EduGeek.net Forums - Blogs http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/ en Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:01:29 GMT vBulletin 10 http://www.edugeek.net/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg EduGeek.net Forums - Blogs http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/ iTunes Music Quiz http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/tmcd35/87-itunes-music-quiz.html Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:29:14 GMT Okay, so my sister has asked me to organise a music quiz as a party game this crimbo based on the contents of my infamous iTunes library. I... Okay, so my sister has asked me to organise a music quiz as a party game this crimbo based on the contents of my infamous iTunes library.

I thought I'd search the net to see if there's a piece of software to help me do this.

Haven't (yet) found what I'm looking for but did find this quiz which I thought would make a good blog entry. Feel free to try the quiz yourself and post your results as a comment :)

How Meny Songs in Total?
3,952

Sort by Title - What's the first and last song?
Abacab by Genesis
54321 by Manfred Man

Sort by Artist - Whose the first and last artist?
A-Ha
10CC

Sort by Time - What's the first and last song?
Blag by Smile (15sec)
I'd Do Anything for Love by Meat Loaf (11min 59sec)

Sort by Album - What's the first and last album?
Abacab by Genesis
2300 Jackson Street by The Jacksons :o

Top 5 Played Songs
Walk Unafraid by R.E.M. - 95 plays
Supernatural Superserious by R.E.M. - 68 plays
Outsiders by R.E.M. - 67 plays
Wanderlust by R.E.M. - 66 plays
Me in Honey by R.E.M. - 64 plays

Find "Sex" - How many songs?
10

Find "Death" - How many songs?
17

Find "Love" - How many songs?
256

Try and put as many letters as you can into the search, with spaces in between each letter, if one letter takes all the selections out, skip it, and continue, until you’ve got as many as possible.

Which songs are left?
Time Drags By - Cliff Richard
Breakin' Away - Joe Fagin
Fresh - Cool & The Gang
Give It Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Universally Speaking - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Dancing On The Lip Of A Volcano - New York Dolls

What Letters Were Used?
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v w y

I'm adding the following for completion :cool:

Sort by Year - What's the first and last song?
Toccata in D Minor by Bach (1714)
Wounded in All The Right Places - 1 Giant Leap (2008)

Sort by Date Added - What's the first and last song?
'74-'75 by The Connells
Glass of Water by Coldplay ]]> tmcd35 http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/tmcd35/87-itunes-music-quiz.html Exam 2.0: Host Your Next Exam Online at Online-Quiz-Creator.com http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/w-peterson/86-exam-2-0-host-your-next-exam-online-online-quiz-creator-com.html Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:50:08 GMT Though little research indicates how we can upgrade our traditional exams with newly educational technologies, taking the advantages of Internet... Though little research indicates how we can upgrade our traditional exams with newly educational technologies, taking the advantages of Internet really will change any traditional ways. That's what we expect from Exam 2.0: the efficient solution to host exams anywhere anytime. Transferring traditional exams to online exams at Quiz Paradise (Test maker, Flash quiz creator to make online tests, quizzes and assessments) will help teachers or trainers a lot, from making interactive quizzes and tests with multimedia enhancement to tracking test results with insightful reports.

Make Online Exams Effortlessly with Online-Quiz-Creator.com

With the powerful online exam creation tool (Quiz maker ? Quiz Creator, Powerful online assessment and exam tool), everyone can create professional-looking online exams quickly with no more hassles. Particularly, it is so easy to customize Flash-based interactive tests with pictures, sounds and videos, which make the contents more appealing and intuitive than any plain texts questions online. Quiz Paradise offers some good examples at Quiz Zone - Quiz Paradise.

Report Exam Results Online with Online-Quiz-Creator.com

Not only the quizzes can be generally used on any Web pages and shared with anyone anywhere, also teachers or trainers get an enhanced results tracking system for free (Free online reporting system for QuizCreator users - Quiz Management System), where they will be able to see all the details about how people take the quiz, and overall statistics as insightful reports. It is bringing online exams to a new level where they become easy to create, share and track as the real Exam 2.0.

