Augmented Reality in Education

What is Augmented Reality?

The term, augmented reality (AR) is referred to as “a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data”. AR is thought of as a variation of virtual realities or environments. Technically speaking, AR combines the physical reality with the digital world. Virtual reality cannot show the real world, but it creates a completely virtual one, as with video games, or a virtual reality helmet. Augmented Reality, on the other hand, enables users to see the real world with virtual objects, places, and contexts. Thus, AR does not replace the reality, but augment it.

Why is AR an interesting topic? Does AR have use in education and in the classroom? AR enhances the perceptions and interactions with the real world so that users can be immersed in a real situation. Enhancing the fidelity of reality, for instance, can make students more immersed in a learning situation by helping better understand the real-world contexts. For example, in medical education, AR can provide a learning activity which is almost identical to the real surgeon for interns by increasing medical visualization.

Use of augmented reality in the classroom

Along with the benefits of it, AR has a lot of potentials to promote learning. First, AR can support experiential learning in a classroom by providing contextual clues or information on learning in AR. Second, AR can promote deeper understanding between a real world and a virtual world by associating learning information with the reality. Finally, AR enables students to lead active learning by constructing and manipulating 3-D objects or clues in person. Here are some examples of using AR in a classroom.

1. Providing cues or directions in a classroom

Teachers can produce ‘markers,’ which include information about a topic or content and post them on the board, walls, or anywhere in the classroom. Then, students can scan the markers or QR code (IC Quick Tips) with mobile devices to get additional information. Teachers could engage in classroom discussions about alternative forms of energy with interactive 3D wind turbines or solar panels found at http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/#/augmented_reality.

Imagine students creating a textbook with 3-D, interactive AR. Students can conduct class projects or homework assignments using AR software or applications with a tablet or mobile device. Students actively engage in learning activities with AR and are expected to accomplish them more successfully.  All of this provides more options for different students and different ways to present information.

2. Promoting student collaboration in a classroom

One possibility of AR is to promote collaboration through social interaction among students in the AR environment because multiple students can share virtual objects provided by AR. This kind of virtual objects can be a means to communicate with students. Or remote collaboration is also available in the AR environment.

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Augmented Reality

As always, the introduction of new technology has benefits and disadvantages. Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks of AR. There are four benefits of AR: (a) multi-sensory immersion, (b) transitional interface, (c) tangible user interface, and (d) synergy with mobile devices.

1. Multi-sensory immersion: AR leads sensory immersion about information or knowledge by augmenting human perceptions with 3-D objects or materials.

2. Transitional interface: AR provides a seamless transitional interface between a real world and a virtual world.

3. Tangible user interface: AR offers tangible user interface with which digital objects or information can be touchable in AR.

4. Synergy with mobile devices: As mobile devices and its applications are advancing, mobile users can experience with more gesture and touch.

There are three drawbacks of AR: (a) high level of reliance on digital information, (b) privacy concerns, and (c) a need of extra wearable devices.

1. High level of reliance on digital information: Too much reliance on digital information may cause the decrease of working memory in the brain which in turn hinders the development of brain functions.

2. Privacy concerns: As AR software and applications are developing, it will become easy to gather information on AR stuff from social network services (SNS) and post them and thereby an unwelcome situation such as private information will occur.

3. A need of extra wearable devices: Since users may want to feel more authenticity in AR, wearable devices such as Google Glass (ABC news on Google Glass) and Apple’s iWatch (Wearable Tech And Augmented Reality – NPR OnPoint) may be provided for users in order to offer authentic experiences in more convenient yet expansive way.

AR Apps Links

• http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/augmented-reality-apps-for-education/
• http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/01/8-excellent-augmented-reality-apps-for.html
• http://www.pcworld.com/article/253530/top_15_augmented_reality_apps_for_iphone_and_ipad.html
• http://www.iphoneness.com/iphone-apps/best-augmented-reality-iphone-applications/

References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality
2. http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2013/01/augmented-reality-in-the-classroom-aurasma-2569560.html
3. http://resourcelinkbce.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/bringing-augmented-reality-to-life-in-the-classroom-and-the-workplace/
4. http://thedigitalshift.wikispaces.com/Augmented+Reality+In+The+Classroom
5. http://www.fractuslearning.com/2012/10/24/augmented-reality-classroom/

