Overview

Before you ever begin creating content for online distribution, there are a few things you should know...

Consider these questions:

• Do your students have access to the same software you use to create course content?
• Do they have access to a fast Internet connection?

If the answer was "No," or "I don't know," then there may be a potential problem for distribution of content to your students. This site presents baseline knowledge that you should be aware of if you are teaching partially or completely online courses. In addition to presenting potential problems, this site also demonstrates possibilites for audio and video distribution.

What type of content do you want to distribute?

The following options represent the different types of software used to prepare content that you can distribute online. There are advantages and disadvantages (pitfalls) associated with most types of content intended for Web distribution. It is the intent of this site help you become better informed about preparing online content. Click on your area of interest. Be absolutely SURE to read through the topics under Important Concepts! Comments or questions? Email Raleigh Way at the Center for Excellence in Teaching: rway@georgiasouthern.edu

Microsoft Office Products: Word, PowerPoint, Excel

Introduction to Microsoft Office

Georgia Southern University has a site license for Microsoft Office products, which means that faculty and staff may install the program on any or all computers at work, and may install a copy on their home office computer. No other office suite software is supported. The site license does not cover student use of the software at home. Students who are required to use Microsoft software will have to use it on a campus machine or buy the software for their home computer.

Choose Software You Would Like to Learn About:

Microsoft Word
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Word

The option in the table with the salmon color background is recommended.

Microsoft Word as itself (.doc)

"Do my students have access to the Microsoft software at home or on campus?"If you use Microsoft products to create content for your classes, you will have to a ask the question: "Do my students have access to the Microsoft software at home?" If the answer is no, then there is a barrier between your course content and the students' ability to access the content. Fortunately, Microsoft has free "viewers" that can be downloaded and installed on most machines. This will allow anyone to view the document, but not edit it. If you choose this approach, you should tell your students where they can download the Microsoft viewers. Be aware that there are a number of Microsoft product versions in use. The viewer that your students download and install should match the version of the software on your machine used to create the documents. Having the viewers only solves half of the problem: How do YOU open documents that your students send you? Read on...

MS Word as Rich Text Format (.rtf)

More than likely, your students are using a word processor other than MS Word.MS Word does not necessarily ship with all computers. A lot of computers ship with MS Works (not Word). MS Word files (.doc) cannot be opened with MS Works and vice versa. More than likely, your students are using a word processor other than MS Word. To get around this problem, you and your students could save documents as Rich Text Format (.rtf). Any word processor (well, almost any...) is capable of opening a file saved in this format. See how to save a file in Rich Text Format. To use this approach, you will need to tell your students to save any text-based files they create as Rich Text Format. Images are preserved in Rich Text Formatted documents. Be aware that Rich Text Formatted documents can be edited by the students.

There is a slight chance that converting from Word to Rich Text Format will not work as expected. Tables, tabs, bullets, and other functions might not convert well from Word to RTF. If this happens, consider converting the original document to PDF (See below).

MS Word as a Web Page (.html)

There is a slight chance that MS Word files converted to HTML might not display or print correctly for your students.Most word processors can save a file as HTML, which is a simple "Save as..." command under the file menu. Since HTML is the "language of the Web," this might seem like the first choice for distributing content to your students via the Web. Let's examine this a little closer.

HTML pages are viewed in browsers like Internet Explorer, Netscape and others. In fact, there are a LOT of browsers out there, and you never know who is using what browser. The problem is that no two browsers display or "render" a Web page the same way. If you've had the experience of viewing a specific Web site in different browsers, you might have noticed that the site looked slightly different depending on which browser you were using. The companies who build the browsers, Microsoft, Netscape, and others, do not always adhere to the same "building standards." In fact, there has been much rivalry (also know as "browser wars") between the browser manufacturers, especially Microsoft and Netscape. So why am I telling you all of this? There is a slight chance that MS Word files converted to HTML might not display or print correctly for your students especially if they are using a browser other than Internet Explorer. Also, converting a word processor file to HTML can cause major formatting problems. For example, text, images and tabs can go haywire and look, well... downright ugly! If you convert Word documents to HTML, test them from the Web and in different browsers before you unleash your pages on your students. If this happens, consider converting the original document to PDF (See below).

