judyB

the board end is 17mm wide and looks like this http://webobjects2.cdw.com/is/image/CDW/2536230?$product_230$ The other end is a serial connector with DC in. Let me know if it's any use!

This emailed me as I replied to the earlier post - i thought no way I've still got one of them hanging around - unless... Had a rummage in the "Misc whiteboard cables" box I brought over from the old building and can you believe I've still got one. I'm such a hoarder! We had a rebuild 2 years ago and we don't even have the model of whiteboard that use these any more... Anyway I don't know if it's the one you want - it must be at least 5 years old, it has a little power socket on the back of the serial connector. If that sounds like the thing PM me your address and I'm sure we can sort something out. cheers, JUDY (proud supplier of Promethean serial cables to edugeek members)

I think the scheduler module does that. I can't check at the mo - our moodle is down for upgrading.

The way i read that he just wants a visual representation of their progress in different areas. You could do it simply by just using still images or animated gifs. Each avatar could have say 5 different images representing different stages of "growth". Then build a moodle block that displays a different image depending on info from the other sites. (I'm assuming they're seperate sites - I have no idea what Human Utopia or Beta Enteprise Vitamins are) The tricky bit would be getting the info out but it should be doable. I agree a virtual desk is a bad idea. The PC is already on a real desk. And what's on the screen of the virtual PC? The virtual desk?? arrrgghh...

Moodle.org has some fairly good documentation on developing 2.0 themes here Development:Themes 2.0 - MoodleDocs.

We use TriplePlay but I wouldn't recommend it. The software is a pain to use and it still doesn't play back properly over 6 months after it was installed. Wish we'd gone with clickview!

If you have access to photoshop then a batch job - you can put a stop where you want so it can do the open, rezize automatically then stop at the crop, choose the area, then carry on, save, open the next one. I had to set up something similar where we had 3 students in a photo and they wanted just the heads at a standad size.

They need to see the benefits - if you "force" staff to use them by making it difficult to use other methods you just end up with grumpy staff (although taking away whiteboard pens is tempting sometimes). Training sessions are great but if they're voluntary you end up preaching to the converted and if they're compulsory they result in grumpy staff.... You could try giving a presentation at a staff meeting just focussing on the benefits - you never run out of ink, you have unlimited boardspace, you can save/print flipcharts etc. Then following it up with a voluntary training session with hands on practice. In the training make sure you mention the disadvantages as well - what to do if it goes wrong, common problems, who to call etc. I've definitely found convincing people to use the IWB as whiteboard (for writing on) the best place to start, as that doesn't require a fundamental shift in how they're teaching. Then after that you can start looking at creating funky interactive resources. Lastly -Tell them it's like driving a car. This is my favourite metaphor at the moment as I learnt to drive quite recently, and found it really challenging. Everyone said to me "Oh it's easy!" - and I thought "that's not very helpful, but I've been saying it about e-learning for years". So - tell them it's *not* easy at first, but it will get easier the more they practice, and pretty soon they'll wonder how they managed without one .

Cheapy non Wacom ones about 20-40 quid for A5 size, A Wacom Bamboo One is about £40, it's smaller than A5 tho. As they get bigger they get pricier, my bamboo was about £120 and it's just slightly larger than A5. If it was me I'd go for a small wacom over a larger cheap one, they come packaged nicely, it makes a nice gift. We gave a Bamboo One away as a prize for a competition last year and the winner was very chuffed. Guess it depends how much you like your uncle

In my (admittedly fairly limited) experience graphics tablets fall into two categories - Wacom ones and Not-Wacom ones. Wacom ones are far far superior to anything else however they are much more expensive as well. I bought a cheap one first and when I found myself using it a lot I invested in a Wacom Bamboo Fun and I never regretted it. The build quality was so much better and it felt much smoother and more natural using it. You shouldn't have any problem with plugs - I'm sure most now power thru USB, the thing to look out for is if the pens need batteries or not. In my cheap one the pen needed a couple of AA batteries which made it heavy and unwieldy.

WHERE DO I FIND MY ACTIVINSPIRE SERIAL NUMBER? - Promethean Planet Forums it's in a hidden file in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Promethean\ActivInspire

Hi, I don't know if this is a good idea but I've found just renaming the file extension to .mpeg works. I'm not an expert on video formats, codecs etc - but it gets the video into movie maker and has no discernible effect on the quality.

