iTunes U free app – open courses useful for extra information

Posted on December 5, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

The iTunes U app from the Apple Store has lots of open courses. It is very useful for my studies – you can listen to the course at the same time as looking at the slides in iBooks.

Henry – Web and Internet Science

It works on an iPhone and iPad – you need to register on the Apple store. Many of the courses are American. ‘Internet Economics’ as a lecture is an example from one of the courses and you have a podcast plus slides from Stanford University – “Future of the Internet by Ramesh Johari” You can speed up the voice up to 2x, pause the lecture and return to it later and rewind in short steps.

Evernote for making checklists

Posted on November 3, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

“I use Evernote for making checklists. If I have a large piece of coursework or many subjects areas to revise. I break each task down, make a list and tick off each task as I complete it. There is always a sense of satisfaction when looking at a list full of ticks!”

Evernote has provided a blog about “how to create a checklist“.

Evernote can be used on Windows and Mac computers, as browser plugins and also sync with smartphones.

Open courses to help me catch up with work.

Posted on October 11, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

“I watch open course videos to improve my knowledge or to help me to catch up with my classmates. I do not find some of the uni notes good enough so the online videos are the best help and they often come from Oxford, Cambridge and MIT etc.” Linda

The links to Oxford, Cambridge and MIT show a range of options from podcasts to a YouTube channel and a web page from MIT with links to more sites. There are also many websites that have lists of courses, videos or podcasts and they often use the acronym ‘MOOCs meaning Massive Open Online Courses for example

MOOCs: Top 10 Sites for Free Education With Elite Universities

300 Free MOOCs from Great Universities (Many Offering Certificates)

Using C-pen 3.5 to collect journal notes

Posted on September 11, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

I have been using a C-pen 3.5 for collecting printed notes that can be stored for assignments. It works well with Bluetooth and a Windows computer – You can run the pen over the print quite quickly and it will appear in whatever document you are using.

I have found it works best on high contrast black print on white paper or vice versa. The smaller the font the slower you need to scan. If you use a ruler or hard edge against the side of the pen you get a more accurate result and can scan across the page at a faster rate.

Luke – ECS

Changing background colours and desktop settings.

Posted on September 10, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

“I have an HP laptop and I choose to use my own desktop background which is different from that supplied by the manufacturer. I prefer a background that is not too dark and not too light but gives good contrast.” Yusuf (Computer Science)

The desktop settings on a Windows computer can be changed via the Control Panel > Personalization and there you can choose themes or high contrast modes etc. The Ease of Access Center also offers more ways of changing the way things look on the screen.

Coach’s Eye – Thinking Olympics – sports and practicals – video annotation

Posted on August 1, 2012 by E.A. Draffan

Coach's Eye app “Coach’s Eye is an iOS5 app available through iTunes for £3 that can be used on the iPhone iPad and iPod. It allows you to add audio and visual feedback to new and imported videos. Particularly useful for sports and performing arts although it could be used with providing feedback on any visual practical process e.g. silversmithing techniques. For some good examples of the app in use watch the YouTube video

The swimming and karate kick examples are fairly good.”

Kevin Brunton, Going mobile, apps and devices (download docx) ADSHE.

Lexdis 2.0

Accessible technology for learning

Category Archives: Research