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    • Flip Video – revisited

    July 11th, 2008 by misterel

    I have now had my flip video for a week and most of that time it has been evaluated by ICT support. The reason for this is that I want to use it for the DiDA 202 course and possibly iMedia. This means that my pupils have to be able to edit the footage. This is where flip video develops some issues.

    At school we will be using Adobe premiere elements across an RM network. The raw video from a flip video is a compressed AVI… hence the reason you can get a reasonably high quality video on 2GB of storage. Adobe will import this format, but then requires you to render the footage first before editing. This means that it can turn a 29MB file into a 100MB file. You also need to have a DivX package rolled out across the network.

    So from a secondary, video editing point of view the flip video suddenly has a few issues. However, I would firstly like to say that these issues do not necessarily out way all the positives:

    Plus, after consultation with ‘ICT support’ they tell me that all cameras of this style are going down similar routes and some are even using file formats that aren’t unique to the camera.  Personally, I am going to get more flip cameras. Discuss with the techies about extra storage (its pretty cheap these days) and compromise on the fact that media back up might not be as rigorous as the rest of the network.

    I would like to add that this is my experience so far, and if anyone has alternative views, feelings etc, then I am more than welcome to receive them.

    Posted in Resources, Teaching & Learning | tagged , , , , | | 0 Comments

    OCR Nationals or DiDA

    July 10th, 2008 by misterel

    I am at an impasse. DiDA has been my KS4 life for the past 3 years. I like the course. I like the way it is developing pupils abilities to think independently. I like the eportfolios and the fact that it is virtually paper free….. However, DiDA is an optional subject so I am therefore left with very mixed ability groups.  For those not aware of the DiDA structure you can take up to 4 units and each unit is worth 1 GCSE.  Each unit is either taught at a foundation(C-G) or higher level(A*-C).  This means that in a mixed ability class I can end up teaching both courses.

    This is where all my problems begin.  The foundation and higher units follow a similar theme but the end results are different.   This means that you therefore become a schizophrenic teacher and at some point one or both groups get a bum deal.  Then there is the fact that DiDA is run by Edexcel. For some reason (profit???), it becomes a financial nightmare trying to do their exam submissions and by the end of year 11 neither you, your exams officer or headteacher have aclue how much it has cost you and what the pupils are likely to get.

    The main reason that I am now in a world of indecision is that I have been offered (for £300) a complete scheme of work that will cover 6 units of the OCR nationals and will almost certainly guarantee, if the pupils follow it properly and can demonstrate their learning, a decent grade at GCSE, and the potential for more than one GCSE.  The units offered are diverse and interesting and the administration seems a lot easier.  With the benefit of having your own moderator coming down and telling you whether you are doing it right.  On the downside, OCR is perceived to be a lot easier, less interesting and motivating for the kids.

    So now I don’t know what to do….

    If by any fluke of the magic of the web, someone out there reads this and can give me some advice it would be vey welcome.

    Posted in Generic, Teaching & Learning | tagged , , , , , | | 3 Comments

    Flip video… first impressions

    July 4th, 2008 by misterel

    Flip video arrived at school today…First impression, what a great box and great packaging. Maggie in accounts (who had ordered it for me) was as excited as I was.  Got the white one (as you can see in pictures).  Took it out, put the batteries in and recorded some kids playing outside the window. It was that easy.  No manual needed to be read, no fiddling looking for the right button to press. Easy and simple to use.

    I have now taken it home, given it to the kids.  My youngest (age 10) figured it out in seconds and is rather gutted her birthday isn’t til next April. I have tried to persuade them to write their own review…so far no luck.

    Below is a clip of my chickens. (have had to use blip.tv as this seems to be the only way I can embed fileand it was filmed at 9.20pm). It was a tad windy and that is noticeable on the vid.  However, this is so easy to use, easy to download content, either by using the in built software or just accessing your videos via the folders.

    So far I am extremely impressed.  Will be trialling it with the kids at school and will definately be using it for the DiDA coursework.

    There are a lot of other reviews of the flip video out in blog world. A good one is here. It is the second review that Mark has done, this time using his class.  He is getting great results and is my inspiration for it working at my school.

    Posted in Resources, Teaching & Learning | tagged , , | | 2 Comments

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