TagCloud of Rider University’s Strategic Plan

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Capturing video from a streaming video site

A friend of mine wrote:

John,

I had a [friend] ask about capturing the video that is streaming into his computer. I have used Camtasia and Captivate to capture things playing on the computer, but [I] don’t know how to capture a YouTube video, for example. The [friend] was interested in ways that don’t require the purchase of any addtional software.

This is easy to do if you are using Firefox - get the free extension called

DownloadHelper http://www.downloadhelper.net/

or UnPlug https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2254

and you can easily save video from many sites, including YouTube.

If anyone would like an overview, I can help.

John. 

How to create custom reply headers in Thunderbird.

Have you ever wanted to customize the way that your email replies introduce the quoted part of the message you’re replying to? Thunderbird calls this the ‘Reply Header’.

For instance, let’s say you wanted your reply message to a recent email from your friend Jimmy to look something like the following:

The entity known as jimmyjones@verizon.net wrote to John LeMasney, on the date and time 10/13/07 9:44 AM, the following message:
“Hi, John, how are you?”

With Thunderbird, it is easy to make this happen. Here is some information about the preferences that we’re going to change. Below that, I’ll give specific instructions on how to change the settings.

// Change the reply header
// 0 - No Reply-Text
// 1 - wrote: - Netscape 3.xx/4.xx style
// 2 - On wrote:
// 3 - user-defined string. Use the prefs below in conjuction with this.
user_pref(”mailnews.reply_header_type”, 3);
// If you set 3 for the pref above then you may set the following prefs.
// The end result will be
user_pref(”mailnews.reply_header_authorwrote”, “%s said the following”);
user_pref(”mailnews.reply_header_ondate”, “on %s”);
user_pref(”mailnews.reply_header_separator”, ” “);
user_pref(”mailnews.reply_header_colon”, “:”);

Source: Hidden Mozilla/Firefox/Thunderbird Prefs
Address : http://www.geocities.com/pratiksolanki/
Date Visited: Sat Oct 13 2007 14:39:45 GMT-0400 (EDT)

These changes are made in Thunderbird’s configuration preferences, known better to Mozilla hackers as about:config or prefs.js

Let’s make the changes:

Open Thunderbird, open your preferences (options/preferences menu in Windows or Thunderbird/Preferences menu on MacOS) and choose the advanced tab.

Click on “Config Editor” to open a convenient GUI to edit the about:config file.

In the search bar labeled ‘Filter:’, type in “reply_header” and wait a moment for the list to filter to just show reply_header related preferences.

We’re interested in editing 4 values. You edit a value by double clicking on it, which opens a dialog window with a text box containing the existing value. Enter the new value and click ‘OK’ to make a change, or ‘Cancel’ to cancel. In these exampes, %s indicates a variable that will be replaced with the sender, date and tme, etc. Make sure it’s present as %s in order for this to work.

open mailnews.reply_header_authorwrote and edit it to say The entity known as %s wrote to me

open mailnews.reply_header_colon and edit it to say , the following message:

open mainnews.reply_header_ondate and edit it to say on the date and time %s

open mailnews.reply_header_type and edit it to say 3

This last one is very important - it indicates that you want these edited values to be used instead of none, the default, or a preset alternative (0, 1 and 2 respectively) - look at the blockquote above for a better explanation of what each of these are.

Then, restart Thunderbird, start a reply, and enjoy your new custom reply header!

Close your eyes and smile. Then, reflect on the idea that it’s only because this application is open source that you can make this level of modification to the way your information is displayed.

John LeMasney

Audio: LeMasney on How to use Powerpoint at Rider University Media Server

Audio: LeMasney on How to use Powerpoint at Rider University Media Server
I gave a presentation on How To Use Powerpoint today to a semi-packed room in the new Faculty Staff Training center in FA 113. Powerpoint was discussed in some detail, but of course, we talked about alternatives to Powerpoint, ways to avoid death by Powerpoint, Google Docs newest addition, Presently, and related topics. Take a look at Rider technology training site (log in as a guest if you wish) at http://www.rider.edu/training and click on the How to Use Powerpoint course to follow along with the audio if you want the whole effect. - John.

A good question about formatting in email

I got a great question about formatting email from one of my favorite faculty today, who always reminds me that when I assume that something’s common knowledge, it’s time to check my perceptions.

John, if I want to send an email, say to students in one of my classes, and I want it to have different formatting and graphics (different font sizes, different fonts, a picture, an email link, etc.), is there a way of ensuring that they all see the same thing, i.e., that their emails will all look the same no matter what email program they’re using? How do I do that, if it’s possible?

