Edition

Educator Resources

First off...a big congratulations to the five readers who won the drawing for a copy of SnagIt or the Camtasia Studio book!

Thanks to everyone who filled out the survey...and a big thanks for all the very kind comments.

The survey didn't indicate a need for any sweeping changes to this newsletter, but we will make a few tweaks based on your input. Tutorials, example videos, and user stories were highly ranked. So we'll keep directing most of our efforts there.

The least popular item, by far, was news about conferences and training events. So we're dropping this as a regular section and replacing it with a permanent link to the calendar. See it up there just above this letter?

Whether you "skim and click" or read every word...I hope you find value in every moment spent with this newsletter. Our goal is to help you be a star at what you do.

Daniel Foster
Newsletter Editor

How are you using TechSmith products for teaching in a way that's unique, effective, or just plain cool? Send us an email with a few details...and you could be featured in the newsletter. Attachments or links to a sample of your work are always welcome.

In last month's reader survey we saw a lot of comments like these:

"I like to see what other people are doing, and how they do it. This gives me inspiration for my own work."

"Learning from other users' experience is easier than trial-and-error!"

Your work doesn't need to be one-of-a-kind or perfectly polished to be helpful to your peers. The point is not to show perfection...but to spark ideas and help other readers realize, "Hey, I could do that!"

Kelly Carrier, who teaches biology and chemistry at Okemos High School—just up the road from TechSmith—is a self-described "gadget guy." Lately, he has combined his tech hobby and teaching vocation to give students a better educational experience.

Kelly uses a tablet PC, video projector, and Camtasia Studio in the classroom to present and record dynamic, engaging lectures that students can also view and review from home. Sometimes he prepares interactive, Flash-based videos to teach certain subjects, like the parts of the cell.

"They're able to hear my voice and see any instructions I'm giving," he said. "It also allows them to pause, rewind and individualize it for the student."

When he compared test scores of like students across classes, Kelly found that students who had the video review scored 10% higher on average than those who did not.

Learn more about how Kelly uses technology in teaching...

• THE Journal, "Biology Teacher Engages Students with Classroom Capture, Multimedia"
• WILX TV10, "New Technology Helps Students Learn"
• Visual Lounge Blog, Video interview with Kelly Carrier

Many educators and institutions equip learners with technology...but do they equip them to use it successfully?

This past fall, incoming students at the University of Dayton received 45 minutes of live training on how to use—and get the most benefit from—their new tablet PCs.

"It was a great way to get students acclimated to their Tablet PCs and demonstrate the endless possibilities," said Ryan Allen, E-Learning Specialist, as reported on an HP blog.

Ryan's group also used Camtasia Studio to produce Web-based video tutorials that would follow on to the training and serve as a reference. Most of the videos run less than five minutes and show things like how to calibrate and use the stylus or how to use inking and annotation features. What a great way to help students get a jumpstart with new technology! Check out the videos...

We said five lucky newsletter readers who completed last month's reader survey would win their choice of a copy of SnagIt or Camtasia Studio 5: The Definitive Guide. Winners were selected at random last week and here they are...

Elisabeth Sochacki, a.k.a. "techno teacher" at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Rockford, Michigan. She calls Camtasia Studio an "invaluable tool" for teaching students how to use new computer applications. "I hope to use Camtasia for teacher training as each teacher is now expected to create their own website. Even a few of my 8th graders have enough techno-savvy that I might download a free trial for them to give it a ride. On top of it all, Camtasia can be an amazing tool for learners who just need to hear it one more time—a whole lesson that is! Camtasia takes education to a higher level!"

Before he retired, John Hannath of North East Lincolnshire, UK, trained oil company personnel in SAP software. "I found SnagIt an excellent tool for preparing interactive training material both for use in the Intranet and as stand alone crib sheets. A first class product very cleverly designed and an absolute boon to anybody preparing training material," he said.

Training consultant Leslie Ardinger is learning to use TechSmith products so she can offer training videos on software such as Word, Excel and Access. "I have been consulting in this arena for years and know that a supportive video reinforcing a client's one-on-one session would be extremely helpful," she said.

Elizabeth Adkins, instructional technologist at Compass Knowledge Group uses TechSmith software to develop training materials for her company's Knowledge Partners.

Ko van Zeeland from Winschoten, The Netherlands, describes himself as, "a freelance writer for computer magazines (pensioned) and a volunteer teacher for a couple of years now." He explains, "I'm teaching my fellow 55+ seniors how to use the PC and what they can do with it. I use SnagIt for screenshots...to put in the computer magazine and to create 'how to' booklets for my senior students, so they have a small guide at hand to do the tasks."

Ko, far right, with part of his class

Jing Project is a very streamlined little application (currently free for Mac/PC) that enables you to share what you see on your computer screen—very fast. The words you need to know are share and fast.

Here are a few quick tips that will help you work even faster with Jing:

• Adjust the Capture Area
• Edit a Previous Capture
• Capture a Dropdown Menu

Oh, and here's where you can download Jing: www.jingproject.com.

Whenever we show Jing to educators and trainers at conferences, it's like we've been hiding something from them! So the secret is officially out: Jing rocks! Or as some might say, "Cha-Jing."