Multi-Step Tools for Posting Lectures and Creating Online Sites for Student Collaboration

To post lectures you give in class, or record at home, or to develop ways for students to engage in discussion online, explore the following options.  They require some comfort with new technologies, moderate skill levels, practice, patience, and a bit of planning.

1. Online Lectures

Audio-Only Recording

If you are not using or do not want to use PowerPoint or Keynote, you can record your lecture in the classroom or at home:

• Select an audio recording program. For example, use Audacity or Jing to record lectures.
• Download Audacity for Mac: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/mac [1]; for PC: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows [2] .
• General tutorial: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/tutorials.html [3]
  Specific "Recording Audio" guide: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/tutorial_basics_4.html [4].
• Download Jing[free for Mac or PC]: http://www.jingproject.com [5].
• Upload your audio file to CTools in a “Resource” [6] folder.

Audio and Slides

If you are already using PowerPoint or Keynote or other computer-based visuals, you can record your lecture in the classroom or at home and synchronize your audio with slides or other still images:

• Select a recording program (e.g., Profcast: http://www.profcast.com [7] [free for Mac], Jing: http://www.jingproject.com [5]  [free for Mac or PC], or Camtasia: http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp [8] [for PC]).
• Record your lecture (see Profcast Getting Started [9], Jing Help Center [10], or Camtasia Tutorial [11]).  (Save the recording as an .MP4 file if offered a choice.
• Upload your lecture file to CTools in a “Resource” [6] folder.

2. Collaboration Tools

• Have students reflect on readings or lectures, write journals, or respond to questions, and share them on the class blogs (http://mblog.lib.umich.edu [12]).
• Have students post/edit course projects on a wiki and receive feedback ( CTools wiki [13] or free PBWorks, see http://www.pbworks.com [14]).
• Use Google Docs http://docs.google.com [15] to facilitate peer-editing and collective problem solving.
• Use CTools “Discussion” [16] or “Forum.” [17]

3. Social Networking Tools

• Create a social networking community for sharing documents and commenting on student discussions.
• If you do not already have a Facebook or Twitter account, create a free one
  (http://www.facebook.com [18], http://www.twitter.com [19]).

Go to "Single-step tools for presenting information and interacting with students [20]"

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