Accessibility Toolkit

The goal of the Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition is to provide resources for each content creator, instructional designer, educational technologist, librarian, administrator, and teaching assistant to create a truly open textbook—one that is free and accessible for all students.This is a collaboration between BCcampus, Camosun College, and CAPER-BC.

Adobe Connect

Adobe Connect is web-based conferencing software. It is similar to Zoom, but also permits a high degree of customization in terms of the layout of the virtual room, with the ability to use additional windows or pods for discussion, polls, Q&A, etc. It also allows interface with apps. A product video is available here: https://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro is a pro-level timeline-based video editing software application. It is affordably bundled for students and educators (USD $20/mo.) with the entire collection (Acrobat, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.) of 20+ Creative Cloud apps.  https://www.adobe.com/ca/products/catalog.html

Animoto

Animoto is a cloud-based video creation service that produces video from photos, video clips, and music into video slideshows, and customized web-based presentations. https://animoto.com/

Articulate Storyline 360

Storyline 360 is an elearning authoring tool that is designed by Articulate.  Storyline 360 is the newest version of the industry standard software for creating elaerning for devices ranging from smartphones, tablets, and computers.

Audacity

Audacity is a free opensource tool to record, edit and mix sounds. This program can be used to add voice-over narration into videos. The first version was released in May 2000.  This year Audacity is celebrating its twentieth birthday. Audacity is currently ranked on Jane Hart’s Top 200 Teaching Technologies. This technology can be used to help support the production of digital storytelling.

Bubbl

Bubbl.us makes it easy to organize your ideas visually in a way that makes sense to you and others. Our editor is designed to help you stay on task and capture your thoughts quickly. Thousands of people use Bubbl.us daily to take notes, brainstorm new ideas, collaborate, and present more effectively.  https://bubbl.us/

Canva

Canva is a graphic design platform that provides users with the ability to design and create any type of graphic for any type of media. Examples range from social media graphics for Instagram and Facebook, PowerPoint-style presentations, posters and infographics, and other visual content. The application is available on the web and mobile.

As with many graphic design platforms, Canva offers professionally designed templates where users can edit as well as upload photos and other graphics using their drag and drop interface. They offer a plethora of free and premium photos at a cost Canva has a free basic subscription. Canva Pro and Canva for Enterprise subscriptions offer additional features and functionality and offers a 30-day free trial

Canvas

Canvas is a learning management system (LMS).  It is a powerful, user-friendly tool for supporting teaching and learning that allows instructors to be even more creative and efficient in how they teach.  It replaced Connect as the LMS of choice for UBC.

You can learn more about this LMS here https://community.canvaslms.com/

Cram

Cram has a wide selection of flashcards for study, memorize, test, and more. Learners can learn a foreign language, practice their multiplication table or prepare for their MCAT by memorizing every bone in the body.

Cram also has a large app store so you can find other mobile flashcards for your Android, iPhone or Windows device, allowing you to take your flashcards on the go!

With Cram.com, you can use a web-based flashcard maker to create your own set. Once you create your online flashcards, you will be able to study, export or even share it with your fellow classmates. You can collaborate perfectly with anyone, anytime.

https://www.cram.com/

Fleeq

Fleeq is a tool to make short videos from assembling a number of screen shots.  For each screen shot, you can put in a caption or add an audio file onto to it.  Then the platform makes it into a video.  You do not even have to use your own voice since Fleeq provides a number of voice over options.

https://www.fleeq.io/index.php

Flipgrid

Flipgrid is a social learning platform where a teacher can pose a question and students respond in a video. Students can respond to one another creating a “web” of discussion. It’s free for educators and students to use.

Google Meet

https://meet.google.com

Google meet is an online video meeting platform. It is similar to Zoom but is used in conjunction with many of the other google apps. It can be used on a computer, phone, iPad etc.

HiHaHo

HiHaHo lets you create interactive videos for e-learning.

https://www.hihaho.com/

Hypothes.is

Hypothes.is is an open platform that allows users to annotate and collaborate on any website. For educators, digital annotation can foster conversation and collaboration on understanding readings, critical thinking and more engaged reading of digital texts. Free to use. There is also an app that works with LMS and be part of a graded activity.

Jing

Jing is a screen-casting computer program launched in 2007 as Jing Project by the TechSmith Corporation . The software takes a picture or video of the user’s computer screen and uploads it to the Web, FTP, computer or clipboard. If uploaded to the web, the program automatically creates a URL to the content so it can be shared with others.

https://jing.en.softonic.com/

Kahoot!

“Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform, used as educational technology in schools and other educational institutions. Its learning games, “Kahoots”, are multiple-choice quizzes that allow user generation and can be accessed via a web browser or the Kahoot app.”

Kahoot! can be used as a pre-assessment, formative assessment or for just a fun break from the class activities.

Kahoots create great classroom competition with students trying to beat each other in a real time application.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahoot! 