The only way to ensure that everyone sees that same thing is to make a picture of what you want them to see, and then send the picture.

Everyone has:

• different fonts installed, so that if you use whatever.ttf and I don’t have it, I’ll see something else
• different monitor capabilities, so that if you want the color red to appear an inch down the page, but I have a very low resolution setting, it may appear 3 inches down
• different default font setting in email, so that if you don’t specify a font, and your default is times new roman.ttf, but my default is everclear.ttf, we will see something different
  
• different email and HTML rendering capabilities, so that for instance, some might see bullet points to the left here, and others might not, and so on.
• Some might see this line blinking, and others won’t, due to differences in rendering engines.

You could approximate some level of continuity using something like an attached PDF if you wanted to retain the capability of users selecting text, for instance. But without a picture, you’re leaving everything to chance.

Hope this helps.

I will use a laptop and you will use paper and pencil. Are you ready…?

This is an anonymous post that I first found on RayNiles.com . It’s a little harsh about the traditional way of doing things, which I think often have merit and unique charms, but it does point out some advantages to having a laptop (and other technologies) in a learning environment.

This was posted on the Abilene, Kansas High School Dialogue Buzz website. It was an anonymous post, but VERY powerful. Feel free to share this with educators, parents and stakeholders about 1:1 and the power of the seamless use of technology. It seems to sum it all up!!

Let’s have a little competition at school and get ready for the future. I will use a laptop and you will use paper and pencil. Are you ready…?
I will access up-to-date information - you have a textbook that is 5 years old.
I will immediately know when I misspell a word – you have to wait until it’s graded.
I will learn how to care for technology by using it – you will read about it.
I will see math problems in 3D – you will do the odd problems.
I will create artwork and poetry and share it with the world – you will share yours with the class.
I will have 24/7 access – you have the entire class period.
I will access the most dynamic information – yours will be printed and photocopied.
I will communicate with leaders and experts using email – you will wait for Friday’s speaker.
I will select my learning style – you will use the teacher’s favorite learning style.
I will collaborate with my peers from around the world – you will collaborate with peers in your classroom.
I will take my learning as far as I want – you must wait for the rest of the class.
The cost of a laptop per year? - $250
The cost of teacher and student training? – Expensive
The cost of well educated US citizens and workforce? - Priceless

On recording audio with an iPod mic and distributing audio via Blackboard.

I got a great email from a friend and faculty member [represented anonymously here] at Rider who is getting into some audio creation for student use. He asked a great question, and I’m passing it on to you.

 

Rider Faculty wrote:

I just bought a mic for my iPod which will allow me to record my students, upload it into my computer and then email it to them. The files are about 1/2 a GB. Can I use Bb to help with this endeavor?

John responded:

As far as the iPod recordings - don’t try to email them! - the 500MB files [maybe they're actually half a MB?] would be unusable by anybody other than you at your desktop - it would take a day to download them, they’d bring our email server to a screeching halt, and in Blackboard we have an entire course size limit of 200MB, so you’d never be able to upload even one of these there. Also, you probably recorded a WAV or AIFF file, when what we want for audio distribution is MP3 or some other compressed audio format.

The good news is that it is almost surely a matter of quality settings. I have a podcast that I do at http://techarts.wordpress.com where the average length is 45 minutes and the average size is 25Mb or less. If you record at 96-128 Kbps with 11 KHz frequency and as mono, rather than stereo, your files will be much much smaller, though some quality will be lost.

We use a media server for storage and podcasting at http://media.rider.edu where I would put up, advertise, and maintain your audio files. You could use external links to point to them in Blackboard, but they would actually reside on Media, to save you space in your course.

Also, existing files that are half a GB can be reduced in quality to new settings [and therefore size] to make them reasonable for people to download. You can keep the original at the full size for posterity, but 500MB is a lot of space, and the difference in quality between a 500MB file and a 25MB file can be negligible if the conversion is done well.

I’d love to talk with you about this - can you give me a call? 609 896 5000 x7145.

John.

Resonance Partnership Blog: Social Media: Something Different IS Happening…

I just found this really cool blog with a lot of web 20 meta stuff, and already found an article interesting enough to add to Ghost. I’m in complete agreement that there is new refreshed movement in the blogosphere where academics are concerned. Teachers here at Rider have crossed the threshold, after several semesters of pushing, and now I’m getting a regular stream of calls about web 2.0 content issues, rss functionality, on the spot media, collaborative and social services and more. I’m loving what’s going on right now.

