Audio or audiovisual...what makes the best presentation? I don't feel there is a "best" presentation technique. Many factors come into play regarding choice. Who is the audience? What are the learning objectives? Benefits of audio include easy downloading to mobile devices for students however; many handheld devices accept audiovisual recordings. Capturing the student's attention and movitating learning are the key initiatives of creating a successful learning environment. The bottom line is we have become a society dependent on our mobile devices. Creating learning experiences that include those devices are likely to attract student attention. Creating an audiovisual learning experience meets the needs of auditory and visual learners.
PowerPoint had become the "norm" in classroom lectures. As such, PPT presentations with voice can be easily configured to transmit to mobile devices. Audacity is a free program that permits audio transmission. Screencast.com permits broadcasting of audiovisual presentations. As an educator, I prefer the audiovisual transmission as learners have the option of listening or watching and listening. Camtasia is a popular choice for educators to create audiovisual transmissions. The drawback to Camtasia is that there is a learning curve associated with use. Techsmith.com is an excellent source of information for Camtasia users.
In my opinion, audiovisual presentations rule. Educators are able to meet the needs of both auditory and visual learners. The power of words combined with the power of pictures cannot be underestimated. The educational world is undergoing great transformations. Technology can make learning fun and interesting. It can also make it difficult. As educators, we cannot forget to make learning accessible to all - those "technologically advantaged" and those "technologically-disadvantaged." Creating audiovisual presentations may reach both audiences. It is of dire importance for the educator to survey the audience of student learners when making decisions regarding the best technology to use in education.
I am not familiar with Camtasia, it sounds like a good teaching tool for educators who want to create an audiovisual presentation. I am interested in reviewing the Techsmith.com information source you provided. At this point in time I would not use an audiovisual presentation, but I still want to take a look at the program.
ReplyDeleteIn the ITEC podcasting course, Using Camtasia is included after learning how to podcast. Once you know how to create a PowerPoint and a podcast, a screen cast is the next step. There is a learning curve, just like with Audacity and Microsoft PowerPoint, but no harder than that. I found it more fun to create screencasts and it helped me to be more creative in producing instructional materials. I'm sure you'll enjoy it and your students will benefit.
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