Test maker, Flash quiz creator to make online tests, quizzes and assessments is one such Exam 2.0 site offering solutions to the next generation exams with educational technologies for teachers and trainers. Are you ready to Exam 2.0? Just try out at Online-Quiz-Creator.com. ]]> W.Peterson http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/w-peterson/86-exam-2-0-host-your-next-exam-online-online-quiz-creator-com.html The problem with the Playstation 4 http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/tmcd35/85-problem-playstation-4.html Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:46:23 GMT So, I'm an avid music fan (understatement) and I own a PS3. Putting these two facts together mean I naturally like a certain type of game - Singstar and Rock Band. I'm counting the days till the release of Guitar Hero World Tour.

My PS3 has a 40Gb hard disk that must be getting quite full now with all the songs have been downloading for the aforementioned games. So next spring I plan to get a 500Gb hard drive and a PlayTV tuner.

The PS3 will become my complete media center. Music/Video/Photos streamed from my mac. Twin tuner freeview PVR. Blu-Ray and DVD Player. Games consoles and er, Karaoke machine :o

What's this got to do with the PS4 I hear you cry? I mean, it's not even designed yet let alone been given a release date! Let me explain...

I'm sitting here on a quiet Saturday afternoon downloading some tracks to annoy my neighbours with while I wait the days for Guitar Hero World Tour to arrive.

At some point the world will move on and my beloved PS3 will be replaced by a PS4. While I still have a PS3 I'm not concerned with new versions of my favorite games. Rock Band 2 will play tracks from Rock Band 1, as downloads for Singstar play on all three versions and like whys Guitar Hero downloads will play in future versions of the game. Good stuff!

But when I get my PS4 with Rock Band 6, Guitar Hero Universe Tour and Singstar PS4 vol 1. What of my downloaded tracks then?

Would the PS4 versions of the games themselves be backwards compatible with the track downloads? If they are how do I get them on the PS4?

Will I have to pay for the tracks and download them again? Paying for the tracks again is initially the bit I don't like. I'm going to spend a small fortune on these games over the next 4 years! I can't help myself. But to have to pay for them again?

But what if I don't have to buy them again? Will I have to spend hours re-downloading 100's of tracks for these three games onto a new hard drive? Or will I be able to take the HDD out of the PS3 and plug it straight into the PS4?

Obviously, nobody's going to know the answers to these questions for at least another 3 or 4 years.

You would have thought, the sudden realisation that in 4 years time I'm going to get screwed by Sony would make me stop paying all this money out on these downloads. But you know what, I'm addicted - I can't help myself, the downloads will continue.

I just hope my bank manager understands! ]]> tmcd35 http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/tmcd35/85-problem-playstation-4.html hey http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/sofir786/84-hey.html Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:45:56 GMT alrite im new to this just finished uni now studying BSc computing and electronics, alrite im new to this just finished uni now studying BSc computing and electronics, ]]> sofir786 http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/sofir786/84-hey.html Thrill the World 2008 http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/localzuk/83-thrill-world-2008.html Sun, 26 Oct 2008 15:25:43 GMT Last night, 111 people (mostly kids, a couple of members of staff) took part in the 2008 'Thrill the World' record attempt for the largest number of simultaneous people dancing the 'Thriller' dance.

Overall, there were more then 3,700 people dancing around the world, in the USA, Canada, Germany, Ireland and many more.

If anyone is interested in seeing our school do the dance, take a look at the youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fczVxyzxGwc

Oh, and no, I wasn't one of them. I tried learning it but I must have 2 left feet or something, as I was more than useless. I filmed it instead (the single boring stationary shot is due to the requirements by the organisers).

Pics now available at Thrill the World 2008 - Minehead - a set on Flickr ]]> localzuk http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/localzuk/83-thrill-world-2008.html VOIP http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/localzuk/82-voip.html Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:40:26 GMT I've been thinking lately about school phone usage and wondering why we aren't moving to VOIP in schools.