To sum this up, saving Word documents as HTML does not always work well, and you might have to edit the resulting HTML file in an HTML editor. If you would like to try this, use the File > Save as Web Page feature in MS Word.

MS Word as an Adobe Acrobat File (.pdf)

If you have tried saving a Word document as Rich Text Format and/or a Web page, and you find that it does not work well, you should consider converting the document to a PDF file. A PDF is an image of your document. The resulting file may then be opened using Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is a free download from Adobe's Web site.

To learn more about PDF documents, please see the Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional information.

MS PowerPoint

PowerPoint is frequently used to combine pictures and text for a presentation or slide show. Faculty and students use it to accompany an oral presentation in face-to-face settings. It has also become common practice to distribute PowerPoint via the Web. As with MS Word, if the students don't have MS PowerPoint available to them, they will not be able to open the file. There are several ways you can work around this, but each has inherent problems . Each will be discussed below.

The option in the table with the salmon color background is recommended.

PowerPoint as Itself (.ppt)

If the student does not have PowerPoint installed, they can go to Microsoft's site to download and install a PowerPoint viewer. The student must install the correct version of the viewer, which is determined by the version of PowerPoint you used to create your presentation. If you used transitions and special effects in your slides, they will be preserved when viewed either in PowerPoint or the viewer.

PowerPoint saved as Rich Text Format (.rtf)

PowerPoint can be saved as a Rich Text Format file, but it will loose all images. The result will be an outline with just text. This may not be desirable if you inserted images in your presentation.

PowerPoint saved as HTML (.html)

PowerPoint can be saved as HTML. There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach. The obvious advantage is that your PowerPoint can be viewed as HTML on the Web. The not-so-obvious disadvantage is that it does not always always work well in certain browsers. Also, the process of converting a PowerPoint to HTML produces a LOT of supporting files. These files have to be "zipped" up using a program like WinZip, which is no longer free, or IZArc, which is free, and uploaded to the Web. (Macintosh computers have a built-in zip program.) This process can be somewhat daunting at first.

Once the files are up on the Web, your students can click through a series of slides. If you incorporated slide transitions, sounds, and other effects, the resulting HTML version will not retain them. Only images and text will be preserved. View a PowerPoint that was converted to HTML. Try viewing it in different browsers. This is pretty nifty if it works for your students.

PowerPoint saved as PDF (.pdf)

You may convert your PowerPoint to a PDF file. Students will be able to view the file using Adobe Acrobat Reader. Transitions, special effects, etc., will not be preserved. To learn more about PDF documents, please see the Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional information on this page.

PowerPoint with audio and Impatica

Impatica is software that turns your PowerPoints with audio into presentations that can be viewed over the Internet. No special plug-in is required to view the presentation; however, it does require that Java be enabled in the browser. The Center for Excellence in Teaching has a license for Impatica, which faculty and staff are welcomed to use. Impatica is explained in more detail under the topic heading "Audio and Video Software."

See Impatica in action

MS Excel

Excel is a spreadsheet program used mainly for performing mathematical calculations on rows or columns of numbers. Quite possibly colleges or schools in the university where Excel is taught will require their students to have access to or own a copy of Excel. This would greatly reduce the need to convert spreadsheets to alternate formats for distribution; however, there could be times when this is unavoidable.

The option in the table with the salmon color background is recommended if you are teaching a class that uses Excel, otherwise PDF might be a better option if you are simply distributing information, and are not concerned about spreadsheet functionality.

Excel saved as Itself (.xls)

The native format for Excel files is XLS. These files can be opened with Excel or the Excel viewer. If your students use the viewer, they will need to download and install the version that matches the version of the software that you used to create the Excel file. Students will only be able to view the file.

Excel Saved as CSV (.csv)

CSV is an acronym for Comma Separated Variable. Spreadsheet data can be saved as a CSV file and opened in just about any other spreadsheet program. If formulas were used in the original spreadsheet, they will be lost when the document is saved as CSV leaving only the numbers that were in the rows and columns.

Excel saved as HTML (.html)

Excel spreadsheets may be saved as HTML, which becomes a static Web page, i.e., your audience will only be able to view it. If you add colors and borders to the cells of the Excel file, they will be preserved upon conversion to HTML.

