Instructional Design & Tecnology

Several people have asked about what recording software to use, and this is freely available on your computer, effective and requires no download! To find Windows Voice Recorder: Choose the search icon on your taskbar (magnifying glass)  When search opens, start typing the word "record" The application icon will appear, click on it to open Voice Recorder is an app for recording lectures, conversations, and other sounds (previously called Sound Recorder). Hit the big   Record   button, and add markers to identify key moments as you record or play. Then you can trim, rename, or share your recordings, which are saved in   Documents   >   Sound Recordings . Originally posted on Microsoft Windows Support page Where are recordings saved: Find your finished recordings by clicking the "More" (three dots) icon, to the right of the pencil icon. Choose "Open File Location" Viola!

Voice Over Powerpoint creates extremely large file sizes and repeated uploading of these can potentially slow down responsiveness of your Learning Management System...the same is true of video files. These large PowerPoint files have he additional drawback or being cumbersome for students to view online. They are automatically downloaded when students click on the links. Here are a couple better alternatives: Make a Video: Record your PowerPoint Using Zoom Upload the Resulting video file ( likely called zoom_0.mp4) to your course Youtube Playlist Embed the Video in Joule or Moodle Create a simple SCORM file Here's a step-by-step walkthrough: Download iSpring Free and follow the installation instructions; Open the presentation you want to convert to SCORM; Navigate to the iSpring Free tab; Click Publish; Choose the file format (Flash or HTML5), check “Generate SCORM 1.2 Compliant course” and click Publish; Drag and Drop the Zipped file from your computer t

Register for VoiceThread A quick note: VoiceThread functionality can be spotty when using Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge browsers.  Visit the Website, VoiceThread.com Choose "Register" Complete online form Go to your email account to complete the account activation "Sign In" to VoiceThread "Browse" to view VT tutorials or to get some inspiration

Closed Captions on YouTube can either be provided by the owner of the video or are automated captions which use speech recognition software to transcribe the video. For a video to have the options of auto-captions, the video owner must have first requested auto-captions on a video. The speech recognition track can take a few days to become available to viewers. Video owners can also disable auto-captions once they’re activated. How to search closed captioned videos on YouTube To search YouTube for videos with closed captions: Search the key terms of the video or type of video you want to watch. From the search results page, click on ‘Filter’. Under ‘Features’ select the ‘Subtitles/CC’ option. The results will now be filtered to display all videos with closed captions. Any video with captions provided by the video owner is indicated by the CC symbol in search results and a CC icon in the bottom right of the video player. How to turn closed captions on/off on YouTube

Now that you have your content organized, it’s time to create your professional presentation using PowerPoint. Too often presenters rely on their text-heavy slideshows and simply read them to the audience. That’s one guaranteed way to bore them to tears. Here are 5 simple best practices to help make this an interesting and engaging finished product: 1. SIMPLIFY YOUR LAYOUT: Select a high contrast theme, that offers easy readability. Large sans serif fonts are easier to read when viewed on screens and devices. Remember light text on a colored background can be difficult to read for those with visual impairments, low quality device screens, or people seated far from the screen on which your presentation appears. 2. SIMPLIFY YOUR CONTENT: Text & Bulleted Lists: If you have a lot of content, there’s no need to try to fit everything onto one slide. Break up a text heavy page into multiple slides. The same goes for bulleted lists: group like items together and don’t be afrai