have come to a deal with The Cloud wifi service to offer BBC Online free at The Cloud’s thousands of wifi hotspots.
This means that if you are at a wireless hotspot you don’t need to pay anything to access the BBC News website for example. You can also download TV programmes (via iPlayer) as well.
I do wonder if there is potential in this kind of relationship between educational institutions and wifi hotspot providers. Could we see college websites and vles available for free at local wifi hotspots. Something I am certainly thinking about.
The BBC has published a review of four of the top wifi capable media players currently on the market.
The Sony PSP, the Nokia N800, the Archos 605wifi and (of course) the Apple iPod touch.
Gadget lovers are spoilt for choice when it comes to portable media players, with an increasing number offering web access through wi-fi connections. We take a look at four different players - Sony’s PSP Slim, Archos 605wifi, Nokia’s N800 and the Apple iPod touch - and assess their strengths and weaknesses in different categories.
Their winner, well it’s only fair that you check out the article, but it doesn’t surprise me.
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Posted by James Clay
