Education Community Blog

TechSmith at CIT 2009 - Detroit

2009-10-08T20:08:41Z

TechSmith is very excited to have the League for Innovation's annual Conference on Information Technology (CIT) in our backyard this year. We'll be sending a big team to Detroit for the conference - including product managers, trainers, developers, and many more. It will be a great opportunity for you to learn some new tips and tricks, provide product feedback, and share your own stories.

Can't make it to the conference? We're working with the League for Innovation to use Camtasia Relay to record Learning Center Courses, Hands-On Alley Labs, Special Sessions, and Forum Sessions at CIT 2009. These recordings will be available on the League for Innovation website following the conference. You can learn more about Camtasia Relay here or sign up for one of our weekly webinars here.

Finally, don't forget to stop by and see us in booth #419 - or at one of the many sessions and hands-on labs we're offering! We have a special page set up for you to learn about all of these sessions. We look forward to seeing you there and hope you take advantage of these great opportunities to learn more about TechSmith products.

Great Article on e-Learning Tools

2009-10-06T14:40:21Z

Jing is a fantastic tool for e-Learning, but in the end it is only as good as the content on your screen that is being recorded (or captured). Maria Andersen is back to help you discover some great new resources to add to your toolbox. Her article for eLearn Magazine is loaded with great tips on different hardware and software to help you reach your students in new ways. The article is geared towards high school and university-level math and hard sciences (or STEM fields) but has great value for any online educator. Check it out here.

Also check out Maria's guest post on Jing if you haven't already.

Maria H. Andersen is a math instructor at Muskegon Community College, where she regularly teaches Calculus I and II online. Her educational background includes degrees in chemistry and biology, and she has taken many of the core engineering courses. Andersen writes a blog about math, technology, and teaching at TeachingCollegeMath.com.

We Need Your Help - Screencasting Tips for New Screencasters

2009-09-17T12:40:32Z

We're looking to gather and compile a list of the best screencasting tips to share with people that are new to screencasting (or looking to kick things up a notch or two). If you'd like to help out please respond in the comments below. We look forward to seeing your feedback and creating a great resource! So the question is:

What three things would you tell a new screencaster they must do to be successful?

We are also asking this question in our newsletters, which are a great way to get more information, tips, and tricks about the TechSmith products you love. For more information and to sign up visit this site. Our newsletters are now customizable so you can select what products you'd like to receive information on, what kind of information, and how you'd like it delivered - email, rss, etc. We will not share your information with anyone.

The results will be posted in a future newsletter and on the blog as well.

Jing Refresher and Myths from Maria Andersen

2009-09-03T14:31:55Z

The following was originally posted on Maria Andersen's 'Teaching College Math' blog. The graphics were created for an article that will appear in the September 2009 MathAMATYC Educator magazine.

This is a great overview of Jing for all educators (not just math). Many thanks to Maria for sharing her great post. Be sure to check out her blog for all things math and technology. Follow Maria on twitter here.

Just in case you're getting back into the swing of things this fall and finding yourself as forgetful as me, I thought I'd give a little Jing refresher here and remind you of some resources.

First, a little reminder of how Jing works!

Myth #1: I use Camtasia so I don't need Jing

What about your students? Teach them to Jing and they can share screen captures and short videos with you! Not enough motivation? It's much faster to whip out Jing and record a response to a student's question than it is to create, edit, and produce a Camtasia video.

Myth #2: The 5-minute time limit is a problem.

No, the 5-minute time limit is a blessing. Who really wants to watch more than 5 minutes of Internet video. There's great value in learning to get your message across in a concise little package. When you ask students to submit videos to you for grading, you'll quickly appreciate the 5-minute limit. Plus, there's nothing to stop you from recording a 3-part series if you really must get 15 minutes of information out there.

Myth #3: The EMBED button is gone!

The embed button is gone from the standard Jing installation, but you can get it back with about 2 minutes of time invested. Use one minute to watch how I do it. Use the second minute to do it yourself.

Myth #4: I've tried to use Jing, but I never get the image or video when it says my upload is complete.

