Flash and HTML5 – Competitors or complementary solutions?

There seems to be a heated and highly polarised debate in progress about Flash and HTML5. There also seems to be a lot of misinformation flying around and some misunderstandings about what Flash and HTML5 are, what they can do and how the future of the web is likely to shape up in the next… Continue reading Flash and HTML5 – Competitors or complementary solutions?

My Flash MP3 player to be included in Moodle 2.0

In my last post, I described a project I had just started which was a Flash MP3 player that can be used for tests since teachers can determine exactly how many times a learner can listen to an audio file. Here’s an update on the latest developments… Part of Moodle 2.0 I’m pleased to announce… Continue reading My Flash MP3 player to be included in Moodle 2.0

Moodle SWF Activity Module developer preview

OK, this is going to be a very techie post as it’s aimed exclusively at developers who are interested in integrating Flash and Moodle. If you’ve never written a line of computer code, then this article will most probably bore you to death! What is the SWF Activity Module? The SWF Activity Module deploys Flash… Continue reading Moodle SWF Activity Module developer preview

Moodle FLV Player module update

In February 2009, I released the first beta version of the FLV Player plugin activity module for Moodle. It leverages the ubiquitous JW FLV Player and has been very popular among teachers and course content developers working with Moodle. I’m working on a substantial update for the module and in this article I’m going to… Continue reading Moodle FLV Player module update

Flash MP3 player for tests

Ever wanted to control the number of times a learner can listen to a recording in a listening test? Well, I’ve seen this request a number of times on Moodle.org’s forums recently and not so recently. So I’ve decided to develop and share this Flash MP3 player for tests. What does it do? It streams… Continue reading Flash MP3 player for tests

Good quality video Part II

Recording high-quality video Part II Recording video from webcams: Several HD (high definition) web cameras have appeared on the market recently promising to record up to 1400 by 900 pixel resolution video for an outlay of around €100 or less. The specific webcams that I’ve seen are the Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000, the Microsoft ????… Continue reading Good quality video Part II

Social networking for EFL/ESL

In this article, I’m going to discuss the relevance of social networking to learners of English, some of the developments in learning English as a foreign/second language on-line and how this might shape the future of e-learning and learning management systems for EFL/ESL. So much to learn, so little time to learn it. For learners… Continue reading Social networking for EFL/ESL

Making e-learning resources relevant

E-learning resources have a number of advantages over book and paper based resources. In this article, I’m going to write about one in particular: the importance of being able to edit the resources that you use with learners. This article focuses directly on resources for learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as… Continue reading Making e-learning resources relevant

Students adore Moodle

I’ve just read this post by Phil Shapiro on his PCWorld.com blog. He certainly lays lavish praise on Martin Dougiamas‘ brainchild and life’s work, an LMS (learning management system) called Moodle. Read the article here. Update Here’s a global map of Moodle sites and list of links to them. Here’s a set of bar graphs… Continue reading Students adore Moodle

Google Wave

Another revolution in the way we communicate and interact with each other on the web. Google may have done it yet again. Introducing… Google Wave! What is it? It’s difficult to explain. The Google developers’ way of describing it is to ask the question, “What would e-mail look like if it were invented today?” It’s… Continue reading Google Wave