Asynchronous Online Presentations

At the request of our SCS faculty, we've put together a quick list of tools that can be used for Asynchronous Online Presentations.

Microsoft Powerpoint

This is the best solution for the online SCS faculty, because the program is ubiquitous and embedding audio is not difficult to do. In order to serve all online students, including those connecting through dial-up, our recommendation is that the total file size of all assets for any presentation be limited to 2MB. Since audio files are linked, not embedded, we see a need to train faculty on how to be sure their presentations are under the 2MB limit.

Larger presentations will need to be broken into multiple files. You may also want to put an all-in-one file out there for those who have broadband connections. A file size limit for broadband-only files would be 15MB.

Microsoft Powerpoint with Producer

Microsoft Producer is a free add-on tool for anyone who has Microsoft Powerpoint. The tool allows you to convert a Powerpoint presentation into a Windows Media file that can be posted on the web. The presentation is essentially a video of the presentation, including any audio that was embedded in the Powerpoint file.

Only Windows-based computers can use Producer, so any Mac-based faculty could not use Producer. In a quick test, it appears that Producer files cannot be viewed on a Mac either, which would affect some students.

Visit the Microsoft Producer site.

Blackboard and CD-ROM

Blackboard can contain links to a CD-ROM drive on the student's computer. SCS faculty could create and distribute CD-ROMs containing presentations and point to files on the CD from within a Blackboard course.

This option would allow for the largest file sizes, but the logistics of CD creation and distribution would make this very difficult to accomplish. In addition, we've had some trouble verifying that this functionality works in the current version of Blackboard. ATS would need some additional research time before this option could be pursued with confidence.

Techsmith Camtasia

Camtasia is a tool that captures desktop video which can then be produced as Flash or Windows Media. In this scenario, the faculty member would record themselves stepping through the Powerpoint presentation. Once the presentation was complete, the output can be formatted for the web. File size will be smaller than Powerpoint, but there's a learning curve to work with the program. The Camtasia Studio is priced around $170, so cost would be another issue.

Visit the Techsmith Camtasia Studio site.

Viewlet Builder

Viewlet Builder is software that allows non-technical users to create effective, high-quality online learning content without programming. Using Viewlet Builder is a simple 3 step process:

1. Capture
2. Edit and Enhance
3. Publish, Share and Captivate your Audience

The program is Windows only, though videos are published as Flash and can be viewed on Macintosh and Linux computers.

Educational Pricing: $159 per seat

Visit the Viewlet Builder site.

Macromedia Captivate

Macromedia Captivate would allow faculty to create Flash-based presentations, which would have a smaller file size - even with audio - than Powerpoint presentations. Cost is $199 and the learning curve is significant. This is not a recommended option for the majority of our faculty.

Visit the Macromedia Captivate site.

-- KevinCreamer - 05 May 2005