The link (or embed code) for your captures is stored on the clipboard. What's the clipboard? It's that invisible place where content goes to wait between Copy and Paste. What Jing does is create the copy of the URL or embed code on the clipboard. All you need to do is paste (use Ctrl-V on a PC or Command-V on a Mac) and your code will appear!

Myth #5: Video EMBED doesn't seem to work.

Many programs restrict the functionality of video embedding. If your video takes up a large amount of screen real estate, or if video-sharing is disabled in the web-application you're using, then you won't be able to embed video. You can, however, share the video with a live link. It's always good practice to include a live link even when you get the embed code for a video to work. Many blog readers will cut out the embedded videos, and without a link, your reader will not be able to access the video.

Myth #6: Students will never figure it out.

Give them the links to videos on how to use Jing, a place to PRACTICE their newfound skills, and an incentive (2 points per skill seems to do it), and they will learn how to use Jing just fine. One of my first assignments of the semester is a "Learning Project" that involves, among other things, practicing a bunch of different ways to use Jing (get handwriting to the discussion board, record a video and get it to the discussion board, get an image of some math equations you've written to the discussion board).

Snagit for the Mac is Coming!

2009-08-25T16:14:42Z

Now that we've rolled Camtasia:mac out the door, we're ready to get right back to work and start on another little project that may be of interest to you - Snagit for the Mac! We're still in the early stages of development but want to announce our official commitment to the development of Snagit for the Mac.

To stay up to date on all things TechSmith/Mac you can sign up to receive email updates here. Keep following this blog and @TechSmithEDU on twitter for updates as they become available!

Today is the Day! Meet Camtasia for Mac!

2009-08-25T11:44:11Z

Cross Posted from The Visual Lounge.

Today is the day that many of you have been waiting for! I'm really happy and pleased to finally be able to share Camtasia for Mac v1.0 with you! Thank you for supporting us on this fun journey! We built Camtasia for Mac from the ground up. We conducted focus groups, surveys, and received great feedback from a good number of very early beta testers, and did lots of usability testing. I hope you enjoy the product as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Get comfortable, this is a long blog post! I wanted to show you what is new in Camtasia for Mac as well as answer some question I've been hearing lately.

So, on with the show!

Tour

Last week I shared with you some sneak peek screencasts about some of the features in Camtasia for Mac. Want to see Camtasia for Mac in action? Check out this useful Overview Video. Or, you can check out our product tour here.

Getting Started

Ready to take Camtasia for Mac v1.0 on a test drive and kick the tires? Download a fully functional, 30 day copy of Camtasia for Mac here!

You'll find hours of free training here. And, like all TechSmith products, we offer free tech support here whether you're using the eval or whether you've purchased Camtasia for Mac. We stand by our products.

Making the Switch

Are you a veteran Camtasia Studio user and want to make the switch to Camtasia for Mac? You can check out some training videos to help you transition to Camtasia for Mac here.

One of the questions I've been hearing a lot is if you can share your recordings from Camtasia Studio on the PC with Camtasia for Mac? You can share your source files across products and platforms. Make sure you check out this tutorial about the Camtasia for Mac file formats and how to share files across computers here.

Another question I've heard is if you will be able to use the same license on both platforms, transfer it over or get credit? Well, Camtasia for Mac and Camtasia Studio are separate products that require separate licenses. As a special for our PC users, for a limited time, customers who already own a valid license for Camtasia Studio 6.0 or later are eligible for an additional discount on Camtasia for Mac. And, new customers purchasing Camtasia for both platforms are eligible for the same discount. If you have questions or are a Camtasia Studio v6 user that needs to request your discount, contact our Sales Department here

Is there a difference between Camtasia for Mac and Camtasia Studio?

Yes, Camtasia Studio for the PC and Camtasia for Mac are different. You can see what is different between the products here. Each product has some features the other doesn't. Why? Well, Camtasia for Mac is a new product. Camtasia Studio is over nine years old with years of growth and development under its belt. Camtasia for Mac has been and will continue to be built on to meet the specific needs of our users on the Mac platform. Since Camtasia for Mac seeks to solve the specific problems and needs of our Mac users, there are and will likely continue to be distinct differences between the features in the two products. However, you'll also notice some similarities. As always, developing our products is an ongoing conversation with you, our customer, so that we offer the best products to meet your needs. We are working very hard to ensure that our Mac versions of our products are not just PC software made for the Mac - we want our products to be the best in the market for visual communication solutions for the Mac.

