Well,
that was quick. Right after yesterday's surprising announcement,
Sony flew its yet-to-be-released NEX-VG10 camcorder into London just in time for
today's showcase event. Naturally, we had to get our hands on this shiny baby,
and boy we were impressed. In case you missed the news, this snazzy device is
the world's first consumer HandyCam with interchangeable lens, meaning you can
share E-mount lenses with your young NEX DSLRs, or take advantage of
the abundant A-mount lenses with the help of an adapter (which will cost you
extra, mind you). Likewise, there are also hot and cold shoe mounts on the mic
shaft to cater your current camera accessories. Read on for our thoughts on the
rest of the camcorder -- we've put together a little sample clip for you at the
end as well.
There
isn't much to complain about with this $2,000 (and, sadly, possibly £2,000 for
the Brits) piece of kit in terms of appearance and ergonomics. We like being
able to hold it by either the seemingly solid body (using the strap) or the mic
shaft, and both ways provided comfortable grip without much fatigue due to the
light weight (even with the bundled lens). We were also able to quickly master
the jog-dial control next to the 3-inch screen, but for this price, we expected
a touchscreen interface as well to make life easier. As for the bundled F3.5-6.3
18-200mm lens, we found that zooming required a bit more effort than we liked,
so thankfully there's auto focus mode -- just like any ordinary camcorder -- to
save us from further wrist work with the focus ring. We must also point out that
unlike the Olympus PEN,
this Sony camcorder didn't pick up any mechanical noise from its lens auto
focussing; otherwise, this kit totally wouldn't deserve such price tag.
Of
course, what we really care about is the picture and sound quality. All is
revealed in our sample reel below (remember to enable HD playback mode), but in
brief: stunningly accurate colors, sharp 1080/60i picture, and impressive audio
sensitivity (notice how the mic was able to pick up conversations from afar; you
can also enable just the front mics to minimise background noise). You may
notice some shakiness while we were adjusting the lens -- we'll blame it on our
lack of practice from the little hands-on time we had. Regardless, the NEX-VG10
certainly lived up to our expectation, and we look forward to hear what the
filming hobbyists think of this prosumer-level camcorder when it comes out in
September.
Update: commenter
aim120 dropped us a link to Sony's own sample clip. Enjoy!
EmbedPlus is a simple and free to use web service. You can play only a specific portion of the video in your site. Your site visitors might also want to zoom in or slow down specific parts of the video while viewing it. All this is now possible if you embed videos with the help of EmbedPlus.
Ever wanted to make presentations a more interactive, Web 2.0 experience?
The PowerPoint Twitter Tools prototypes are now available. Created using SAP BusinessObjects Xcelsius (but requiring only PowerPoint for Windows and Adobe Flash to run), the twitter tools allow presenters to see and react to tweets in real-time, embedded directly within their presentations, either as a ticker or refreshable comment page.
Dr Ashley, I agree with you and posting a question at the beginning of the video is an excellent strategy. That is how I learn. I need to know the question upfront so that I know what to pay attention to in the video.
Embed short graded or self-assessments either in the video itself, or at the end of each video. Including one or two multiple-choice questions or requests to post to a forum—either between scenes (using a post-production editing tool such as Camtasia or Captivate) or after the video—alerts students to the “take homes” they should be getting from the material. It also helps teachers assess, at point of contact, whether students understand the major concepts.
This (self assessment) is absolutely necessary to give learning a chance to happen, as we develop open learning courses. This applies to Google Sites training resources out there.
For IDs and VCDs!
Quote: "there's a big difference between watching a video and learning something from it"
Article goes on to suggest strategies for incorporating videos into lessons.
I've checked it out. Actually, it's not Google code, but simply an open-source native app stored in Google Projects, an open-source code repository. Nevertheless, it's a good mind-mapping software. Only thing is that it doesn't use Google Drive and I'm not sure if it can be integrated easily into Google Sites (due to Google Sites having issues with iframe elements).