Image Sources from:

1. Use of AR in Scanning Printed Stuff: http://www.intomobile.com/2010/05/03/the-first-augmented-reality-flashmob-organized-for-layar-users-in-amsterdam-netherlands/
2. Use of AR in Medical Education: http://3dvis.optics.arizona.edu/research/TUI_AR.html
3. Use of AR in a classroom: http://resourcelinkbce.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/bringing-augmented-reality-to-life-in-the-classroom-and-the-workplace/

Clickers in the classroom: A powerful tool for engaging students

Instructors from a wide variety of disciplines are using clickers in the classroom. The proponents of clickers claim that clickers are innovative, interactive, and useful. But before we look at potential benefits, let’s talk about what clicker systems are. Clicker systems, also known as classroom response systems, personal response systems, and electronic response systems, are designed to collect students’ responses to questions during lectures. Each student generally uses a remote device—a clicker—to participate in a range of class activities, such as lecture questions, pop-quizzes, and attendance checks.

Clickers offer several potential benefits. Clickers are an easy-to-adopt technology that can enhance the learning experience. Clickers can help instructors maintain an appropriate pace by collecting immediate feedback from students, which makes it possible to identify learning gaps, difficult concepts, and areas for improvement. Students can actively participate in discussions about controversial topics without disclosing their names. In this way, a passive lecture can turn into a very interactive lecture. This can also prevent a few students from dominating classroom discussion. Many instructors have reported that students find that using clickers is fun and engaging.

Here is a case of an instructor who uses clickers in his classroom. Dr. Smith is an instructor at a higher education institution who is teaching Biology 101, Introduction to Biology. He enters the lecture room and settles down along with 200 students. He begins his lecture with a short review of an important concept that every student needs to be familiar with for the upcoming exam. The projector displays questions on the screen, and students are allowed 30 seconds for each question. After students responded to the questions with their clickers, Dr. Smith shows a bar chart that illustrates student performance. Students are surprised, as their answers to the questions are mostly incorrect. Dr. Smith intentionally asked questions that are often misinterpreted. Now he has students’ attention. A teachable moment comes.

This is an authentic example that shows a way to use clickers. It seems engaging, participatory, and effective. However, clicker systems have their downsides. For example, the cost. A basic system can cost over thousands dollars. Furthermore, given that the systems are often used in the large classrooms, one might need on-site technicians with a high level of knowledge to optimize and maintain a clicker system during classes.  Also, developing well-designed questions is important. Some institutions are frequently understaffed, unable to support this type of technology, and this leads to ineffective clicker use.

Researchers and practitioners are looking for the best ways to use clicker systems. And there is great potential. Clicker technology can provide more effective, more efficient, and more engaging education.

To assist instructors here at Indiana University, the Center for Innovative Teaching & Learning has developed several documents to assist with the use of clickers (see resources below). Furthermore, the center also offers individual consulting for instructors who are interested in using this type of instructional technology.  If you would like to know more about clicker systems, please contact us at ic@indiana.edu.

Helpful Resources:

• Writing Effective Questions and Clicker Tips
• Peer-Instruction and Clickers – The Eric Mazur Method
• Eric Kinser, from Indiana University, shares his idea on the use of Conditional Branching at the Turning Technologies at Nashville User Conference.

Images from:

1. http://www.timesdelphic.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/clicker.jpg
2. http://56wrtg1150.wikidot.com/clickers

Taking to ‘the cloud’ in education

There has been a lot of talk about using “the cloud” for storing and sharing data. In our previous blog post, we already reviewed cloud storage providers such as Slashtmp.iu.edu, SkyDrive, Dropbox, and Box.com. Recently, Indiana University and Box.com came to an agreement to provide cloud-based storage to its faculty staff, and students at IU. In this blog post, we focus on how the use of cloud-based storage  could be used in education.

What is cloud-based storage?

