May 18, 2011

Good Afternoon Online Instructors,

For much of this quarter I have blogged about many different audio resources that are readily available to you for use in your classrooms.  I encourage you to continue checking these resources out.  In addition, I encourage you to also personalize your classes with your own audio presentations (and maybe even give video recording a try too).

There are many great, free tools available to you for audio development, but the three that I'd like to highlight today are:  Jing, Screencast-o-Matic, and Screenr.

• Jing:  Some of the great features of Jing are that you can create short 5-minute screencasts that allow you to share a URL link or save and upload the actual file within Blackboard.
• Screencast-o-Matic allows you to record 15-minute screencasts without the requirement of any software downloads.  You do need to share via some form of a YouTube account though.  AND a really fun feature of Screencast-o-Matic is that you can do webcam recordings if you'd like to physically demonstrate something for your students or even just talk to them more "in-person" with the video feature.
• Screenr , in essence, is a blend of the best of both Jing and Screencast-o-Matic.  Screenr has the user-friendliness of Screencast-o-Matic in terms of not needing any software downloads (you simply click record and talk) but also the sharing friendliness of Jing as you can quickly and easily share the recording's URL with others rather than needing to upload to a YouTube site, etc.

Regardless of what you use, I definitely encourage you to at least try one of these out and connect with your students on yet another level.  If you have any questions as you are trying out these resources, please let me know.

Thanks,
Heather Thomton-Stockman
Online Instructional Specialist