BREAKOUT SESSION

Converting PowerPoint Lectures to Streaming Web Presentations: What are the Options?

John Jackson, M.Ed. and Stephen Huff, M.D.

University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

ABSTRACT:

Many faculty choose to post course static PowerPoint presentations as part of course and clerkship web sites. A few adventuresome faculty have experimented with posting presentations with a synchronized audio recording of the lecture. There are many different tools and methods available for making a conversion to a streaming web lecture, each with its own unique characteristics. The authors will review the tools currently on the market and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each, and share their experiences in converting presentations for over four years. Different tools may fit the needs of different institutions. Products to be discussed will include Macromedia Breeze, PowerConverter, Agility Presenter, MediaSite Live, iCreate, Microsoft Producer, SofTV Show and Tell, Impatica, Camtasia, and Media Cleaner.

The factors that will be reviewed and discussed include:

· Ease of Use

· Cost

· Flexibility

· Compatibility

· Hardware required

· Suitability for modem delivery of presentation - Technology of web delivery

· Delivery formats: QuickTime, Flash, SMIL, Real, and Windows Media and the Company’s track record

· Overall pros and cons

Participants in the breakout session will be encouraged to share their own experiences with tools of this type. Through the interactions of the breakout participants will be able to choose the appropriate tool for their goals and circumstances.

BENEFIT TO PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING SESSION:

Participants will learn the pros, cons, costs and technical issues of the many products on the market for converting narrated PowerPoint presentations to streaming web presentations. The session leaders will share their experiences in experimenting with several different methods over the last four years. Though there is no single best product, participants will be able to knowledgeably choose a product for their own use after this session.

Jackson, John M. University of Virginia P.O. Box 800555 Charlottesville VA 22908 Phone: (434)924-1528 Fax: (434)982-4030 mailto:jjackson@virginia.edu

Huff, J. Stephen University of Virginia P.O. Box 800699 Charlottesville VA 22908 Phone: (434)924-8485 mailto:jshuff@virginia.edu Website: http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/