Last night this site was moved to a new server with a new operating system and the newest version of PHP. This means that we can now run the Kaltura video plugin - the LL4Schools site will also be moved here shortly.

If you are not already registered why not do so now so you can try it out - just go to "Collaborative video" under the Tools menu.

So what is Kaltura? Kaltura provides video streaming services to, amongst others, wikipedia. The plugin here allows you to upload video, audio and pictures (to make a slideshow) which can then be embedded in blog posts, wiki-pages, your own website, etc. You can even edit the movie online. The video is transcoded into flash so there should be few compatibility issues with most browsers. If you can view TeacherTube or YouTube video then you can view Kaltura ones.

Below is a movie I have just created by uploading six pictures and adding a few transition effects between them.

If you make video with your students then why not try this out - you can even share the video with users in another country and edit online. The beauty of this is that once it is uploaded it is available from anywhere - even for editing! Think of the possibilities for sharing with schools abroad. Or posting video clips when you are on a school trip abroad. Now you can easily post a test blog or a vodcast (video-podcast) - the plugin allows you to upload a web-cam feed directly into the Kaltura site. So, as long as you have an internet connection, you can talk live to camera.

I went to a gig yesterday! Now this is not my something I do often and I went because one of the stand-ups was the son (stay with me!) of my Garage mechanic who has looked after my car for more years than I care to remember. The theatre was small and the audio a bit too loud but it was sold out and packed with the friends and family of the performers and had a really good, partyish atmosphere.

And I must say it was very well worth going - they were all young, enthusiastic and talented.

The comedians are still at or just out of Uni. Collectively they are "Short Circuit Comedy" and, of course, have a facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22947997192). Paul Longley (son of said mechanic) also has his own (http://www.facebook.com/paul.longley1).

The second half was a pop group called "The Theory of Six Degrees" and were excellent - all good musicians, the act was very together and polished. They are on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/thetheoryof6degrees). What was so remarkable about the group was how young they were - the bassist just 12! Such talent.

So why am I writing about them here? Not just because they are using social networking to promote themselves and not just because they are young per se....

A little digression - I've just finished reading Malcom Gladwells book "Outliers" (http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html) which is a facinating read about how the outliers in our society (like Bill Gates, for example) have got where they have. Is it just innate talent, hard work, would such talent always "rise to the top" as we tend to think? Or were there special circumstances that let them succeed while others with just as much talent do not?

One chapter was called "The 10,000 hour rule" (http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/outliers_excerpt1.html)

And this is where it ties up with the gig - I was struck while watching them how these guys, and perhaps particularly the pop group, were already racking up time towards their 10,000 hours to become "expert" and ready to grasp any opportunities that may come their way. And the evident support and encouragement from firends and family was clealy there and going to be a great help to these kids in achieving their aims.

Is now a good time to be setting out? Is this a time when the technologies available to young (and old for that matter!) performers will make it easier to be noticed in the talent pool or harder? I don't know how it will pan out in the end either in general or for these comedians and muscians in particular but I wish them all the luck in the world...

The upgrade to LL4Schools is now complete and the site is running at http://www1.ll4schools.co.uk linked from our main website (http://www.ll4schools.co.uk). Schools can register for free and have a school group will 20 users already created after we have validated the request. (Register at http://tinyurl.com/nbpwjy).

To upgrade to the full system where you can request named accounts just me an email request to admin@ll4schools.co.uk to arrange payment.

Welcome to the new LL4Education site - we have upgraded from Elgg version 0.9 to v1.5 which provides much greater potential for new facilities to be built by the Open Source community which we can incorporate both here and, much more importantly, into the new LL4Schools site which will be relaunched in September on this new platform.

We are also changing how we charge: we will now offers schools the change to register fro FREE and  get 20 user accounts they can use for as long as they like.  Very soon we will also have a payment gateway where schools can pay online to upgrade from the free service to the full system with named users and the ability for the school administrator to create users themselves.

There is much still to do but we are very excited with the new Elgg platform and the educational potential for schools to work with real web2.0 tools safety with both a global audience and global collaborators.