What technologies are needed/supported for

Questions:

1) What is the minimum software/equipment you would recommend for a person to start developing an online class, in particular, if they wanted to post some lectures?

• The minimum would be a computer with proper browser configuration and a headset/microphone. Impatica and Wimba Classroom are easier to use to record narrated lectures and available at no extra cost. One can record screen captures using Wimba Classroom, as well.
  

In addition, we have a new license for Camtasia's Relay product. Relay is basically a mini version of Camtasia's screen recorder and encoder; it runs on a server and can encode in multiple formats and publish to multiple sites automatically via pre-defined profiles. I expect to be able to formally announce, distribute, and provide training & support some time after summer/early Fall registration that wraps up April 26th. However, Camtasia Studio would still be needed if the user wanted to edit the material before posting to the web.

2) What type of software and license agreements does the University or Distance Ed have that would help in creating online courses?

• Blackboard / Georgia View Vista 8 (CourseDen) is provided as the main Learning Management System for the University
• Content files can be created in any HTML editor, the HTML editor built-in to CourseDen, or any MS Office application (though we'd suggest saving the latter as PDF files before posting to the web). Most labs across campus provide the Dreamweaver HTML editor; everyone should have MS Office and PDF capabilities (the latter is built-in to Office 07 or one can use the free CutePDF Writer).
• Telephone Conferencing System - ITS provides the ability for up to 12 callers to dial into a scheduled audio conference bridge.
• ITS' Classroom Support & Multimedia Services can assist instructors on a project-by-project basis, including editing and producing audio and video in multiple formats. They use a variety of software, depending the project's needs and resources available, including Adobe Premiere & Pinnacle, iMove, GarageBand, SoundForge, and Adobe Soundbooth.
  
• ITS provides myUWG Course Tools, campus email, assistance with online surveys, web space and support for faculty and students posting web pages.
• Camtasia - This application allows for users to record screen-captures from a computer, with accompanying narration if desired, edit the records, and encode them in multiple delivery formats. The College of Ed and (possibly? Mike Pearson is out of town) the College of Business have purchased licenses for their keyserver, so that a select number of licenses can be shared amongst the labs and/or users desktops within their colleges. All license requests should go through ITS' Vedat Gunay - he can negotiate discounts and best advise on the type of license needed.
• Adobe Connect - Our Media and Instructional Technology Department is currently utilizing Adobe Connect for video conferencing needs.
• Our Nursing Department has also created a virtual lab for problem solving and case collaborations
• eCore is using Turnitin to assist faculty members with detecting plagarism in their courses.
  

The DDEC Provides:

• Impatica - campus-wide license for faculty & students, used to post narrated Powerpoint lectures as Java applets (Pros: produces files smaller in size/ best for web, PPT software not needed for the viewer, easiest to use. Cons: limited editing capabilities)
• Impatica OnCue - similar to above except it allows one to add in picture-in-picture video and text annotations (Pros: produces files smaller in size/ best for web, PPT software not needed for the viewer, easiest to use. Cons: we have only one campus license to share - it came free with the basic Impatica license described above)
• Wimba Tools - campus-wide license for the following Wimba Tools:
• Wimba Classroom (live and recorded, two-way audio and/or video presentation application; it allows for application sharing, on-the-fly assessments and surveys, instant messaging, texting, emoticons, mark-ups via an integrated whiteboard, and has a phone-bridge in case participants need to call in via a regular phone line).
• Wimba Voice Authoring – record up to a 20 minute audio narrative or feedback. You can include this in a CourseDenLearning Module or Download and attach it to a Mail message.
• Wimba Voice Board – Just like the Discussion Board, except both you and the students can record your audio answers instead of having to type. Some instructors have set up private Voice Boards for each student, in order to provide individual feedback.
• Wimba Voice Email – just like Voice Authoring accept it automatically sends the message to the student's EXTERNAL email account.
• Wimba PresentationVoice – Allows you to annotate web pages with audio.
• Wimba Podcaster – similar to Voice Board but can only be arranged by date (chronologically), however this option allows for users to subscribe and download the audio to their computer, Mp3 player, etc.

• Respondus - campus-wide license; allows users to create assessments offline and import into CourseDen later.
• Respondus' StudyMate Author - campus-wide license; allows users to create simple interactive flash tutorials.
• Camtasia Relay - we just recently acquired a campus-wide license and server for this product (we beta tested in the Fall); this is a mini version of Camtasia's screen recorder and encoder; a small client is installed to the users' computer, but the actual recording and encoding happens on a campus server; it can encode in multiple formats and publish to multiple sites automatically via pre-defined profiles. I expect to be able to formally announce, distribute, and provide training & support some time after summer/early Fall registration that wraps up April 26th.
• USG Podcast server - both faculty and students may use the USG podcast server freely for academic use; currently there are no limits on storage space; they are working on incorporating the ability to capture/record podcasts on-the-fly, within the system.
  
• Surveymonkey - we have a license that we can share as needed, for faculty who'd like to use the tool to conduct online surveys.
  
• In addition to the content-development tools discussed above, we are testing the use of Smarthinking (online tutoring and paper review); currently provide a hosted media streaming server (we hope to have our own campus streaming server ready for roll out after April 26th); and have a newly acquired license for Bomgar which will help us remotely access users desktops, in order to better provide support.
• We also have experience with and can provide limited support with the use of the following free open-source tools:
• Google Docs - for collaborative sharing and editing of documents and spreadsheets
• Google Forms - part of Google Docs; allows users to quickly create and post an online form or survey online, for which the results are automatically collected in a Google Doc spreadsheet (can be downloaded into a .csv file for easy import into SPSS or other statistical analysis package)
  
• Gabcast - allows users to create and post audio-only podcasts on the web, using a telephone; includes the ability to record and post a phone interview between two participants.\
• Audacity - free audio editor
• RSS feed creator - allows instructor to include an RSS feed of their choice, within their CourseDen course
• SmartThinking is used for writing assitance, tutoring, and general subject help for online West Georgia students
• Wikispaces - Our campus is configured with a license that gives wiki access to all students and faculty to create websites, learning communities, and discussion areas for their courses