Educator Resources

Surely you've seen the Diet Coke and Mentos video or heard about the phenomenon. Drop some Mentos candy into a two-liter of Diet Coke and an eruption results.

At a truck stop in Montana, I recently came across a Mentos display with rolls of the candy bundled with a loading tube and instructions for creating your own Diet Coke geyser. I wondered whether anyone still buys Mentos to eat!

Sometimes I feel a little like the Mentos people. We make tools with certain customer needs and uses in mind. But you always surprise us by coming up with cool and inventive uses we never dreamed of. You offer great suggestions for how the software could be improved to suit your purposes even better. And we love it.

I hope you enjoy the stories in this issue of creative uses of technology. We'd love to hear your story and suggestions.

Daniel Foster
Marketing Writer

Camtasia Studio 5 is chock full of new features intended to make it easier for you to create videos that look good and engage viewers.

Let's start with a few small things that will bring you joy. Sometimes it's the small things, right?

• Start recording faster: No more "next, next, next" to launch a new recording. Click one button and use a smart crosshairs to select an area or window.
• Let the recorder adapt to you: Lock your recording area to a window. Move the window and the recording area moves with it. Also auto-resize your application to fit certain dimensions.
• Make fewer edits: Hit F9 to pause recording—when you resume, your cursor and mouse pointer will jump back to where they were when you paused.
• Never lose your work: Version 5 is more stable than ever, but AutoSave saves your edits every few minutes just in case.

Ready for the big things?

• SmartFocus: You've really got to see this in action. Content recorded on a large screen can look awesome on small screens, like an iPod.
• ExpressShow: Adds a sleek look-and-feel to your videos. Plus the player can be customized with your own logos and text.

And there's more! Visit the What's New page and watch some great videos on the Visual Lounge blog (scroll down and you'll see the "Sneak Peek" series).

Want to get some live Camtasia Studio training? Check out the calendar for classes in Washington DC, Glasgow, and London.

Back in August, we introduced you to the Jing Project. One thing we've learned since then: educators really love Jing!

Maybe that's because it runs on both Mac and PC. Maybe it's the price (free at the moment). Maybe it's because Jing is so darn handy.

Anyway, a new version of the Jing Project was released with a bunch of new features based on user feedback.

Learn what's new in Jing 1.3 or just download it and start Jinging.

Here's an idea you can use: Get your students involved in creating screencasts that teach. We all know the best way to learn something is to teach it!

6th grade teacher Eric Marcos encouraged his students to create their own math video lessons or mathcasts. Now students at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica, California, are learning math from "Bob" (not her real name), "Paul," and "Billy Billy." Eric says, "All of our lessons are unscripted, so you get to hear the students explaining the problems in their own words." (Read the interview...)

Students record the videos on Eric's personal Tablet PC using Camtasia Studio. The videos capture their pen strokes and voice; callouts and highlighting are added for clarity and emphasis. The combined effect of sketching, narration, and annotation is highly engaging.

Watch one of these videos and you'll be hooked. The students' enthusiasm makes math fun. And what a great way to involve them in every aspect of learning!

Watch mathcasts from Eric's students:

• Rounding a decimal (2:42)
• Adding fractions (1:41)
• GEMDAS (2:08)

In our interview, Eric shares the story of how the student mathcasts got started, as well as the nuts and bolts of how they're made. He also offers 5 Tips for Student Screencasting that would help any educator wanting to try something similar.

SnagIt user Debi Gentis works in IT at the University of Oklahoma, which was recently named one of America's Top 20 Wired Colleges by PC Magazine.

Debi's team uses SnagIt to provide clearer instructions and better service. She writes,

In Instructional Services at the University of Oklahoma, we are using SnagIt to produce quality, easy-to-understand knowledgebase articles for our customers. Faculty, staff and students can easily access the knowledgebase if they have questions concerning the use of technology at OU. We have had extremely positive feed back from our customers regarding SnagIt. By combining words with visual images, our customers are better able to comprehend new IT procedures or software developments.

Here's a link to one of Debi's knowledgebase articles, showing how to use voting buttons in Microsoft Outlook 2007.

High school science teacher Steve Dickie had a problem to solve and came up with a most ingenious solution. Here's how he tells the story on his blog:

...our science department is trying to get the students using their graphing calculators more. The problem is that I'm the only science teacher who knows how to use my calculator. So, I'm creating a series of tutorials for the other teachers. I'm using Virtual TI, a great (free) calculator emulator and capturing in Jing.

That's right, he used software to emulate a TI-83 calculator on the computer screen, then recorded the screen and his narration with Jing. Check out a sample video or watch the series linked from his blog.

My favorite part of the video is when Mr. Dickie explains how to fix a calculator after someone has programmed it (perhaps with devious intent) to give the "wrong" answer. Helpful information...and a creative way to deliver it. Kudos, Mr. Dickie!

Learn the new features of Camtasia Studio 5 faster by watching this series of tutorial videos. You'll be ready to record, edit, produce, and share in no time at all!

Do you use PowerPoint when giving a presentation or lecture? Do you ever wish you could capture your talk and share it with people who weren't there?

Camtasia Studio can install a toolbar button right inside Microsoft PowerPoint that makes it one-click easy to record your presentation, complete with audio and even camera video.

This tutorial will walk you through the basics of PowerPoint recording...and beyond!