Toolbox for Online Teaching

Interested in taking your course online? The tools mentioned below can help create content      for online courses and all work on both MAC and Windows

Camtasia Studio 7.1 and Snagit 1.2
Camtasia studio captures your application, screen or any section of the screen in full motion. It can be extremely useful for demonstrating complicated concepts or methods with narration. When the capture is completed the file can be output in the following formats: AVI, MOV, WMV, MP4/FLV/SWF, M4V, MP3, RM, Camv, or GIF. The file can then be placed on your web site for viewing by the students. Camtasia comes with a PowerPoint plug-in that makes it simple to record and post your presentations.
Snagit – is an image capture tool that grabs images from the screen. It is usually bundled with Camtasia.
http://www.techsmith.com/

Adobe Captivate 5
Captivate 5 is a great tool for creating online content. Captivate easily creates software demonstrations, interactive simulations, branching scenarios, and quizzes. Integrate your content with eLearning applications and leading SCORM- and AICC-compliant Learning Management Systems to deliver content virtually anywhere. For more information: http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/

Moodle – Moodle/CCLE
Moodle/CCLE is an open source Course Management System in use at UCLA. It is very easy to create a course web site and populate it with a wide range of materials like videos, recordings, documents, and PDFs. It is also possible to give quizzes in Moodle.

Elluminate
Elluminate is a plug-in for Moodle that has been installed on the university server. The instructor can hold synchronous and asynchronous sessions with students. Elluminate is a live whiteboard that can display communications between instructor and students in real time, and can be used to demonstrate applications or to project the host screen to the whiteboard for all to see.
https://www.ccle.ucla.edu/

ietherpad
ietherpad is an web-based word processor that allows teachers to work with students in real time. It can serve as a community editing project where everyone's edits appear in "their" color on everyone else's screen, or as a simple discussion board. It is very easy to use and with no sign up you are ready to go instantly. See more at: http://www.ietherpad.com/is

Podcasting
Podcasting is simply the act of making a recording then posting it online from where it can be broadcast to the students. The prefix “pod” of course came from the popular device the iPod, but podcasting has nothing to do with that device other than many students may use it to listen to your lectures. Podcasts are very easily made using a free software called Audacity, (discussed below) which can record your voice and export files that are compatible for posting online. Once posted the files are available in what is called a stream. That is, the file begins playing as soon as enough of the file has downloaded to your computer and continues playing as it downloads. Files that perform in this way are known as streaming media.

Audacity
One of the very best tools for recording and editing podcasts is Audacity. Audacity is a free program that does an excellent job of recording and editing audio files. After working with the file in Audacity you have the choice of exporting it as a WAV file, MP3, or Ogg Vorbis (Another version of the MP3). Then, those files can easily be uploaded for student access. Note: WAV files are uncompressed and do not perform well as streaming media. (MP3s and Ogg Vorbis files are compressed)
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Posting to UCLA on iTunes
UCLA maintains a presence on iTunesU, which is a portion of the iTunes store, reserved for educational postings. In the beginning all files were open to the general public, but currently, it is possible choose between Public and Private content. Private, of course, requires an ID for your students to log in and see the files. This is a very effective way of disseminating materials.
https://itunes.ucla.edu/

Profcast
ProfCast is a versatile, powerful, yet very simple to use tool for recording lectures including PowerPoint and/or Keynote slides for creating enhanced podcasts. With Profcast it is possible to record your PowerPoint presentations, whether given in class or at your desk, including narrations and all animations, then exporting the file as an .m4a (enhanced audio file), .m4b (audio Book), .m4v (MPEG 4 Video), or .mov (QuickTime Movie). Profcast also supports the ability to include ID3 metadata (Title, Author, University, Class Name, Class Number). The metadata (tags) are used by iTunes in a variety of ways and is required when posting to iTunesU. Profcast also performs screen captures (still shots) for capturing materials for the presentation.
http://www.profcast.com/public/index.php

Pulse: The Smart Pen - Pencasts
The Smart Pen is a pen that records while you write and syncs your written word to the audio recording. The pen is excellent for creating Pencasts, which are lessons made using the pen that are then uploaded to Livescribe.com from where you can make them accessible to your students. It is very easy to use and is limited only by your imagination.
http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/smartpen/

To view a sample pencast please visit:
http://www.livescribe.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/LDApp.woa/wa/MLSOverviewPage?sid=d2B24Wzhs4S7

Bruincast
Bruincast is a service offered and subsidized by the Office of Instructional Development to video stream and/ or audio podcast regularly scheduled undergraduate lectures.
Video Streaming – Video Streaming allows students to review the class after lecture is over.  They can see the instructor, the whiteboard, slides, and any image that is showed through the video/ data projector. 
Podcasting – Audio podcasting can be a very powerful review tool when combined with materials made available through an instructor’s course websites.

For more information, please visit the Bruincast information page.