From michael.thomas at gmx.co.uk Sun Mar 2 03:06:43 2008 From: michael.thomas at gmx.co.uk (Michael Thomas) Date: Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:06:43 +0900 Subject: [DDN] Live event in Second Life / Register now Message-ID: Wireless Ready: Interactivity, Collaboration and Feedback in Language Learning Technologies, Nagoya, Japan, 29th March 2008 This one-day international symposium on language learning technologies will be simultaneously live in Second Life. Registration is now open in Second Life at the following URL. Click on 'sign-up' to register. Participants in SL will be able hear and see the presenters in Nagoya, Japan: http://slurl.com/secondlife/EduNation%20III/52/49/21/ (requires SL to be installed) Places will be limited to 50 participants in Second Life, so please sign up soon. Homepage http://wirelessready.nucba.ac.jp Wireless Ready SL http://www.theconsultants-e.com/edunation/WirelessReadySL.pdf Keynote speakers to include: Michael Coghlan - Web 2.0 & ICT (ICT consultant, Australia) Dr John Collick - Interactive Whiteboards in EFL (International Education Manager, Promethean) Russell Stannard - Screen Capture Software and Student Feedback (University of Westminster, UK) Michael Thomas Chair, Conference Organizing Committee http://wirelessready.nucba.ac.jp -- Dr. Michael Thomas BA. M.Ed. MBA Ph.D. Associate Professor Faculty of Foreign Languages & Asian Studies Nagoya University of Commerce and Business 4-4 Sagamine, Komenoki-cho Nisshin-shi, Aichi-ken Japan 470-0193 Tel.: +81 (0)5617 32111 (Ex. 26310) Fax: +81 (0)56174 0341 skype: michaelthomas2006 michael.thomas at nucba.ac.jp (office) michael.thomas at gmx.co.uk (private) From cnd at knowprose.com Mon Mar 3 14:20:25 2008 From: cnd at knowprose.com (Taran Rampersad) Date: Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:20:25 -0400 Subject: [DDN] Live event in Second Life / Register now In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <47CC4F79.1010800@knowprose.com> See you there (Nobody Fugazi). Right up my alley, too - http://www.cardicis.org Michael Thomas wrote: > Wireless Ready: Interactivity, Collaboration and Feedback in Language > Learning Technologies, Nagoya, Japan, 29th March 2008 > > This one-day international symposium on language learning technologies will > be simultaneously live in Second Life. > > Registration is now open in Second Life at the following URL. Click on > 'sign-up' to register. Participants in SL will be able hear and see the > presenters in Nagoya, Japan: > > http://slurl.com/secondlife/EduNation%20III/52/49/21/ > (requires SL to be installed) > > -- Taran Rampersad cnd at knowprose.com http://www.knowprose.com http://www.your2ndplace.com http://www.opendepth.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/ "Criticize by Creating" - Michelangelo "The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine." - Nikola Tesla From jc at coyotecommunications.com Tue Mar 4 08:20:11 2008 From: jc at coyotecommunications.com (J Cravens) Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2008 14:20:11 +0100 Subject: [DDN] Access U - Austin, Texas Message-ID: Knowbility.org is again presenting it's annual web and software accessibility institute, "access u", in Austin, Texas. It offers three tracks over two days, with classes for administrators, content providers, and technologists in how and why to make IT accessible to everyone. "From the basics to the bleeding edge, Access-U will provide the resources you need." Tuesday, May 6th and Wednesday, May 7th Optional post conference classes on Thursday May 8th, 2008 St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas Conference and class registration are now open online - there are limited seats available. Conference fees include continental breakfast, lunch, keynote sessions and an audio described movie and dinner at Austin's famous Alamo Drafthouse. >Review the >Complete >Course Descriptions > >Register >for AccessU >Conference schedule details: > >Tuesday, >May 6th > >Wednesday, >May 7th >For more information contact Teenya Franklin >Office: (512) 305-0311 >teenya at knowbility.org > message forwarded by: -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc Bonn, Germany Services for Nonprofits/NGOs/Civil Society www.coyotecommunications.com www.ivisit.com id: jcravens.4947 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> From cindylemcke_hoong at yahoo.co.uk Tue Mar 4 14:59:07 2008 From: cindylemcke_hoong at yahoo.co.uk (Cindy Lemcke-Hoong) Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2008 19:59:07 +0000 (GMT) Subject: [DDN] Live event in Second Life / Register now In-Reply-To: <47CC4F79.1010800@knowprose.com> Message-ID: <951443.24919.qm@web25812.