Excel Saved as PDF (.pdf)

You may convert your Excel file to a PDF file. Students will be able to view the file using Adobe Acrobat Reader. To learn more about PDF documents, please see the Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional information on this page.

HTML Editors

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the language of the Web. It works naturally and easily in all browsers. Using an HTML editor is a lot like using a word processor. You don't have to know anything about HTML code, and if all you are doing is typing text, then there is no difference between an HTML editor and a word processor.

I will review four Web page editors below.

The options in the table with the salmon color background are recommended.

Netscape Composer

If you have Netscape on your machine, you have Composer, Netscape's free, built-in Web page editor. If you don't have Netscape on your machine, you can download Netscape 7.2 here. To open Composer, open Netscape then go to Window > Composer. Composer will open. The interface of composer looks a lot like any Word processor. You may begin typing or you my cut and paste text from another document. If you are just starting out learning how to do Web pages, Composer is the way to go. You can learn to use it in less time than any of the other programs listed below. The skills you learn using Composer are transferable to other Web page editors.

Microsoft FrontPage

FrontPage is a Web page editor that is a bit more powerful than Composer. The console (interface) looks and works a lot like Microsoft Word. (Site license; available for office and home use for faculty. It is installed in student computer labs, but not available to students for home use.)

Dreamweaver is a high end Web page editor. It is favored by Web design professionals. It is more powerful than Composer or FrontPage. If all you are doing is creating small sites or text content for your courses, Composer or FrontPage is sufficient. One reason you might want to use Dreamweaver is its ability to produce image albums for the Web, but you must also have Fireworks (image editor) to produce the album.

See example of an image album created in Dreamweaver.

Fireworks is actually an image editing program like Photoshop, but it has the ability to create a graphic, interactive Web page. It is made by the same company (Macromedia) as Dreamweaver. You can create an entire Web page or just parts of a page, such as the navigation menu with rollover effects. See the examples below.

Examples of sites created in Fireworks:

• Time Shop - Annette Laing
• Museum at Georgia Southern - Janet Burns
• Library at Georgia Southern - Janet Burns

Summary:

Web pages display naturally in Web browsers, which means that your students do not need special software or plug-ins to view them. If you are simply creating Web pages with text and a few images, use one of the free editors.

Obtaining the Software:

Dreamweaver and Fireworks may be bought at MSD. MSD is located at http://www.msd.uga.edu/. You may only buy from MSD with a PO from your department, school or college.

 

Secure File Transfer Protocol

Note: If you opt to use Composer or FrontPage, you will need SFTP software. Versions of Dreamweaver have this function, so you don't need SFTP software. If you are using WebCT, you will not need FTP software, as it is built into WebCT under Manage Files.

Image Editors

Image editors allow you to manipulate digital images for color, contrast, size, and much more. Image editors are also used to create collages, banners (like the one at the top of this page) and other graphic elements that you see on Web sites. You can bring images into a computer from a digital camera, a scanner, from other Web pages and other sources.

The option in the table with the salmon color background is recommended.

Preparing images for the Web

You can scan images into a computer using a flatbed scanner, or you can import pictures from a camera. Initially the images will be quite large in width and height, and the file size will be large in kilobytes. Before you can put pictures on the Web, you will need to resize and optimize them to reduce the physical dimensions (width x height), and reduce the amount of KB in the image. Resizing and optimizing images will allow them to load faster for the viewers of your site.

Images being placed on the Web need to be in one of two formats: jpg (pronounced "jay-peg") or gif (pronounced "jif" - Read the debate about the pronunciation). As a rule of thumb, photographs are rendered best by the jpg format, while line art (drawings) are best rendered in gif format.

If you would like to read more about preparing images for the Web, go to this Web site and look at item number 6 to learn about images on the Web.

Photoshop

Photoshop is a high-end image editor that is considered the industry standard. Photoshop comes with built-in filters and special effects that can be applied to your images. For example, you can turn a photograph into something that looks like a painting by using one of Photoshop's filters. There are two versions of Photoshop: Photoshop CS (professional version) and Photoshop Elements (lighter version). Even though Photoshop Elements is the "lighter" version, it has more power and capability than the average user will ever need.