For example, at the moment, if we wish to call our LEA or a local school, we have to dial out via a PSTN line and pay a call charge. Whilst at the same time we have a perfectly usable high quality fibre-optic internet connection. Surely introducing a VOIP phone system across schools would be fairly simple - I could outfit all our local schools with suitable Asterisk based systems for less than £10k each - and all issues/changes can be dealt with remotely.

What do other people think? ]]> localzuk http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/localzuk/82-voip.html One thing and another and another and another...... http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/alonebfg/81-one-thing-another-another-another.html Sun, 19 Oct 2008 10:48:35 GMT They say thing come in 3s but at the moment its not stopping. After a hard week of updating joomla package and testing it I recived some emails... They say thing come in 3s but at the moment its not stopping. After a hard week of updating joomla package and testing it I recived some emails asking me to pay to install the package that sysman created and I updated and wanted £500 to do it. As well as that got a couple of other emails telling me that I can use there package for comurtial gain and I needed to remove them I know feel like crap. Ok so thats that sorted next to relax at home with laptop (brand new) and oh dear what a bugger the harddrive has just died and then my home server has now also decided to play up now to the xbox to get rid of all that frustration oh yes forgot its away getting the cd drive replaced. What else can happen bring it on it cant get much worst ]]> alonebfg http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/alonebfg/81-one-thing-another-another-another.html back up and running http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/alonebfg/80-back-up-running.html Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:43:47 GMT I have been feeling better and am getting back to my old self as far as possable. I hope to have new joomla package posted soon and have some nice... I have been feeling better and am getting back to my old self as far as possable. I hope to have new joomla package posted soon and have some nice new packages. Also looking into a joomla moodle so they are one to go alongeside the edugeek moodle package. I have just got to talk to the project manage but I wonder how much time it will take. ]]> alonebfg http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/alonebfg/80-back-up-running.html live from SFL http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/zerohour/79-live-sfl.html Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:29:08 GMT At the SLF (BETT for scotland) and thought I would post if there is anything imteresting (which I doubt). It's so much smaller then BETT and appears to be more teacher focused then technical but it's early yet. ]]> ZeroHour http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/zerohour/79-live-sfl.html 2009: Apple unveil iPod Grain http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/webman/78-2009-apple-unveil-ipod-grain.html Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:37:58 GMT At an exclusive product unveiling today (just 3 months since the last iPod hit the shelves), Steve Jobs of Apple announced they have developed and... At an exclusive product unveiling today (just 3 months since the last iPod hit the shelves), Steve Jobs of Apple announced they have developed and are about to release the smallest iPod to date. The iPod Grain, as the name implies, is about the size of a grain of sand. The new addition to the music player line-up from the Jesus Phone maker comes with a non-expandable 1TB of flash memory for all your songs.

Speaking of songs, the Grain exclusively plays formats in Apple's proprietary format to maintain vendor lock-in and piss people off who prefer the free, open source, innovative and superior Ogg Vorbis format for their audio. To put songs on the Grain, the latest version of the inferior and unpopular music manager iChoons must be used. Connection comes via magic only as there is simply no room for pico-USB or micro-Firewire connections on the Grain. Simply place the Grain near your iChoons-enabled Intel-based computer and your music will instantly be available on the Grain.

Being of miniscule size, the battery issue was an enormous hurdle for The Orchard to overcome. Hugh Jass, a tech boffin from Apple, said "We've developed our own battery technology for the iPod. We religiously believe people should be freed from the burden of having to change batteries, so we made it non-changable. This is best for everyone." He continued, "When battery life does eventually die, it doesn't really matter as the Apple sheeple will buy our latest player at the time anyway."

Actually listening to songs on the Grain proved somewhat problematic in initial trials for the style-conscious. The same magic used in transferring audio to the Grain is also used to send the audio to your ears; by simply placing the Grain in one of your pockets. Of course, the analogious "Apple-white" earphones were made redundant with this new technological advancement. All is not lost, however, as Appleites will be pleased to know they can purchase new and improved Grain-compatible fake earphones to ensure people know they have an iPod.