When we trying to understand ‘the cloud’, think about how many people use the bank system today. While one’s money is still located in a centralized place (e.g., in the bank’s vault), it is accessible at many different locations (e.g., ATMs). As one interacts with an ATM, one can see the current amount and money can be added to/withdrawn from the account. Immediately, the amount on one’s account is updated to reflect the changes. Similarly, you can access your files from any device with an internet connection, much as you can access your money from an ATM, a website, or a physical bank. It is common to use online banking instead of offline banking. One does not have to go to the bank in person but one can  deposit, transfer, and even make payments all online. Like banking, cloud-based storage provides an account to upload, download, and share data with multiple of devices. Additionally, it offers to opportunity to do all these things through a website similar to online banking. Many individuals and organizations are now using cloud storage for diverse reasons, for example, data storage, data sharing, and collaboration.

Use of cloud-based storage in education

Educational institutions are taking advantage of the cloud as more and more schools are teaching courses that involve using digital media, such as pictures or videos. Cloud-based storage can help students and teachers easily access and share data anywhere and anytime.

Important features for education

Most cloud-based storage providers have common features like data backup, accessibility, and security features. The following aspects of the cloud are especially relevant for education.

1. Synchronization in real-time

One of useful features of cloud storage is remote backup. Cloud backup works similar way to traditional backup except the fact data are being moved to a server through the Internet rather than carrying it onto physical hard drive, e.g.,  USB drive. In school, any file one saves to cloud-based storages is automatically synchronized to all enabled devices such as a desktop, laptop, tablet , as well as the  webpage of the cloud-based storages (e.g. Dropbox.com, box.com). To automatically sync all of files to one’s devices, all one need to do is to download and install a program from the storage provider.

For example, if I add audio files to a cloud-based storage from my desktop, it is possible to play the file without having to download it, on my iPad, iPhone, and home laptop as it is already saved on my account in cloud-based storage.

2. Collaboration

Imagine you are collaborating on a project with a number of people in different places, and the project involves a set of Word documents. You might want to have a common place to store those files. With cloud-based storage’s synchronization function, your collaborators can independently open the documents, work on them, and save them to the one centralized place. With many different sub-applications available, much cloud-based storage focuses on collaboration function. For example, Agilewords makes it easy to collect group feedback, make online edits, track changes, and get quick reviewers’ approval. Other collaboration applications that are designed for specific fields are AutoCAD WS, for opening CAD files, AppFusions’ Box in Atlassian JIRA, DICOM Viewer for medical images, and eSurvey Mobile Forms for mobile survey.

3. Editing

Some cloud storage providers such as Google Drive and CloudOn provide users with an editing feature for documents. Google Drive, for example, enables users to create, share, and edit files and collaborate with others. However, they do not have offline support to create, share, and edit.

Some things to consider:

Before jumping on the ‘cloud’ bandwagon, there are several things to consider.

Pros	Cons
Low cost is used for operation compared to electronic data storage devices. It has automatic backup and recovery systems so no one worries about data loss. Data server is safely secured by the provider.	Service costs may by rising as the amount of data increases. High internet speed is required to make connections and backup a large scale file. If the provider server is hacked, security for data in cloud storage is not guaranteed.

Additional resources: Cloud storage comparison chart

•  Adrian Covert: Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox and More Compared: What’s the Best Cloud Option?
• Marti Trewe: Google Drive cloud storage comparison chart, full guide
• Ellis Hamburger: Google Drive vs. Dropbox, SkyDrive, SugarSync, and others: a cloud sync storage face-off
• Vince: Cloud storage comparison: Google Drive vs. Dropbox vs. SugarSync vs. SkyDrive vs. Box.net

Images from:

• http://www.twitchtime.in/2011/08/use-25-gb-cloud-storage-in-your.html
• http://www.ciskopicks.com/2011/07/dropbox/

“Flipping the Class” in Higher Education

Lately, there has been a lot of interest in the topic of “flipping the classroom” in  the field of higher education, particularly due to the popularity and success of the Khan Academy (e.g., read CBS 60 Minutes – Khan Academy: The Future of Education). In addition, advances in technology, especially making video production more user-friendly and less expensive, allow instructors to quickly record narrated and annotated videos (i.e. screencast) which

can then be shared with students through various video-streaming websites. According to proponents, “flipped classrooms” engage students with content more deeply, provide opportunities to personalize learning, and can result in overall higher learning outcomes.

What is “flipping the class”?

