Unsupported Tools

The following is a list of tools that can be used to increase student engagement and enhance course content. These tools are not supported by the University of Redlands and there is no formal support system in place. However, Instructional Designers are available to consult with faculty to discuss potential tools (both supported and unsupported) on a course-by-course basis. 

Additionally, YouTube.com hosts a variety of tutorials associated with many of the tools listed below for those that would like to learn more on their own time. Schedule a consultation with an Instructional Designer from the Instructional Technology Team today to discuss your technology tool options!

Powtoon and WeVideo

Animated videos tools allow you to create animated and sometimes interactive presentations. Rather than creating a slideshow to display static information, an animated video tool is similar to creating a short video that will automatically “play” the information that the author has created. Most animated video tools allow the author to add music, images, videos, photos, voice over, and animated writing to their presentations.

Powtoon - Brings Awesomeness to your presentations

Powtoon is a brand new presentation tool that allows you to create animated presentations and cartoon style videos just by dragging and dropping.

Canva, Piktochart, and Visme

Infographics are visual representations of information. These visual representations utilize images and graphs to more effectively display numerical data. Infographics have the potential to compress and display information in an visually appealing manner, which often is more easily comprehended.

Infographics are intended to communicate a message, while at the same time presenting and analyzing data in a creative fashion. This type of graphic can be successfully created by remembering that infographics should be simple, have data boundaries, be visually appealing, and be verifiable.

Create Easy Infographics, Reports, Presentations | Piktochart

 

Socrative

Great courses usually involve formative assessment to help determine if learning objectives are being met. Many educators find both surveys and quizzes an accurate way to determine if the content has been learned or if additional resources need to be directed to this effort. Socrative is a web-based tool that allows participants to text their answers with their cell phones or to respond via any web-enabled device.

Screencast-o-matic

Create screencast videos with a screen recorder. It’s fast, free and easy to use! Capture your screen, add a webcam and use narration to customize your video. https://screencast-o-matic.com

Kahoot!

Make learning awesome! Kahoot is a game-based learning and trivia platform used in classrooms, offices and social settings around the world. Kahoot! makes it easy to create, play and share learning games in minutes, on any topic. When you play a kahoot in a live setting, questions appear on a shared screen and players answer on their mobile phones or personal devices

Lightboard

The Lightboard (a.k.a. learning glass) is a transparent glass whiteboard that allows instructors to record video lectures facing the camera (and their students). Instructors record facing the camera, and software flipped the image so writing appears readable. Iridescent dry erase markers are lit up causing the instructor's writing to glow and become highly visible. Faculty can use this to record video lectures in math, biology, physics, foreign language, etc.

Faculty interested in using a Lightboard should consult their department as there are costs (approximately $8,000) to set one up. The university does not have funds to supply this but interested faculty could consider applying for an emerging technology grant to digitize their course. To learn more about the Lightboard, visit https://lightboard.info