The Grain is packaged in a shiny white box measuring 6 inches on all sides; and is available for the lowest-ever extremeley-good-value-for-money can't-get-better-than-this price of $475 (£575 GBP) from any Crapple store. ]]> webman http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/webman/78-2009-apple-unveil-ipod-grain.html Report Wisely: Make Sense of Your Online Assessment Results http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/w-peterson/77-report-wisely-make-sense-your-online-assessment-results.html Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:59:22 GMT Although online tests have helped access learning in an easy yet smart way, teachers still need an efficient solution to get more values from these... Although online tests have helped access learning in an easy yet smart way, teachers still need an efficient solution to get more values from these test results.

September 5th, 2008 - In order to measure students' learning in a flexible approach, many teachers have successfully incorporated online tests and exams in classroom with modern educational technologies. Afterwards teachers would obtain all test items and responses in detail, and generate analysis report of scoring statistics for effective teaching and learning. However, due to the lack of system-based tracking support or tech knowledge, most teachers are muddled by these enormous raw data of test results. That's why such an easy online reporting system is so essential for the teachers.

There have been some existing solutions for teachers to track and analyze test results, such as statistics capabilities in most Learning Management Systems, or some specialized assessment management systems. But if the teachers cannot afford such an expensive solution, do they have to make an elaborate reporting system by hands? Fortunately, the assessment authoring tool Wondershare QuizCreator offers Quiz Management System as a hosted online reporting service.

Quiz Management System (QMS) is one such easy and free system which helps teachers who's using QuizCreator track, analyze and report test results without any hassles. Just with reliable Internet connection and standard Web browsers, the teachers will be saved from the mess of results data, as well as saving the time, the energy and money dramatically. Major advantages of QMS for the teachers:
- Track all test items, students' responses and scores in real time;
- Maintain questions, answers and scores in arrangement automatically;
- Review results of scores and grades in easy-to-understand chart reports for quick insights.

"Kudos on the QuizCreator software." said one teacher who's using QMS. "The QMS feature in particular is really unique and helpful for teachers."

Complete details about Quiz Management System are available at Quick Tour - Quiz Management System - Wondershare QuizCreator
And for Wondershare QuizCreator, please visit Quiz Maker - Wondershare QuizCreator - Create Online Quiz, Quiz Creator, Make Flash quiz, Quiz Software, Online Assessment

About Wondershare E-Learning
As the leading e-learning authoring tools provider, Wondershare E-Learning has served thousands of organizations from Stanford University to Department of Education with professional e-learning solutions. For more information about Wondershare E-Learning, please visit http://www.sameshow.com. ]]> W.Peterson http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/w-peterson/77-report-wisely-make-sense-your-online-assessment-results.html Fed Up Hurting and annoyed http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/alonebfg/76-fed-up-hurting-annoyed.html Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:41:32 GMT Ok nearly time to go back and I am fed up spent most of my time at doctors hospital and in bed. I hate feeling ill but hay back to work soon that... Ok nearly time to go back and I am fed up spent most of my time at doctors hospital and in bed. I hate feeling ill but hay back to work soon that should take my mind off things. Looks like I could have a couple more opps on knees but its if i want to take a risk. feel like i should put it to a vote on the fourms that would be fun. So why did you pt for the operation doc says I reply because edugeek said i should lmfao. Well lets hope that it gets better of if not better no worse.
:feedtroll:
]]> alonebfg http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/alonebfg/76-fed-up-hurting-annoyed.html Back To School http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/my220x/75-back-school.html Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:55:53 GMT Unfortunatly I go back to school next week, do I want to go back? NO! Sure if I never went back I wouldn't see my friends but I haven't actually missed any of this holiday. ]]> My220x http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/my220x/75-back-school.html Online Training Needs Assessments: How to Measure Learning Performance Effortlessly http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/w-peterson/74-online-training-needs-assessments-how-measure-learning-performance-effortlessly.html Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:25:40 GMT For online training instructors, creating meaningful performance assessments for online training is a critical issue. Nowadays, most online... For online training instructors, creating meaningful performance assessments for online training is a critical issue.