The Flipped Classroom Infographic
- click on image

Compared to traditional classrooms, where an instructor exposes students to new content during class time while students then apply the newly-learned material in their homework, so-called “flipped classrooms” rotate this sequence. Here, the instructor prepares short lectures of the to-be-learned material, often in the form of online videos, and makes them available to students before class. Then during class, students complete activities or projects that require them to apply the material from the lectures. The idea behind this method is that more of the actual class time is spent on higher order thinking (Bloom’s Taxonomy: Application, Analysis, etc.) while more basic tasks (Bloom’s Taxonomy: Recognition, Understanding) are completed independently before class.

What is the advantage?

Posting a brief online lecture in video format offers several advantages. First, the video is available 24/7 allowing students to review material at a convenient time and location (e.g., local coffee shop). Furthermore, students can stop the video anytime, replay important parts, or watch the complete video multiple times. This is especially useful when using the “mastery learning” approach where students can only move to the next activities if he or she has mastered the previous step(s).

With students exploring new content outside of class, the actual class time can now be used to further engage students with the material applying higher-order thinking skills. Depending on topics and subjects, students can now conduct experiments, solve complex math problems, or work on projects with the instructor being present and providing guidance. In addition, class time can also be used for students to work on activities that match individual interests or academic needs; thus, offering the possibility to provide more personalized learning.

Wait, aren’t we doing this already?

Taking a close look at the concepts behind and the principles of a “flipped class”, one might wonder whether the idea is really that new or whether it has been around and is just becoming popular. At least since the turn of the century, faculty and instructors in higher education have been exploring blended learning that combines traditional face-to-face classes with additional Internet-based activities or resources. Similarly, in online education, it is often necessary, if not unavoidable, for individual students to learn content on their own “outside the class” and then apply this content in another form (e.g., discussion forum, individual paper).

While the practice of incorporating Internet-based resources into education might not be new, the benefit of using those rests within the opportunity to gain valuable class time for other educational purposes. For example, by shifting some activities outside the regular class period, the actual class might be used for students to complete projects where they need to apply newly learned material and higher- order learning skills. Nevertheless to ensure student learning, any “flipping of classes” or use of Internet-based resources should be done in pedagogically sound ways. Too easily, one could fall back to the “sage on the stage” model where instead of having a person providing content by standing in front of the class, it is now done through online videos. Thus, it takes a delicate effort by the teacher/facilitator, even in a student-centered classroom, to guide students and make learning meaningful.

For more information developing successful “flipped classes”, see recommendations by Jon Bergmann, Jerry Overmyer and Brett Wilie.

 

Additional Resources

• Flipped Learning Network
• Blended Learning
• Khan Academy
• Ted Ed – Lessons Worth Sharing
• Flipping the College Classroom – Robert Talbert, Ph.D., Grand Valley State University

eTexts at Indiana University

Courseload eText Reader

After a two-year pilot which included over 1,000 students from different academic departments, the Indiana University e-Text initiative will be expanded to all campuses and departments in Spring 2012.   Indiana University joins a few other universities which have also implemented this emerging technology such as University of Pennsylvania, University of Illinois and University of Wisconsin.

The two main attributes contributing to the promotion of eTexts are affordability and accessibility. eTexts are remarkably more affordable than new textbooks; the cost of IU eTexts will be just 35% of the original textbook.  In order to get this low price, all students within the course will be assessed an eText fee which is somehow similar to a lab fee. Due to the fact that eTexts are available online, students can have access to them at any time and any place, even right from their cell phones, and no longer need to carry heavy books wherever they go.

Instructors who were considering using eTexts for their spring course had until October 14, 2011 to submit their requests to determine the availability and cost of the desired electronic text books. Here is a summary of key information about the IU e-text initiative, in case you might be interested in including eTexts in your courses in the upcoming semesters:

• Students are able to access the digital version of the textbook through Oncourse via any device that has a web browser (e.g., computer, laptop, tablets, smartphones)
• Students are able to highlight text with multiple colors and to annotate it with comments.
• Students are able to share their eText comments with each other and the instructor.
• Students are able to print the text without any additional fee; furthermore, they could print the text with comments or just their comments.
• Students have access to their eTexts as long as they are enrolled at Indiana University.

