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Using
the internet to disseminate CAD CAM video
resources |
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School: The Walsall Academy |
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Fellow: Jonathan Boyle |
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Email: Jonathan.Boyle@tesco.net |
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Final report |
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Introduction |
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My year as a Gatsby Fellow
of Technology has been a most enlightening
and rewarding experience. I have followed
a very demanding schedule in the production
of a CD ROM and website. I have created many
web pages for Secondary Design and Technological
activity since the inception of an online
school curriculum at Thomas Telford School.
Video has played an increasing role in the
teaching of important concepts such as vacuum
forming, mechanisms and the learning of Computer
Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacture.
Commercial video on VHS is fairly relevant
as a format but can be difficult to access
and rarely provides teachers with the information
they need. Until now, most online computer
based media available to Teachers has been
mainly in the form of rather large and cumbersome
MPEG files. Such sequences are fine for CD
ROM based materials but unwieldy for the Internet.
It is only in the last year that online streaming
media has allowed video creativity at a new
level. This is the area that I have set out
to exploit! |
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Before my fellowship interview
I constructed an outline of a learning resource
that was designed to capitalise on the sometimes
mesmeric effect of video media. I frequently
have had the opportunity of talking to groups
of teachers and understand that some Design
and Technologists are challenged in the area
of Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided
Manufacture. Secondly, the opportunity for
students is affected directly by the enthusiasm
of the teaching staff, access to stimuli,
physical CAD CAM resources and learning materials.
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Self generated specifications
were set from the start and I challenged myself
to exceed them for the good wherever possible.
It is without doubt that I have spent a huge
amount of time on the project and hope that
students and teaching staff alike will benefit
from the experience. Without Gatsby funding
it would have been impossible to develop these
materials and would remain a dream. I am now
pleased to say that with the support of the
Gatsby Charitable Trust, Thomas Telford School
and an understanding wife, I have completed
a useful resource. |
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Specification One |
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The materials
produced must be capable of captivating
an individual and promoting CAD CAM
in schools. |
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We are all aware of the
magnetism of a good video. Throughout I have
kept an eye on what is worth watching and
what is not. A lot has ended up in cuttings
and thirty-five minutes of good footage has
been retained. Music, pace and content have
been assembled to keep an individual interested.
The format has been designed and generated
in consultation with lots of different people.
The Web hosting services of IS4B directed
me to developing HTML using the professional
Macromedia Dreamweaver HTML authoring package
rather than FrontPage 2000. This has extended
my web authoring knowledge and encouraged
development in some very exciting fields of
web media. |
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The front end of the site
has been constructed to assist a new user
to navigate and enjoy without the need for
reading banks of text. This approach was based
my own research on the observation of students
surfing erratically for graphic content first,
then filtering through text in order to assimilate
a little information rather than to learn
in detail. As a result the web based materials
give basic navigation prompts and encourage
the user to select an option with the minimum
amount of fuss. |
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Specification Two |
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Keep it relevant and reflect
upon the needs of schools today. |
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The materials can be used
to disseminate to lots of different bodies
such as groups of students to show what can
be done, teachers of the subject to provide
ideas and even my own students in class. This
broad spectrum has been considered at every
step. As the pool of CAM resource is becoming
extended, a generic approach has been assumed
when discussing the preparation, mount and
dismount of materials on equipment. |
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Specification Three |
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Produce 3 tutorial CAD
CAM videos to excite and supporting
action videos to prove it can be done. |
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How often have I seen materials
that sound great on paper but have been poorly
executed in practice, if ever? It has been
my intention to produce straightforward tutorials
in ArtCam for Education, 2D Design Tools and
ProDesktop. Tutorials are then supported by
‘In Action’ videos proving how
my students have tackled the projects in class.
In total eight videos have been produced and
rendered at high quality MPEG1 or are available
in Real format suited to a network connection
of Single ISDN through to a 256Kbps network
connection. |
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Specification Four |
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Video footage is shot
and edited professionally where possible. |
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I am indebted to the Thomas
Telford School for making available a Professional
Videographer in the making of the first three
tutorials. The funding I received From the
Gatsby trust assisted me in the purchase of
digital capture and an editing facility. Hundreds
of hours have been spent in the capturing,
learning and rendering of materials since. |
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Specification Five |
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Make the materials accessible
to as many as possible. |
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This is being addressed
on three fronts. The first is through talks
to groups of adults when invited to do so.
This has already been done at the DATA CAD
CAM Conference at Warwick University in March
of this Year. I had the privilege to give
the video materials their first airing since
the creation date. The second method of dissemination
is through the Internet. I have purchased
the domain name www.cadcamcookies.co.uk <http://www.cadcamcookies.co.uk/>
and have produced the site using Real online
streaming media software. This, I hope, is
to be supported by DATA and their web hosts
IS4B. The site has not been implemented at
this point. The final and most impressive
outcome is on a CD ROM where sound has been
encoded in 16 bit stereo and video at a resolution
of 352 x 288. The data fits onto a 650M CD
with only 200K to spare. Phew |
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Summary |
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I desperately want to contribute
to the education fraternity and in some small
way feel that this resource has already prompted
much feedback. Interest has been such that
CADCAM Cookies 2 is already being considered.
I will continue to promote an approach to
Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacture
that is not intimidating but hopefully inspiring.
I relish the opportunity provided in conference
for talking to others about what we are doing
at Thomas Telford School. My aim is to influence
and direct the teaching and learning of CAD
CAM in schools. We are making great progress
with the CAD CAM Initiative and have a real
chance of further enriching the Design and
Technology Curriculum. I fully intend to be
part of that change. |
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