Academic Tech Tips

This fall, Loyola is unveiling a new conferencing solution called Zoom. It is considered the primary platform for administrative and large group meetings, but it has the flexibility to be so much more. The only hardware requirements are a computer, webcam, and USB microphone. Zoom allows for robust audio, video, file and screen sharing, collaborative editing, polling, and breakout rooms. Hosts can record meetings and make them available to participants, or post them as public resources. All active faculty, staff, and students have the ability to participate and host online meetings with just a few mouse clicks.

To get started, visit the main Zoom site at https://luc.zoom.us and locate “Sign In” towards the upper-right corner of the screen. Click on the link and enter your Loyola ID and password to access the system. Upon initial login, Zoom will create a new user account for you. Using the left navigation menu, update My Profile and My Meeting Settings, then click on My Meetings to schedule your first session. Zoom also provides a desktop client and Microsoft Outlook plug-in that makes it even easier to create and join meetings. Simply visit the Zoom Download Center at https://zoom.us/download. For technical assistance, Zoom provides 24/7/365 chat support that is accessible in the lower-right corner of the screen. You can visit the Zoom Help Center at https://support.zoom.us for an abundance of how-to resources as well.

We invite you this fall to Zoom further than you ever have before!

Panopto is a lecture capture platform that enables instructors to capture live classroom sessions, create pre-recorded lectures and share recordings with students in Sakai. With the recent upgrade to Panopto 4.8, some new features have been added to improve video playback experience, simplify access to video content and streamline video management.

Video Playback
Video streaming capabilities have been enhanced with the latest update to the Panopto recorder. Recordings and live webcasts captured with the 4.8 recorder will not require Silverlight for playback, and instead will be streamed using either Flash or HTML5 depending on the capabilities of your web browser. With the new recorder, live webcasts to iPhones and iPads can be recorded from Windows PCs. Panopto also now provides 60 frames per second support for streaming broadcast quality video.  Take note that Loyola campus computers are currently running the Panopto 4.6 recorder; however you would be able to take advantage of these features by installing the latest recorder on your personal computer. The new Panopto recorder is expected to be available on campus computers at the start of the Fall 2015 semester.

Video Access & Management
Viewers now have a link to download recordings as a podcast, if the creator makes this option available. Creators can enable podcast downloading by turning this feature on in the Panopto folder settings. Additionally, creators can now move or copy sessions in bulk. Multiple sessions can be selected in a Panopto folder then copy or move buttons will appear at the top of the page.

For more details on these changes, please see the Panopto 4.8 release notes and also visit our Panopto support page for tutorials and additional information on using Panopto.

Do you have dynamic media files you would like to share with your students through Sakai, but not take up valuable course site space? Consider adding the Loyola Media tool to your course!

Loyola Media is a cloud based web service developed by Kaltura which facilitates the conversion and distribution of various audio and video media formats. Faculty, staff and students may upload media content to the Loyola Media server which automatically converts and optimizes your media for hassle-free distribution on the web.

To begin, simply add the tool to your course site by going through Site Info and then Edit Tools. More information can be found about adding tools to your course site here.

Faculty can start uploading audio, video, or photos through the tool once added. Students can also upload media files for review by instructor, or even share with the whole class. All media uploaded through the Sakai integration is automatically private and only available to those enrolled in the course. If you’d like to share media outside of Sakai, you can upload files directly to the Loyola Media interface at https://media.luc.edu/.

Documentation for using Loyola Media in Sakai can be found on our website at http://luc.edu/itrs/teachingwithtechnology/loyolamedia/. More information about Loyola Media, including acceptable file types and size limits can be found under the FAQ’s at https://media.luc.edu/faqs.

Add the Loyola Media tool to your course site today to expand your options for rich media delivery!

Atomic Learning is an online, on demand, training site that offers over 50,000 short tutorial videos on over 250 technology applications, including Microsoft and Adobe. Instructors can pull Atomic Learning videos directly into their Sakai courses. To find a tutorial on a particular subject, use keywords and optionally add filters for application, topic and category.

Try Atomic Learning by logging in at https://www.atomiclearning.com/login/luc using your Loyola credentials, and type your keywords into the Search box – or check out the featured Training & Resources, like Outlook 2013 or Computer Literacy Basics.

There is a free Atomic Learning app for iPad® available in the App Store. To log into the app, use your Loyola UVID and password, and type in “luc” under Advanced.

For a video introduction to Atomic Learning, visit https://connect.luc.edu/p6obwzxiy1e/.

Format Factory is a handy tool for the Windows platform that allows you to easily convert media files from one format to another. Whether you need to reduce the size of a media file for uploading to the Web or you need to convert files for iPod or iPhone compatibility, file conversion software can be incredibly useful. With a free download of Format Factory, you can convert common video formats such as AVI, MOV, WMV, and SWF to another video format.  You can also convert image and audio files to popular formats.

With all of the video formats out there, AVI, WMV, FLV and MP4, to name a few, it can be a challenge to keep track of which video files are compatible with your different systems and devices.  With Sothink Video Converter, you can take any video or audio file and convert it to the proper format for virtually any device (iPod, iPad, iPhone, HTC, Blackberry, Android, XBOX, Sony PSP, PC, etc). This all-in-one free program features an easy to use interface and works quickly to convert to high-quality video.

If you have a Mac, it can be frustrating when you can’t play a Windows media file. A simple solution to this problem is to download the free media player, Flip4Mac WMV. It offers easy playback of Windows media files in your QuickTime player or in a Web browser. To download or learn about the advanced versions, visit Flip4Mac WMV.

If you’d like to include a You Tube clip as part of your PowerPoint presentation,  you can easily embed a video to play directly within your slideshow. Follow these steps to embed a You Tube video in PowerPoint 2007:

1. Go to the Developer tab
2. If you don’t see the Developer tab, click the Microsoft Office Button and select PowerPoint Options. Click Popular, then select the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon check box.
3. In the Controls box, click on More Controls ( hammer and wrench button)
   
4. Select Shockwave Flash Object from the list
5. Draw a box on the slide where you want the video
6. Right click on the box and select Properties
7. In the Movie line, enter the YouTube video’s URL but you must change the watch?v= to v/ in the URL
8. You won’t see the video until you run the slide show once

With QuickTime Pro for Mac, you can easily record a webcam video directly to your hard drive.   Quicktime Pro offers a straightforward interface to record your video, as well as provides as the option to convert video files into a variety of formats. Take note that Quicktime Pro for Windows only supports audio capture.

If you don’t already have QuickTime Pro, you can purchase the download for about $30 at the Apple Store.

Here are a few steps to record a video from your webcam:

1. If you don’t have a built-in camera, you must attach an external webcam
2. Go to File > New Movie Recording
3. A video screen will appear; when you are ready, press the red-circle record button
4. After you are finished recording, the video will automatically save as a .mov file to your desktop. If you want to export it as a different format, select File > Export

As online tools such as blogs, Twitter and RSS feeds are becoming more widely used to share information, it’s helpful to know about resources that explain how these tools work, while still remaining interesting.  Common Craft’s In Plain English series provides fun and simple tutorials on several areas, including technology, money, society and the environment.  Each video features paper cut-outs and narration; some technology topics include podcasting, RSS and Wikis.  Even though these videos are lighthearted, they are very well-made and informative and definitely worth sharing with colleagues or in the classroom.    

 Video Source:  http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs