Hi Allison, I think a trial period is sensible. We can see how this works, think carefully about processes, procedures and pilot any templates that may be required to support embedding video links in ways which align with our community values. With this experience we would then be in a position to think about a community workgroup to formulate guidelines or policy if required.
My thinking is that we need to be very clear that we will start with a trial period -- which means that we can adapt. modify or revert back to the default position in good wiki tradition :-). Excellent question regarding what we should do with rich media for print versions. We've been a bit of thinking about this and have laid the foundations for doing some interesting technical magic for the future. When WE first specified the requirements for the development of our Wiki ==> pdf technology in collaboration with Pedia Press and the Wikimedia foundation ( http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikis_Go_Printable ) we made sure that it would be possible to specify print specific behaviours for Mediawiki templates. So for example, we can exclude navigation templates from printing or alternatively specify a different layout for the print version. This would be useful for online interaction like multiple choice questions with feedback for correct and incorrect answers. Online the learner will click their choice and receive immediate feedback. In the print version, we may want to print the answers and feedback at the end of the chapter. Similarly, if a learning resource contains rich media like a video, the print version could indicate an activity for the learner to view, for instance, Video No.1 on the CD provided with course materials -- When a print collection is compiled, the WikiEducator/ Mediawiki software could generate a master CDROM image with the correct numbering of the videos and cross references. This CDROM could be duplicated locally and posted with the print versions of the study guides. The vast majority of learners around the world do not have reliable and/or affordable connectivity -- therefore this technology is vital for widening access to open content. Technically this would be possible, and we have established the foundations to move forward. The development of this technology is on the OER Foundation roadmap --- the missing piece is finding the funding for the software development work. That said, its been my experience that all good projects get funded :-). In the interim we could develop a "Video template" where the print version will provide urls for the video downloads -- which is why its important for us to ensure that educators / learners must have access to downloadable versions of rich media. Wow -- can you imagine the impact these technologies could have in widening access to high quality learning materials, all available under free content licenses :-) Hey -- lets make the future happen. Cheers Wayne On 20 February 2010 02:32, Alison Snieckus <[email protected]>wrote: > Wayne, > As Mary indicated, embedded videos are certainly an enhancement to the > learning environment. Being able to directly connect to videos hosted > elsewhere and to source and repurpose videos would be a wonderful addiition > to WikiEducator's platform. > > I vote to add the necessary technology so we can try this out. A trial > period seems like a good idea. > > Just wondering, do we have a current solution for handling audio, video and > screencasts in the print and offline versions of WE content? I think it's > important to keep this need in mind when creating content, although I have > to say I'm not completely up on the options here. > > Alison > > On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 7:26 PM, Wayne Mackintosh < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi Everyone, >> >> In the past we've received requests from many community members to >> implement the functionality to embed links to video hosted on third party >> sites (eg Youtube, BlipTV Vimeo etc). Now that WikiEducator is hosted >> independently by the OER Foundation, we have more flexibility and autonomy >> to take a community decision concerning on third party video. >> >> - Do WikiEducators want the ability to embed links to video clips? >> - What is the best way for us to take this decision? >> - Should we have a trial period to see how this works? >> >> We need and invite your feedback -- so please post your replies to this >> list. We will consider all feedback posted over the next two weeks, before >> deciding on the next steps. Apology for the long email -- but I provide some >> discussion points below. Third party video is not a simple matter when it >> comes to the values and meaning of freedom as interpreted by our community >> values. >> >> *Discussion* >> >> Embedding video is not a simple question of turning a switch to enable >> links to third party hosted video. Technically speaking, this is relatively >> easy to achieve. However, there are many issues associated with digital >> video and our core values of the WikiEducator project which we need to >> consider, most notably the essential freedoms. >> >> WE subscribe to the free cultural works definition and WE need to find a >> solution which aligns with what we believe as a community OER project. I've >> been sound boarding a few ideas with colleagues and friends and would >> appreciate your input and feedback on a few baseline requirements and >> suggestions. >> >> - *Licensing.* We must be able to identify and search for >> appropriately licensed video content. This is to ensure that video content >> we embed adheres to the requirements of the definition of free cultural >> works. In practice this means we can only use video hosting sites which >> clearly tag their video content with the relevant copyright license as >> well >> as corresponding search functionality to identify resources which are >> appropriately licensed (eg. CC-0, CC-BY, CC-BY-SA, GFDL and the public >> domain declaration), Therefore, Youtube (for example) would not meet this >> requirement as their existing conditions of service would not enable the >> implementation of license tagging. Currently WIkiEducator users would not >> be >> able to differentiate openly licensed videos from all rights reserved >> content. However, BlipTV allows users to choose from a number of *Creative >> Commons* licenses to apply to their work, and videos are searchable by >> license. This would enable WIkiEducators to use the Creative Commons >> search >> (http://search.creativecommons.org/) facility to easily identify >> appropriately licensed video on BlipTV. >> - *Open file formats. *This is a requirement to ensure that our >> content is stored and accessible in formats which can be edited using >> free/open source software. In addition this means that source files should >> be available for download. No WikiEducator should be forced to purchase a >> license for non-free software in order to remix and create a derivative >> work >> from our site. Most video sites (with the exception, for instance, of the >> Wikimedia Commons) encode video for web delivery using the Flash Video >> Format (flv) which is a proprietary file format. BlipTV provide a service >> for their registered users who also have an account with the Internet >> Archive (http://blip.tv/prefs/archiveorg/ ). In short this facility >> enables archiving of downloadable video files including the open file >> format >> (ogg Theora). Therefore, WikiEducator users who upload video files to >> BlipTV >> could register for the Internet Archive service making it easier for >> educators to download video in the formats of their choice for remix >> purposes. However, this feature would not solve the problem of open file >> formats for the video uploaded by BlipTV users who do not register for the >> Internet Archive service. Fortunately BlipTV provides the functionality >> to >> download the video files, even though these are generally supplied in the >> flv (proprietary file format). The open source FFmpeg project ( >> http://www.ffmpeg.org/) provides tools to convert flv files into open >> file formats. Therefore, all WikiEducator would have access to free >> software >> tools for remixing source video, thus meeting the requirements of the free >> cultural works definition. >> >> Therefore the BlipTV hosting site would provide a service which aligns >> with our values. There are also Mediawiki wiki extensions available for >> embedding BlipTV video on WikiEducator pages. >> >> Pending a positive assessment of the stability and security of the BlipTV >> extensions for WikiEducator -- Would the community consider moving forward >> with providing capability for embedding BlipTV video on the WikiEducator >> site along the lines suggested above? >> >> Thoughts? >> >> Cheers >> Wayne >> >> >> >> -- >> Wayne Mackintosh, Ph.D. >> Director, >> International Centre for Open Education, >> Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. >> Board of Directors, OER Foundation. >> Founder and Community Council Member, Wikieducator, www.wikieducator.org >> Mobile +64 21 2436 380 >> User Page: http://wikieducator.org/User:Mackiwg >> Skype: WGMNZ1 >> Twitter: OERFoundation, Mackiwg >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "WikiEducator" group. >> To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org >> To visit the discussion forum: >> http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected] >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "WikiEducator" group. > To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org > To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > -- Wayne Mackintosh, Ph.D. Director, International Centre for Open Education, Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. Board of Directors, OER Foundation. Founder and Community Council Member, Wikieducator, www.wikieducator.org Mobile +64 21 2436 380 User Page: http://wikieducator.org/User:Mackiwg Skype: WGMNZ1 Twitter: OERFoundation, Mackiwg -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. To visit wikieducator: http://www.wikieducator.org To visit the discussion forum: http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]
