FREE TOOLS FOR CREATING YOUR MODULE MDST 583 Online Education and Training

Become familiar with popular software/online tools (both commercial and free) used in creating e-learning content

Understand you can create e-learning courses without using expensive commercial products

Start thinking about which tool(s) you might want (or not want) to use in developing your module

Objectives

Screen Capture – Basics

Capture a Screenshot (Windows) Press the Print Screen key on your keyboard. [PrtScn]. Hold the Alt key down while pressing Print Screen to

capture only the active window.

Capture a Screenshot (Mac) Press Command-Shift-3 to capture the entire desktop Press Command-Shift-4 to capture a portion of the

desktop (a cross-hair cursor will appear and you can click and drag to select the area).

Use Grab (Applications > Utilities) in OS X.

Screen Capture/Screen Casting

Top Commercial Tools Camtasia Studio (Techsmith)

http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp

Captivate (Adobe) (Metro has a license to students) http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/?promoid=DJDVX

Engaging software simulations Branching, quizzes

Snagit (Techsmith) http://www.snagit.com

Screen Capture/Screen Casting

Popular Free Tools Jing www.jingproject.com

Screen Capture Capture a window, pane, or region Save as a file, upload to a server, or share instantly on Screencast,

Flickr, etc. Produces a link you can paste in IM, email, Twitter and forum post Add a text box, arrow, highlight or border to make your point

Record Video watch demo Record what you see and do onscreen Record narration at the same time Up to 5 minutes recording time Save in SWF, embed code on clipboard

ScreenToaster http://www.screentoaster.com/

Image/Photo Editing Tools

Free Internet-based Tools (No Photoshop? No Problem!)

pixer.us http://www.pixer.us/ picnik http://www.picnik.com/ Sumo Paint http://www.sumopaint.com

Audio Recorder/Editor/PodcastingTop Commercial Tools iTunes Garageband (Mac)

Free Tool Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Free, open source, downloadable Simple, easy to use Convert files into MP3 with the encoder

Video Creation/Editing Tools

Top Commercial Tools iMovie (Mac) Windows Movie Maker (included in Windows)

Free Tool ANIMOTO http://animoto.com/

Automatically produces a movie trailer-like videos from photos and music

Support video clips from a camera or phone

Course Authoring Tools

Top Commercial Tools: Articulate http://www.articulate.com/

E-Learning Studio (Presenter, Engage, Quizmaker)

Lectora http://www.trivantis.com/ Provide comprehensive authoring environment

Adobe Presenter http://www.adobe.com/products/presenter/ Quickly create Flash presentations from PowerPoint Export in IMS/SCORM package to LMS Can be a self-contained website

Course Authoring Tools

Popular Free Tools eXe http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/exe/wiki

Open source Designed for teachers and academics (learning

elements) No need to know html Export in IMS/SCORM package to LMS Can be a self-contained website

Course Lab http://www.courselab.com/ Programming-free High-quality interactive content Publish online or LMS

Course Management System Top Commercial Tools Blackboard WebCT

Free Tool Moodle http://moodle.org/

Open source Used globally by educators and businesses Active online community Complete course management functionality Social media tools (discussion forums, blogging, wiki) Customizable

Interactivity Tools

Top Commercial Tools Flash http://www.adobe.com/products/flash/ Articulate Engage

http://www.articulate.com/products/engage.php

Popular Free Tools ClassTools http://classtools.net/

Create activities, quizzes and diagrams

VoiceThread http://voicethread.com/ Create collaborative, commented slideshows

Quiz Creation Tools

Top Commercial Tools Articulate Quizmaker

http://www.articulate.com/products/quizmaker.php

Respondus http://www.respondus.com/products/respondus.shtml

Hot Potatoes (free for state-funded educational institutions) http://hotpot.uvic.ca/index.htm

LodeStar http://www.lodestarlearning.com

Quiz Creation Tools

Popular Free Tools ClassMarker http://www.classmarker.com/

Easy to use online quiz maker Randomize quiz and set time limits

ProProfs http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/ Create online test and practice quizzes Share and view results

Socrato! http://www.socrato.com/login.php

And many, many more….

In Conclusion...

Ask yourself: How much time do I have? Do I really need it? Is it easy to use and learn? How much interactivity do I need in my module? Who is my target audience? Can my audience access the content?

Experiment and see how the tools work! Remember you can use a trial version of any

commercial product for at least 30 days.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION! Questions? Email me at kumiko.borman@metrostate.edu