Screencasting / Screen Capturing
Tools to capture either a static image of what's on your screen (and sometimes add annotations, boxes, arrows, etc.) or to capture a video of your movements and usually audio.
7 Things You Should Know About Screencasting
- Awesome ScreenshotFirefox, Chrome, or Safari add-on. Capture the whole page or any portion, annotate it with rectangles, circles, arrows, lines and text, one-click upload to share.
- CamStudioCamStudio is an open-source screencasting tool. It records audio and captures screen action. Creates video files for use in a video editor. 100% free!
- JingFree version does screenshots with annotations, videos up to 5 minutes with sound. Download necessary.
- Screencast-O-MaticThe free version includes up to 15-minutes of video.
Collaboration Tools
Collaboration tools include resources to help users brainstorm, edit, share, or develop projects, files, or presentations online.
Designing Effective Collaboration
- Bubbl.usEasy way to brainstorm and create mind maps online.
- DropboxOnline backup, file sync, and sharing made easy. Can also create public folders to share large files with collaborators.
- Google DocsCollaborate and share online documents (word processing, spreadsheets, etc.).
- join.meFree screen-sharing and online meetings. Includes the ability to give control of your mouse to a participant, and a conference call and chat capability.
- PoppletCreate mind maps and other collaborative spaces.
- ScreenleapScreen share. Useful for user support and collaboration.
- ZohoOnline document creation and collaboration. Alternative to Google Docs.
Quick Polling Sites
Find and use a number of online polling sites to take quick one-shot polls for presentations or to create more in-depth polls for post-presentation evaluations and more.
Using Polling and Smartphones to Keep Students Engaged
- KwikSurveysAd supported, but many options.
- ObsurveyObsurvey gives you all the standard survey features like branching, mandatory questions, filtering reports, exporting pdf and csv, downloading charts as images
- PolldaddyFree account has: 200 survey responses per month, 10 questions per survey, Content contains Polldaddy links, Basic reports for polls, surveys, & quizzes.
Presentation & Graphics Tools
Tools for creating presentations and graphics including alternatives to PowerPoint, visualization tools, options for creating handouts and flyers, engaging/interactive presentations, and more.
- BrainsharkTransform static content such as PowerPoint® documents into voice-enriched video presentations
- Google PresentationsCreate slideshows with Google Slides.
- KnovioBring “flat” PowerPoint® slides to life with your webcam, microphone
- Many Eyes Visualization ToolVisualize datasets (your own or others) in a variety of interesting ways.
- Prezi - The Zooming Presentation EditorCreate a dynamic alternative to a PowerPoint presentation.
- QuipolCreate a quick, embeddable one-question poll with options for media and comments (through Facebook and Twitter).
- SlideRocketMake great presentations that engage your audience
- SlideshareUpload and share presentations online.
- SmoreCreate electronic flyers, newsletters, handouts, etc.
- SpicynodesCreate a dynamic presentation based on expanding nodes.
Word Clouds and QR Codes
- GoQR.meCreates free QR codes as text, urls, phone numbers, sms, and vCard.
- KaywaFree QR code generator
- TagMyDocCreate QR codes for Word docs, pdfs, PP, Excel, etc.
- TagxedoLike Wordle, except you can create a tag cloud with a specific shape.
- WordItOutGenerate word clouds
- Wordle - Beautiful Word CloudsCreate a word cloud where the relative size of the words reflects their frequency. Multiple layout, font, and color options
Timelines & Storylines
Tools to create timelines, infographics, and other materials for a more visual presentation.
7 Things You Should Know About Data Visualization II
- DipityDipity allows users to gather real-time sources from social media, traditional search services and RSS to aggregate them in a single, easy to use, fun to navigate timeline-style interface.
- Easel.lyCreate infographics using backgrounds, objects, and icon sets.
- InfogramCreate infographics or charts from your data based on professional designed templates.
- PiktochartCreate an Infographic to describe a concept, research topic, or how you feel about something
- PrecedenTimeline creator. $29 lifetime fee.
- Tiki-TokiA web app that makes it dead easy to make stunning, animated timelines that work in your browser. Basic account is completely free.
- TimelineJSTimelineJS can pull in media from different sources. It has built in support for: Twitter, Flickr, Google Maps, YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Wikipedia, SoundCloud and more media types in the future.
- Timetoast timelinesCreate timelines to share on the web or embed (flash).
Image Searching
Remember that the accuracy of the images needs to be evaluated along with the websites that display them. Searching for images with general search engines may lead to objectionable or obscene images, so use caution.
Copyright Considerations
Most image sources will include information about the copyright status. Many sources will allow you to reproduce images for teaching or other non-commercial uses. Always remember to attribute the source of the image when incorporating it into your own presentations.
Some image search engines allow you to limit your search to images licensed with Creative Commons licenses that may allow re-use. Often this is on the 'Advanced Search' screen. See the specific license to see if you can modify the image, use it for commercial purposes, or need to make attribution to the creator. See our Copyright Information libguide for more information or click the logo below:
- Bing ImagesDefault 'Safe Search' setting is moderate.
- Flickr: SearchThese images are user-uploaded so the content is often more personal, less scientific. You may the Creative Commons search option to find images with flexible rights.
- Google ImagesGo to preference to ensure 'Safe Search' is on.
- MorgueFileContains free high resolution digital stock photography for either corporate or public use
- Wikimedia CommonsDatabase of images and other media files--anyone can contribute to this database so be sure to be cautious and to evaluate each image.
Audio, Video and Graphics Tools
A variety of tools to help you create and edit graphics, edit or use movies and audio materials.
Presenting Effective Presentations with Visual Aids
Using Video in Your Next Presentation: A Baker’s Dozen of Ideas and Tips
- Animoto - Video Slideshow Maker with MusicFree version can create 30 sec videos from pictures and your music, pay versions for longer vids.
- AudacityFree recording software and cross-platform audio editor. Record multiple tracks, create, edit, import and export mp3, wav and other types of audio files. Download necessary.
- EZVIDA free video maker for Windows. It’s fast, fun, and light weight. It supports multiple media file types including jpg, mp4, mov, png, flv, and more. (it's website is ad-heavy-- look for the real download)
- GIMPFree software for manipulating images. Robust capabilities include photo retouching, image composition and authoring, resizing, and image format conversion. Also acts as an online batch processing system and mass production image renderer. May require more than average expertise to use. Download necessary.
- GoAnimate!Create animated cartoon type videos to explain what you want to say.
- InfogramCreate infographics and charts from your data based on professionally designed templates.
- InkscapeAn Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.
- Royalty Free MusicPay once to download royalty-free music up to a certain monthly or yearly limit. Eliminate the worry over copyright protection issues or hard-to-understand license terms.
- Wylio - Copyright-free picturesSearches flickr for Creative Commons-licensed pictures and lets you resize and embed, complete with proper attribution. Limited number of pictures per month. (Uses Google account for login/storage)
