What to bring to the Institute

I've had a question already about what to bring to the Institute. Here are my initial suggestions.

1. USB drive (at least 1GB)
2. PowerPoint slides you may wish to narrate.
3. Headset with a boom microphone if you have one. We'll be supplying them for those who don't but, for budgetary reasons, we had to purchase inexpensive ones. If you want to purchase a set on your own, here is a recommendation. Plantronics .Audio 650 Stereo Headset.
4. If you have web storage space, the configuration settings for copying files to it. Typically this would be the host name (URL), your user name and password, and possibly a specific port number. If you don't have web storage space, don't worry about it.
5. There will be plenty of time to create projects you can use Fall quarter. So depending on your projects, you may need to bring other files and documents. Review the project ideas in the previous posting and if you decide to pursue one or two of them, bring the supporting files, etc. you'll need.

Feel free to add your own suggestions or questions using the Comment feature of the blog.

Camtasia Project Ideas

Marcia Williams, who is a faculty member at BCC and on the Washington Working Connections Advisory Board, just sent me a fabulous list of Camtasia project ideas that I want to share with everyone.

• Powerpoint narration
• Demo of how to do something on the computer
• Tour of my online website for my online course
• Critique of a pseudo-student paper - like a lecture on paragraph construction, etc
• Foreign Language - pronunciation practice
• Health Professions - pronunciation practice (long technical terms)
• ESL - pronunciation practice
• Review of a test - after the fact - can save class time even in a campus section
• Review of an assignment's specifications - as it is assigned. I always create an .exe of my programming assignments and walk students through the execution of the program
• Pre-submission checklist for a programming (or any) assignment - using a rubric like a checklist - or the assignment specs again - get students to find and correct their own mistakes before they submit so grading is easier (hooray!), students fix and learn from their own mistakes, and they earn a better grade. Win, Win!
• Critique of an interior design class project - so students can see what a critique looks like
• Two person dialog - perhaps acting out a historical event/conversation

Here are a few more ideas from me:

• Online orientation for a distance learning class. I've been using one for the past year and it helps students to understand how the class works.
• Math instructors (or any one teaching math for their field) showing and telling students how to solve problems using Camtasia installed on a tablet pc.
• Art instructor explaining concepts in art history.
• Critique/feedback for multimedia projects

If you'd like to add other ideas, please post a comment!

Welcome to the Camtasia Studio Track

Last May I did a day long workshop on Camtasia with over 50 participants. While they were completing a hands-on activity, I used my Flip Video camera to record the energy and enthusiasm in the room.

I'm sure our four day workshop will be as productive and fun as you can see this one was.

I'll be adding announcements and many resources to this web site so stay tuned!