System Requirements

Required: • Mac computer with an Intel processor • Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later • Quartz Extreme support • 1GB of RAM • Approximately 4GB of available disk space • QuickTime 7.5.5 or later • CD drive required for installation Recommended: • Mac computer with an Intel processor (dual core 2.0GHz or faster) • 2GB of RAM or greater • At least 4GB of disk space available for subsequent recordings

What's the word on the street?

Our beta testers put Camtasia for Mac through the paces. Here's what they had to say about Camtasia for Mac and some of their screencasts.

"Camtasia for Mac is as intuitive as a professional-grade screencasting software can be," said John Basile, team leader at Scraster Professional Screencasting. "It's amazingly well thought out and its performance--even since its beta stage--has proved flawless. Camtasia for Mac is a very welcomed game-changer in the world of screencasting." A Scraster screencast created with Camtasia for Mac can be viewed here.

"Camtasia for Mac has already been key to iPhone app marketing for Bickbot," said John Ellenich, lead designer for Bickbot.com. "It creates stunning screencasts of our apps, which helps us rise above other developers." A Bickbot.com screencast created with Camtasia for Mac of their new iPhone application, Strokes, can be viewed here.

I'd love to see what you create with Camtasia for Mac. Email me with a link to your screencast or post it in the blog comments!

We need your help

What next? Well, you tell us. That's where we need your help. We cannot develop products without you. Give Camtasia for Mac v1.0 a try and let us know what you think. We're listening - we need to know what you want and need in future versions. Please comment on the blog or send us feedback here.

So... what do you think of Camatsia for Mac?

Camtasia for Mac - Sneak Peek, Canvas

2009-08-19T19:08:29Z

Cross Posted from The Visual Lounge. I'll be sharing Betsy's posts here all week to keep everyone on the EDU side of things up to date on all things Camtasia:mac.

We're on day three of our sneak peek series for Camtasia for Mac. In just a few days, you'll be able to take Camtasia for Mac for a test drive and 'kick the tires'!

Today's sneak peek is about Camtasia for Mac's 'Canvas'. The Canvas is where you get to show off your creativity. You can resize your screencast by manipulating the canvas. Adding images and graphics to your screencast? You can drag them around the canvas to change the placement and resize them.

Camtasia for Mac always records at full screen, but you can easily resize your screencasts with the Canvas. And, with a click of the mouse you can easily hide everything but the desired window.

Check out the Canvas in action in the video below. The screencast runs less than a minute long.

Camtasia for Mac - Sneak Peek, Adding Polish

2009-08-18T18:20:36Z

Cross Posted from The Visual Lounge. I'll be sharing Betsy's posts here all week to keep everyone on the EDU side of things up to date on all things Camtasia:mac.

It's time for another sneak peek all about Camtasia for Mac!

One of the things that sets a good screencast apart from a great screencast is a little polish. After you've recorded your screencast, you can use Camtasia for Mac's sophisticated editing options to make your screencasts standout from the rest.

Whether you're new to screencasting or are an expert, Camtasia for Mac has great features and options for you. Camtasia for Mac gives you the freedom to add new content to your project and has the ability to add multiple audio tracks, and virtually unlimited video tracks to layer on images and additional video for depth, understanding and entertainment so your audience is engaged. And, the multiple audio and video tracks can be moved and edited independently so it's easy to update and add new elements while maintaining maximum creative control.

And, in Camtasia for Mac, you can use more advanced editing functions without having to worry about your existing audio, video and images getting out of sync.

Check out this screencast that shows you how to add polish to your screencasts with Camtasia for Mac. It's a short video that runs less than 40 seconds.

I hope you like what you see!

Camtasia for Mac - Sneak Peek, SmartFocus

2009-08-17T18:14:34Z

Cross Posted from The Visual Lounge. I'll be sharing Betsy's posts here all week to keep everyone on the EDU side of things up to date on all things Camtasia:mac.

I've never been good at keeping secrets. Even to this day, I still have a hard time keeping holiday gifts or other news as a secret - I just get so excited and have to share the good news!

