Putting my money where my mouth is, I’ve just pledged funding for the Openshot project via Kickstarter.
Why have I done this?
Openshot is an excellent free video editing program currently available for Linux platforms – and I have recently started to use Linux in the form of Linux Mint on a couple of laptops. However, I also use Windows and Mac systems too.
Openshot intend to make their program available for Windows and Mac platforms too Continue reading Openshot – why it’s worth funding.
Recently I had the opportunity to take part in the fascinating inaugural day of UAL’s Open Educational Practice (OEP) unit of CLTAD’s Academic Practice Provision (APP).
The slides I used to introduce my workshop introducing, testing and discussing some of the tools which can be useful for OEP are available @: http://goo.gl/vFPEu
There is a great video from BSI about the importance of accessibility in website design:
A couple of points made in the video which I find particularly interesting are: most (probably all) website designers understand the importance of accessibility but many (most?) of them really do not realise what it entails and how to ensure they are doing it; and many people who would not otherwise classify themselves as disabled find themselves disadvantaged and excluded by poor design choices and lack of site testing – with developers failing to test their sites to see whether they are indeed accessible. Continue reading Accessibility and Website Design
Several weeks ago I wrote a short piece for CSM’s ‘Digital Present’ blog in which I explored the use of UAL’s ‘Workflow’ ePorfolio – based on Mahara.
Students and academics were kind in giving of their time and experience to discuss how and why they were using ePortfolios. What becomes very clear is that this is very much a platform which can be of use and benefit to students even without it being made a core component of their course(s). The full article is @: http://goo.gl/fFuOb
On the 15th November at LCC I had the pleasure of taking part in a SEE Event held as part of Enterprise Week entitled ‘Improving your prospects through online profiles’.
This brought together 6 speakers and a lively audience comprising mainly UAL students and alumni to debate and explore ways in which online profiles can be beneficial – as well as reviewing the potential pitfalls and how to avoid and recover from them. The slides for my presentation are @ http://goo.gl/oLmrv
This was an extremely interesting and enjoyable event which explored a wide variety of themes related to online profiles, digital identity and digital life – for more information have a look @: http://goo.gl/rlYrR
Jo Morrison @ CSM explores what digital literacy means within a dynamic arts and design educational environment and some of her thoughts are captured in a recent blog posting on the ‘Digital Present’ Blog.
As Jo mentions in her posting, colleagues at UAL are putting together a focus group to explore and understand these complex issues in much more detail and the rationale and methodology behind this is explored by Chris Follows in his recent posting about new developments at the DIAL Project.
The new CSM Digital Present Blog has just launched and is well worth visiting! This new blog aims to document and support digital literacy at CSM and offers useful information as well as case studies illustrating current practice.
John Jackson 