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Shame ... I don't have Second Life. The topic itself is something that I would dearly love to participate. Cindyhoong at gmail.com Taran Rampersad wrote: See you there (Nobody Fugazi). Right up my alley, too - http://www.cardicis.org Michael Thomas wrote: > Wireless Ready: Interactivity, Collaboration and Feedback in Language > Learning Technologies, Nagoya, Japan, 29th March 2008 > > This one-day international symposium on language learning technologies will > be simultaneously live in Second Life. > > Registration is now open in Second Life at the following URL. Click on > 'sign-up' to register. Participants in SL will be able hear and see the > presenters in Nagoya, Japan: > > http://slurl.com/secondlife/EduNation%20III/52/49/21/ > (requires SL to be installed) > > -- Taran Rampersad cnd at knowprose.com http://www.knowprose.com http://www.your2ndplace.com http://www.opendepth.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/knowprose/ "Criticize by Creating" - Michelangelo "The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine." - Nikola Tesla _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE at digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at digitaldivide.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. ============= Cindyhoong at gmail.com From gurstein at gmail.com Tue Mar 4 15:00:17 2008 From: gurstein at gmail.com (Michael Gurstein) Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2008 12:00:17 -0800 Subject: [DDN] FW: 'Digital Ontario' A symposium Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 - Thursday, March 6th, 2008 Message-ID: <009201c87e32$5ec3bd50$b10110ac@michael78xnoln> Very short notice I know... MG "What is Community Informatics? (and Why Does It Matter)", (Polimetrica. Milan), 2007 http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00012372/01/WHAT_IS_COMMUNITY_INFORMATICS_r eading.pdf ------------------------------------------------- 'Digital Ontario' A symposium that examines governance, leadership, civic engagement, strategic partnerships for development in a digital era Date: Wednesday, March 5th, 2008 - Thursday, March 6th, 2008 Place: Delta Guelph Hotel and Conference Centre, 50 Stone Road West, Guelph and The Arboretum, The University of Guelph The goal of the meeting is to bring together academics and practitioners to explore the capacity of Ontario society to adapt to the digital era and benefit from the expansion of broadband. The proposed event has the following specific objectives: Provide a forum for those leading broadband initiatives to present their experiences and ideas for the future Engage in thematic discussions about specific strategies for broadband enabled development and address digital divide issues Invite local, national and international experts and practitioners with substantive knowledge of ICTs for development to discuss strategic directions. The themes of this symposium emerged from discussions among academicians, researchers, policy makers, service providers and representatives of civil society organizations. These discussions included several forums such as the December 2006 meeting "Toward a Broadband Research Agenda for Ontario: Urban, Rural and Remote Contexts" at the University of Toronto. The province will provide an overview of this work and seek input on future directions for enabling a digital Ontario. http://kmdi.utoronto.ca/broadband/programs/default.html www.uoguelph.ca/snowden From jc at coyotecommunications.com Wed Mar 5 08:36:22 2008 From: jc at coyotecommunications.com (J Cravens) Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2008 14:36:22 +0100 Subject: [DDN] training in free & open source software use - Johannesburg Message-ID: The Community Education Computer Society (CECS) in Johannesburg is an information communication technology (ICT) training NGO. CEC is offering a series of affordable one-day training courses for Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) from 14 March to 25 April 2008 in Johannesburg. Participants will get copies of the software at the end of the course. FLOSS Courses TURBOCASH - LEVEL 1 TurboCASH is an accounting program which is similar to QuickBooks, Pastel, Brilliant Accounting OPEN WORKBENCH - LEVEL 1 Open Workbench is a project management program which is similar to MS Project OPENOFFICE.ORG WRITER - LEVEL 1 OpenOffice.org Writer is a word-processing program which is similar to MS Word. OPENOFFICE.ORG WRITER - LEVEL 2 OpenOffice.org Writer is a word-processing program which is similar to MS Word. OPENOFFICE.ORG CALC - LEVEL 1 OpenOffice.org Calc is a spreadsheet program which is similar to MS Excel. OPENOFFICE.ORG IMPRESS - LEVEL 1 OpenOffice.org Impress is a presentation program which is similar to MS PowerPoint Other CECS Courses * Free Computers for Beginners * ICT Literacy * ICDL * Web Design * PC Repair and Networking Course registration, costs, and more information can be found on the CECS web site http://www.cecs.org.za/ (the person posting this to the Digital Divide Network has no further information) -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc Bonn, Germany Services for Nonprofits/NGOs/Civil Society www.coyotecommunications.com www.ivisit.com id: jcravens.4947 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> From pronto30 at earthlink.net Tue Mar 4 15:15:49 2008 From: pronto30 at earthlink.net (pronto30 at earthlink.net) Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2008 15:15:49 -0500 (GMT-05:00) Subject: [DDN] Searching for Moodle Host Message-ID: <3532028.1204661749876.JavaMail.root@elwamui-wigeon.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Hi Everyone, My program is planning to host an online course using a Moodle host vendor (we will not be intalling Moodle on its servers at this time.). We are looking for a suitable vendor for this purpose. If anyone has a vendor they can recommend, kindly send along whatever information you can. We are aware of Moodle Rooms and RemoteLearner.net. Thank you for your kind attention. Sincerely, Jim Lerman NJ Consortium for Middle Schools Kean University From pt36 at cornell.edu Wed Mar 5 10:37:50 2008 From: pt36 at cornell.edu (Paul Treadwell) Date: Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:37:50 -0500 Subject: [DDN] Searching for Moodle Host In-Reply-To: <3532028.1204661749876.JavaMail.root@elwamui-wigeon.atl.sa.earthlink.net> References: <3532028.1204661749876.JavaMail.root@elwamui-wigeon.atl.sa.earthlink.net> Message-ID: <47CEBE4E.3010409@cornell.edu> Hello Jim. I've met (some of) the folks from Moodle Rooms and they seem competent and helpful. If you need a specific contact there, send me a message off list and I'll connect you to the person I'm most familiar with there. Paul pronto30 at earthlink.net wrote: > Hi Everyone, > > My program is planning to host an online course using a Moodle host vendor (we will not be intalling Moodle on its servers at this time.). We are looking for a suitable vendor for this purpose. If anyone has a vendor they can recommend, kindly send along whatever information you can. > > We are aware of Moodle Rooms and RemoteLearner.net. > > Thank you for your kind attention. > > Sincerely, > Jim Lerman > NJ Consortium for Middle Schools > Kean University > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE at digitaldivide.net > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at digitaldivide.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > > -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: pt36.vcf Type: text/x-vcard Size: 326 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://digitaldivide.net/pipermail/digitaldivide/attachments/20080305/5f5901f7/attachment.vcf From pwangiverson at gmail.com Wed Mar 5 12:51:07 2008 From: pwangiverson at gmail.com (Patsy Wang-Iverson) Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2008 12:51:07 -0500 Subject: [DDN] Virtual Organizations as Socialtechnical Systems Message-ID: <35711e960803050951p7584c29fh1dc906ab42c991b3@mail.gmail.com> Hello, Forwarding the following link in case some of you may be interested in submitting a proposal, due 02 June 2008. http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08550/nsf08550.htm?govDel=USNSF_175 Best regards, Patsy ********************************************** Patsy Wang-Iverson cell: 609.532.0292 net: pwangiverson at gmail.com From KSnyder at fcny.org Thu Mar 6 18:15:02 2008 From: KSnyder at fcny.org (Kim Snyder) Date: Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:15:02 -0000 Subject: [DDN] Searching for Moodle Host References: <3532028.1204661749876.JavaMail.root@elwamui-wigeon.atl.sa.earthlink.net> <47CEBE4E.3010409@cornell.edu> Message-ID: <794A3C3725B6494DAC7BA088CFD0FCCC02B39090@soho.fcny.org> I have created a Moodle Classroom using CRTeacher.com. As I am offering one class to a limited number of students, I have was able to use the $99 subscription package - I think they have more substantial offerings if you are planning a roll-out in a school. You can view a list of different Moodle-approved hosting companies on the Moodle site - http://moodle.com/hosting/. For my purposes, CRTeacher has been excellent - it's all set up and you can basically create a class