Kaltura

Kaltura is a cloud-based web service which facilitates the distribution of various audio, video and image media formats. It allows instructors to create, upload, manage, publish, and deliver high-quality video and share it with their students.

Students are also able to create and submit video assignments, contribute to a course media gallery, and receive audio or video feedback on their work. Some institutional subscriptions include a front-facing institutional video portal, similar to YouTube, where students and faculty can watch, upload and share videos with others.

Live Transcribe

Live Transcribe is an app that provides free, real-time, speech-to-text transcriptions to make everyday conversations more accessible among people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing, using just your Android phone.  Live Transcribe shows speech and sound as text on your screen, so you can participate in conversations going on in the world around you more easily. You can type responses on the screen, get alerted when your name is spoken, and search within transcriptions.

Loom

Loom is a free video recording application. You can get the professional version for free if you’re a teacher or student.
The interface is very straightforward and can be mastered with minimal effort. Creates great looking videos.

How to use Loom for screen and video recording

Mentimeter

Mentimeter is an educational tool for adding interaction into courses or presentations. An instructor can use it to survey participants, create word clouds, and make quizzes.  All of this can be viewed in real time.

It is useful for adding interactivity in courses with a large number of participants. It is equally useful in giving presentations so that audiences can participate as well.

MindMup

https://www.mindmup.com/

Mindmup is a free mindmapping software, where you can create, store, and share mindmaps as a way to take notes or outline structure/storyboards. Images and audio can be embedded in the mindmap. Perhaps more intuitive for mindmapping than Prezi. Collaboration features are possible with a paid account.

moodle

moodle (modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment) is a learning management system that offers a range of features and activities that lend themselves to creating an effective online or blended learning environment. As a learning platform, moodle provides opportunity to incorporate diverse pedagogical principles into a course’s learning design. Moodle was developed to support the creation of online learning founded on interaction and collaborative learning. Example activities include:

• • Assignments
• • Quizzes
• • Forums
• • Games
• • Kaltura Video Assignments
• • Journals
• • Glossaries
• • Wikis

Padlet

Padlet is a great way to collaborate with peers or your students in a fun, convenient way. You can create your own padlet boards for free at https://padlet.com/ and then have others post/respond in real time. It mimics what a discussion board does, but really ups the creativity aspect with images, gifs, and videos. A quick glance at the board can let an educator know how things are trending and which issues need to be addressed.

Pecha Kucha

PechaKucha (Japanese for “chit chat”) is the world’s fastest-growing storytelling platform, used by millions around the globe.

PechaKucha is what “Show and Tell” always dreamed of becoming. 20 slides. 20 seconds of commentary per slide. That’s it. Simple. Engaging.

https://www.pechakucha.com/

Pexels

Pexels is a free stock photo and video website and app that helps anyone who is looking for visuals that can be easily downloaded.

Pexels provides high quality, free images that are all tagged and easily searchable.  These images are great to include in an eLearning course and can help boost retention and break down complex issues.

Pocket

Pocket is a tool that allows you to save interesting articles, videos and more from the web for later enjoyment.

Once saved to Pocket, the list of content is visible on any device — phone, tablet or computer. It can be viewed while waiting in line, on the couch, during commutes or travel — even offline.  Also, instead of reading the articles you saved you could listen to them, so you can prepare dinner while listening to “Eight Roles of an Effective Online Teacher” or something else!

Podbean

 Podbean is simple and easy way to start your own successful podcast. There is no difficult technology to learn, its free, and has a App that is compatible with any phone, so you can stream or download your content anytime. You can post subject matter on your own Podcast for your class , or have projects where students develop their own podcast, instead of an essay etc.
https://www.podbean.com/

Poll Everywhere

Poll everywhere is a great way to interact with students and get live feedback to your questions. It is a plug-in you can download and use in Powerpoint. You can create a wide range of question types including, multiple choice, open-ended, click-able pictures and more! You can instantly see and share the results of the answers, but all answers are anonymous. Students don’t need to create an account, which is a benefit in terms of privacy issues. I really like it and find it is more useful and adaptable than Kahoot!

https://www.polleverywhere.com/

Powertalk

Automatic speech for PowerPoint presentations.

PowerTalk is a free program that automatically speaks any presentation or slide show running in Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows.

You just download and install PowerTalk and while you open and run the presentation as usual it speaks the text on your slides. The advantage over other generic ‘Text To Speech’ programs is that PowerTalk is able to speak text as it appears and can also speak hidden text attached to images.

Speech is provided by the synthesised computer voices that are provided with Windows 7, Vista and XP, and other voices are available. PowerTalk uses PowerPoint supplied with Microsoft Office to show the presentation.

PowerTalk was created in response to an open letter calling for help from a person with Asphasia. This appeared in Ability magazine, ‘Campaigning for Accessible IT’ published by John Lamb Media for the British Computer Society Disability Group in association with AbilityNet.

The OATSoft website is home to PowerTalk and many other Open Source Assistive Technology Software (OATS) projects.

Features.

