The Latest News is history.....LOL

Yes, I got rid of the pesky module on the front page. Modules can be unpublished just as content items can...very simple...just need to know were to look.

Also, sent a copy of the map to Mr. P.....and he is going to see if it can be wrapped into our site--rather than a pop-up.

Well, happy trails to you :P I always wanted to say that...and since we are making trails in this adventure learning project, it seemed very appropriate!!!!

Tweaking....

I have been tweaking menus this past week. I have looked at static content pages and coordinated them with the menus. I changed the Curriculum Menu Item under Support--I added a Lesson menu category and Course Readings menu category. It seems to me that although our site is dealing with one lesson, we should design it to accommodate all the potential lessons and resources that would be needed.

Also, I have been working on writing a script to use for the training videos--since I will try to redo those to show screen captured video instructions. I would like to rework the "help" videos I did since I was so new to using camstudio and the settings caused the files to be large and unsynched. I watched the video that Mr. P. sent to me--it was a good camstudio tutorial that really helped with the settings.

I have been trying to think of some type of "map" that would suit our curriculum and students. I looked at various components, modules and bots and found some progress bars that I thought might work--however, one is strickly a backend progress bar component for admin--tasks done, etc. The other is a module that doesn't give much in the way of tweaking to fit with our template or purposes. So, I am thinking I will look around. Maybe I can use Inspiration to create a type of map that is tied to the different lessons--like a "You are here" and that would put a spatial map artifact into our site....I will think about it.... The reason I was thinking of it is that it might be nice for students to be able to see how much of the course is completed and the projects that should be completed by that time....a little different than a calendar (which is kind of a map). Well...wish me luck on this....

Actually, what I have decided is that you could tweak a site like this every day 24/7 and there would always be more improvement. I really am beginning to admire the comprehensive coherence of the PolarHusky.com site.

Addtions using the Wrapper

I have added a web-page based chat (meebo.com) under the site support called Live Support Chat. The support person is called "adventures.in.class.tech" (not terribly original, but it will do).

I also added a community quiz for registered users under weekly quizzes.

I was having trouble adding html in the Joomla and it not showing up. I am sure there is a fix, but I think the use of the wrapper will work for what we need.

Wow

The work that has been done on the site looks great. I am looking at adding a quiz few just the powerpoint and then adding one that the only the user can add questions to. I figure this will work and count towards the collaboration pieces until we figure out more options.

The "add to it" quiz will be either added to the regular menu as something only registared user can see or within the user menu. I'll see how it all plays out. I added another lesson to the curriculum and will probably add one or two more. I want to make sure the lessons all come together with where I would like them to be at the end.

Problem with button text resolved...other stuff

I changed the text color for the input button in the CSS file for the site template. It worked like a charm! Once I figured that out, I decided to change some of the colors in the "Forum" so it would integrated with our site template better. It was rather fun!

Working on the Menus...Again...and other stuff

I have been working like a dog on our site! ARF ARF.



Main Menu, User Menus and Static Content

I synched all the static content pages and the menu items so they are in the same order. I did a fair amount of testing on the menus, links, etc. I worked out quite a few bugs.



Under the Main Menu--Added Support/Software, Support/Glossary

I added some software download links--if there is any other software that students would need, feel free to add it! Also worked on the Glossary--added terms for the PowerPoint Glossary.



Documents Upload for Students/Teachers

I reconfigured DocMan Module to accept uploaded files. I set the permissions so that it requires registration and login before you can upload/download files. Guests can browse but not upload or download. Basically, you just register as a user, log-in, go to Main Menu/Support/Documents and click on the category of documents to view. If you are logged-in, you will see a upload button. (or maybe not since the background and button text are white!!!) It works greatl--in fact I uploaded a file from my computer into the Student Documents area.



My Bio

I added my bio, such as it is. I describe myself as tech support.



Under the User Menu--New Tech Forum Topic Added, User Blog

I set up a Technology Support Forum area with three different topics related to user tech support. Check it out!



Working on Site User Manual

I started working on a Site User Manual that will assist users in working with the front-end of the site. I plan to use scribd.com and will wrap the manual into joomla. I did discover one issue with the scribd.com ppt wrap that Bjorn put up--everything is active in the heading--so if you click on it, it brings you into the scribd.com site. So, does this mean that we should have a special scribd.com holding area for our site files so noone gets into our personal files...just wondering???

I will have the manual up in a few days....



Well, over and out, for now....

I have been working on the UserMenu....

I have been playing around with the UserMenu and various components. I am not sure what interactive tools we need for users to collaborate, etc. I did just add components and menu items to see if I could get them to work. I got the Fireboard component working as a discussion forum area, and I also played around with allowing students to upload weblinks. I put together an A-Z glossary and started a PowerPoint specific glossary. Of course, all of the final work is dependent upon what our team decides we need--but at least I know how to put up most of the components now that allow interactivity. The glossary is set-up so that users can upload terms--so feel free to upload terms and definitions.

I also worked on the MainMenu and reorganized it according to Martin's content map. I suppose we also need a map for the UserMenu once the interactive components and user learning needs are determined.

