Using Silverlight for Education?
What an interesting idea they have over there in the UK. And Microsoft played a part in making this happen. Plus, check out the video interface on the front page. Intuitive and pleasing to the eye. I hear that it's based on the Video.Show source from CodePlex.
Films for Learning
· Films for Learning (FFL) is a project that has been inspiring schools for two years now to create their own video resources and share them with others online as part of core curriculum. FFL is organized out of Thomas Hardye School in Dorset with the first year of funding from NESTA.
· Audience for FFL is youth 6-18 years of age and teaching professionals.
· All submitted videos are moderated by UK teaching professionals before publication to ensure the site content is safe and appropriate for education use.
· Microsoft is a sponsor of FFL and helped to re-launch www.filmsforlearning.org. This collaborative site and online community will serve as an educational resource that inspires and helps teachers and students to make their own video productions.
· Thefilm theatre is built using Microsoft’s new Silverlight technology allowing full screen video play back at high quality.
· The community site is built using Telligent’s Community Server powered by Microsoft ASP.NET and Microsoft SQL Server.
· The secure sign on mechanism is via Windows Live ID.
· Most schools use Windows MovieMaker (a tool included with Windows XP and enhanced in Windows Vista) to edit and make the videos.
· Approximately 50 schools in the UK take part today (note that most school/classrooms are already undertaking video projects but haven’t had a place to interact around them more broadly. With Microsoft’s help, broader awareness will be driven around this initiative).
· School participation costs – a DV video camera, a PC running Windows XP or Windows Vista for access to Windows MovieMaker, Internet connectivity to publish the video to filmsforlearning.org
· The Films for Learning community members provide student and teacher activity/training days, using a traveling film lab with equipment funded by Microsoft, to help schools start media enhanced, personal learning activities.