New patch for GR5 for anyone interested!

https://soundcloud.com/pensalemstudios/apache

the patch for the guitar sound i used is here


hank edge guitar rig 5 patch

hope you guys like it

Forums

as part of the VLE, I included a forum which could have been used with students on the course (wondering if i could have still done it, as i thought that the uni wouldnt have liked the idea of a forum outside of moodle)
the idea of the forum was to get students to ask questions about the course and have me answer them and also have live group chat on the VLE itself. it is powered by Google Groups so the participants would be invited by their email addresses. this will then allow them to fully interact on the site

(a screenshot of the Google Groups forum on my VLE)

technology for eLearning

so i have taken another look around the internet and realized i could revisit the Presentation aspect of lecturing,

Prezzi: one of the better alternatives to PowerPoint (which to be fair has its uses, given the right situation) is relatively interactive, meaning to say you can zoom into and pin point any given slide at any given time.

Spicy nodes:
another useful tool for presentations, similar to prezzi, the lecturer can set different spider diagrams to evolve from a central spider. the central point of each spider can be an image or embeded video.

Emaze:
this software is a wonderful alternative to powerpoint as it has an easier, more aesthetically pleasing layout

a link to the website is available here
http://www.emaze.com/

VLE information

the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is an area of either Ethernet or Internet (on or off campus) which deals with the reviewing of course details, university attendence forms, administration, coursework submissions etc.
for the design of mine at:

https://sites.google.com/site/bscmusictech23/

i took inspiration from what i thought would be a good design for a VLE, simple yet effective.
within the site, i have put a page with a list of the staff members, course locations, documents, modules and a forum designed for questions and answers which includes a Quizlet quiz based on music technology studio terminology.

this is a screenshot of what my VLE looks like (not in use at the placement because of usage restraints.)

Google Hangouts

Again, like skype, google hangouts has a lot of fantastic features to allow eLearning to come into its own. these include

Screen shots of work
emoticons
messaging
live video streaming with multiple members
file exchange

  

as you can see in the picture, Hangouts can be accessed from all devices, which is a bonus for people on the go.

skype for lecturing

in my own opinion, this would be an ideal way of conneccting with an absent learner, this is because the lecturer can call through with the seminar or similar activity with the group and the learner will not miss out on seeing and hearing the topic.
another advantage of skype is the Text typing, so during the group disscussion, the learner can formulate answers/opinions and send them in for screen display.

so for skype in education, it is a rating of 5/5

connecting with learners Pt1

i have often considered why university lectures (especially the Music technology ones!) cannot be streamed live?
for example if someone is ill on a certain day and it was an important day to attend, the student could in effect join a chat room which connects with the students or lecturer, or a webcam feed directly from the seminar or small classroom/workshop. there is absolutely no reason why this method couldnt work.

in these nexr few posts i will try and find some good examples of live streaming methods and group contact methods for live classrooms.