Introduction

The use of multimedia to assist in the teaching of engineering and other fields is nothing new. What is new is the fact that you no longer need specialists and experts to get the job done. The tools are now so powerful, and have filtered down to such simplified personal versions that even the novice and inexperienced, that’s us, can use them effectively.

The purpose of today’s presentation is not to show you how to use these tools, although I will briefly demonstrate some of their uses, but rather to show you what one engineering prof with no media training can do with them. I also hope to show you why I think they are the wave of the future, and that those who actively resist their use are in error.

I would first like to discuss with you the different types I have found invaluable.

PowerPoint

Probably the oldest and most popular of the multi-media tools, Death by Power Point is commonly used by all. Students invariably moan whenever I crank up a Power Point presentation. However, with a mix of limited use and live discussion, it is still an extremely useful means of getting information across to the students. The limitations are obvious: the ability to overrun even the best student with content, the inability of the student to go back and see missed materials, improper pacing, monotony, etc.

What appears less widely known, is that Power Point has the ability to include both audio and video content which make it especially effective, especially for students who miss the original lecture for whatever reason.

(Demonstration of generating audio and video segments in Power Point)

Our department uses these as a method of presenting information to our students when they miss critical meetings. For example, we hold 5 pre-registration meetings each semester to familiarize every student with general university rules regarding the courses they must take. For example, some catalogs require two social science classes, one upper level, and one lower division in same department. Then it changed to any level. Then in Catalog 123 they were only required to take one social science with the other social science class replaced by a technical elective. It can get quite messy getting the student to take the correct courses, and oh how they cry when they take a course that no longer counts towards their degree.

But getting all of them to come to the meetings is impossible. So, we put it on the web for those who don’t come to the live meeting.

http://lowery/Advising/PreregistrationBriefings/PreregBriefingfor05a_files/frame.htm

So now when the student comes into my office because he missed the advising meeting, I just refer him to the web site.

An extremely powerful and valuable tool.

Video Tapes

Video tapes of meetings, conferences, short courses, and workshops, can easily be presented over the web for generations to come. Five years ago we developed a set of engineering review presentations for Fort Hood, to assist their personnel in passing the Fundamentals of Engineering examination, and the Professional Engineering exam. After completion of the course we digitized the tapes and streamed them over the web. They are still in use today by TAMU students and by other students all over the world. We currently get email from students from other universities and countries thanking us for the ability to review this material for free. Also, engineers at numerous companies working towards professional registration use them for review, and professional engineers who are already licensed use them to fulfill their continuing education requirements. At any time, between 30 and 40 people can be found viewing these materials.

http://engineeringregistration.tamu.edu

And how difficult was this? Not at all. You need a computer (duh), a video tape player, and a video capture card. I paid about $300 for mine 5 years ago. Today a card of that quality sells for $20. You can spend perhaps $100 if you want all the bells and whistles. You simply plug the capture card into your computer, install the software, plug in the tape player, turn it all on and capture the tape as an .avi file. You then put that file on your website and add a link from your home page to it. Then whenever someone clicks on it, Windows Media Player plays it on their computer.

As another example, this clip was recorded from the TV and played in class for my economics exam:

http://lowery.tamu.edu/things%20that%20never%20change/Camtasia/LeaseFee/NissanLease2fps.html

Amazing.

Now there are many things you can also do to improve things, but that can always wait until you get better at this game. For example, the .avi file is BIG. I mean BIG. And so it takes up a lot of your disk space, and is rather slow getting from your computer to the person watching it. To help, you can buy programs designed to compress the file to perhaps 1/20^th of its original size, with very little loss in clarity. One of these programs is Real Networks Producer.

http://forms.real.com/rnforms/products/tools/producerbasic/index.html

And how much does this little jewel cost? Nada. Zip. They do sell a Plus version for $199 with more capabilities, but again, that can wait.

The output of this program converts dogs.avi to dogs.rm, and as before you simply put the resulting compressed file on your web site and link it from your home page. When someone clicks on it, it plays.

(Demonstration of Real Producer)

You probably noticed that to get good use of the tapes, you needed to run the talking heads adjacent to the course notes, since the notes in the video are probably too small to read. However, Real Plus has the ability to put the notes and the video, or the talking head and the Power Point presentation, side by side.

http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/emerging_technology.html

Just look at the increase in clarity over what we got 5 years ago in the FE presentations, and these done last year. These were produced with a standard digital video camera, and a graduate student.

Requirements: computer, digital video camera, video capture board, Real Plus Producer.

Amazing.

Microsoft Netmeeting

This morning at 8:30, Dr. Pierce Cantrell sat in Corpus Christi Texas and using about $100,000 worth of equipment, welcomed this seminar. And at 9:00 a.m. Tim Chester, using similar equipment, taught a session on Computer Assisted Interactive Classroom Education. From Doha, Qatar.

Now as amazing as that all sounds, let me go them one better.

Last month, Lee Lowery taught a 1 hour seminar on the ethics involved in the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse to an Architectural Construction class at Auburn University.

Using a $30 personal web cam, over standard internet lines. They watched and heard me using a standard computer projector. I watched and heard them on my computer screen and speakers.

We have been doing this every year now for 5 years and it gets better every year, although it worked quite well the first time we tried it. Every year they save $1000 in plane fare, hotel bills, and expenses, and I save untold time away from work.

Camtasia (TechSmith) Captivate (Macromedia)

This program, and others like it, are some of the neatest things you will ever see. They let you easily demonstrate to your students how to work their homework, or how to use the computer, or just about anything.

Demonstration of Camtasia

How nifty!

You can find additional information at http://www.techsmith.com

And how much? Free for faculty and staff at TAMU since we have a license. See:

http://stat.tamu.edu/camatasia

If it won’t let you in and says there is a security problem, you probably are not logging in from TAMU, or a TAMU recognized site. Call the statistics department and ask them what to do.

Flash

This is the most sophisticated of the programs I have found, and is right on the edge of usefulness. It takes a knowledgeable programmer to make this thing work, and although they are available, it can prove agonizingly slow and tedious. Weeks can go by without any apparent progress on a project, and suddenly it all just seems to work. This is definitely not for the weak of heart, nor the thin of pocketbook, but the results can be truly astounding. We spent two years on the following modules before we ran out of money and willingness to put any more effort in it.

http://www.foundationcoalition.org/resources/modules/index.html

http://www.foundationcoalition.org/home/keycomponents/emerging_technology.html

http://www.foundationcoalition.org/resources/ce/strengthofmaterials/StrengthofMaterials.html

http://www.foundationcoalition.org/lines/influence.php

Regardless of the difficulty, these modules are used year after year by numerous students to practice with the concepts presented, with great effectiveness.

In Summary

These programs are inexpensive, easy to use, useful for reinforcing material. They are useful for students needing continuing practice; useful for assisting students who did not make it to lectures or could not keep up with the lectures. They require little effort and have an amazingly long half-life.

The down sides: I have been told by several people that if such materials become available to the student that they would stop coming to class. I have even been told that the professor would stop coming to class. I don’t believe it.