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[neutralname]

Thanks bone_gal.

I've taught an online course before, but yes, I'm pretty new to it.  I'd welcome training -- if there is any good training to be had.  Is there?  But the point is rather moot: there's certainly no training available through my school.  I'm the one learning how to do it, and I'll probably be training others at some point.  (The blind leading the blind, you might say.)

[yatchie]

I use Camtasia and love it. Nice clear sound and really easy to take out your stumbles and stuff if you want. You can also use it to record your desktop if you want to show students something other than the powerpoint. I use it with Word and Excel to demonstrate things.

You can download the free trial which is a full version and try it out for 30 days without any cost before buying it, so try it out and see if you like it.

I also use Camtasia and really like it.  I don't use PPT, but I work out math problems in a word document or show them how to use their calculator.  It's super easy to use.  I also keep my "lectures" to under 10 minutes, many times recording several videos for each section.  Not all students that watch them, but the good ones do.  They like that they can stop, rewind, and replay them. 

I originally used Jing which saved to .swf format and then got Camtasia mid-semester.  When I tried switching to mp4s, the Mac users complained.  So I went back to .swf (flash).  They do not watch on their phones, they watch on computers.  (Well, the course software is in flash, so they can't do it on their phones anyway.)  I think that also prevents them from uploading the videos to YouTube, too :)

[galactic_hedgehog]

GH

How easy is it to import a sound file into a presentation?  Does Powerpoint make this easy or do you need extra software?  Do you you embed a different sound file for each slide?  If I could get it to work fairly easily, then it would be an attractive option for me: I could record my actual lectures that I give to the f2f class with a digital recorder, and then afterwards manipulate the sound files to coordinate with the Powerpoint. 

Very easy.  I make an individual sound file for each slide.  Then, Insert menu -> Movies and Sounds -> Sound from File.  When I double click on the sound icon, I choose options from the sound menu to hide the icon (I think) and to start the playback automatically.  That way, when I run a slide show or run the Flash presentation that I create, the sound starts with each new slide. 

For iSpring, you can choose to have the entire presentation run automatically or have the student advance to the new slide manually.  That way, the student is forced to pay attention (or stay awake) to get through the whole thing, as well as has the option to repeat the audio for each slide.

[octoprof]

I use Camtasia and love it. Nice clear sound and really easy to take out your stumbles and stuff if you want. You can also use it to record your desktop if you want to show students something other than the powerpoint. I use it with Word and Excel to demonstrate things.

You can download the free trial which is a full version and try it out for 30 days without any cost before buying it, so try it out and see if you like it.

I have recently been making Camtasia PowerPoint lectures (my audio over my slides).  Camtasia is very easy to use with PowerPoint because there's an add-in just for PowerPoint.

[octoprof]

I use Camtasia and love it. Nice clear sound and really easy to take out your stumbles and stuff if you want. You can also use it to record your desktop if you want to show students something other than the powerpoint. I use it with Word and Excel to demonstrate things.

You can download the free trial which is a full version and try it out for 30 days without any cost before buying it, so try it out and see if you like it.

I also use Camtasia and really like it.  I don't use PPT, but I work out math problems in a word document or show them how to use their calculator.  It's super easy to use.  I also keep my "lectures" to under 10 minutes, many times recording several videos for each section.  Not all students that watch them, but the good ones do.  They like that they can stop, rewind, and replay them. 

I use Camtasia with a tablet (OneNote) and work problems by hand while talking through them (i.e. exactly how I do in the classroom). This way my online students will have a similar experience (of my horrible handwriting) to my traditional students.

[bwilkins]

I recommend Camtasia.  One reason for wanting to provide a downloadable mp3/mp4 is that students will download and play the audio while they do other things.  If they ride public transportation to class/work, they can look at the mp4 on the bus/train using their smartphone or netbook.  And yes, students really do that.  I've found Camtasia very easy to use, and it also allows me to not only use PowerPoints, but also point out things in web sites that I want to share, zooming in on just what I want to point out.  One comment:  I strongly recommend keeping video under 15 minutes, maybe even 10, as they zone out after that length of time.  You can also format your Camtasia videos to the format YouTube prefers if you want to share them with the world, or even post them on YouTube as private or hidden (only if they know the link) files.  Good luck!