HTML5 Video

I started working on this post in June -- and then Summer hit like a freight train! It proved to be one of my busiest summers yet with work occupying more than its fair share of the time. No big family trips, but lots of small excursions here and there. All-in-all, it was good! Now, back to the reality of the school year...

I've been playing around with HTML5 lately, especially as it relates to video. We've been wanting to provide opportunities for video streaming at ECMECC without the cost of a commercial system. Budgets just aren't going to allow for that kind of expenditure. The issue that has been most problematic has been that of cross-browser and cross-platform support. We tried an implementation of Darwin Streaming Server, but it uses the RTP protocol which requires a plug-in such as Quicktime or RealPlayer. Not all modern browsers are supporting plug-ins the same way, then there is the issue of installing said plugins. We also tried some other methods of streaming including some open-source flash players. Great in many cases, but not supported on the iPhone, iPad or many other mobile devices.

Enter HTML5, the still evolving next generation of web development code. Now supported on most browsers and compatible with many mobile devices including the iPhone and iPad, HTML5 looks to be a promising (and relatively simple) way to stream video to the world. If I've done things right, the video below (the first generation of the popular "Did You Know" video) will play in nearly any browser on nearly any platform. If it doesn't work, give me a break, I'm still learning :-)

Below the video, I've inserted a few links to resources on video streaming with HTML5. I'll keep you updated on our progress!




Dive into HTML5 - A good basic guide to HTML5
Best HTML5 Media Players - A blog post with information on many HTML5 media players
HTML5 Tag Reference - A reference guide to HTML5 tags from W3Schools

Enjoy - and hope you all had a great summer!!

MN Legislature Preserves School Funding

As is many parts of the country, there are tough financial times being faced by schools in Minnesota. With astronomically large state (and national) deficits, the job of a politician is more thankless now than ever. While I have been very critical of the direction of politics in general recently, I do want to take a moment to thank the members of the Minnesota Legislature for holding K-12 education generally harmless through the tough political decisions that were faced in the recently concluded session. Sure, there are still many underfunded initiatives and our kids are facing greater challenges than ever, but in a typical Minnesota response, "it could have been much worse." The fact that technology funding was preserved is of particular interest to those who might read these words.

Even if I don't always agree with them, I do respect the work that our political leaders are doing at a time of unprecedented global economic turmoil. Now, if we could just stop being so "gosh darn" polarized in our political views, maybe we could actually do some great things rather than just holding on.

The Verizon Foundation has launched the redesigned Thinkfinity website. It provides easier access to some of the Thinkfinity resources from the home page. If you've never used this resource, you should really take a look. They work closely with nine national partners including the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Geographic and many more to bring high quality lesson plans, online activities and other educational materials to teachers and students.

The redesigned website also introduces the Verizon Thinkfinity Community where educators can converse, ask questions, trade ideas and more.

Belt AND Suspenders - A Lesson in Data Backup

A college roommate of mine was once introduced at a banquet as the only person the emcee knew who was so conservative that he wore a belt and suspenders. That phrase has stuck with me over the years and I use it once in a while to describe security measures in technology. There are times when it means "overkill" and there are times when it serves as a good reminder - this one is the latter.

Two mutually exclusive events this week involving Data backup should serve as a reminder to all of us. Two stories of personal stress as two friends both lost years of digital photos. One accidentally deleted them and the other had a drive fail. In both cases, without any backup, the stress has been significant and the monetary cost may be steep. In both cases, many hours of lost time dealing with the issue.

One has recovered the photos at the cost of recovery software and an external drive to restore them to (and hopefully use as a backup drive in the future). The other will most likely get them back but will pay $600 to $1000 to a data recovery company.

Real examples to remind us all to practice safe computing. Back up that data early and often!