I experienced some frustration last semester due to an assignment that used the wrong tool for the job. The assignment was a 15-minute narrated Powerpoint presentation each student was expected to record for the class. The tool was...dum da dum dum DUM: Elluminate Live.
See that word? Live?
Elluminate Live is not great software in my experience, but I'm willing to attribute some of the queasiness I have felt while using it to the fact that my professor, my classmates, and I were trying to have live interaction, despite the fact that one was in Arizona, another in New Jersey, another in Vancouver, and so on. It's the "Live"-ness that's challenging.
Meanwhile, recording a narrated powerpoint has nothing to do with "Live"-ness. Screencasts are one way to do it, with Jing available for free for casts under 5 minutes. Camtasia is designed in part for recorded powerpoint presentations. It's free for a 30-day trial, plenty of time for a class to use it for a project.
Instructors who use site-licensed software should be advised that just because they can, doesn't mean they should. And today's students are often the best resources for which software is the best tool for the job.
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