To get a clearer idea of the advantages of the IU eText reader and see how it works, consider taking a look at the course demo in which you’ll have access to several eTexts from different academic fields. Just follow the directions located at http://etexts.iu.edu/courseload/ (make sure that your browser is set to support “third-party cookies”). For more general information about eTexts at IU refer to: http://etexts.iu.edu

Cloud Computing in Higher Education: Launch of IU SharePoint

IU SharePoint is a web application platform originally developed by Microsoft in 2001. During the summer of 2011, University Information Technology Services (UITS) at Indiana University integrated SharePoint into the Indiana University environment. SharePoint provides a set of key features for team collaboration and content management. IU faculty, staff and graduate students are provided with 20 GB space to store files in MySites (think about it as the current o-drive). While some features require some time to learn, many aspects that IU SharePoint offers seems to be promising. Here are the some of the main functions:

1. Collaboration and Project Management

When you are involved in a team project, you might have realized that even group e-mails are a cumbersome method of sharing information. At present, rapid advancement of information technology such as mobile devices allows for collaboration anywhere at any time. SharePoint allows users within organizations to collaborate and share work within a commonly accessed Web-site framework. Graduate student, faculty, and staff can create personal sites as private work places where a number of individuals come together to engage in a group work. Group members are not only able to share their documents and files but also have an active collaboration through group discussion forums. For example, instructors, who supervise a course with sections taught by graduate assistants, could repeatedly use the same resources stored on MySite. Therefore, archiving resources on MySite enables to save a large amount of time in communicating with graduate assistant and locating course-related files from a hard drive. In addition, built-in features such as calendar and announcement tools are also useful tools to update and remind necessary information in a timely manner. In the case of Twynham School, a comprehensive school in   England, students have developed increasing sophistication in how they interact and share information via forum collaboration. Although teachers initiate the discussions, the vast majority of discussions are taking place between students and this form of collaboration is growing through SharePoint forums. (For more information http://sharepointineducation.com/student-collaboration-in-sharepoint-forums)

2. Social Networking and Individual Space for Education

One of the biggest aspects in today’s computing environment is the influence of social networking, and its influences for educational uses. With that said, IU SharePoint is also current with the cyber social movement and networking. SharePoint MySites is quite straightforward and self-explanatory.

In Overview, a quick snapshot of one’s social contents is shown along with basic profile data, one’s picture and presence information linking back to Microsoft Lync (formerly MS Office Communicator).

• Under the Organization, a bigger organization chart is displayed with more detailed information than in the Overview. It also shows an organizational hierarchy including your peers in parallel and your superiors above you. Colleagues and tagged notes are shown in the other categories as well as a distribution lists for to which one belongs.
• Creating Blogs is also beneficial to keep others informed. SharePoint provides rich blogging functionality for both internal and external purposes. This blogging functionality provides all the features you’d expect, with blog creation and management, blog posting, support for multiple authors, and more.  Instructors could benefit from blogging activity, for example, one might create a course-specific blog and encourage students to use it for reflective journaling. By articulating students’ thoughts and opinions without strong restrictions, students could reflect on what they learned during a class activity or project which would lead to sharing ideas based on one’s own practice.
• Furthermore, SharePoint provides users traditional wikis along with wiki-specific web parts for customizing the experience. Wiki allows collaborating with a specific group of peers and, therefore, is more private than blogs.

In conclusion, SharePoint provides users with plenty of options for social networking, web-portal function as it collects information from diverse sources on a central page, and content management tool for collaboration. Even though some features might not be intuitive for those new to SharePoint, anyone who is familiar with the current services such as Oncourse (IU’s Course Management System), Facebook, or Microsoft Outlook should feel comfortable with using these tools. As we are moving towards the Cloud Computing Age, we see some great potential in SharePoint for educational use. (For more information about IU SharePoint: https://www.sharepoint.iu.edu IU authentication required)

Images are from:

• http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-20/5-ways-social-networking-has-improved-in-sharepoint-2010-007325.php
• http://sharepointlogics.com/2008/03/windows-sharepoint-services-overview.html

New Possibilities with Google+ for Education

Google+ is a newly launched social network service with several promising features in an attempt to compete with Facebook. Early impressions are that Google+ and Facebook share many similar features and one can easily get going. Overall, looks are compelling and captivating but what about Google+’s potential as an educational tool? Early reviews are positive and indicate that Google + holds a lot of promises for educators. Noteworthy facets include “Circle” with better control over sharing information, “Sparks” for sorting interesting stories and articles by specific topics, as well as possibility for in-depth discussion with a new way for videoconferencing through “Hangout” feature.

