Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Fring on iPhone

Another free IM client for the iPhone/iPod touch. I've used Fring for a while on a range of Symbian based phones (they also have a Java version) - it's unique feature is the support for Skype over Wifi on the iPhone/iPod touch (Fring supports Skype over 3G in its other versions in addition to WiFi). Fring can be a bit flakey - being a bit of a memory hog, and requires a good signal to logon. However I prefer Fring's interface to that of Palringo or AIM. Previously I have used IM+ on UIQ, which I thought the interface was really nice, however IM+ seems to have logon issues with MSN servers now :-(



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Thursday, October 23, 2008

iProrecorder for iPhone

Finally a decent audio recorder for the iPhone!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

DipMusic iPod/iPhone Trial Overview

I've put together a 10min overview of the Diploma of Contemporary Music iPod/iPhone Trial for 2008 - makes for fun viewing!





Student Smartphone Usage

A quick survey of what students are using their N95 smartphones for (Bachelor of Product Design, Year3, 2008)

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MLearn2008 Pics

Link to Picasa slideshow of MLearn2008 pics
http://picasaweb.google.com/thomcochrane/MLearn2008#slideshow

MLearn2008

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

MLearn 2008

MLearn 2008, the good, the bad and the ugly!

The Good:


  • Meeting great people doing cool stuff in MLearning!

  • Conversations

  • Two great social events - Visiting Ironbridge and the RAF museum

  • Getting inspiration both theoretically and practically for MLearning in education

  • Experimenting with RFID and Bluetooth

  • Getting great feedback on projects and presentations

  • Discovering edutxt and Steve setting up an international SMS number for us poor international attendees! - still cost more than local SMS though :-(



The Bad:


  • The conference venue facilities - described by someone as modelled on "Fawlty Towers"!

  • RFID and Bluetooth system not working until the last day!

  • lack of air-conditioning or temperature control in rooms

  • Long research papers that should have been relegated to short papers, and short papers that should have been full papers! Defining good methodologies and research questions but having little practical value shouldn't qualify for full papers!


  • Printed Conference timetable missing two venues on Friday!

  • Compare' mumbling incoherently into microphone - no presentation skills whatsoever!



The Ugly:


  • Presentation facilities - almost third world! - bad or no sound, small screens

  • Some presentations even had no video projector available - "sorry but it wasn't requested" - arrrrggggg! It should be default setup!

  • The assumption that all presenters would use Powerpoint and Talk!

  • WiFi access $45 per day!!!

  • Having to resort to Roaming 3G data costs for connectivity!


Saturday, October 04, 2008