using the documentation that's on Moodle. Some of the terminology takes some practice to get used to - but it's pretty learnable. Hope that helps. Kim Snyder Fund for the City of New York ksnyder at fcny.org http://metrix.fcny.org 646-644-6788 -----Original Message----- From: digitaldivide-bounces at digitaldivide.net on behalf of Paul Treadwell Sent: Wed 3/5/2008 10:37 AM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] Searching for Moodle Host Hello Jim. I've met (some of) the folks from Moodle Rooms and they seem competent and helpful. If you need a specific contact there, send me a message off list and I'll connect you to the person I'm most familiar with there. Paul pronto30 at earthlink.net wrote: > Hi Everyone, > > My program is planning to host an online course using a Moodle host vendor (we will not be intalling Moodle on its servers at this time.). We are looking for a suitable vendor for this purpose. If anyone has a vendor they can recommend, kindly send along whatever information you can. > > We are aware of Moodle Rooms and RemoteLearner.net. > > Thank you for your kind attention. > > Sincerely, > Jim Lerman > NJ Consortium for Middle Schools > Kean University > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE at digitaldivide.net > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at digitaldivide.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > > From rudi.vansnick at isoc.be Thu Mar 6 15:16:56 2008 From: rudi.vansnick at isoc.be (Rudi Vansnick) Date: Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:16:56 -0000 Subject: [DDN] Virtual Organizations as Socialtechnical Systems In-Reply-To: <35711e960803050951p7584c29fh1dc906ab42c991b3@mail.gmail.com> References: <35711e960803050951p7584c29fh1dc906ab42c991b3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <47D05136.8030204@isoc.be> Looks interesting but seems only be accessible for American organisations. Best regards Rudi Vansnick President - CEO Internet Society Belgium vzw Board member ISOC-ECC Barcelona-Spain /Dendermondesteenweg 143 - B-9070 Destelbergen Belgium GSM: +32 (0)475 28 16 32 Tel: +32 (0)70 77 39 39/ http://www.isoc.be Patsy Wang-Iverson schreef: > Hello, > > Forwarding the following link in case some of you may be interested in > submitting a proposal, due 02 June 2008. > > http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08550/nsf08550.htm?govDel=USNSF_175 > > Best regards, > > Patsy > ********************************************** > Patsy Wang-Iverson > cell: 609.532.0292 > net: pwangiverson at gmail.com > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > DIGITALDIVIDE at digitaldivide.net > http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-request at digitaldivide.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > > > From David.Keyes at Seattle.Gov Mon Mar 31 20:48:31 2008 From: David.Keyes at Seattle.Gov (David Keyes) Date: Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:48:31 -0000 Subject: [DDN] Washington Governor signs digital inclusion and broadband bill Message-ID: <47F123E0.0E6D.00BF.0@Seattle.Gov> Hot off the press... The digital inclusion definition includes access, literacy and content. - David Today, March 31st, Governor Christine Gregoire signed legislation creating a Washington State Community Technology Opportunity Program with an initial half million dollars for grants and capacity building. The legislation also legally defines community technology and digital inclusion, requires a state online directory of community tech programs, and establishes a planning process for broadband development and adoption. The Community Technology Opportunity Program will be administered by the Washington State University Extension. The broadband portion of the legislation is funded at $197,000 and calls for state coordination and local planning teams with local government, business, education and community organization participation. This is a tremendous first step in developing critical and more sustainable help for underserved residents of the state. The state Communities Connect Network (CCN) (www.communitiesconnect.org) was instrumental in providing expertise to policymakers on the needs and impact of community technology in the state. Research by the University of Washington for CCN, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, showed the importance of community technology learning centers to individuals, families and communities, with more than one million visits per year. The most compelling arguments for legislation were presented by the community technology providers from around the state, some of whom participated in CCN messaging training prior to testifying. The community technology legislation was supported by a broad constituency, including the Washington Technology Industry Association and the City of Seattle. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) played a major role in advancing the broadband planning effort. Seattle Representative Zack Hudgins led the effort towards passage of the final bill with Rep. John McCoy. Rep. Claudia Kauffman sponsored the community tech bill and Sen. Kohl-Welles sponsored the initial broadband legislation. This historic legislation was really made possible by many in the legislature and governor*s office and caring providers, clients and supporters across the state. See more at the City of Seattle Community Technology Program home page (www.seattle.gov/tech), and at the Communities Connect site (www.communitiesconnect.org). To read the legislation: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2007-08/Htm/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/6438-S2.PL.htm ******************************************* David Keyes Director of Community Technology Programs City of Seattle Department of Information Technology PO Box 94709 Seattle, WA 98124-4709 USA (206) 386-9759 david.keyes at seattle.gov Fax (206) 684-0911 http://seattle.gov/tech/ Street address: 700 Fifth Ave. Suite 2700 From gurstein at gmail.com Wed Mar 19 20:00:57 2008 From: gurstein at gmail.com (Michael Gurstein) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:00:57 -0000 Subject: [DDN] FW: Videocom - KNEWS story Message-ID: <000501c88a1d$7691cb10$6400a8c0@michael78xnoln> This below is an early output of a longer term collaborative research project looking at the role that videoconferencing is playing in support of local economic and social development in remote aboriginal/First Nations communities in Northern Ontario. The three aboiginal regional management organizations in Northern Manitoba, Northern Ontario (K-Net) and Northern Quebec have recently formed a consortium (Northern Indigenous Communities Satellite Network-NICSN) to extend satellite based broadband and thus videoconferencing capability into a number of other remote communities in the region with long term (11 year) support from the Canadian government. A research consortium (NICSN: RC) has been formed by these organizations with support from Susan O'Donnell of the Videocom project below, myself and others to undertake long term research on the impact and opportunities of the extension of these facilities into these communities including the development of regional and community (indigenous people) based research capabilities. A global network of Indigenous peoples organizations sharing the experience of managing the appropriation of ICT for development and self-determination is being formed anchored by the NICSN: Research Consortium. Partnerships/collaborations are welcome! MG Michael Gurstein, Ph.D. Centre for Community Informatics Research, Training and Development Ste. 2101-989 Nelson St. Vancouver BC CANADA v6z 2s1 http://www.communityinformatics.net tel./fax +1-604-602-0624 -----Original Message----- From: Brian Beaton [mailto:brian.beaton at knet.ca] Sent: March 19, 2008 8:03 AM To: steven at anishnatec.com; 'Brian Walmark'; 'O'Donnell, Susan'; 'Michael Gurstein'; 'Lebeau, Suzanne'; 'Lillian Beaudoin'; 'Gagnon, Carole'; franzseibel at knet.ca; admin at firstnationhelp.com; 'Tim TW. Whiteduck'; 'Ashmede Asgarali'; 'Randy Johns'; 'RMO-Djwa, Phillip'; adam fiser; 'Fenwick Mckelvey'; Perley, Sonja; 'Penny Carpenter'; jeanniecarpenter at knet.ca; 'Jean-Francois Dumoulin'; 'Cal Kenny' Subject: Videocom - KNEWS story Videoconferencing in remote First Nations providing access to resources and opportunities http://meeting.knet.ca/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=3467 Three new videos highlighting the importance of videoconferencing in First Nations are now available online for your viewing pleasure (click on the following videos to watch them) * Videocom - Researching Videoconferencing for Community Development * Videocom - Women in Leadership Workshop * Videocom - Native Language Maintenance and Development Videocom is a SSHRC funded research initiative exploring the value of videoconferencing for social and economic development in First Nations. Join the discussions, read the papers and tell us your stories about how videoconferencing is being used in your communities. Visit http://videocom.knet.ca for more information The March Videocom "update" is entitled - Encouraging urban organizations to videoconference with remote and rural First Nations. This one page PDF document is available for download at