Make Learning More Effective with a Blackboard Template

Anyone who has taken course content and copied it into a file in Blackboard has probably been disappointed with the results. You get something like the following:

Text is shown without margins and does not draw the learner's attention to what you want the focus to be...the content.

You do not need to be a web designer to add simple elements to help your learners organize the content and maximize their learning. Compare the above example with this one:

The content is exactly the same. Using a table, you can create divisions in the content with titles, subtitles, and sections. You can visually make these divisions with cell color. You will also notice the addition of images and a YouTube video. This, of course, depends on your content. You will want images or videos that illustrate the content and help learners understand it better.

You can download a template ready for Blackboard here. Right click this link and choose "Save Target As" if you are using Internet Explorer or choose "Save Link As" if you are using Firefox. Upload that file to your Blackboard class and edit it to add your content. For help with this process or with creating your own template, contact the Instructional Technology Department at extension 229.

AlternativeTo

Ever find yourself not wanting to pay for the software that you need? AlternativeTo.net lists free/cheaper software comparable to the software you need. For ex. - You need a program like Adobe Photoshop, but don't want to pay for the software. Well this site gives you suggestions of other software that is comparable to Photoshop.

http://www.alternativeto.net/

Web 2.0 Again

You keep hearing us in the IT department talk about web 2.0 and how it can transform your classroom. Web 2.0 means many different things to different people. What do you think of when you hear the term web 2.0? Perhaps you think of the hardware (computer, webcam, etc.) or the various web tools (flickr, blogger, etc.). It can be very overwhelming when looking at the plethora of web 2.0 tools on the Internet. I read an article today about web 2.0 that does not mention any of these things, instead it discusses what the web 2.0 revolution means for learning and our classrooms. I think this article speaks more to teachers than any of the tools or hardware can.

Why Web 2.0 is Important to Higher Education
from Campus Technology

Saving PowerPoint Presentations for Blackboard

You've created your PowerPoint presentations and you are ready to share them with students. So, let's talk about how to save them so students can view and print them easily. You could save your files as PowerPoint files (.pptx in PowerPoint 2007 OR .ppt in previous versions). However, many students do not have Microsoft Office (2007 nor earlier versions) installed on their home computers. Let's look at your options.

PowerPoint Viewer
Students can download the free PowerPoint Viewer to view PowerPoint files without owning Microsoft Office. You will need to provide the link to the viewer and tell students they need it or Microsoft PowerPoint to view the files.

iSpring
iSpring Free is a free plug in to PowerPoint that allows you to save your presentations as flash files. This means that your presentations will display directly in Blackboard when students click on them. They will not need to download the file itself nor any extra software. This is the easiest method for allowing students to view your presentations. Click here to see what a presentation looks like saved with iSpring. Instructions on how to download and install iSpring then save your presentations using iSpring are located on the Faculty Blackboard Tutorials page.

PDF
When students print PowerPoint files, they do not always know how to print 3 or 6 slides to a page. This leads to excessive printing and paper use. If you want students to print your presentations, save your files as PDF handouts and upload the PDF files to Blackboard. This makes it easy for students to view your slides AND print them. Click here to see what a presentation looks like when saved as a PDF handout. Instructions for how to save PowerPoint presentations as PDF handouts are located on the Faculty Blackboard Tutorials page.

As always, please contact the IT Department at extension 229 for assistance with any of the above!

Free Adobe Instructional Resources

From the Adobe Education Technologies blog:

The number one request I hear more than any other from educators who use our tools and technologies is “where can I get low cost or free training on your tools?” I’m happy to report that Adobe has some outstanding Instructional Resources available for many of our tools and they are also free.

Full post—Free Adobe Instructional Resources

Reducing PowerPoint File Size

Are your students having problems downloading or printing your PowerPoint presentations? If you include pictures in your presentations, chances are the answer is yes. When the picture file sizes are big, the PowerPoint file size is big. When the file size is too big, it is difficult for users to download the file at home or even print the file at school. Here are a few tips on creating PowerPoint presentations that don't break the file size bank.

