Comments on: Acer Aspire One and the ESL student http://scottsfloyd.com/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/ my ideas, thoughts, experiences, and lessons learned in education Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:22:30 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: woscholar http://scottsfloyd.com/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/comment-page-1/#comment-262 woscholar Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:15:51 +0000 http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/#comment-262 Awesome resource, David. Thanks for sharing it. I will be sharing it with my ESL teachers. Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope to read your comments again in the future. Awesome resource, David. Thanks for sharing it. I will be sharing it with my ESL teachers. Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope to read your comments again in the future.

]]> By: David Huston http://scottsfloyd.com/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/comment-page-1/#comment-261 David Huston Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:27:44 +0000 http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/#comment-261 As a language teacher, you might want to check out the Michigan State U. site called CLEAR: http://clear.msu.edu/clear/store/products.php?product_category=online You will find an intriguing "tool box" of Web 2.0 tools FREE to use. They are some of the best things available at any price. You can create your own language lab with them & your netbooks with built in mic and video camera. As a language teacher, you might want to check out the Michigan State U. site called CLEAR: http://clear.msu.edu/clear/store/products.php?product_category=online

You will find an intriguing “tool box” of Web 2.0 tools FREE to use. They are some of the best things available at any price.

You can create your own language lab with them & your netbooks with built in mic and video camera.

]]> By: woscholar http://scottsfloyd.com/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/comment-page-1/#comment-233 woscholar Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:00:30 +0000 http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/#comment-233 Thanks for the links, Heather. I will give those a shot. Let me know what your findings are on your end if you decide to try the Acers out with the ESL/ELL students. Thanks for the links, Heather. I will give those a shot. Let me know what your findings are on your end if you decide to try the Acers out with the ESL/ELL students.

]]> By: Heather Voran http://scottsfloyd.com/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/comment-page-1/#comment-232 Heather Voran Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:32:22 +0000 http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/#comment-232 Oops...misread Miguel's post. Format Factory is not for Mac, but PC. Won't matter with your Acers, but will matter to Mac users who read this comment. Sorry! Oops…misread Miguel’s post. Format Factory is not for Mac, but PC. Won’t matter with your Acers, but will matter to Mac users who read this comment. Sorry!

]]> By: Heather Voran http://scottsfloyd.com/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/comment-page-1/#comment-231 Heather Voran Mon, 16 Feb 2009 04:55:27 +0000 http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/#comment-231 Great info, Scott. Thanks. As for the converter, the most reliable I've personally been able to find is Quicktime Pro. It's not open source, and the retail price I paid for my personal home computer could get pretty pricey for a large quantity of computers. I don't know what the education price would be. The <a href="http://www.ipod-video-converter.org/downloads.html" rel="nofollow">Jodix</a> free video converter has worked well for me when using Windows. I'm sure you've seen Miguel's posts that it is no longer available for Mac, but that wouldn't be an issue with the Aspire. However, he recommends a program called <a href="http://www.freewarefiles.com/FormatFactory_program_42855.html" rel="nofollow">Format Factory</a> for Mac, but it looks like there is a PC version as well at site I've linked here. I haven't used it, but I've downloaded it this evening to my Mac at home to give it a try. I hope one of these works for you...let me know. hv Great info, Scott. Thanks.

As for the converter, the most reliable I’ve personally been able to find is Quicktime Pro. It’s not open source, and the retail price I paid for my personal home computer could get pretty pricey for a large quantity of computers. I don’t know what the education price would be.

The Jodix free video converter has worked well for me when using Windows. I’m sure you’ve seen Miguel’s posts that it is no longer available for Mac, but that wouldn’t be an issue with the Aspire. However, he recommends a program called Format Factory for Mac, but it looks like there is a PC version as well at site I’ve linked here. I haven’t used it, but I’ve downloaded it this evening to my Mac at home to give it a try.

I hope one of these works for you…let me know.
hv

]]> By: woscholar http://scottsfloyd.com/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/comment-page-1/#comment-229 woscholar Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:55:26 +0000 http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/#comment-229 Good questions, Heather. As for the 4GB card, I tried to find someone who knew that answer. The Acer site never said and the vendor was unclear as to the answer. I do not think I have any cards bigger than 4GB to try that out, but one would think a newer machines could handle the bigger card. So, we went with the biggest card we knew all the machines could handle. The 4GB. As for the video, you have some options with the new Deep Freeze that was not available with the older. The new version allows you to "thaw" or leave unfrozen any folder and any size you of space you want. You can always take advantage of that feature to make more space for your video storage. As of now, we are not utilizing a lot of our hard drive space. What I expect to happen as we go along is our teachers to realize new uses for the machines. We will make changes at that point to fit their needs. I did test MovieMaker with the built-in camera, and it worked just fine. We have had other new machines that would not connect from MovieMaker for some reason. I would sya that a good video converter would be a nice addition to the Acer if I can find one that will go from WMV to MOV or M4V. If you have any ideas, please let me know. We have an Apple podcast server, so we would have to convert to get the files uploaded, or else they could use our Wordpress MU server to showcase their work. If I do find out the SD storage bay will handle a larger card, I will update this post and let you know via email. Good questions, Heather.