Thanks all for your help - 1 hour of edugeeking = about 10 hours worth of googling! I've used Y cables for a while and never really had a problem, apart from the odd ghosting issue - which as it's on the monitor teacher's don't mind, as they don't look at it much, especially if they have an IWB. In fact given that the new rooms all have IWBs we did consider ditching the monitors altogether! I've decided to go for the USB powered splitter- very neat solution. I looked into turning off the DDR/EDID information coming back from the monitor - it's an Intel i5 chipset and even though it lets you set a custom resolution it won't ignore the EDID info.

I've ordered a bunch of VGA Y cables for new classrooms only to find out they don't work! The signal will only go to the projector. Our network manager did a bit of googling and apparently they can't work as the VGA port now polls for information back from the display device, so it can't cope with two signals coming back. Is this right? Is there any way of making them work? I can put up with quality problems - I just want an output. I realise powered splitters are a better solution but a lot of the new classrooms don't have spare power sockets (don't ask) which is why we went for the cables. The PCs only have VGA out, so I can't use DVI or anything else. I really don't want extension leads everywhere - anyone got any ideas??

Hi - i'm far from being an expert on this - but the config file problem sounds very familiar. I remember trying to change it and finding that there are several config files and it's not always obvious which one moodle is using. Click PHP info in the main admin menu of your moodle site to check the path of the config file being used.

If you use DB enrollment I have a script that puts them into groups when they enrol on the course. We tried using group enrollment keys but teachers found them too confusing.

I have several spare ones as we use USB and they used to ship with both - they're still sealed in the plastic bag, never used. PM me with your address and I'll post one to you.

I don't think firefox supports font embedding - so it's never going to work. It's been a while but that used to be the case, I'd look into it before tearing your hair out anyway! will firefox support embedded fonts like WEFT?

Unless you're going to spend 100k on every classroom in your new building aren't you setting teachers up for a bit of a disappointment?? Sounds amazing tho - i think it's great to have that amount to experiment with.

ERA recordings can be transferred - so anything you or a teacher recorded off air for educational purposes can be transferred to DVD or internal server, as long as it's labelled with the date, channel and the ERA licence text. [Frequently Asked Questions] Commercial recordings are a not covered by ERA tho.

Stockport are using Moodle - I work for a college that uses Moodle and they talked to us about it quite a lot at first. They put it in the primary schools, not sure how it's going.

I agree the uploading is probably the most unintuitive part of Moodle, and it's the thing most teachers want to do first so it puts people off. It's supposed to be much improved in Moodle 2.0 - if it ever arrives Meanwhile here's some helpsheets I use - one's a standard walkthru with pics and the other one is a really basic flowchart that just acts as a reminder once they've done it a few times. The flowchart fits on one side of A4 so it can be pinned to a board. adding a resource flowchart.docx adding a resource.docx

My college had learnwise, a long while ago - it was before my time and I've been here 4 years. It didn't go down very well with staff so they switched to moodle and hired me. That's all I know - I didn't think it was still going.

We're looking at a system by tripleplay Leading Innovators in IPTV, VoD and Digital Signage Software | Tripleplay Services

my 2p... IWBs when used effectively are incredibly useful. IWBs are more than just a way to control the PC - they also function as a normal whiteboard - except you can save or print your notes, you can have as many colour pens as you like and you can have multiple pages of notes that you can move between. I appreciate the point of always facing the class - however 150 years of writing on the board is a tough habit to break... We kitted out a room with a IWB and a tablet PC - no one used the tablet, despite being trained and shown the benefits. Visualisers we've found to be worth the money - a basic entry level visualiser £300, training/printing help sheets £10, getting rid of OHPs forever - priceless! Although at first I did think - a digital camera on a stick, how much?! -The ease of use, the instantaneous way they can get something on screen means teachers use them far more than they would a digital camera. I'll have to bow to other's expertise on the networking side - but it sounds good! In terms of furniture and layout - have you looked at flexible desking for the wired in PCs? There's a lot of options from pod type tables of 4-6 PCs or single fliptop desks. Also a control panel for the projector, and any other devices - either a lectern or a wall panel. It's something we're looking into -means no more lost remotes, batteries etc. Also can be linked via IP so you can control projectors remotely, see lamp life and schedule shutdowns. Good luck with the project! JUDY