Below are the four features that might be used for education:

1. Circle: Limit sharing and grouping

We have seen many stories about inappropriate online sharing, particularly for teachers, in the news. States like Virginia and Rhode Island even banned teacher-student interaction via social media. Even without outright bans, many teachers are reluctant to friend students on Facebook for such reasons. However, Circle feature in Google+ might be a solution for privacy issue. By grouping students into particular circles, a teacher can limit the information that is shared with a particular set of circles.

2. Hangouts: Engage your students with videoconferencing

Google + offers numerous ways to communicate within a Circle. For example, one can quickly initiates a video conference with other users by creating a so-called “hangout’. Even though it seems there already are many videoconferencing tools available, some will find many of them are rather difficult to get the interface work seamlessly.
Google+ Hangouts, on the other hand, has so far been impressive with its user-friendly interface. This might be helpful for instructors who are trying to remotely manage office hours (e.g., virtual office hours) to assist students with work. One teacher might announce that she/he will be available in Google+ at 7-8pm for questions. Students will be able to drop in and out and interact with their instructors in a more personalized and effective way. Providing a place where students easily get instant feedback, without spending much time for setup, seems to be prominent to develop social presence and close relationship between teacher and students at any level of institutions.

3. Sparks: Share specific interests

Sparks is a new feature on Google+ that automatically loads such information as videos and articles found on the Internet to your profile. From an educator’s perspective, it has great potential for helping instructors and students research and stay updated with current events. As a similar concept to the “like” button in Facebook, where users can express their agreement, “Sparks” is essentially a way to gather news, blogs, and information about topics that interest you, as well as immediately share that information with others. For example, instructors can provide helpful learning materials to students by suggesting resources for certain topics.

4. Huddles: Keep in touch with your students!

“Huddles” might be interesting to use as a way to keep in regular touch with students at times when they are working on their own in various places throughout a campus. This feature is similar to group texting function that allows sending a text message to particular groups. But this is only accessible by downloading Google+ Android app on your Android phone.

As of now, Google+ is still in infant stage with much potential remained. For its educational use, it probably won’t be long until the developers start plugging in additional Google services and apps making Google+ a yet more powerful platform. Being optimistic, it could be used as an innovative approach that combines social media and a Learning Management System. Considering Google’s past misstep in the social media before, as lessons learned from Wave and Buzz, this neat and simple social media seems to be in right direction so far. But, it might be taking some time to realize true potential.

Additional resources for more info:

• Wired Campus: http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/professors-consider-classroom-uses-for-google-plus/32131
• Some early thoughts:http://www.edsocialmedia.com/2011/08/google-in-schools-some-early-thoughts/

Image from:

• http://www.flyteblog.com/flyte/2011/07/how-to-use-google-circles-to-control-your-information.html
  

A quick overview of digital citation managers

Faculty and staff, take heart! Your bibliography-building and library-management tasks need not be a source of stress or boredom. A swell bunch of tools are at your disposal to support the technical end of academic activity.

In this post, we’ll talk briefly about three digital citation managers. You’re likely to be familiar with EndNote, but there are two others – Zotero and CiteULike – that might be new to you. The idea is to offer three points for each tool: the developer’s overview (The Pitch); the application to your own work (The Potential); and how much it will set you back (The Price). Think about each one and pick what’s best for you!

EndNote

The Pitch: This citation software has been around the longest, and therefore claims itself as the “industry standard” for digital reference management. Since the mid-90s, EndNote has helped researchers build bibliographies, search for academic resources, and compile personal research libraries online. When this tool came out, the prospect of spending bleary-eyed hours manually building and checking – and re-checking, and re-checking, and re-checking – bibliographies became distinctly less likely.

The Potential: While digital reference management might not yet be the standard, it is at least a viable alternative. If you’re a researcher yourself, you have either used or heard about EndNote, so maybe it’s a good place to introduce your students to online resource management. Bibliographic style output includes MLA, APA, Chicago, and oh yeah, roughly 2,800 others. Keep tabs on current releases and new features here: http://www.endnote.com/eninfo.asp. Learn tips and tricks for using it, including Google Scholar integration, here: http://icoblog.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/afraid-to-use-endnote-here-are-some-tricks/.

