Technology Sandbox

Come play in our sandbox!

Below are a number of ideas to enhance your courses. Have fun!

RSS Feeds

RSS (Real Simple Syndication, also called Rich Site Summaries) is a method of sharing headlines, news stories, etc., from web sites which allow users to publish their material. You can find feeds on an amazing variety of topics relating to your course content. Addng a "feed" to your course with a Feed Generator is very easy. For more information, click here.

Blogs

Blogs (or weblogs) are one of the "Powerful New Webtools for Educators." They can be comprised of the author's writings on a topic or area of interest, as well as comments by readers, and feeds of journals or news sources also on the subject.

Interactive Exercises

Interested in adding more interactivity to your course? There are a many ways to add interactive exercises, including Flash exercises, crossword puzzles, flashcards, word searches, simulations, and virtual tours. Learn more at "Implementing Activity-Based e-Learning." Visit the links to use the learning objects already created or for generator programs to create your own exercise.

StudyMate

StudyMate is a easy-to-learn software program that creates a variety of interactive exercises from quiz questions. If your test banks are in a Respondus format (or several other formats), you can import them into StudyMate to create fact cards, glossaries, Pick A Letter games, matching quizzes and more. We also offer training using this program. Check the Training Schedule to see when this workshop will be offered next.)

CCCOnline has a site license for this program, so it is available at no charge to all faculty. For more information on downloading your own copy of StudyMate, click here.

Camtasia

Camtasia Studio allows you to "quickly record, edit and publish multimedia demos and presentations." For example, if you have been using PowerPoint files in your course, with Camtasia you can add narration, mix in sound files, and add a video file and smooth transitions. Camtasia files output to various file formats, including Flash, so they load quickly into your courses and students do not have to purchase additional software to see them. Best of all, Camtasia is not a difficult program to learn. See http://www.techsmith.com/products/studio/default.asp for details on downloading a free 30-day trial version of Camtasia Studio.