All versions of Photoshop come with the ability to create Web photo albums. There are several album templates (themes) from which to choose, such as museum, theater, office and vacation to mention a few. The following example displays the thumbnail images vertically; however, they may also be displayed horizontally.

See examples of Photoshop's image album. (Look for "Photos" on this page.)

Fireworks

Fireworks is another image editor made by the same company that makes the Web page editor called Dreamweaver. Fireworks is limited in special effects and filters, so if you want all the bells and whistles that Photoshop has, you'd better go with Photoshop. But don't let me sell Fireworks short because in addition to being an image editor, Fireworks can produce Web sites that are more visually appealing than constructing a Web site in a Web page editor (see examples below). The disadvantage of using Fireworks to create Web pages is that the pages would possibly be slow to load across 56K connections because the page is essentially one big image. File size is problematic for slow computer connections. In conjunction with Dreamweaver, it is capable of creating Web photo albums.

Examples of sites created in Fireworks:

• TimeShop - Annette Laing
• Museum at Georgia Southern - Janet Burns
• Library at Georgia Southern - Janet Burns

Obtaining the Software:

Georgia Southern has a site license for Photoshop Elements for the PC; Macintosh versitons may be purchased at MSD. Fireworks may be purchased at MSD. MSD is located at http://www.msd.uga.edu/. You may only buy from MSD with a PO from your department, school or college.

Overview of Audio and Video

Audio and Video can be created for distribution on CD, DVD or over the Internet. I will explain basic concepts of producing audio and video before I proceed to specific software applications and uses.

You can create audio and video from a variety of sources such as VCR tapes, audio tapes, cameras, microphones and others. Sound and video from VCR or audio from tape is in a form that is called "analog." These analog sources can be imported directly into audio or video editing programs on a computer. The process of importing the different analog sources into the computer is called digitization, or digitizing. The resulting digitized audio and video files can be distributed on CD, DVD or via the Web.

There are many file types for audio and video. A file type is indicated by the extension on the file. You may have heard of some of these different file types: AVI, WAV, MOV and RM, WMV to name just a few (there again... maybe you haven't heard of them). The different file types exist for different reasons. For example, AVI and WAV files are considered "raw" or generic files that are used for editing. It is not a file that is typically distributed to your students, though it is fully functional, so it could be used for distribution. The MOV and RM files are used for the Web, but may also be distributed on CD or DVD. Files that work well on the Web (.mov and .rm) are said to stream, which will be explained in more detail below.

Streaming and Non-Streaming Files :

Streaming means that the files do not have to completely download before your audience begins to hear or see them. Typically, the AVI and WAV files are VERY large, which poses a problem for distribution, especially across the Web. If you were to place an AVI file on your Web page, whoever tried to access it would have to download it before viewing or hearing it. Depending on the size of the AVI file and your audience's connection, it could take a very long time to download.

The other two file formats mentioned above, MOV and RM, were created specifically for the Web so will "stream" from the Internet. Streaming means that the files do not have to completely download before your audience begins to hear or see them. File size is not an issue with these files because of their ability to stream. They will begin to play as they download.

Where Can You Find Audio and Video Equipment and Software?

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and the Emerging Technology Center have the abiltiy to assist you with your audio and video needs. The next section Audio and Video Software outlines your options and resources on campus.

Audio and Video Software

There are many brands of audio and video editing software on the market, some of which are free. Five will be discussed below. All options below are available on campus.

The options in the table with the salmon color background are recommended for Web movies.

RealProducer for Audio or Video on the Web

RealProducer is the program of choice for creating audio lectures for your courses. It's free and easy to use. There is RealProducer Pro (paid version) and RealProducer Basic (free version). We recommend the free version for audio. You may do it right in your own office, and then upload it to your course.

In addition to audio, RealProducer is used to digitize analog video sources (VCR, etc) for the Web. As a service to the campus, the Emerging Technology Center will digitize your video or audio for you, and they will add it to your online course. Before you convert commercial audio or video to digital format, please be aware of copyright fair use laws.

Create Your Own Audio Lectures for Online Classes

If you'd like to learn how to create audio files for your courses using RealProducer Basic, you may schedule an appointment with Raleigh Way at the Center for Excellence in Teaching. If you want to have a go at it on your own, you may download RealProducer Basic here. You might also want to have a look at the handout for creating audio files with RealProducer Basic (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). Note that the reference to "gasou.edu" in the handout should read "georgiasouthern.edu."