The Price: If you want to require EndNote for an assignment or a whole class, just send students to http://iuware.iu.edu to download the locally-free version or to http://www.myendnoteweb.com to use the free online version. However, note that the downloadable version is pay-to-play if you don’t have an Indiana University account. Price tends to hover around the $100 mark.

Zotero

The Pitch: The Firefox plug-in Zotero has adopted four terms to describe its functionality: collect, organize, cite, and share. What this amounts to is a process that technologically aids the basic steps of scholarly research. As you locate valuable sources, you can arrange them in an order that works for you and automatically generate bibliographical citations for them. It kind of acts like EndNote’s cousin, only it lives inside a browser.

The Potential: Zotero is generally designed for academic research, but it really shines at the beginning and end of the process. When you’re browsing for sources online, you can save them to Zotero in one click. And later, when you’re building your bibliography, you can export citations from Zotero and paste them in a word processing document in formats including APA, MLA, Chicago styles, or any number of other popular citation styles. Zotero also accepts user-submitted, custom styles. This is almost certainly going to be useful to research for established scholars and graduate students, but it could be a good starting point for undergraduates, as well.

The Price: Free. But for now, it only works with Firefox. Check it out: http://www.zotero.org/.

CiteULike

The Pitch: CiteULike is a web-based, browser-driven citation manager has a lot in common with Zotero. It draws citation info from documents that you’re browsing online, and it provides a structure to help you organize your research, among other features such as library sharing. It was developed in 2004 for academic research in science, but its functionality makes it more widely applicable.

The Potential: This product does much of what Zotero does, but in a slightly different way. You can use it at any stage of academic research, either for your students or for yourself, but expect more of a do-it-yourself aesthetic in terms of filling in the details of your individual citations, attaching copies of articles, etc. The functionality is all there, you’ll just have a larger hand in making it work. Also be aware that CiteULike does not support bibliography building internally, like EndNote and Zotero; however, it does allow for easy export of bibliographic information to such tools.

The Price: This one’s another freebie! Create your account at http://www.citeulike.org/.

This has been what you might call a breakneck introduction to digital citation managers. There are features not covered in this post for lack of space, but click on those links to learn more. Our purpose has been to quickly orient you toward a few options for this specific type of technological assistance. Hopefully it’s been helpful!

Screencasting Software Recommendations

Have you wondered how you can effectively demonstrate a certain procedure performed on a computer to your students instead of explaining via textual directions? How about recording your comments about a student’s work as you grade his/ her assignment, especially for an online course? All this and more can be done through screencasting or video screen capture, which is a digital recording of the activities on your computer screen in various software such as Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, and etc.

Screencasts are especially useful teaching tools that can be utilized in many ways such as:

• presenting video lectures along with narration;
• demonstrating how a certain task is performed using specific software;
• teaching how to use computers or a specific software;
• providing student visual and narrated feedback on assignments or projects (a useful and eff ective method of feedback for online courses).

There is a range of screencasting software available in the market and online capable of various levels of screencasting. Some of these are more useful than others with regards to functionality and being user-friendly. In this post, we recommend and provide a brief review of 4 screencasting softaware we have found most useful for educational use for our IU faculty and students: CamStudio, ScreenToaster, and Screencast-O-Matic, and Adobe Captivate. Of course, these are only four of many good screencasting software and are selected based on their flexibility in system compatibility, functionality and cost.

Screen Toaster is a free web-based program that allows you to capture your computer screen including audio and webcam images in real time. It also allows you to share videos online with other users. It is compatible with Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS, and Linux and can run on Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Opera 9, and Safari. While there are no limitations in duration of the screencasts, ScreenToaster recommends the size of the recordings to be 20MB maximum for “optimized performance”. You have the option to download your recordings in MOV and SWF formats and in the beta version, you have the option for download in MP4 format after publishing. The positive aspect of it being a web-based product is that there is no need for download and if you are using small portable notebooks with lower memory, this would be an ideal way to create a screencast. However, the site requires you to register to use the product and you need Internet access. Outside of these shortcomings, it is a great venue to create presentations, tutorials, and videos to share and embed in blogs, webpages, or simple email. For more information about this product, go to: http://www.screentoaster.com or visit our Quick Tip.