Resonance Partnership Blog: Social Media: Something Different IS Happening…
So, Downes also had a link to this post at Web-log ed which mentioned a comment by Downes: “The big news in this story isn’t blogs. It’s that there are a billion teachers out there. Today we use blogs to communicate with them. But how might this evolve in the future? How do we make it easier, more immediate?” Will Richardson added,” It really isn’t about blogs as much any more, is it? It’s not about the tool. It’s about the ability to connect.” Yes, the ability to connect has now become limitless and education and the transmission and acquisition of knowledge has become limitless.

A short conversation about podcasting.

Yesterday I got an email asking a question about podcasting - it’s a good starting question, and I thought you all might like to hear the conversation. I imagine that this conversation will be getting a lot larger, but right now, this is where we’re at. The email, and my responses follow, and I’ve anonymized the faculty member just to cover myself make things interesting. This also tends to illustrate the problems inherent in having discussions about technology over email - the interactive questioning part can take days. It will take 6 more emails before we’re really going anywhere communication wise with this, but I would have more trouble sharing a phone converstaion with you. Not impossible, mind you, just a little more difficult.

>A Faculty Member wrote:
>Hi John
>Do you know of any free software for creating podcasts that would
> work on both Mac and Windows.
>Thanks

On Feb 15, 2007, at 8:21 PM, John LeMasney wrote:
Sure,

There are lots of pieces of free software for working with podcasts.
Are we talking about the production and recording of podcasts,
distribution of them, editing them, and are talking about audio
only or video/screencasts, etc.?

j.

>A Faculty Member wrote:
>Hi John
>Ideally — all of the below.
>
>I will be teaching a class next spring that we would like to have
>students making podcasts –  so production/recording/editing and
>distribution — ideally cross platform software.  While we would
>teach some production basics - this wouldn’t be a production class -
>so we aren’t looking for complex solutions for creating content like
>Photoshop or Protools.  Actually one of our goals for the course
>would be to specifically stay away from “professional” and expensive
>software solutions and instead use free or very cheap software that’s
>readily available to everyone.
>Thanks

Okay,

Regarding Audio:

Editing, recording, tracking, and mixing can be done using Audacity.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Audacity is an open source [free] audio editing and finishing application.

Regarding Video:

From any source, you can create podcast prepared video using transcoding tools in VideoLan Client.

http://videolan.org

VLC is an open source [free] video playing and transcoding application.

Regarding distribution:

Advertising, RSS feeds, distribution, and related content can be done using WordPress.com

http://wordpress.com

With a free account, WordPress.com allows you to create a blog that can easily contain podcasts.

If you’d like to see podcasting in WordPress in action, take a look at my podcast at http://techarts.wordpress.com or you can see the full blown Open Source wordpress engine locally installed at our media server at http://media.rider.edu

I’d be happy to give you an overview of how this all works.

John.

Linux.com | Educators can manage course content with Moodle

I am about to make a major push at Rider to try to make people aware of Open Source alternatives to Learning Management Systems like Blackboard. There are a lot of problems with Blackboard as an enterprise system, not the least of which is price, but also support issues, upgrade woes, questions of monopoly, and a real lack of innovation, despite the endless upgrades. Enter Moodle, an open source Learning Management System that is truly looking at what’s going on in the web 2.0 tools for inspiration of its features, like wikis, rss, flash video, and 3rd party service integration. I can, and will, go on about this, but in the meantime, take a look at what another instructor is saying about Moodle, because I couldn’t have said it better. Moodle is already installed at Rider - if you want to try it, just call me at x7145. As always, click the link for the whole story. - j.

Linux.com | Educators can manage course content with Moodle
Why use Moodle?

One reason I recommend Moodle is because it provides a full variety content of activities that teachers can add to a course. Moodle has more than 100 gradable activity modules and plugins such as chats, forums, and tests. While other gradable modules, such as flashcards, podcasts, LAMS, and galleries, are not included in the standard package, they can be installed as modules later. Moodle also allows administrators to back up and restore courses. Once created by a teacher, a course can be reused in subsequent years with little effort.

Another reason to recommend Moodle is because of its philosophical foundations. Moodle is designed with a social constructionist philosophy, a belief that people actively construct new knowledge as they interact with their environment, and that learning is more effective when you’re constructing something that others experience. In other words, collaborative learning and discovery are at the foundation of this CMS application. You may not agree entirely with this philosophical foundation — I do not — but educators in the sciences and in the humanities can accept much of this philosophy since the social constructionist philosophy lies somewhere in between the strict qualitative and quantitative extremes.