I discovered from one of my various feeds yesterday about the new ‘Helicopter View’ option in Google Maps.  So I tweeted it out yesterday:

Today I have had a play with the feature, it is great especially when combined with Jing, so that you can capture the video of the virtual journey.  I would have uploaded an exmple, but the screen shot will have to suffice, the journey I captured with Jing was 916mb in size… To activate the Helicopter view is very simple.  All you have to do is to put in a start location and a destination point in the get directions option of Google Maps, once the route has been calculated, a small “3-D” graphic appears to the right of the first direction, simply click on that and the animation plays.  Depending on your internet connection it may take some time for the information to load, but it is worth the wait.

This is a great feature from Google and I can see so many practical uses for it on websites, in the classroom etc.

The guys at Google Labs have just released this great tool to enable SWF files to be converted into HTML5 format, which means that flash videos can now be played on i-devices such as ipod touch, iphone and ipad. What is really cool however is that as part of the service a QR code is created so that these self same devices can scan the code and link to the resource to be viewed immediately as a test, the link only lasts 15 minutes however.  Once you have ascertained that the conversion has worked, you can download the new HTML5 file and then upload it to your chosen site. This will prove to be invaluable in an e-learning situation. I am now going go away and devise some scenarios where this facility can be used efficiently.

Check out the QR code I have created, using the AddThis plug in for Firefox, above and play the SWF animation on your i-device courtesy of the HTML5 conversion.

I have just got back from another exciting annual marathon that is Ulearn.  I had hoped to present three full sessions this year, but was only picked for two, better luck next year.  The conference was its usual mix of inspiration, affirmation and networking.  This year a good deal of my energy went into the networking aspect.  I have made some promising new contacts that are opening up exciting new leads, all of whom need to be followed up in the coming days and weeks.  Below is the presentation slide show that I gave in breakout 1