Screencast-O-Matic is another free web-based video recording software that allows you to create screencasts of various activities on your desktop from full-screen to specific regions. You have the ability to record audio and add notes to your screencast at different times. It is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7, Mas OS X , and Ubuntu and can run on Firefox and Safari. There is no need for installation and you can screencast up to 15 minutes and host your recording on SOM, YouTube or export it to flash, quicktime, or windows media.  One of the nicer features about this product is that it also allows you to export your screencast to as an MP4 to iMovie or as AVI to Windows Movie Maker. If you need to create a longer recording, you have the option to upgrade to a Pro account for a small fee to record up to 1 hour of recording. Check out their website for more detail on this product http://www.screencast-o-matic.com

According to the creators of CamStudio, this software is capable of recording all screen and audio activities on the computer and creating “industry-standard AVI video files and using its built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs).” There is no limitation on the length of recording. Like the above-mentioned software, CamStudio is free. However, unlike Screen Toaster and Screncast-O-Matic, it is not a web-based software so you can download it and uses it without Internet connection; however, it is only compatible with Windows operating systems. There are extra features such as the option of adding high-quality, anti-aliased screen captions to make your video and audio smoother and crisp. With CamStudio you have control over output of your video with regards to size and quality for emailing, burning onto CD/DVD, and posting on the web. Another nice feature about CamStudio is the Lossless Codec that produces clear results with smaller file sizes. Lossless Codec is released under GPL; there are no royalties to pay but if you intend to use the product for commercial purposes, there are some details on the licensure. You can go to http://camstudio.org for more information about this product.

Finally, the most recommended software for IU faculty and students to use for high quality multimedia video and screencasting as well as other productions is Adobe Captivate 5. Commercially priced $799, Adobe Captivate along with other Adobe products, are available for free download to IU students and faculty and for a small fee on a CD. Like CamStudio, Adobe Captivate needs to be installed on your computer and registered.

Adobe Captivate 5 is said to be the “godfather” of all screencasting programs in its ability to easily create interactive presentations with multiple screen recording options, extremely powerful editing capabilities and full integration with other Adobe suit products. It is important to note that Adobe Activate does not actually record the screen but the activities on your screen. It is a great post-production product with a PowerPoint plug-in that allows you to interact with the recording and edit it in many ways. According to Adobe, this product “is not a quick and dirty screencasting program, its intention is to create best-in-class multimedia video and e-learning experiences and it does that very well.” For more information visit http://tryit.adobe.com/us/captivate5 and to download the software from IU, go to IUware website http://iuware.iu.edu/

Happy screencasting!

Skype adds multi-videoconferencing…

In its latest beta release (version 5.0.0.123), Skype adds several new features including multipoint videoconferencing to its repertoire. While audio-only conference calls with multiple parties have been a standard function for quite some time, the final video conference tool is scheduled to allow seeing and talking to up to 10 people in real time.  Considering the popularity of Skype, this new option could dramatically improve the way people communicate and collaborate, for example, in a distance education setting. Other updates addressed in this latest release include a refreshed user interface (we like it!), offline instant messaging (you’ll receive all your messages once you login), and a new area called Skype Home (to track your purchases, stay in touch with contacts, learn more about Skype features).

While these features looked impressive when we tested it, there are several things to consider before installing the new version.

1. First of all, the new beta version is only available for Windows. Anybody with a Mac or running an older version of Skype on PC will not be able participate in the multi-point video conference.
2. Also, it appears that Skype is trying to make this feature available for pay in the future since one can only sign up for a 14-day trial version that also limits calls to five people (including yourself). Well, we can’t have everything for free…
3. Another potential downside is that the popular screensharing availability does not seem to function in the conference calls as of now.
4. Finally, system requirements are understandably high (i.e. an Intel Core2duo 2 GHz CPU or equivalent, network bandwidth is 1 mbit/s).

Overall, the new Skype beta offers some nice improvements compared to previous versions in areas of design, feel, and usability. Anyone who is familiar with Skype will easily adapt. If your only reason for downloading and installing the beta is having video conference with 2-4 other Skype users, consider the limited time span (14 days trial) and high system requirements for all users’ computers. These drawbacks might limit potential implementation possibilities in your course.

For more info on video conferencing and/or Skype alternatives stop by Instructional Consulting. We can help you find what you need…