File size goal
According to OnlineConversion.com, it will take a 56K modem 5 minutes to download a 2 MB file. And, if you start asking your students about their Internet connections, I bet you'll find many who have 56K modems. We recommend you try to make your PowerPoint (and other files) as close to 1 MB or less as you can. Confused by all the kilos, megas, and gigas? Here is a quick guide:

KB - Kilobytes
MB - Megabytes
GB - Gigabytes

1000 KB = 1 MB
1000 MB = 1 GB
1000 GB = 1 Terabyte

Use Insert to add pictures
The first step is to make sure you are inserting pictures into PowerPoint the correct way. Instead of finding your picture and dragging into PowerPoint, go to the Insert tab and choose Picture. (If you have dragged and dropped pictures into PowerPoint, the compression (see next step) will not work.)



In the window that pops up, locate the picture you want to insert, and choose Insert. The picture should now appear on your PowerPoint slide. Resize it to the size you want by dragging one of the corners.

Compress pictures
The file size of your PowerPoint presentation partially depends on the original size of the pictures you have inserted. As an example. I created a two slide presentation with two pictures. The original picture sizes were 1.6 MB and 1 MB. When I saved the presentation (without any text or backgrounds), the file size was 2.7 MB. Oops. I've already gone over my limit of 1 MB! The next step is to compress the pictures.

Make sure one of your pictures is chosen in PowerPoint by left clicking once on a picture. Click on the Format tab under Picture Tools. Choose Compress Pictures.



Make sure "Apply to selected pictures only" is unchecked so that all of your pictures will be compressed. Click on Options.



Use the following compression settings. Click OK.



I have now reduced the picture file sizes (from 1.6 MB to 95 KB and from 1 MB to 41 KB) and hence reduced the Power Point file size (from 2.7 MB to 224 KB).

Use simple backgrounds
Another way in which you can reduce PowerPoint file size is to use simple backgrounds (solid color). eLearning and presentation design professionals will tell you that the most effective way you can use PowerPoint is to start with a blank slide. Don't be tempted by all the PowerPoint themes! They increase file size and make it difficult to print the slides. But, you want something interesting you say? Compare these slides. The first is a theme with an inserted picture.



I created the following two slides in seconds using the Format toolbar for pictures. (Picture Style presets, Picture Shape, and Recolor) Which do you like better?





Chunk information
If you are thinking about the math, you'll realize from above that if two pictures makes a 200 KB PowerPoint file, then I can only fit ten pictures before reaching the 1 MB limit. It really depends on the pictures you are using. But, if you find yourself creating a 100 slide PowerPoint presentation, consider 'chunking' the information into separate presentations. This will make it easier for students to find the information they need AND it will be easier to download and print.

I hope these tips have helped you understand file size and what you can do to reduce it. Stay tuned for more tips on how to save PowerPoint presentations for viewing and printing.

Photo from scol22 at stock.xchng

Find Copyright-Friendly Images

A few people have asked us lately for places they can find copyright-friendly images to use in class or in online classes. As we have stated before, it is NOT OK to do a general image search on the Internet and use the pictures you find. All pictures and text on the Internet is copyright protected unless specifically stated otherwise. There are many websites with images that can be used without violating copyright. The library subscribes to ARTstor, an online picture database that students and teachers can use for educational, non-commercial purposes. All US government images are in the public domain and may be used. Wikimedia Commons, Flickr: Creative Commons and OpenPhoto.net include thousands of photos that are licensed under a Creative Commons license or in the public domain. For these web addresses and many more, go to http://tinyurl.com/photos4learning. Be sure to read each website for specific copyright information. See below for some images from these sites.

photo © Emmanuel Salé for openphoto.net CC:NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Egyptian mantis, photo from Wikimedia Commons, in public domain

Earthrise, Image Credit: NASA, photo taken by Apollo 8