As for the 4GB card, I tried to find someone who knew that answer. The Acer site never said and the vendor was unclear as to the answer. I do not think I have any cards bigger than 4GB to try that out, but one would think a newer machines could handle the bigger card. So, we went with the biggest card we knew all the machines could handle. The 4GB.

As for the video, you have some options with the new Deep Freeze that was not available with the older. The new version allows you to “thaw” or leave unfrozen any folder and any size you of space you want. You can always take advantage of that feature to make more space for your video storage. As of now, we are not utilizing a lot of our hard drive space. What I expect to happen as we go along is our teachers to realize new uses for the machines. We will make changes at that point to fit their needs.

I did test MovieMaker with the built-in camera, and it worked just fine. We have had other new machines that would not connect from MovieMaker for some reason. I would sya that a good video converter would be a nice addition to the Acer if I can find one that will go from WMV to MOV or M4V. If you have any ideas, please let me know. We have an Apple podcast server, so we would have to convert to get the files uploaded, or else they could use our Wordpress MU server to showcase their work.

If I do find out the SD storage bay will handle a larger card, I will update this post and let you know via email.

]]> By: Heather Voran http://scottsfloyd.com/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/comment-page-1/#comment-228 Heather Voran Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:09:09 +0000 http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/#comment-228 Hi, Scott--A couple of questions, since my primary job is finding ways to integrate technology with ESL/ELL students: Did you choose 4GB SD cards because of cost, or is there a size limit to the Aspire's capability to read the cards? (I know 4GB is the limit for many electronics, but I'm seeing larger SDs on the market now. We have been discussing having ESL/ELL students at the advanced/advanced-high proficiency level create digital stories that would be converted to iPod format to share, whether as podcasts, or just with their fellow students for peer assessment. If I understand your post correctly, the use of Deep Freeze means the larger hard drive capacity on the Acer will not be a feature the students are using to store video. Is that assumption correct? If so, do you foresee video storage becoming an issue if limited to 4GB? I love the idea of the netbook as opposed to the iPod...I'm just trying to get my head around what issues we might run into with video. Thanks! Heather Hi, Scott–A couple of questions, since my primary job is finding ways to integrate technology with ESL/ELL students:

Did you choose 4GB SD cards because of cost, or is there a size limit to the Aspire’s capability to read the cards? (I know 4GB is the limit for many electronics, but I’m seeing larger SDs on the market now.

We have been discussing having ESL/ELL students at the advanced/advanced-high proficiency level create digital stories that would be converted to iPod format to share, whether as podcasts, or just with their fellow students for peer assessment. If I understand your post correctly, the use of Deep Freeze means the larger hard drive capacity on the Acer will not be a feature the students are using to store video. Is that assumption correct? If so, do you foresee video storage becoming an issue if limited to 4GB?

I love the idea of the netbook as opposed to the iPod…I’m just trying to get my head around what issues we might run into with video.

Thanks!
Heather

]]> By: woscholar http://scottsfloyd.com/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/comment-page-1/#comment-226 woscholar Sat, 14 Feb 2009 02:26:09 +0000 http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/#comment-226 Thanks, Matt. We have a lot of faith in this program. We are looking to expand it to our elementary later this spring. So far, it is working as planned. I appreciate you posting that student review of the Aspire. It reminded me I needed to blog about this. What do you think is going to happen when word gets out that we are giving all of our ESL students laptops? Oh boy. Thanks, Matt. We have a lot of faith in this program. We are looking to expand it to our elementary later this spring. So far, it is working as planned. I appreciate you posting that student review of the Aspire. It reminded me I needed to blog about this.

What do you think is going to happen when word gets out that we are giving all of our ESL students laptops? Oh boy.

]]> By: Matt Montagne http://scottsfloyd.com/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/comment-page-1/#comment-225 Matt Montagne Sat, 14 Feb 2009 02:19:24 +0000 http://scottsfloyd.edublogs.org/2009/02/13/acer-aspire-one-and-the-esl-student/#comment-225 excellent model for use in a multi-user environment Scott. I love how you utilize the SD slots. This light and inexpensive model really opens up some new doors. Thanks for sharing this out. ~Matt excellent model for use in a multi-user environment Scott. I love how you utilize the SD slots. This light and inexpensive model really opens up some new doors. Thanks for sharing this out.

~Matt

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