Learnshifting

My Chilli Hawaiian Shirts are HOT!

by

Well at least I would like to think they are. That is the beauty of creativity, it can be something to share with others or something intensely personal. I, like a surprising number of people from not just around where I live, but from all over the world seem to have a special relationship with chillies.

I am here today to present a Hot Topic which I hope you can use in your schools… 

Ideation, the formation of ideas or concepts is very personal. In an education environment where we might teach ideation we should apply some structure. Ideation should come from a need, a passion something to solve, improve or replace. This presentation will walk through my ideation process from start to end. My intent is to share the process as well as how I use some of the Adobe tools in my journey. 

My idea formed when I wanted a chilli Hawaiian shirt. I couldn’t find what I wanted but over the years I had taken many photographs of chillies I had grown.

Read more

I’ve Started a Free ICT Podcast for Teachers

by

This is a transcription of the podcast that appears below and the text has been included for the same reason I created an audio version – to try and reach you in the format that you like. Sadly even though it, like most things I do is “free” – to increase “headline readbility” in my blog, the use of that one “power word” gets me from a 51% to a 73% Headline rating… But that’s a story for another day.

  • Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we love, is called passion.
  • Do what you love, love what you do.
  • If it is to be it is up to me. (Ten two-letter words)

This is not a podcast about leadership or well-being or anything like that. It is an acknowledgment that you’re listening to this probably outside of working hours because you’re interested in ICT matters and you are only doing it not because you have been told to, but because you want to… and so keying in on the words of passion, love and wanting to do something because it is up to you means you have landed here because you want to.

Read more

Lockdown #6 More Photographs

by

Walking around in our 5km exercise location centred in Kensington, Melbourne, we have a great number of places to visit. The red circle is the boundary radius of 5 km from our home location. 

Flemington Racecourse, Victoria markets, Maribyrnong River, Melbourne International Gateway, Moonee Ponds Creek, Docklands, and many more locations are the destination of our walks.

In looking at the photographs, I marvel at what we can see and visit within a 5km radius of our little house.

Flemington Racecourse on our left across the Maribyrnong River and Melbourne City Centre in the distance. Click on any of the photographs for a larger view in SmugMug.

Read more

Photo Rescue from old iPad

by

I have a first-generation iPad with over 3000 photographs stored on it. The iPad which is over 10 years old still works but is limited to iOS 5.5. Using traditional means such as iCloud or connecting via USB cable did not allow me to copy the files to another location.

Dot Point Version

  • Sign into iPad (there is a trick if you haven’t done it in a long time)
  • Download version of Photo Transfer App for that version of iPad
  • Install companion Photo Transfer App on PC or Mac (not on another i-Device)
  • Connect the two computers and apps using Wi-Fi (same network)
  • Start the transfer (I selected folders to keep the photos in groups)

This long post covers the blow by blow detail of my experience which may not be interesting if you are  desperately seeking to save your own photos (as I was).

Read more

LogTransport2 Error Adobe

by

Whenever I shut down my computer, I get an error message popping up warning about a problem with LogTransport2. It has become so common I don’t even register when I see it anymore. It tends to happen at work where there is more blocking of internet chatter between apps.

I stumbled upon an article and more importantly an easy solution to this problem. My diagram below looks like a treasure hunt map but I wanted to share a foolproof way to get to the setting. Basically you need to switch off the sharing of your Adobe activity back to Abobe to help them with making products better. As an Adobe Education Leader, I felt it was the right thing to do in sharing back. However, as it is causing this error, I wanted to share how to stop the error.

You can choose not to make this change and no harm will be done. I guess it is for the slighty obsessive/compulsive amongst us who like things to shut down without error messages, as harmless as they may be.

Click Read More for the diagram if you are not sure where that setting is to turn off.

Read more

Adjust TV screen to fit your PC Window

by

Actually you have to do it the other way around and make an adjustment on your PC Settings. This post is the result of a recent short lockdown in the Northern Territory due to Coronavirus. Caught unawares on a Sunday – most folks were working with their laptop (one screen) during the week and many missed the luxury of two monitors.

Read more

Character Animator – Bring School Posters to Life

by
Primary School Project – Viking Ship

I love almost all of the Adobe products, and one of my clear favourites is Character Animator. It has brought many a smile to my face and that of students and teachers who have been introduced to this amazing tool. First – what is character animator? Character Animator uses your expressions and movements to animate characters in real time. Using your webcam and microphone, Character Animator matches your expressions — from syncing lips to tracking eyes — to animate in real time. Select from hundreds or pre-built puppets or custom make your puppet using Photoshop, Fresco or Illustrator. It’s so fast, you can livestream while you work to wow audiences every step of the way. Your performance brings a character to life.

This post is about how you can easily integrate Character Animator into your primary class lessons on any subject as an add on product/project to any assignment projects you give to your students.

Read more

Is story capture worth it?

by

It’s 10 o’clock at night and I want to write a post about creating multimedia stories. In the background my computer is copying a number of large video files from my GOPRO into a central location. Part of me has writer’s block and part of me simply wants to go to sleep. I’m sure a lot of teachers wanting to enthuse students into writing stories, creating multimedia essays encounter the same challenges with students who question why should they do it. Unless it’s a grade-based assignment it’s sometimes hard to convince someone that documenting, recording or capturing experiences and events… and transforming that into story shared with someone else is something worthwhile doing.

With the previous paragraph I’m already over my allowed tweet limit. So I know that with a meme like photograph and a hundred or two hundred characters I could put something out now and my work here would be done.

Read more