Saturday, September 1, 2007

More Web and Media Tools for Educators

This posting is somewhat off-topic, but I've previously posted here and here about various tools that I am playing around with as I seek to create effective online educational resources related to my courses in biblical studies. Specifically, I'm exploring various ways of integrating audio, video, screen captures, and PowerPoint to create learning experiences which can be shared online. (I'm also trying to do this with tools that are free.) As noted in those other posts, to do screen captures with audio overlay (e.g., to demonstrate how to Bible software), I've been using Windows Media Encoder or Wink.
In contrast to screen captures, if you have a PowerPoint show and want to integrate it with audio and/or video commentary, a great resources is Microsoft Producer for PowerPoint. It's free, rather versatile, and fairly straightforward to use. With this, as well as the other programs I'll mention, probably the biggest issue is simply getting the video and not making your files too huge. With Producer, you will need your own server space to upload your final project.
Alerted by observations on the UK Web Focus blog, you should also check out two other possibilities: Zentation and VCASMO. Both are free. I worked with VCASMO a bit, and it really is quite simple. Upload your PowerPoint, PDFs, images, music, or videos, and then you edit timing on a storyboard. You have a free 1Gb of space to use.

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