I tried, cool! The map mind can be embedded in google site. Interface of mind map is easy to use, allow embed youtube link, images, and audio, attachment and links. Free for 3 mindmap and allow collaboration, invite is similar to Google for edit/read rights. There is also have icon, chat, comments and collaborative editing. Yeu Ann, we can include that as guide in student portfolio.
Great! I'll try out the free account for the Mindomo next week. So I take it that you guys want to use this as the recommended mind-map app for our students?
BTW just FYI: http://www.mindomo.com/terms_of_use.htm.
Expert Software Applications Srl does not claim any ownership in any of the content, including any text, data, information, images, photographs, music, sound, video, or other material, that you upload, transmit or store in your Service account.
We will not use any of your content for any purpose except to provide you with the Service, and as otherwise provided in these Terms.
From time to time, [Contents publicized by the user] can be used by Mindomo at its own discretion.
Explore the use of the tool first and note its affordances and its limitations for now.
If there is more than one option, we should support what is available and give users a choice.
The Facebook plugin for WordPress adds Facebook social plugins to your WordPress site. Associate your WordPress site with a free Facebook application identifier to enable advanced features such as automatically sharing new posts to an author's Facebook Timeline or your site's Facebook Page.
Better design then twitter.
Twitter does not have karma
More privacy options
Picture and Video can be embed on plurk post.
You can post comments on plurks.
IM works!
No downtime
I heart Edmodo coz it allows you to embed other web 2.0 tools like voicethread! I also find it user-friendly and a reasonable replacement for an LMS.
Strangely because it's micro-blogging, ppl associate it with twitter but I agree, its very much like FB!
An alternative when working with Google Apps when uploading videos to YouTube is an issue with the Acad Staff.
Beginning this week, you’ll be able to go beyond simply playing your videos within Google Docs -- you can now insert your videos into Google Sites, embed them anywhere on the web, and caption them for your viewers.
Informalizing formal learning content brings it closer to
the learner and provides for more learning that is “accidental,”
or unplanned.
ELearning
animated assets, for example quick product demonstrations, are ideal
for posting to a site such as YouTube or Vimeo. Not only do these
sorts of demonstrations provide concise, targeted training but they
can also be teasers to draw people to more formal learning, such as a
full training course, of which the demonstration is just a part.
Another
easy way to informalize formal learning content is to reposition it
closer to a product rather than have it stand alone. It is possible
to convert portions of a Web-based eLearning course to “digital
cheat sheets” and to incorporate these in product documentation, or
embed them into the product itself. These can also serve as teasers
to draw people back for additional or advanced formal training.
You
may be asking, "What then is the difference between informal and
formal learning content?" The main difference is that informalized
learning is simple, concise, rich, and easy to find and understand.
It starts many users down the path of learning. Once their learning
process has begun, users may choose to take advantage of more formal
learning media.
Engaging users simply, directly and quickly
via informal methods is key to recruiting them into more in-depth and
traditional learning formats.
posted Jul 15th 2010 8:34PM Well, that was quick. Right after yesterday's surprising announcement, Sony flew its yet-to-be-released NEX-VG10 camcorder into London just in time for today's showcase event. Naturally, we had to get our hands on this shiny baby, and boy we were impressed. In case you missed the news, this snazzy device is the world's first consumer HandyCam with interchangeable lens, meaning you can share E-mount lenses with your young NEX DSLRs, or take advantage of the abundant A-mount lenses with the help of an adapter (which will cost you extra, mind you). Likewise, there are also hot and cold shoe mounts on the mic shaft to cater your current camera accessories. Read on for our thoughts on the rest of the camcorder -- we've put together a little sample clip for you at the end as well.
Chee Ted Shing on 22 Oct 10Sony NEX-VG10 HD camcorder The system may be suitable for our needs. Its a camcorder with multiple changeable lens ( wide, zoom or tele lens)
