Samuel J Tan

About Samuel J Tan

https://www.colourmylearning.com

Sam is a tech evangelist, e-learning and learning platform enthusiast, tablet and smartphone chomping maniac, mac and windows zealot, wireless & network genius, developer, designer, user experience tinkerer, moodle and sharepoint two timer, social media junkie, web analyst and server engineer (and an all round good guy).He has over 20 years of tech experience ranging from ground-breaking university research networks to high level secure government extranet projects. He has overseen many megabuck project deployments from Building Schools for Future to harnessing technology, improving sustainability and realising a performance framework for technology in school.And now, while every other so-called expert and consultant is plotting away on world domination, Sam is quietly working on helping each and every teacher, lecturer and trainer, one school at a time to make the most of Technology for Teaching to enrich every child’s learning experience.

Posts by Samuel J Tan:

Ideas for Choice Activity in Moodle

Here is a quick way to engage your students, a poll or voting system that is easy to set up and provides instant feedback and result, the choice activity in Moodle.

Embedding YouTube Video into Moodle Forum

We have seen How to embed YouTube video onto the course main area, the sections and resource description but had an issue with embedding videos in New Post or New Discussion Topic.

Budget Small Tablets (7 – 8 inch) for Education Line-up

Here is a quick run down of the top budget tablets for education with focus on price points and specifications that matter. If you are looking at a BYOD strategy for your school and are considering devices to recommend to students, here is good place to start.

Samsung Series 3 Chromebook vs HP Chromebook 11

Spec by spec look at the comparison between Samsung’s successful Series 3 Chromebook offering and the new HP Chromebook 11.

VLE Video Tutorial Series 2

In this video we look at the different aspects of Managing The Course Area on Moodle specifically: – How to Add, Remove or Hide a Section – How to Update Section Header & Description – How to Re-order the Sections Colour My Learning is your source for some of the best learning platforms and Virtual […]

Wondershare Video Converter Ultimate Review

Not too long ago, we reviewed a free video converter application from Freemake. It had all the features that you could ever need on a video converter but it was only available for PC. So we scouted around for one that was available on both the PC and MAC and found a video converter very similar […]

VLE Video Tutorial Series 1

Our first in the the series of VLE Tutorials from our Teaching with Technology Course that we will be producing in the coming weeks. In this screencast episode we look at how to Get Started on your Moodle VLE. This is the first in the series of training videos and we will be looking to […]

3 Simple Ways to Integrate Technology into Teaching: Beyond Utilisation

I recently had a really good chat with a Director of Learning at a large Academy and I was asked, “How would one use Moodle for lessons held in classrooms where students do not have access to computers?” While it is easy to see how one would use Moodle to teach Computing or ICT as […]

Pixlr: Free Photo Editing Apps Review

We reviewed the cloud based online editor right out of the Internet browser in our article Free Online Photo Editors Review. However, we are here this time to check out the Pixlr photo editing apps. Pixlr have made them available for both Android and iOS platforms. We reviewed a handful of free photo editing apps before, […]

5 Things To Consider When Setting Up Moodle Assignments

For those using the Assignment module to set homework for students, it’s easy to skip some of the settings available for you to control the way the module work. Apart from the Assignment Name and Description which are both compulsory fields, most users tend to skip down to the bottom to save and publish the […]

WD MyNet N900 Central – Router with Storage

There are many routers on offer with USB port(s) that allow users to connect a printer, scanner or external USB drive to it. These can then be shared on the network through configurations on the management console. Basic controls over the hard drive will turn your USB drive and router into a mini file server […]

Samsung Galaxy Note 2 vs Galaxy Note 3

Samsung announced the launch of their next generation Phablet (a cross between Phone and Tablet), the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 at the IFA show in Berlin yesterday. Samsung also bought the first SmartWatch to the market, the Samsung Galaxy Gear, but let’s leave that for another article. So what are the feature highlights and how […]

Exporting and Importing Contacts from Gmail to Outlook

While there are mechanisms to synchronise your address book in Outlook with Gmail Contacts, this requires a third party software or plug-in such as one reviewed on CNET. CNET referred to a free software (with upgrade options) called Contacts Sync. The free option does have some limitations. If you are a Google Apps for Business user (a […]

New Nexus 7 (II) vs Kindle Fire HDs vs iPad mini

In our last article, we looked at Google’s New Nexus 7 (II) vs Nexus 7. In this article, we compare the New Nexus 7 (2013) to other Tech Giant’s offerings, the Amazon’s Android tablets, the Kindle Fire HDs and Apple iPad mini. Amazon’s release of the bigger Kindle Fire HD tablet with 8.9″ display in April […]

Google’s New Nexus 7 (II) vs Nexus 7

With the eminent release of Google’s Nexus 7 successor, the second generation Nexus 7 2013 or Nexus 7 (II) to some in the UK, we ask the questions; how is it different from the first one, does it warrant an upgrade if we already have the first Nexus and if not, should we jump for […]

The Quick 5-Steps Tutorials for Moodle

New to Moodle? Here are some quick 5 steps tutorials to get you started. Originally created on Moodle as part of a course to introduce teachers to Moodle in schools, the quick 5 steps tutorials give you step-by-step instructions on how to create categories and sub-categories, create a course, enrol students, turn on editing and enable […]

How to Create Custom Grading Scales in Moodle

Often schools find that the numeric scale on Moodle rather limiting and does not meet their specific grading requirements. The numeric scale ranges from 1 to 100. However, a maximum point can be set if the activity is part of a combined assessment. For example, if 40 is selected, students can be graded between 1 […]

How to Embed YouTube and Vimeo in Moodle

Here is a quick tutorial on how to embed videos from YouTube of Vimeo into your Moodle VLE.

Database or Glossary in Moodle

Working with Food Technology, we looked at building an online recipe book on the VLE as part of the student’s activity. Glossary and Database immediately come to mind. But, which one is better? Let’s look at the pros and cons of using each one and ideas for applying these in your teaching.