So, blog readers, you get the benefit from my weakness! I'm going to let you in on a few secrets as we get closer to the launch of Camtasia for Mac on August 25.

Up first is a sneak peek of one of the new features in Camtasia for Mac - SmartFocus. Those of you familiar with Camtasia Studio on Windows will recognize this feature. Camtasia for Mac will also include TechSmith's patented SmartFocus technology.

How does SmartFocus work? You can record the whole screen while the SmartFocus technology keeps track where all the action happens during the recording behind the scenes. Then, when it's time to edit the video, SmartFocus automatically zooms in on the parts of the screen that I need to show which helps focus viewers attention. That means I can record full screen and deliver my screen recorded videos at any dimension with superb clarity at any size - whether it's for my blog, website, or an Apple mobile device like an iPhone.

SmartFocus is completely automatic, but if I choose, I can add and edit SmartFocus key frames for greater precision over zoom and pans, as well as edit key frames of any element on the timeline and change its location and properties over time. So, it can be automatic or customizable. Your choice.

It's great for creating dynamic screencasts or to highlight a particular section of your screen, or create a fly-over effect, or focus your viewer's attention for greater detail.

Want to see it in action? Check out this quick screencast. It is less than a minute long.

Look like a feature you'll use? What do you think?

Stay tuned... more news to come tomorrow. :-)

Lights, Camtasia, Action!

2009-08-14T13:25:00Z

Cross Posted from The Visual Lounge

We're busy working behind the scenes at TechSmith gearing up for the launch of Camtasia for Mac later this month! We're excited and hope you are too!

In the interim, I thought you might be curious about what kind of videos you'll be able to easily make with Camtasia for Mac. So, roll out the red carpet, grab some popcorn, and get comfortable... check out a screencast, Troy Stein, recently made using Camtasia for Mac.

Stay tuned... I'll be sharing more information and additional screencasts as we count down to the release of Camtasia for Mac on August 25!

Hi, I'm a Mac, and I have Camtasia...

2009-08-07T17:48:00Z

Cross posted from The Visual Lounge

You have probably already heard that we've been working on Camtasia for Mac. I'm happy to say that the wait is finally over ...well almost :-)

Camtasia for Mac will be available on August 25! Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing more information and details with you about the release.

Camtasia for Mac will have a special introductory price of $99, through the end of 2009. After that, the MSRP will be $149.

I've posted some preview screenshots of the UI (user interface) of Camtasia for Mac at the end of this blog post.

In the meantime, if you'd like to be alerted the minute Camtasia for Mac is available, please sign up here and we'll get the news to you as soon as possible. And, you can follow the news here on the blog and on twitter too.

Are you excited? Because we are! Thanks for all your feedback at tradeshows, events, via email, twitter, and blog about Camtasia for Mac. We could not have created it without your input and help! And, we look forward to more feedback from you - you make our products better!

Screenshot of Camtasia for Mac Editor:

Guest Post - Using Jing with Livescribe and a Document Camera (Tim Fahlberg)

2009-07-30T10:08:32Z

This is the first of what I hope to be many guest posts on this blog. Tim Fahlberg has been a great friend and supporter of TechSmith for years, so it seems very fitting that he is our first guest blogger. So without further ado, here is Tim to tell you about how he uses Jing with Livescribe and a document camera to create pencasts.

I'm a huge fan of Jing for educators, students, and anyone needing to quickly share a screen capture or quick recording. But when JingPro became available with its ability to record/produce mp4 screencasts I thought - Wow - now anyone can connect up a document camera with USB and easily share up to 5 minute recordings of anything that can be placed under the document camera.

So then I thought why not create a tutorial with JingPro showing how to create a pencast using the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen which captures writing and voice which can be replayed. In the same tutorial I could also show how the Smartpen can be synched so that the electronic ink can be uploaded and shared on Livescribe's site so that the voice and writing can be replayed on the web.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words and a screencast at least 10 times this many words, this will make more sense if you watch the JingPro screencast here:

It's also here: http://www.pencasts.org/blog/?p=32

Tools used for this screencast:

1. TechSmith JingPro & TechSmith Camtasia Studio. I used Camtasia Studio (with its new ability to edit mp4 files!) to merge/produce the two JingPro recordings because the entire production was over 5 minutes.