http://meeting.knet.ca/moodle/file.php/50/2008-March-Videoconferencing.pdf From jc at coyotecommunications.com Mon Mar 10 09:39:17 2008 From: jc at coyotecommunications.com (J Cravens) Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:39:17 -0000 Subject: [DDN] ICT and disabilities: Seeing in the cyberworld In-Reply-To: <35711e960803050951p7584c29fh1dc906ab42c991b3@mail.gmail.com> References: <35711e960803050951p7584c29fh1dc906ab42c991b3@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: ICT and disabilities: Seeing in the cyberworld 25-02-2008 (Beijing) "In line with the Universal Access to Information principle, UNESCO is committed to consistently addressing the challenges brought about by disabilities in China. From early projects on vocational training in massage techniques for visually impaired young people, its initiatives have evolved to embrace digital opportunities... Information and communication technologies (ICT) were the enabler of choice to allow people with disabilities to compete at the high end of the job market. In cooperation with the UNESCO Office in Beijing, the Beijing Disabled Persons' Federation (BDPF) developed and conducted courses on cartoon-design and typesetting training for 71 unemployed physically challenged people. The training helped them to find employment as multimedia graphic cartoon editors, cover and package designers and professional typesetters in the public and private sectors." http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=26030&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc Bonn, Germany Services for Nonprofits/NGOs/Civil Society www.coyotecommunications.com www.ivisit.com id: jcravens.4947 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> From jc at coyotecommunications.com Wed Mar 19 08:41:49 2008 From: jc at coyotecommunications.com (J Cravens) Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:41:49 -0000 Subject: [DDN] if you are working in a developing country... Message-ID: For any of you working on digital divide issues in developing countries, I invite you to check out the Aid Workers Network. It's a web site for relief and development workers (both paid staff and volunteers) to share questions, answers, resources and perspectives regarding their work. http://www.aidworkers.net I, for one, would welcome more posts to the group from organizations and individuals working on on digital divide issues in developing countries, as well as ICT4D. In the interest of full disclosure -- I'm on the volunteer advisory panel for AWN. -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc Bonn, Germany Services for Nonprofits/NGOs/Civil Society www.coyotecommunications.com International & Development Studies & Work www.coyotecommunications.com/development Contact me www.coyotecommunications.com/contact.html www.ivisit.com id: jcravens.4947 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> From pshapiro at his.com Thu Mar 20 15:35:19 2008 From: pshapiro at his.com (Phil Shapiro) Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:35:19 -0000 Subject: [DDN] quicktime stories and nonfiction reading passages Message-ID: <1206041715.47e2bc739c145@webmail2.his.com> hi Digital Divide Network community, at the takoma park maryland library, where i work, there are many immigrant families who desperately want to learn english. i've been taking some donated computers to some of these families, but a computer on its own doesn't do much good. so i've assembled some children's stories and nonfiction reading passages (that i wrote) that these families can read. on my macintosh computer i created some quicktime files of a robotic voice reading these writings aloud -- with each sentence highlighted as its being read. the robotic voice is fairly high quality. it sounds close to a human voice. you can see a sample quicktime here http://www.writersforliteracy.org/storyofayoungartist.mov and download the entire archive as a zip file from the internet archive at http://tinyurl.com/2wazgy (the entire archive is about 140 megabytes and expands to about 310 megabytes.) these quicktime files are creative commons files that may freely be distributed on CD-ROM, Flash drives, etc. these quicktime files ought to run fine even on computers that are 10 years old. i hope these might be helpful to people in your communities that you're helping. phil shapiro, public geek takoma park maryland library -- Phil Shapiro pshapiro at his.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/briefbio.html http://philsrssfeed.blogspot.com http://www.his.com/pshapiro/stories.menu.html "Wisdom starts with wonder." - Socrates "Learning happens through gentleness."