If your informational media offerings call for more interactivity than DVDs or streaming video alone can provide, it might be time to consider developing your own web-based course offerings.

Increasingly, people world-wide are recognizing the internet as a viable tool for gaining instruction and knowledge on almost any topic. Internet delivered course offerings are now a part of most university catalogs, and there are a growing number of highly respected institutions that deliver most of their direct instruction through web-based course management platforms.

One of the more powerful methods of creating web-based courses is through the software platform Moodle. Moodle is designed to help educators create online courses with opportunities for rich interaction. Its open source license and modular design means that a large number of talented programmers have worked to refine the program and add remarkable functionality.

It also means that the software program is free for all to use. Gotta love opensource!

The Moodle list of current users includes an impressive number of accredited universities, k-12 schools, technical institutions, and a large number of businesses who are offering any number of informational courses, tutorials, continuing education programs, and industry certifications. Moodle is set up to allow significant customization and is easy to use once you master the courseware management platform.

With a little creative use of streaming video, streaming audio,  Moodle, knowledge of your market niche, and expertise that others will be willing to pay for, you could find yourself running a successful for-profit school.

Take a look…

www.Moodle.org

The computer is great, typical Apple quality and design–no complaints.

I purchased a fresh copy of WindowsXP from Amazon for around $90.00. It is a copy intended for system builders, but it installed just fine via Bootcamp. I have installed Windows on PCs before with less problems than I experienced with Bootcamp. It was a breeze. XP screams on the dual-core MacBook. Of course, installing via Bootcamp means that I have to completely log out and log back in to change operating systems, but it is the highest performance option.

I have installed Sony Vegas Platinum and edited four short projects with it. I miss Final Cut! I know that any editor is most comfortable with the tools he or she uses most, but I find the Sony interface less than intuitive. On the plus side, Vegas has great transitions and effects. The chromakey on Vegas is also far superior to what is available in Final Cut. I was first trained in non-linear editing on an Avid, so the Sony interface just feels so odd.

So, bottom line is that all worked and I got the Vegas workstation that I was wanting. I will continue to give the Vegas editor the benefit of the doubt. I’m sure it will continue to grow on me.

For anyone considering the purchase of a Mac, I can tell you that it is pretty nice to be operating system neutral. I love being able to use any application I want with one machine.

Dave

To see my review of the mic, photos, and audio samples, go to:

http://www.howtovideopro.com/public/163.cfm

Dave

www.HowToVideoPRO.com

If you read much of my material, it becomes pretty obvious that I am a serious Mac fan. I use Windows computers daily, but when I can choose my platform, I always go for a Mac for multimedia production, web publishing, just about everything!

I have been in need of a new laptop to run Windows and Sony Vegas. A lot of my members at HowToVideoPRO.com are Vegas users. While I almost always use Final Cut, it was becoming obvious that I needed to better support my Windows-based members. So off to the Dell, HP, and Sony VAIO websites I went.

As I researched each computer solution, a theme emerged…Every one of the manufacturers and computer models I looked at had a significant number of end user reviews complaining about the build quality of the machines, the poor performance of VISTA, and the inability to get support for their machines from the manufacturers. Plenty of people gushed about their great little computers on the review sites as well, but those negative comments really got me worried. It just didn’t instill much confidence.

I even chose a Dell machine and went through the ordering process right up to the point of hitting the “ORDER” button before I chickened out.

So, back to Apple I went. My new Macbook that will be used as an almost dedicated Windows machine running Sony Vegas will be here later today. Even though I ordered it from the Apple Refurbished site, it still ran me a good $400.00 more than a similarly equipped Dell or HP would have. I just didn’t want the headaches of waiting on hold forever to find out that the company wouldn’t support the machine anyway. I will also get to load a copy of Windows XP on the machine rather than having to deal with VISTA.

It might have been money well spent. Then again, maybe not. I’ll keep you posted.

More to come…

Dave
www.HowToVideoPRO.com

Awesome, Tim!

Dave

www.HowToVideoPRO.com

Every post in our forum equals one entry. Signing up for our free eTips newsletter and downloading the FREE HowToVideoPRO Report On Profitable How-To and Special Interest Video Production.

Trying a 21 day $1 membership also equals an entry.

Go to: www.HowToVideoPRO.com

No purchase is necessary to win! Here are the full details:

At the end of this month, we will be giving away a HowToVideoPRO custom Special Edition iPod Shuffle!

Apple donated a portion of the proceeds for the initial purchase of this special edition iPod shuffle to African AIDS Relief.

Enjoy your tunes for free, and know that a portion of purchase of your cool iPod went to help those in need.

There are four ways to enter:

1. For HowToVideoPRO members, each message, question, or thought posted on our site forum counts as one entry for the iPod Giveaway. The more you participate in the forum discussions, the better your chances of winning!
2. Become a member. Each new membership equals one entry into the drawing.
3. Sign up for our free eTips Newsletter. Each new subscriber to our newsletter will be given one entry into the random drawing.
4. Send us a 3×5 card or postcard with your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address on it along with the words: “HowToVideoPRO January Custom iPod Giveaway” hand printed on it. Mechanically produced entry cards will not be accepted. Send your mail entries to: Firestorm Digital Media, LLC, 1150 S. Colony Way, Suite 3-137, Palmer, AK 99645. Mail entries must be received by February 4th, 2008 to be included in the drawing.

The drawing will take place on or about February 4th, 2008. The name of the winner will be posted on HowToVideoPRO.com and the winner will be notified on that day.

No purchase is necessary to win. You may enter as many times as you wish. This offer is available to residents of the United States and Canada only. Offer void where prohibited.

The 30P feature makes this a very attractive camera for the small producer who does a lot of composite work or chromakey  (greenscreen or bluescreen). Progressive scan tends to give much smoother mattes than interlaced is capable of. 30P gives the producer that many more options.

Cool camera. It’s just too bad that Canon did not ellect to make the model with 3CCD chips.

Dave Arthur

www.HowToVideoPRO.com

Pros:

• Great image quality
• Inexpensive
• Prints on inkjet compatible CD and DVD
• Readily available
• Easy to use design software

Cons:

• A little slow
• Expensive ink cartridges

You’ll wonder why you never thought of this one!

Find more great tips on creating good video, and profiting from your talents on: HowToVideoPRO.com

I still do a lot of work in the safety and emergency response
training fields. A couple of days ago I was talking to a Senior
Captain with a fire department that I have done some contract work
for. I noticed that he had an odd-looking flashlight mounted under
the brim of his fire helmet. When I asked him about his fancy new
“flashlight,” he proudly showed me his helmet cam.

I was impressed. The camera was small, weighed less than half a
pound, cost less than $100.00, and recorded 640×480 video at 30 fps
onto an SD memory chip. A 2gig chip will give you around one hour
of recording time.

The design is far from perfect. The video resolution is limited,
vibration seems to create annoying waves in the video, the file
format is not supported by many computers, and the camera appears
to be susceptible to RF interference. Even so, for less than
$100.00 (on-line retailers) it could be a pretty useful addition
for sports video producers.

Here is a link to the Oregon Scientific ATC-2000 web site.

http://www2.oregonscientific.com/shop/browse.asp?cid=30&scid=127

You can find better prices from other sources, but the OS site will
give you some of the particulars of the camera.

Find out more and get a free white paper report on producing How-To and Special Interest Videos. Go to www.HowToDVDPro.com and hit “subscribe.”