There are a few issues with the template we have chosen--the submit buttons for many of the components use white text and with our white background, the button text cannot be seen. Is there anyway to change submit button text color in the joomla component??? Anyone know???

360 views

I just added a section for posting 360 views in the Media Scrapbook. I posted a trial qtvr that works nicely. I will try to get more relevant ones when school is back in session next week. While I do a lot of work in my apartment, I don't think it really qualifies for the project.

Panorama Factory is a memory hog, but I think that goes with any photo processing software. It crashed quite few times on me, but I think that was more due to the lack of ram (512 MB) than anything else.

I found that holding the camera didn't work out so well for me. I ended setting the camera on a box and turning it about 35 degrees to take the pictures. Fortunately, I will soon have access to a small tripod.

Timed output

I did a trial run of the delayed posting and it worked well. I recorded the audio on the 19th and had everything set to display on the 20th. Really this only happened because I said the wrong date in the audio recording, but it all worked out in the end.

Screencast tour

Let me know what you think. The audio gets a little funny in places, but I had recorded it so many times I just let it go.

Adding Audio

I added a section and a couple of catagories for audio clips. A menu sub section was added under the Explore Section called "Daily Check-in" for the potential daily audio update that we would create.

I couldn't get the mp3's to upload into the file that Susan had set-up. I ending up using the Netfiles that we all have available to us through the U as a hosting source and it seemed to work just fine, using the {mp3remote} code. Using the Netfiles might be a better option for hosting the media files as they can cause the space that we have on the Joomla server to shrink pretty fast and if anything happens to the Joomla server our media is safe at the U.

I also moved the Documents section from the Explore Section to the Logistics Section based on the comment that Aaron made in class about the lay-out of the Polar Husky site. I don't know it just seemed to make sense.

Audio/Video Plugin Progress--Hurrah!

I have found an audio/video mambot (AllVideos Plugin) that looks as if it will work for us. I am going to do some experimenting with the following mambot. I installed it and if you are interested in reading the instructions for how to embed streaming videos of many formats, go to Mambots> site mambots and in the list of mambots, click on the "all videos plugin" in the list of mambots. There are extensive instructions on how to utilize the plugin within content. I will set up a video folder for uploading video content files (images/stories/videos) and a folder for uploading audio content files. Pay attention to the file formats for audio and video that this plugin can use. I embedded a YouTube video under Tutorials using this program. Check it out!

Technical Problems

I haven't been able to open our Joomla site for two days from the front end. I did find a workaround and we can enter through the backend using

http://adventuresinclasstech.adventurelearning.info/administrator

I am going to investigate and correct the problem...think there may be too many modules loading on the Frontpage...

Artifacts for the project

I talked with some of the business teachers in the high school where I frequently sub. They said that they would be willing to show student work and discuss the process of the students using power point as a presentation and learning tool.

I will set up CamStudio (freeware), so I can record both the sound and screen as they discuss the power points. I do also have a back-up plan for gathering the artifacts. There are many possibilities for what we can both the sound and the video for.

I will also talk with people at the junior high as well.

Group Meeting Notes

Here are some of the things we talked about in class tonight. These are just rough notes...

Curriculum: Follow syllabus - pull out two technologies to build lessons around, perhaps Power Point and digital cameras

Collaboration: students can upload projects, expert chats, possibly have students form groups to chat, media available

Internet: video player with expert videos, chats, everything delivered this way!

Adventure-based: classroom management! have interviews with experts, follow the syllabus timeline for release of materials

Theoretical grounding: TPCK

Update for Feb. 18

I added a plug-in for the administrative side, but I don't think it is working too well. It is called "Joomaps" and it is supposed to provide a site map for the website, but I don't think it is what I was looking for. I am having the hardest time in visualizing how all of the administrative tools fit together with the actual site output. I guess I might actually have to get the book.

Martin has been experimenting with the layout and adding little pieces here and there. A question was brought up of which polling tool to use. I think we should try and use the Joomla tools, but if we go for outside tools, I am partial to using some of the products that Zoho has available for free. I have used the Creator for making surveys and Zoho polls for quick polling. It embeds pretty nicely.

I turned off the poll.

Content Resources...

Found some YouTube videos that might fit with our AL. If nothing else they might supplement our content. A few examples:
The perils of the teacher centered classroom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz2B1nNNUeY
Also, there are many videos showing innovative ways for teachers to use technology tools such as how to put powerpoint presentations on an ipod.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoqpPTeDsD4

Some site ideas

I found an interesting site that offers professional development to teachers and thought it might contain some content, media, resource possibilities for developing our AL. See Annenberg Media's Learner.org. They offer real-time classes via satellite TV and simulcast via broadband.
http://www.learner.org/index.html (home page) Check under the "channel" tab to get connected via broadand for a look at their live programming.

Getting started....

The information has been given to Aaron about the over all topic of our project through his Survey monkey link.

Our domain name will be adventuresinclasstech.adventurelearning.info.

I have some ideas for the lessons that we could present, but I will post more when they are more formulated with more of the AL parts.