ConnectED

Digitising audio cassettes using the EzTape2PC

Digitising audio cassettes can be a time consuming activity, but it is well worth the effort in order to make resources available through technology. In this video we show how the ION Tape2PC can be used to record and produce separate MP3 tracks from an audio tape source using the EzTape2PC software.

Digitising Analogue Video to MPEG-4

For many years people have used the VCR/DVD trolley in their classrooms. But now with all of the new technologies that exist and particularly interactive whiteboards and student mobile devices teachers now need to digitise their VHS cassettes to make them available through these mediums.

The feedback from our clients has to date been that this is a slow arduous process that only a few schools have seen to tackle entirely. Its a case of , "too technical", "too time consuming", or that IT Departments have been elected to do this job and therefore that with the pressures on them to keep school IT systems running that this is a slow job.

The Pinnacle Video Transfer box goes some way to solving these problems and empowering more teachers to get their videos available digitally. The simple box plugs into your analogue video source and records it straight to memory stick. Then you can just copy and paste your MPEG-4 from the memory stick to wherever you want.

Please take a look at the video below and see how useful this can be.

Microsoft Photo Story Example

An example of some Year 3 students work using Photo Story to put together a video on Spring on the farm.

ebook creation for Sony PlayStation Portable

In this video you will be shown how to convert a Microsoft Word Document into a PDF and then into a format by which it can be copied to and then read on a Sony PSP. The Microsoft Word Document used is from Scargill Jumior School where the students wrote the content as a part of their learning activities.

Try using a digital dictaphone

A digital dictaphone, such as those made by Olympus, can be very powerful in recording audio for a whole range of reasons. There are many benefits in selecting a model that easily plugs into a USB port just like a memory stick so that the recorded digital files; usually in WMA or MP3 format can then be copied and pasted to network locations so that students and other staff can access them. Watch this short video that we have prepared:

Sony Soloist- Creating an ACR Exercise

In this video we explain how an Automatic Comparative Recording (ACR) Exercise is created. It is a means by which a set of pre-recorded questions can be played to the student, an answer recorded and then saved them for further reference.

Sony Soloist- What is an ACR?

In this video we explain what an Automatic Comparative Recording (ACR) Exercise is. It is a means by which a set of pre-recorded questions can be played to the student, an answer recorded and then saved them for further reference.

Vlog It- basic video recording

This is a great tool that we would highly recommend to people who want to easily structure some simple video creation. It is essentially an auto queue whereby you can type or cut and past text from other sources in, arrange images along a timeline, then record and save a video file. This is a great way of creating a file for Automatic Comparative Recording (ACR) exercises for use with Sony Soloist and Virtuoso in MFL.

Sony PSP- Mind Quiz Video

Click on the button below to play the video:

Sony Soloist- Basic Use of Video

Many of our clients are now moving away from the traditional language laboratory model with Sony Virtuoso to a more multimedia rich experience. For example with Sony Soloist (the student digital comparative recording software) the student can finitely interrogate a video file. Have a look at this 6 minute presentation on how at its most basic Sony Soloist can manipulate video files.