• • Aids you if you have difficulty speaking or you have an audience that contains people with sight problems (visual impairments, low vision or blind) or who have dyslexia;
• • Helps you access presentations when there is no speaker and you are partially sighted;
• • Creates engaging school activities such as reading stories created by students;
• • Simple to use as you just select a presentation and it runs in PowerPoint as usual;
• • Speaks the text on any presentation and uses standard Windows speech;
• • Waits for text to appear and animation effects to play before speaking;
• • Will speak hidden ‘alternative text’ for pictures, graphics shapes and text;
• • Lets you add instant narration to presentations without the need to record speech;
• • Is a useful tool for testing presentation accessibility when using a screen reader;

http://fullmeasure.co.uk/powertalk/#operation

Powtoon

PowToon is a web-based animation software that allows users to create animated presentations by manipulating pre-created objects, imported images, provide music and user created voice-overs.  Through my research, PowToon was recommended by a friend because of the templated illustrations and animation, and because I have no background in designing or animating. For anyone with no animation background, you can produce a professional-looking animated educational video that can be posted on Facebook, send to family and friends, or share with fellow students. Adult learners love animated videos in the classroom and PowToon videos would be a great visual supporting tool for your course. To be useful in your course, you could use your own voice which gives a personal relationship with your learners. To improve learner’s engagement including class discussion, you could have guiding questions to consider while watching so it would not be a passive experience.  An example of PowToon

Play Video

https://www.powtoon.com/

Quizlet

Quizlet is flashcard creator, that is, you put a term on one side and the answer on the other.  After you create your deck of flashcards you can:

• • Share them on Twitter or Facebook
• • Send a link to the deck to your students
• • Add them to a class or folder (if you are set up as a teacher)

In addition to reviewing the flashcards, Quizlet provides some additional options:

• • Learn – you are provided a term and you must type the answer
• • Spell – type what you hear
• • Test – fill in the blanks, multiple choice, true/false
• • Match – an interactive activity to drag one term over to its match
• • Gravity – an interactive active to type the answer before the term drops to the earth
• • Live – a way to invite students into a competitive game

https://quizlet.com/

Renderforest

Renderforest is a cloud based platform that allows users to create their own video’s, animation, company logo’s, and websites. It has several templates to select from, can be customized and branded, and has an easy user interface. It can be used to create video’s for course introductions, overviews and wrap-up, how to demo’s, and much more. It’s a fun way to present concepts.

Source: https://www.renderforest.com/

Sceencast-o-Matic

Screencast-O-Matic, is a free and easy video recording and editing tool. You can capture any area of your screen and add your own audio narration or video. It is very useful for recording lectures, tutorials, demos, etc. You can post your own videos for students, or have students make their own videos as part of a project.

https://screencast-o-matic.com/

Scribbr

Website to improve your thesis or dissertation proofreading and editing. It also has plagiarism checker and citation generator.  https://www.scribbr.com/

Slido

Slido is an easy-to-use Q&A and polling platform for meetings and events. You can set up a Slido event in less than a minute while all the participants need to join the conversation, is a simple event code.

 Link to Slido.docx

Tech Smith

Tech Smith has a number of programs that feature screen capture, video recording and video editing.

From their website:

• • Snagit – “Robust capture and recording with built-in image editing and video trimming”
• • Camtasia – “Screen recording, simplified video editing, and drag-and-drop effects”
• • Relay – “Powerful LMS integration, in-video quizzes, closed captioning, and more”

The Relay program features data gathering for improving areas of weakness, as well as finding which ares students are most engaged in.

Source: https://www.techsmith.com/

Trello

Trello is a project management app which allows you to share a project or a workflow with others. In the app, you would create a project and add boards. Each of these boards can then include “cards” which can consist of lists, processes, timelines etc. These boards and cards can be shared publicly or privately with others who are on the same project.

This could be useful for any educators who are working on a project, such as curriculum development. Alternatively, students involved in Project Based Learning could also experiment with using it as well.

Twitter

Although Twitter is a social media platform and not necessarily an eLearning tool it is an amazing tool to find all sorts of interesting information from the #eLearning community and follow your favourite teachers/mentors/institutions/lists.

Often the latest, greatest is “released” there before anywhere else.

The VCC Twitter handle is @myVCC

Video Scibe

Video Scribe is an easy to use eLearning tool which uses a Whiteboard style video to tell your story or share your message. This software can create hand-drawn, animated explainer videos. The pictures and text are drawn out in sequence on a virtual whiteboard for a uniquely engaging visual effect.

Vyond

Vyond’s online animation software allows your business to easily create professional animated videos for all industries in job roles like marketing, training, and eLearning. Vyond is changing the way the world communicates, one video at a time.

 Vyond image.jpg

Zoom

Zoom is an online platform that easy to use and works on mobile devices (Android & iOS). That means you don’t have to be attached to your laptop or computer. This cloud video conferencing tool allows teams/groups to have meetings and webinars. The platform even has conference rooms for teams to use as required.