Author Stream: Upload PowerPoint Presentations

http://www.authorstream.com/

Author STREAM is a new app that allows you to quickly and easily upload PowerPoint presentations no matter what size. You can upload to share on MP3s, iPods, You Tube, Blogs and Websites, or, by using the Present Live link, you can share and discuss the PowerPoint with participants live and interactively. They can also participate in a live chat area.

You can use authorSTREAM to:

• Create e-learning content created with PowerPoint.
• To publish reports with audio-visual slideshows created with PowerPoint.
• Embed PowerPoint presentations in your blog or website.
• Convert and download them as video or share on iPods, iPhones and YouTube.
• Find, browse and download PowerPoint presentations created by other members.

Present Live link:
Another excellent tool on this site is Present Live!  It allows you upload your PPT and share it with colleagues world wide in real time. Participants can also respond in real time. A video explanation is available on the Authorstream site. See below:

Just upload your PowerPoint presentation and share the 'Present Live' link with your contacts.
All your contacts can then watch and discuss the same presentation. You can click through the slides and everyone attending will be on the same slide. Animations work the same way as in your PowerPoint file. Chat with attendees in a common chat area.

Call them on your favorite VoIP application like Skype or using the good old conference call and voila, you are in a live web meeting. And yes, Present Live is free for authorSTREAM members!

Commentary: Sotir: Syncing Technology Effectively

An instructor stopped into my office this morning to borrow a digicamcorder, and said she was having some problems with the video output of the CDs that she burns for her students. Students record their speeches using a digicamcorder, and then she reviews them and adds comments. While she has a clean recording (using Windows Movie Maker) at home, there are clicks and pauses when it is played back on other computers. I suggested that she look to the Web as a better tool and upload the videos to a site such as Teacher Tube (www.teachertube.com). There is a new video on Teacher Tube discussing just that subject:

TeacherTube Tips: Creating and Uploading Reliably! (http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=385758d31890a4bca996)

Here is the Teacher Tube intro:
Having trouble uploading to TeacherTube? I do. But I found a couple of things that make both creating and uploading far more dependable.
- Using Windows MovieMaker, choosing the right settings to save your movie will make it much more likely to upload smoothly to TeacherTube.
- Long uploads tend to timeout on TeacherTube. But logging in in another tab of the browser keeps you logged in to finish your upload!

For her purposes, I suggested she create a class Blog to allow students to easily view the finished portfolios as a group.

Another option, if video is not always necessary, is to use a simple podcasting site like Gabcast (www.gabcast.com). This will give the students an opportunity to listen to and review their pronunciation and only requires a telephone and a computer. It's quick, easy and effective.

The advantage of both of these methods is that students would have access to the speeches on the Web, instead of via a CD or DVD. It's great that instructors are moving more into 2.0 but the key is syncing all of the technologies used effectively. There are new Web tools being developed daily, and if older technologies are proving problematic, it pays to search for more effective solutions. I'll keep adding the to list this on the 'Tech Tools Recommended' listing in the right hand column of this Blog.