I tested out our new Samson Q3 Handy Video Recorder this weekend at WordCamp NYC. We bought the unit for students to use in interviewing people for case study work — and I’m confident that it will serve well for this purpose. The unit is advertised for its audio capabilities,. And it is clear that the audio capabilities are front and center — you can alter the audio settings on the unit, but there are no video options.
I have been following the Bates Online Media blog for about a year. They have been blogging as they’ve worked through a pretty dramatic redesign of the college web site. The fact that is built on WordPress is probably the least important feature (but the WordPress geek in me does thrill just a bit at the news.) With my eldest now a freshman at Springfield college, we all spent a lot of time as consumers on college sites — and from the user perspective the Bates site is very smartly laid out, and is easy to use. Nice to see such a great end-result after a careful and productive planning process.
Here is a new entry into the college textbook market — any maybe a game changer too. Publishers no longer have a lock on the content in textbooks — students and even some faculty seem quite willing to make digital copies freely available. And when the cost of the text is high, it makes it worth people’s time to go through the hassle of the uploading and downloading process. And not just cost — students will expect to be able to read their text online, in print, on an e-book reader, on their iPhone, hear it in audio, etc. Authors can’t be counted on to be outraged when piracy prevails — most make little if any money on book sales. The real benefit to most academics is the publishing credits for tenure and promotion reviews.
Note from a faculty member:
Dear Randy,
SKYPE IS AWESOME. The camera worked perfectly and I think it’s time for the dept to purchase one of our own so we have it handy always. This is a GREAT tool. I have interviewed candidates so far this week from the comfort of my home office in: Brazil, Finland, London, and Singapore. It’s truly remarkable. D____ helped me get it set up. It’s great. I have a couple more to do next week.
I have not always been a big fan of Real and the RealPlayer plug-in. Not that I’ve ever found anything wrong with the video player itself. When video was first starting on the web, Real made it possible, even in the days of dial-up access speeds. My problem was always the bloated download and intrusive installer. The default settings for the installer took over as the player for all media types. Some poor person who just wanted to view a web video was confronted with audio files that no longer launched in the acostomed program.
The first wave of freshmen ipod giveaways at schools like Duke University met with mixed reviews. Maybe they were just a little ahead of the curve. In a new program launched this fall Abilene Christian University in Texas is giving freshmen either an iPhones or Ipod touch (with wireless access.) These devices do much more than just play audio files. One custom app, called mymobile, give students quick access to their course schedule along with a 3-d map of the campus with the classroom locations. Classes have resource sites with video clidps, PDF files, spreadsheets and other content again available on the mobile device. The university has elected to avoid proprietary Apple apps development in favor of web-based development that can be used on other mobile devices in the future.
Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
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