Nowadays, most online training instructors like to evaluate what learners learnt during the learning process through traditional summative evaluation. However, this assessment approach needs to be changed, as it only considers final learning outcomes without considering the learning process of learners. Actually, learning performance can be tracked by related online assessments in the process of online training. With meaningful and periodical performance assessments, instructors would easily and efficiently measure all performances and provide valuable feedback to learners in training progress.


How to Conduct Assessments in Online Training?

1. Schedule all assessments, not just at the end
Regarding the flexibility of online assessments, instructors need to know the overall schedule of the training to grade whole learning process. With different levels, make exact schedule of assessments to examine all learners' performances. The good point is, instructors can benefit from those results of assessments as feedback, and add improvements in the learning courses of next level. For online training, the scheduled assessments could be easier to be integrated into original learning timeline. Assessments and courses can be based on feedbacks from previous assessments to engage learners with interactions. At the end, assessment in traditional way also makes sense with maximum efforts. In scheduled training, performance assessments are really helpful to control entire learning process.

2. Customize assessment creation, with right tools
To author online assessments with specified requirements, instructors will create and implement quizzes to test undergoing training. Types of quizzes may differ and may feature formats ranging from multiple choice answers, plain typed text responses and true/false and yes/no questions. Instructors should carefully select the assessment authoring tools, according to the usages. Creating quizzes as performance assessments in online training has two categories of tools: desktop applications, or Web applications. Desktop apps such as Wondershare QuizCreator, or Web apps such as Quia Web have similar features to customize assessment creation, but the online usages. Desktop apps usually have plentiful contents and take Flash technology to Web compliance; while Web apps offer easy-to-use quizzes creation online directly but exact enhancements.

3. Track and evaluate results, under management
As feedback on performance is a critical part of a learning environment, online training instructors really need to analyze all results of performance assessments. In order to evaluate the whole learning process and know the exact data, all assessment results must be properly collected and processed in the learning system. Most LMSes (Learning Management System) such as Moodle, BlackBoard can track assessment results within the system. And the Web quiz apps Desktop quiz apps usually come with a results component, for example, Questionmark's Results Management System, QuizCreator's Quiz Management System as professional assessment management, to make all results data from performance assessments arranged as report. Whatever the systems you use, just summarize the reports in the meaningful points you need.

4. Take actions on feedbacks, performances focused
The best part of performance assessment in online training is not just reporting the differences of individual learning process, or scoring the final exam as performance. The results in assessment report aim to inspire instructors to keep improving the efficiency of entire online training. Just take actions on the feedbacks. Instructors must manage all assessment results as different reports in those assessment management systems, or deal with them using other professional statistical analysis software like Microsoft Excel or SPSS. With meaningful result of these assessments, instructors have the opportunity to maximize the value of any public or corporate training.


From the approach to performance, knowledge and the core management of entire training and learning process, efficient online assessment can really increase productivity for organizations. Furthermore, based on proper measurement of learning performance, instructors would improve the process of training with better interactions. ]]> W.Peterson http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/w-peterson/74-online-training-needs-assessments-how-measure-learning-performance-effortlessly.html Rain rain rain rain rain.... http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/jinnantonnix/73-rain-rain-rain-rain-rain.html Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:40:34 GMT Sigh. When will it stop?

I know being near the coast in Welsh Wales doesn't help, but all it does is rain! I think we've had about 4 good weekends this year.


Note for next year: if it's a good Easter, blow all my leave then - 'cos summer's likely to be cack. ]]> jinnantonnix http://www.edugeek.net/forums/blogs/jinnantonnix/73-rain-rain-rain-rain-rain.html