Hi everyone,

It's been a long time between posts, but I wanted to let you know that rfid Learning Table 1.48 is now out. It has support for MP4 and DIVX movies. Contact Lynne or myself for a download link.

Dan

Windows 7 is just around the corner from general release and so is the updated rfid Learning Table to go with it. :) We have taken this opportunity to not only make Learning Table compatible with the 32bit version of Windows 7, but for the first time rfid Learning Table now runs on 64bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. Windows XP continues to also be supported.

Features include a faster interface, easier to use options panel and full screen video playback.

This new version of rfid Learning Table will ship from Wednesday 23rd of September with all new orders and existing customers will be able to download the updates free from the web site by the end of this month.

Here is a screenshot of the new release running on the 64bit version of Windows 7.

Adrian Laws, a teacher from Riverina TAFE in NSW, recently conducted a workshop to show other teachers how they could use rfid Learning Table in their course programs.

Here is a quote from the email I received from Adrian:

"We had a very successful workshop last Friday at the Riverina Institute. Your RFID program worked well and all participants were impressed with the user friendliness of it."

Thanks Adrian for the update and the kind words about Learning Table. The day was finished off by inspecting the handy work of Steve Forbes-Taber (a Shop-fitting teacher), who built these excellent learning table kiosk units designed to house computers that host the rfid Learning Table system.

Awesome work Steve, but I have a question. How do I place an order for one? :)

Dan

 
The three learning table kiosks build by Steve Forbes-Taber

Do you use the Windows Maker application? If so, you might be interested in this site, where a developer has made Movie Maker completely portable and able to run off a USB key. It runs on Windows XP, Vista and the soon to be released Windows 7.

http://devrexster.googlepages.com/mmk

For many years in education Word Perfect was the standard. Who can forget the blue screen with white text? Later Windows versions were actually quite good I thought, but by then Microsoft Word was starting to win the word processing war and Word Perfect started to become less cohesive as a package and changed owners frequently, which certainly didn't help. Ironically I have the latest version Corel Word Perfect (X4) loaded on my work computers as an alternative to Word 2007.

At any rate if you would like to read the inside story on this very important software and how it came into being, then I recommend a visit to  http://www.wordplace.com/ap/index.shtml to read the story.

Dan

The problem with diagnosing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia is that by the time someone presents symptoms, it is generally rather late in the game. Looking for a way to detect the affliction earlier on, researchers at the University of South Florida have developed a wireless network for use by senior living centers. Utilizing a series of receivers placed strategically around the building and RFID transponders worn on the wrists of patients, the system monitors people's walking patterns, looking for actions characteristic of cognitive decline -- including a tendency to wander, to veer suddenly, or to pause repeatedly. So far the study has found a statistical relationship between abnormal walking patterns and people for whom testing indicated dementia. The next step is to take that data and look for ways to predict the disease. Good luck, kids -- and hurry up. We ain't getting any younger 'round here.

Source Engadget

Macquarie Bank, in their never ending quest to improve their “profit centre”, otherwise known as Sydney Airport, have decided I needed some airport improvements for my next visit.

Now I had thought that what I needed at the airport were things like free wireless, more power points for those of us that use laptops and more comfortable seats for the inevitable two or three hours wait for the connecting plane, but Macquarie had a better handle on my needs than that apparently. What I really was pining for was some big arse advertising screens in every direction that my travel weary eyes may turn, complete with MTV style flashing graphics and of course, an ever expanding food court.

The food court is now in danger of expanding so big, as to make access to gates 49 to 59 nothing more than a faint memory. The expanding range of food options and tables and chairs now looks like a reimaging of the old Activision Pitfall game. The difficulty has been cranked right up however, as you don’t have access to any vines to swing across this obstacle and the crocodiles have been replaced by overweight people in queues for fast food.

The thought that you might just want to go from one gate to another without eating something that could add several kilos to your frame and deduct a corresponding number of years from your life, wasn’t something Macquarie considered probable. They had read all the stories about obese passengers taking up two seats on planes and figured they would get in on the action. They may not be able to solve the problem, but they sure know how to profit from it.

Today I contemplated running the gauntlet through the centre of the food court. Ducking and weaving around the Vodaphone stand, hereby known as the start line is fairly easy. I don’t make a lot of money and clearly this is easy to spot, as the Vodaphone staff, make no attempt to sell me anything. Progress is fairly swift until you get to the other end of the food court, where your progress is impeded by “Harry’s Café de Wheels”. Ironically not run by Harry or on wheels. Macquarie airport management are a cunning lot.

So here I sit. I have given in and got a Krispy Kreme ™ and I am watching and waiting for my chance to navigate the sea of humanity to gate 57 and ultimate freedom from this profit centre. Any hour now I will make my move, but in the meantime did you know Volkswagon have a Pirelli GTi Golf in Yellow….dam that big arse tv.