RealProducer Basic (Free)
Web Site	realnetworks.com
Viewer plug-in requirements
Streams on Web	Yes
Demonstration Files
Sample RealAudio File	Play Real Audio
Sample RealVideo File	Sample Real Video
Summary
RealProducer is excellent for audio across most connection speeds. Although it will do video, QuickTime seems capable of producing better video across the Net.

Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker comes installed on most of the latest Windows (PC) machines. You may import source files directly into Windows Movie Maker from VCR, camera, microphone and others. Digitized video may be exported as Windows Movie Audio (.wma) or Windows Media Video (.wmv) to CD.

Windows Movie Maker
Web Site	Microsoft.com
Viewer plug-in requirements	For PC For Macintosh
Demonstration Files
Sample Video	None - Requires Microsoft Server
Streams on Web	No
Summary
Windows Movie Maker is installed on all PCs with Windows 2000 or XP, and it's Free. You can capture directly from a VCR or camera. The movies can be burned to a CD or DVD, but not run from the Web because Georgia Southern does not support a Microsoft streaming server. It is recommended that you NOT try to distribute Window Movie Maker files across the Web.

iMovie

iMovie
Web Site	Apple.com
Viewer plug-in requirements
Streams on Web	Yes
Demonstration Files
QuickTime Movie 1	Chemical Reactions
QuickTime Movie 2	Digital Documentaries
Summary
iMovie comes pre-installed on Macintosh OS 9.2 and X. The program is extremely user friendly, and quick to learn. This is the best option for streaming movies over the Internet.

QuickTime Pro

QuickTime Pro is an inexpensive video/audio editor sold by Apple.com. It is available for the PC and the Mac. Unlike RealProducer Basic above, audio and video from VCRs, cameras and other devices cannot be imported directly into the program. This means that you cannot connect a camera or VCR up to your computer and import directly into QuickTime Pro. You must first import the movie into the computer using other software (some of which are free) that produces a file that can then be imported into QuickTime. This intermediary file is most often an "AVI" file. The file is edited in QuickTime Pro if necessary and then exported as a QuickTime movie. If configured properly, QuickTime movies will stream over the Internet. Contact Steve Bonham at the Center for Excellence in Teaching if you want to learn how to use QuickTime Pro.

QuickTime
Web Site	Apple.com
Cost	$30
Viewer plug-in requirements
Streams on Web	No
Demonstration Files
Movie 1	Chemical Reactions
Movie 2	Digital Documentaries
Summary
QuickTime Pro is an inexpensive, fairly easy to use video editor. One drawback to QuickTime Pro is that you cannot connect a camera or VCR up to your computer and import directly into the program. You must first import the movie into the computer using other software (some of which are free) that produces an .avi file. The .avi file can then be imported into QuickTime, edited and exported as a QuickTime movie.

Impatica (Works with PowerPoint)

You might not know it, but you can add audio to PowerPoint presentations with the "Record Narration" feature in PowerPoint. Once you have completed your PowerPoint with audio, you use another software program called Impatica to convert the PowerPoint into a presentation that may be delivered across the Web. No special plug-in is required to view the presentation; however, it does require that Java be enabled in the browser. The Center for Excellence in Teaching has a license for Impatica, which faculty and staff are welcomed to use.

Special Note: Impatica presentations appear to work well over 56K connections.

Screen Capture (Shot): Still Images and Video

A Screen Capture (AKA screen shot) is like taking a picture of whatever you see on your computer screen. Once you take a screen shot, it becomes an image, which you may paste into a document like Word or PowerPoint. This may be done on the Mac or the PC. This is an excellent way to create instructional resources for software or anything on your screen, such as a Web site. Images from screen shots may be used in paper handouts or on the Web. There are two types of screen capture: still-image and video. The term screen shot usually refers to capturing a single, still image, while screen capture better describes capturing video footage from a monitor; screen capture may be used to speak collectively about both techniques.

Still-Image Screen Shot Examples

The following pictures are examples of screen shots. These images are small, but they could just as easily be original screen size. Imagine how you could use screen capture to create a tutorial about software or any other thing you can visualize on a computer screen.

