I intend to use Camtasia as the tool for my project. This application allows you to record both audio and video. You can capture the computer screen to show a task, record a lecture using PowerPoint; add music tracks, and picture-in-picture among other options. It has a feature called 'smart focus' which keeps track of where the action is happening while recording. Then it produces a video that zooms in on the parts you need to show.

The features I would like to incorporate into my project include using callouts, a quiz, and importing a You Tube video. TechSmith has a number of video demonstrations to help learn these features and produce the final project file. To share your project it needs to be produced and Camtasia allows you to produce to a variety of formats. In addition, you can use Screencast.com or YouTube to share your file.

Another rationale for using this tool is that the vendor allows you to download a full version for a 30 day trial.

The eLearning Guild is "a community of practice for eLearning professionals." Within the Guild, there are communities you can join based on your interest. They offer different levels of membership, one of which is free of charge. They sponsor conferences, online forums, publications, and they do some research. I have participated in two of their webinars and have found them helpful in my quest to learn more about how to conduct corporate training vs. course work for higher education. What I find beneficial is the breadth of articles I can access, for example, Technologies, Tools, and Media for eLearning to From Classroom to Computer. I have joined one of the interactive groups…the most basic one called the The eLearning Guild which communicates through a LinkedIn group. The wealth of knowledge truly amazes me…so much at times I cannot digest all that I would like to get involved in. They have specific discussion topics that you can tap into. For instance, I need some help on authoring tools…I look for this topic and find experts who are willing to talk with me on this topic. There are over 15,000 members from all over the country. You must get an account on LinkedIn and then make the eLearning Guild one of your groups.

Bruce: Nice...very informative. I'm with you on why I'm taking these courses -- find out ways to engage the student in this stormy eLearning environment. I also, enjoyed the water metaphors. It's starting to come back to me how to create a metaphor...use the 'like' method. I just saw The King's Speech this past week-end and one metaphor that came to mind: teaching online is like public speaking without an audience. Thanks for posting the presentation.