What do you think the chances are that Learning Table will support touch in the future. Pretty good I would think. :)  In the meantime enjoy the preview of the soon to be released Asus Eee PC Touch Tablet.

I'm a little concerned that this new Logitech setup, might not have enough buttons for me.

Peter Verrion, E-Learning Coordinator Teaching, Learning & Quality from Bendigo TAFE in Victoria Australia, recently shared his teams use of rfid Learning Table.

Here is what he said:

"We used the Learning Table kit as part of our presentation at ConVerge (the Victorian E-learning Conference, probably the Vic equivalent of ‘elearning 08’ ) in Melbourne last week (see http://www.eworks.edu.au/converge/ ) . We had to present on our projects, and as one of our projects related to the use of RFID, we thought we might use it to both present our projects and showcase the technology. I have attached some pictures that showed how we set it out. Most of the reports were in either PowerPoint or Movie Maker format, and it made it easy for people to access the reports by simply swiping the tag over the reader. The handwritten notes were there because I never thought about explaining to people what they had to do if we weren’t there!

Unfortunately we were not located in the best location, but those who did come to see us were quite impressed. We have more information about the project and we explored the use of RFID at http://sites.google.com/site/britprojects/indigenous-art"

Thanks Peter for sharing your project with us.

So how are you planning to use Learning Table in 2009?

What would you like to see in the way of new feartures and ideas for a future release?

Go to the contact page and send me your thoughts. I would love to hear from you.

Dan

Last week I had the opportunity to do a couple of workshops on Learning Table and have a stand at the eLearning08 conference at the University of NSW. It was great to catchup with some existing customers and colleagues as well as have the opportunity to introduce rfid Learning Table to lots of people for the first time. The workshops were well patronised and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello and thank you to the organisers for the invitation to attend. I certainly hope to do another eLearning Conference in the future!

 
I managed to snap one photo in the morning while some early arrivals were settling in for the first of two workshops on rfid Learning Table.

I guess here at NECS, we were ahead of our time. :)

http://www.eweek.com/index2.php?option=content&task=view&id=50677&pop=1&hide_ads=1&page=0&hide_js=1

Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit in online with the Riverina TAFE's Learning Technology Mentors Showcase. The quality of the work presented and the enthusiasm shown by the teachers in the Mentor program was truly outstanding. I left the showcase deeply impressed and certain that students who attend Riverina TAFE are in the very best of hands.

Congratulations to Jacqueline Bates, Bronwyn Collins,  and the teachers in the program for a first class result. You have very reason to be proud of your efforts.

Dan

Verona McMahon a teacher of Foundation Studies at Riverina TAFE and a member of the excellent Learning Technology Mentors program that Institute is running. She recently sent me a copy of a video she shot of her work with rfid Learning Table.

Here is what Verona said about the video  and her use of rfid Learning Table: 

I ran a course which was a joint venture between: Riverina Institute of TAFE NSW, Coomealla Campus; Coomealla High School, NSW DET; Schools in Partnership; and the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG), Dareton.

Our students were years 7 to 10 students from Coomealla High School. Students worked on their own raps to express their experiences of living in their particular communities at their age and to relate their stories round this. Each student recorded a rap. When the AECG had a barbecue at Coomealla TAFE I showcased the students' raps outdoors by using the laptop and both the speakers and RFID scanner powered by the laptop battery. Each student's rap was tagged to a plastic card RFID tag.

This tag was inserted into a plastic sleeve which also held a photo of the student and the rap title. People in attendance at the BBQ were free to come up to the laptop and receive simple instructions on how to listen to the individual raps via your Learning Table Player. Enjoy the outback ambience as you view this video.

Thanks Verona, for sharing this and well done on a innovative and interesting use for Learning Table.

Dan

Yes it really was still around.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/11/05/microsoft_retires_windows_3_1_1/print.html

 And here is another interesting story about Microsoft from long ago:

http://www.pagetable.com/?p=43

You can find out more at the web site here.

http://sites.google.com/site/botanicalpartnerships/

Adrian Laws from Riverina TAFE has written up a fantastic entry about what he is doing with rfid Learning Table and also built his own Kiosk to house his Learning Table System. Awesome stuff and well worth a click to read about!

www.learningkiosk.com

Dan

In August I had a workshop for rifd Learning Table at Riverina Institute of TAFE. A group of ten teachers spent the day learning about RFID and Learning Table, before taking the Learning Table kits Riverina has purchased and putting them to use various teaching sections. It was a great day and a fantastic group of teachers. I noticed today that some pictures from the day are now posted here:

http://ltmentors.riverinainstitute.wikispaces.net/Workshop+20th+&+21st+August+2008

Thanks to my hosts Jacqueline Bates and Bronwyn Collins and to the wonderful staff of Riverina who attended the workshop. :)

I hope to have more news about the outcomes from this workshop soon.

rifd Learning Table gets a mention on the web again. Developing a program to introduce an ICT product which helps people with disabilities engage with learning and training. This project is being conducted in Tasmania.