University of Southern Maine

CTEL Advisory Council

CTEL Staff

Community of Practice

Online Learning Update

Online Tools

Resources

Services

Steering Committee

Subscribe to CTEL Email

CTEL is located on the second level of the Joel and Linda Abromson Community Education Center, 88 Bedford Street, Portland campus

(207) 780-4540

Online Tools

CTEL staff members are available to help you learn to use any of the following applications and to explore other possible tools for developing and delivering your online course. Please contact Scott Kimball or Sue Goodrich for help.

Blackboard: This is the course delivery tool chosen and supported by the University of Maine System for online education. It can be used for online courses or to supplement face-to-face classes. CTEL staff members can help you make the most of your use of Blackboard. 

• Design and use of Blackboard.  Workshops are provided campus-wide throughout the year, as well as one-on-one instruction.

Camtasia: This screen-capture software allows you to record narrated PowerPoints, web tours, or software demos. The software is installed on select workstations in Portland and Gorham. You may also download a fully functional 30 day trial for free from their site. For purchasing information contact the Logic Shop.

ScreenFlow is a new application for the Macintosh platform that does what Camtasia does for the PC. This application requires Leopard (OS 10.5.) Other options for narrated PowerPoints include Profcast and SnapsPro.

Elluminate: Elluminate Live!  is software used to conduct online classes, meetings and seminars. While it is designed primarily for synchronous online teaching, you may also use it to record presentation at your own computer. Do you have a guest speaker for your class? A synchronous online class in Elluminate can allow your students to interact with him or her. Elluminate Publish! This program allows you to download, edit and save copies of your Elluminate recordings. Contact us for details.

Podcasting:
ProfCast ProfCast allows you to record your presentation as you give it, using either Apple's Keynote or Microsoft PowerPoint! ProfCast also helps you publish your recorded presentation as an enhanced podcast, complete with RSS. The end product can be a slide show with chapter markers and audio.

Here is an excellent resource for Podcasting: http://www.poducateme.com/

Tool Factory is a similar podcasting product for Windows users.

Virtual Office Hours:

• Elluminate offers a whiteboard, chat and voice. These sessions must be pre-scheduled through the HelpDesk (780-4029). If your office hours will involve only 1 or 2 students at a time, consider a free V-room.
• Blackboard also has collaboration tools for virtual office hours without voice capability.
• Telephone Bridge offers telephone conferencing.

Video Production:  On the Portland and Gorham campuses there are facilities where you can record a video introduction, or brief insert, that you can make available as part of your online course. Podcasting software is available in Portland and Gorham. Contact CTEL for scheduling information.

Acrobat Professional Add audio comments to students' papers. The sound and intonations of your voice will add to your presence in their learning. You can also use Acrobat Professional to add narration to a PowerPoint presentation which can then be posted to the web or in Blackboard (available through the Logic Shop).

Get Fast! This tool provides mid-course feedback from students. Student access to each evaluation is password restricted. Responses are anonymous and results go only to you. Visit the site to read the FAQs and take a tour.

Speechi Lite This free program converts your PowerPoint files to Flash. There is no audio capability.

Wikis Wikis are hosted collaborative web-pages which are editable by users. There are many providers out there, but one that stands out for ease of use and offering free educational wikis is PBwiki. There are instructional videos to walk you through your set-up and you even get several helpful e-mails when you register that are aimed specifically at educational use. Their support is very good. More on wikis.

Copyright Questions? Check this link to learn about the TEACH Act and look at the Checklist. http://www.copyright.iupui.edu/dist_learning.htm

FACILITIES: New Studios

We have created a Podcast Studio, complete with camera, backdrop, lighting and the necessary software to record and encode a podcast.
Software that is available on the iMac in this studio includes Snapz Pro X2 Movie Capture, and ProfCast. Both are Macintosh products which can be used to capture narrated presentations and more.

Shh-Room This is our "quiet room" where faculty can record without distractions from the outside world (no phone, no window). This room has an iMac with Parallels to run PC programs, SnapzPro X2 with Movie Capture, Acrobat Pro, ProfCast, and Camtasia.

Faculty Station An iMac (with Parallels to run PC programs) in the CTEL office is available with all these applications as well as an Adobe Creative Suite of applications, Acrobat Pro.

ITMS Faculty/Staff Development Facilities now include Camtasia on PC's in 521 Glickman (Portland) and 2 Bailey (Gorham). Both of these rooms are available to any faculty who wish to use them. They are equipped with microphone headsets and cameras.

If you are using a software (especially freeware) program as a tool for your online teaching that you would like to recommend, we would like to hear about it.