Screen Shot of Desktop of a PC	Screen Shot of GroupWise

Still-Image Screen Capture on PC and Mac (Keystrokes)

Both PC and Mac have generic, built-in still-image screen capture capability. Once you capture the image, you may paste it into Word, PowerPoint or an image editing program like Photoshop or Fireworks.

To create a screen shot on a PC:

• Print Scrn - Captures the entire screen
• Alt + Print Scrn - Captures a floating window (window within a window)

To create a screen shot on a Mac:

• Command (apple key) + Control + Shift + 3 - Captures the entire screen.
• Command (apple key) + Control + Shift + 4 - Gives you a crosshair with which to select an area of the screen

Video Screen Capture with Camtasia Studio Examples

Camtasia Studio is software that permits you to capture live motion on your computer's monitor with audio. This would be a way to create video tutorials for learning computer software, or showing students anything that can be viewed on a computer screen. Here is how it works... Let's say you're going to teach your students how to do some complex formulas in Excel. Traditionally, you have done this in a face-to-face setting. The students take notes and watch your movements on a projection screen as you show them how to do the formulas in Excel. The students then practice on their own at their own stations. The bell rings, and everyone goes home. Later that evening, the students want to do the exercise again to gain some practice, but some of them can't quite remember how it was done. If only they could see the demo once again. With Camtasia, they can. You can create a movie using Camtasia, and place the movie in WebCT, on the Web or distribute on CD or DVD. The movie can be saved in a variety of formats such as QuickTime or Flash, so it will "stream" almost instantly across a campus connection or DSL in the home. The students will need QuickTime or Flash player installed on their computers to view the movies. Flash files are considerably smaller in size, but more "difficult" to upload to the server.

Dr. Barbara Price, Professor of Quantitative Analysis in the College of Business Administration at Georgia Southern University, is using Camtasia to demonstrate Pivot Tables in Excel. Dr. Price says that using the movies has actually increased the grade point average in her face-to-face class. You may view one of Dr. Price's movies below.

In addition to Dr. Price's movie, the Center for Excellence in Teaching also has a large collection of software tutorial movies.

Note: Please read these instructions before proceeding to the movies.

• View Dr. Price's Pivot Table movies created in Camtasia.
• View the CET's online movie software tutorials.
• PowerPoint Demo

Where to buy Camtasia: http://www.techsmith.com

Possible Uses of Screen Capture

• At a conference where you need the Internet, but it's not available. You create screen shots of a Web site's different pages, then paste them into PowerPoint.
• At a conference where you need to demonstrate an online course such as WebCT
• To create software tutorials for your class, e.g., Excel, either static or movies

Inform Your Students of Technology Requirements

Example of Instructions to Students:

The following is a list of technology requirements for this course.

1. You need access to a high bandwidth connection either at home (DSL) or on campus. I am using QuickTime movies that you are expected to watch, and you will not be able to view the movies across dial-up (56K) connections. If you do not have QuickTime on your computer, you will need to download and install it.

Download and install the free QuickTime Player:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/products/qt/

2. I will be using Microsoft PowerPoint to present some of the material in this course. I am using Microsoft PowerPoint version 2003. If you do not have access to PowerPoint, you may download the free PowerPoint viewer from Microsoft's site. Be sure to download the appropriate version for my PowerPoints.

Download and install the free PowerPoint viewer for PowerPoint 2003:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010449811033.aspx

Plug-ins for Viewing Content or Playing Audio and Video Files

File Size and Internet Connection Speeds

Two important concepts here are Internet connection speeds and the file size of your documents you distribute online. Large documents can be a problem for slow modem connections. The documents could take a long time to download if they are excessively large.

How do your students connect to the Internet to download your handouts?

1. Slow 56 KB modem at home? - Possible problem.
2. Fast DSL connection at home? - Good! No problem.
3. Access from campus connection? - Good! No problem.

The implication here is that some documents take a very long time to download (if they download at all) for students with slow connections, especially if the documents are large.

