SHARING VIDEOS ONLINE

One of the most startling developments of 2006 was the dramatic growth of online video sharing. Anyone who didn't realise the popularity of sharing videos on the Internet quickly understood it when Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion in November 2006. Founded just 20 months earlier, YouTube boasts 70 million video downloads every day. Time magazine named YouTube its "Invention of the Year" for 2006. A search of "share videos online" will generate more than nine million hits.

Services such as YouTube, MySpace and the open source Democracy Player enable people to share, comment on and view videos. Users can choose to broadcast their videos publicly or share them privately with friends and family. The service is free for everyone (for now!).

The educational potential of sharing videos online is significant. Digital video has made video production easy and affordable - anyone with a video camera or even a camera cell phone can shoot a video and upload it to the Internet. While largely populated by joke or prank videos now, YouTube and its many imitators have categories such as Science and Technology, which share useful and even educational information. As with any online technology, users should be aware of privacy issues, especially if children are involved.

An innovative programme is already demonstrating the educational potential of online videos. "CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion" is a course jointly offered by the Harvard Law School and the Harvard Extension School. In addition to being offered to Harvard students, the course's videos and lectures are freely available to anyone with an Internet connection. Students interact with each other through "Second Life", a 3D virtual world that enables them to attend classes, do group work and ask questions in real time.
www.youtube.com
www.myspace.com
www.getdemocracy.com
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cyberone
 

EXPANDING USES FOR MOBILE PHONES

The proliferation of mobile phones in the developing world is resulting in a growing number of uses for this technology.

• mLearning
  Many distance learners are using their mobile phones as a learning technology. Mobile learning - or mLearning - is a useful support that complements eLearning or classroom learning. Students and teachers often use text messaging to transmit information to each other, which speeds up communication. And learners are also creating learning communities through text messaging. The power of mLearning is the affordability of mobile devices compared to computers, especially in developing countries, and the immediacy of the interaction, especially among young mobile people who use their mobile phone as their primary communication device. 
• Mobile phone as modem
   The rapid spread of 3G (third-generation mobile phone technologies) is giving users faster and cheaper access to the Internet. Rather than connecting to the Internet through a landline or a costly local wireless network, users simply connect their mobile to the computer to go online.
• Literacy not required
   People who cannot communicate by e-mail because of an inability to read or write may be comfortable communicating with their mobile phones. Some services can be accessed by pressing a series of keys on the mobile. For instance, users can renew their contracts with some phone companies by pushing specified keys followed by a voucher number.

It seems that the rapid growth in mobile phone use is being met with equally rapid growth in creative uses for this ubiquitous technology.

SELF-PUBLISHING ONLINE

The Internet has opened up new possibilities for people who want to produce their own book. Websites such as Blurb, Xlibris and Author House enable authors to publish their own book. Usually it's as simple as downloading their software, adding in your words and visuals, choosing the type of book you want and sending it to the online publisher for production. On Blurb, the cost for a single book ranges from $18.95 for a 20-40 page softcover book to $79.95 for a full-color book of up to 440 pages with a custom book jacket.

There are several advantages to self-publishing: you retain all rights and control decisions about the marketing of your book. On the other hand, you have to cover all the costs, and you don't have the benefit of expert input from a publisher.

A scan of self-publishing websites will find everything from self-help books and history to family chronicles and fiction. In addition to the possibilities of self-publishing, these websites also offer books for sale. Just be aware that these books wouldn't be subject to the same scrutiny as books produced by mainstream publishers.
www.blurb.com
www.Xlibris.com
www.authorhouse.com