A New Presentation Platform Worth Looking At… Reveal.js and http://Slid.es
Tired of the same old PowerPoint presentations? So over the hype about Prezi? Want to be able to share presentations quickly without the hassle of attaching files or using services like Slideshare that may mess up your slide formatting?
Meet Reveal.JS and http://slid.es.
Reveal.JS is a platform created by Hakim El Hattab for web-based, HTML presentations. Its design is simple and elegant, and it has many of the features you look for in PowerPoint and Prezi. The best part: the presentation is right in your browser. No more dealing with proprietary .pptx files.
For those who just want to plug in text and images (and don’t want to mess around with coding), check out the web-based platform for quick WYSIWYG editing: http://slid.es.
For those with coding skills in HTML, CSS, and Javascript, the source code is available at Github.
Give it a look and let us know what you think. How would you use this as a student or teacher? What new possibilities does this make available?
Exploring the Potential of E-Learning
Over the past two decades, online education has developed from a simple idea into a thriving global industry with almost 7 million students of varying ages, cultures, and financial backgrounds enrolled. While the cost and benefits of such systems in traditional educational environments are still subjects of heated controversy, it is clear that the educational benefits for credible casual learning is boundless.
In a recent publication titled “Infographic: The Power of Online Schools” by BestOnlineSchools.org, information from several studies and articles on the benefits of e-Learning were summarized and outlined through a visual presentation. This infographic has been attached below, but for the full article, please visit: http://www.bestonlineschools.org/the-power-of-online-schools/
Tableau Desktop Review
As part of UW Bothell’s mission to establish digital literacy in its students and faculty, bridging digital media tools with other areas of study is an important educational strategy that greatly enhances the value and skillset of students and instructors, as well as prepares individuals for a society where digital media tools and practices exist as the standard and norm. In an article written by Andreas Brockhaus, UW Bothell’s Director of Learning Technologies, he states that the importance of acquiring digital literacy skills is even higher now, as digital media becomes pertinent in all forms of professional and institutional work. “For faculty and especially for students, the explosion of digital media tools and practices in society have made it ever more vital that students gain skills in using media across many disciplines.” (Brockhaus, 34)
Tableau Desktop, one of four main products under the Tableau Software name: Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, Tableau Reader and Tableau Public, is one of the leading digital literacy tools in data visualization for statistical and data analysis. With a simple interface and powerful set of features and tools, Tableau Desktop has made analyzing data easier and much more intuitive.
Five Techniques for Better Digital Storytelling
Five Techniques for Better Digital Storytelling:
1) Drop your audio files into Audacity
Do you ever find yourself recording audio over and over again to get that perfect take? Is your audio not quite loud enough? Drop your audio files into Audacity to do quick edits, level audio and multi track/take recording. It is free and easy! http://www.uwb.edu/learningtech/dml121/tutorials/audacity
2) Use color correction on photographs for better consistency
Photographs, especially non-digital, are often plagued by lighting and contrast discrepancies. You can fix photos relatively quickly in Photoshop by doing a batch process, on all your photos, for color, tone and contrast. http://marckean.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/use-photoshop-batch-to-process-all-photos-in-a-folder/
3) Record your audio using an external microphone
Camcorders manufactures often cut corners when it comes to microphones built into the camera. They do this so you will buy external microphones as an add-on item. While I don’t condone the practice, I would take them up on their offer. External microphones can really benefit your digital story’s audio quality. You may not think your audio is a big deal, but inaudible sounds can disengage your audience and even ruin your story. For UWB students and faculty, the IT helpdesk offers microphones for checkout. Absolutely free! You have nothing to loose only better audio quality to gain.
Majority of Students and Instructors at the UW found Tegrity Lecture Capture to be Useful
It has been just over a year since Tegrity was rolled out across the three campuses of the University of Washington and the findings of a recently released report by UW-IT indicate that a majority of faculty and students found Tegrity to be helpful in enhancing student learning in the classroom. Tegrity is a lecture capture tool that gives instructors the ability to record classroom activity and upload these recordings on a student accessible site to review later on. These recordings consist of of a combination of on-screen recordings of the computer and live audio/video feed of the class via webcam. By using this technology, instructors were able to provide additional resources to students who wish to review course material and catch up on lectures without much additional effort.
Creative Uses of Google Apps for Teaching and Learning
Since the University of Washington worked with Google to make available a UW-branded version of the popular Google Applications (Gmail, Google Documents, Google Sites, Google+, Blogger), the apps have been used for various teaching and learning initiatives at UW Bothell. The Center for University Studies and Programs (CUSP) program and the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (SIAS), for example, both use Google Sites for student electronic portfolios.
But, you might ask, beyond the commonly used apps and the common ways to use them, is anyone making creative use of these tools for teaching and learning? Yes! Here are two examples.
SkilledUp: The Search Engine for Online Courses
With so many online courses out there, it’s hard to know where to start when looking for one. As of now, most people are hopping around to different content providers like OCW Consortium, Coursera, or CMU Open Learning Initiative to learn something new. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to search all online courses in one place?
While SkilledUp may not be all the way there yet (it’s still in beta), they’ve got the right idea. On the site, users can search for online courses by keyword, or they can choose to browse the courses by topic. Additionally, search results can be filtered by price and duration of the course.
Currently, SkilledUp seems to have the most courses on computing, design, and technical skills, but hopefully will expand into traditional academic areas in the near future. Having a search engine like this would save many online students time–possibly making sifting through Google and course provider after course provider a thing of the past!
Amazon Now Offers Textbook Rental Service
Amazon introduced its new textbook rental service today, just in time for back-to-school season. Similar to other rental sites like Chegg and UW’s University Bookstore rentals, Amazon offers students the option to pay a fraction of the book’s cover price to borrow the book for 130 days (one semester). Students then send the books back, free of return shipping, in like-new condition. This service is a great idea for students who have a difficult time paying full price for textbooks, but need them for a course.
Textbook rental is nothing new, but a company like Amazon joining the market may change things for it in the near future. Amazon also currently offers eBook rentals, available for reading through their Kindle devices and apps.
EdTech Cheat Sheet
Ever wonder what the latest acronyms and terms used in edtech mean? Check out the infographic below the jump for a quick summary.