SLearning 2.008 Pre-Conference

[Jeff Utecht]

Yes we try and make the Learning 2.008 Educational Technology conference a little different each year. We don't just talk about changing the was we teach and learn, we try and model it as well. We don't always succeed but it's about taking risks and pushing ourselves as educators. We can not expect educators to go to a conference where we tell them that they need to take risks, learn something new, and reflect without us as conference organizers doing the same.

We continue to try and do that sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding. We've already learned a lot this year about the hassle of trying to accept Credit Card payments. It's not as easy as one might think and then put China on top of it and...well...let's just say we took a risk and this time it didn't pay off. But we learned something! We learned that Pay Pal is not the answer and that if we do continue the conference in the future we'll have to rethink some things.

We're also rethinking how to hold a pre-conference. With over 150 teachers (at this point) flying in from all over the world for the conference during a school week we had to think about how we best utilize time. We wanted to run a pre-conference but found that many schools and educators weren't willing to release teachers (or didn't want to miss time with students) for a pre-conference day or two before the actual conference. David Gran one of the main conference organizers contacted Chris Smith who owns International School Island in Second Life. Together they've been working to create a SLearning 2.008 Pre-Conference not only for those who will attend the conference in Shanghai, but for all of you who want to participate virtually.

Chris has created an amazing setting on International School Island in Second Life for our 3 pre-conference sessions. Below you will find the dates, times, and events. I hope you can make all three events, but I'd like to draw your attention especially to the third date, Sunday, September 14th. This event, one week before the "Real Life" conference will be an open forum for our Learning 2.008 Committee to meet and talk with participants. Note that this will be 9 PM Shanghai Time.

Dates (Sundays)

• 31st August : Alan Levine (CDB Barkley); David Warlick (Suriawang Dapto)
• 7th September : Ewan McIntosh (Learning Loon)
• 14th September : Organizer's Open Forum

Times

• 6:00am S.L. time (California)
• 9:00am New York time
• 2:00pm UK time
• 5:00pm Dubai time
• 8:00pm Bangkok time
• 9:00pm Hong Kong/China time

If you are unfamiliar with Second Life, its a great opportunity to log on and give it a whirl. It's pretty easy to get started, but you'll need to download the program from : http://secondlife.com/ . Once you've downloaded the program, entering the SLurl below into your browser will take you directly to International Schools Island. If you need any help at all, contact Chris Smith or David Gran.

Venue
* International Schools Island
* SLurl http://tinyurl.com/2o44dw
* http://slurl.com/secondlife/International%20Schools%202/71/172/56


Chris has done an amazing job in organizing this, and it will be a great opportunity to participate in an online collaboration in a 3D environment. I hope you'll join us.

[Jeff Utecht]

Thanks Peggy!

Perfect timing! I'll go have a look!

[Peggy George]

Jeff, I just received an announcement of a revised ebook from Andy Affleck (Take Control of Podcasting on the Mac) it has some detailed explanations about everything related to podcasting and includes Skype recordings using Wiretap Studio & Audio Highjack Pro. (118-page ebook for $10) http://tinyurl.com/6x4974 It's an excellent publication with step-by-step instructions with screenshots. I know it will be a big help for me!

[Peggy George]

Thanks Alan! Your explanation was really helpful. I also used Call Recorder for recording my skype calls it it works perfectly. Jeff, have you seen the PDF tutorial on Wes Fryer's Storychaser site written by Ryan Gordon about Skype, Ustream and Audio Hijack Pro? It's excellent. http://www.ryangordonproductions.com/ustream/ Just wanted to share it in case you hadn't seen it. For now I think I'll stick with Audio Hijack Pro. :-)

[Jeff Utecht]

Thanks Alan....love Levelator as well and use it on all my podcasts. I downloaded WireTap and will run it through its paces here in the coming week....but from what I've heard it's the tool I've been looking for.
Thanks!

[Alan Levine]

Yes, Jeff and Peggy, I like WireTap; I had the original basic version. However, for basic recording, I would think HijackPro does the job fine. WireTap has a bunch of features for editing I never use, and it has a few advanced recording capabilities I've not "tapped" either.

For the most part it is a great tool for capturing input and output sounds; I use it for doing the in world Second Life audio interviews for NMC. This was first time it crashed on me, and it was my own fault- I had incorrect audio in/out sources in SL, and I quit to reset those and also yanked my headsets to use a different USB port, so I likely confused the WireTap action.

I also useeCamm Call recorder for capturing Skype sessions; it is easy (click a red button) and I like how it records the input audio source and output in different stereo channels; makes it easier for cleanup (WireTapStudio now can do this as well)

For Jeff, in either case, these tools I use to capture the audio, then do post production in either Audacity or Garageband. I prefer a tool that can save the audio in WAV or AIFF format so I can run it through the Levelator first- a fab tool for optimizing the quality of recorded sessions.

[Jeff Utecht]

I want to record the audio in Audacity or Garage Band and stream on Ustream at the same time. That's what I need. :)

[Peggy George]

Great question Jeff re WireTap. I'm really interested in the response as well. I would like to know the difference between Audio Hijack Pro and WireTap. I own Audio Hijack Pro and wonder if I should upgrade to WireTap Pro. The upgrade price is $30. Any feedback would be helpful. Jeff, are you wanting to just stream the audio on Ustream or video along with the Skype call for your recording? Thanks.

[Jeff Utecht]

On that note....do yo like WireTap? I'm looking for a program that will allow me to record a Skype call and stream live on Ustream at the same time. Is WireTap my dream software?

[Alan Levine]

There might not be much audio; I was recording with WireTap on my Mac but it crashed when my microphone inputs were misbehaving. Hopefully someone snagged a chat history (I can dig one out since I have SL set to save them all). They ran a great opne conversation and it was actually first time I've spoken live with David Warlick!

[Jeff Utecht]

I think so....either Kevin Jarett or Chris Smith I believe recorded the sessions. Hopefully they will be able to share them with us soon. :)