2. A Livescribe Pulse Smartpen & Livescribe notebook

3. An AVerMedia CP300 document camera

Creating & sharing mathcasts and screencasts in general can significantly improve student learning and teacher collaboration. Find more methods for creating & sharing mathcasts here: http://math247.pbworks.com/Make+your+own+mathcasts.

Building Learning Communities Conference / Contest Winners

2009-07-24T17:27:38Z

As mentioned last week, I'm heading to November Learning's 'Building Learning Communities' conference next week in Boston. After attending last year, this immediately became my favorite conference for K-12/Primary-Secondary education. The November Learning team does a fantastic job of pulling together the finest educators in the world and giving them a perfect forum to learn from each other. I'm especially excited because Eric Marcos will be joining us again, this time with two of his former students! Check out the full details of their presentation here

If you're not attending this year, I encourage you to follow the conference on the NL Connect Ning and on twitter #blc09 to see what it's all about.

To complete our 'Are Your Students Screencasting?' contest, I'd like to announce that we'll be giving free Jing Pro upgrades to ALL of the Michigan State University MAET students that participated in the Jing-Off! I look forward to seeing how they can make use of it in the classroom. Go Green!

Even though this particular contest is over, I'm always looking for great stories and examples of how you're using our products in education. Please keep them coming and let me know if you have any ideas for future contests.

Duke Students Use Jing for Peer Review

2009-07-22T15:13:51Z

The first winner of our "Are Your Students Screencasting" contest is Julie Reynolds of Duke University. To the left you'll see a photo of two Duke students working together late at night in the writing studio. This type of interaction is great, but may not always be possible. Here is what Julie has to say about how she and her students are using Jing to recreate this experience online:

"I teach writing-intensive courses for seniors writing honors theses in biology. To really learn to write clearly for an audience, students need to understand how readers interpret their writing, and the best way for them to learn those lessons is for them to talk with lots of readers. Face-to-face conferences are great, but when schedules do not permit those meetings, I have found that it is much better for me to talk about students' writing rather than simply to write comments in the margins. I have used podcasts to record comments, but found that Jing offers the visual elements that make these virtual conference more engaging for students. With Jing, I can highlight passages while I am talking about them, and students can see and hear my comments. My students also use Jing to comment on each others papers for peer review."

Here are some examples of the review process:

Peer Review http://www.screencast.com/t/YWtlJDSy
Teacher Review http://www.screencast.com/t/hpNnSiLl

Thanks again to Julie and everyone that submitted content for this contest. The other winners will be posted tomorrow and/or Friday. If you happen to have a great story that you can sneak in before tomorrow, you still have a chance to win! Check out the original post about the contest here.

TechSmith Edu Conference Schedule

2009-07-17T15:10:26Z

One of the great perks of my job is the chance to travel all over the country (and the world) to attend conferences and visit TechSmith customers. This privilege comes at a steep price though, as all of this travel leaves my office defenseless against the army of TechSmith office pranksters (My USB rocket launcher needs to start earning its keep). The image on the left is an example of what a few days out of the office can bring - all of my earthly possessions piled high in a shrink wrapped office chair.

In spite of the potential repercussions, I'll be heading back out on the road soon to attend a few conferences. Please stop by and say hello so I'll have a reason to believe that it was all worth it (as I spend hours getting my office back in shape). Here is a list of the conferences where you'll find me over the next few months. If you're in the area (but not attending the conference) please drop me a line and we can try to connect for coffee, dinner, beer, etc.

Building Learning Communities	Boston, MA	July 27-30
Campus Technology	Boston, MA	July 27-30
Distance Learning	Madison, WI	August 4-6
Conference on Information Technology	Detroit, MI	Oct 11-14
Educause	Nov 3-6	Denver, CO

I think this list is a little short, so please let me know what other educational technology conferences you think TechSmith should be exhibiting at (this year or next). We'll be adding more events to the list and your input is a very important factor in choosing what conferences we attend. Please post your suggestions in the comments below! You can also follow me on the road (and in the office) on twitter - @davemccollom

If you have any suggestions for non-education conferences and visits, you can leave a comment on The Visual Lounge Blog.