Dial-up 56 kb (kilobyte) modem connections are very slow. Large documents may take a long time to download, if at all in some cases, across slow connections. If your students are having a problem downloading your content because of slow connections, you might want to consider distributing your content by another method such as CD. DSL connections and campus connections do not pose a serious problem for downloading large documents. The following chart compares connection speeds. The 3675.7 Kbps indicates connection speed from a computer on Georgia Southern's Campus.

Determining File Size of a Document

So how large is too large? After determining the file size of one of your documents, use this online conversion calculator to determine time it takes for a particular document will download across different connection speeds. To determine the file size of any document, follow these instructions:

PC users:

Close the document, then RIGHT CLICK over it. Select Properties, then look for the size in KB or MB in the window that pops up.

Macintosh users:

Click on the closed document once, then press COMMAND (Apple key) and the letter "i" for property information about the file. Look for the file size in KB or MB.

Determining Your Connection Speed

There are online services that will allow you to do a connection speed test. You simply click a start button, and few seconds later, you will be presented with a connection speed report.

Test your connection speed here:

Service 1: http://bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

Service 2: http://www.broadbandreports.com/stest

Naming Files for Distribution via the Internet

When saving documents for your online course or for a standard Web page, it is important to be aware of file naming conventions for documents. There is a strict protocol for naming files before they are uploaded to the Web. If files are not named according to the protocol, your audience may not be able to open the documents.

 

 

1. Files that are placed online for distribution cannot have any spaces in the filename.

Examples of File Names:

my file.html	NOT OK (There is a space between the words my and file)
myfile.html	OK (words run together)
my_file	OK (underscore connects the words)
my-file	OK (hyphen connects the words)
my.file	OK (dot connects the words)

2. The file name may not contain these special characters:

Exclamation	At Sign	Number Sign	Dollar Sign	Percent Sign	Caret	Asterisk	Equal Sign
!	@	#	$	%	^	*	=

3. The file name may contain the following characters:

Period	Underscore	Hyphen	Brackets	Ampersand	Tilde (cannot begin with ~)
.	_	-	( )	&	~

Pop-up Blockers

If you use online course management systems like WebCT Campus Edition, you probably use one of the following features:

• Discussion area
• Email
• Chat
• Quizzes

These features use "pop-ups". When you click on a discussion posting, an email, a chat room or a quiz, the information "pops up" in a new window. Pop-ups are commonly used for advertising on Web sites. You click on a page, and you not only get the page, but you get a little window with an ad in it. This is annoying to most people, so some clever programmer created software that would suppress the pop-ups. This is great for the Web (well, maybe not), but it causes problems for your students and you in your online course.

See Sample Pop-up!

Occasionally, students report that they cannot access one or more of the above features. This is probably due to a pop-up blocker that has somehow been installed on the computer, or because the pop-up blocker is turned on in the browser. To remedy this problem, the student can call the WebCT help desk at Georgia Southern to ask for help in finding and turning off the pop-up blocker. Phone: 912-681-0882.

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional

I think the term "Adobe Acrobat" deserves special attention as it is used loosely when referring to the program that does the conversion and to the reader. The program that actually does the conversion is Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional. Adobe Acrobat Reader is just that, a reader that allows you to open a file created by Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional. Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional may be purchased from MSD in Athens, GA.

There are free versions of PDF conversion software on the Web, but there is no guarantee as to the quality of PDF file that it creates. Here are two online versions for you to try:

1. http://www.primopdf.com/
2. http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp

Most documents can be converted to a "PDF" file. The conversion process essentially creates an image of the original. When you install Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional, it installs itself into all of your other programs like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access and others. It adds functionality to those programs to create a PDF files. To convert a document to PDF, you would use the File > Print function of whatever program you are using. With the Print dialog box open, change the printer to Acrobat Distiller, then choose OK. The process of conversion could take a few minutes depending on the speed or your machine or the size of the document, but the resulting file should have a .pdf extension. If you used transitions, special effects, etc., these will not be preserved in the PDF document.

Copyright for Online Materials

If you are not familiar with copyright laws, especially in the area of fair use, you may read about them here. There are two documents:

1. Regents' Guide to Understanding Copyright and Educational Fair Use
2. Regents' Guide to the TEACH Act

Online Content Creation and Distribution
Center for Excellence in Teaching
Georgia Southern University

Comments or questions?
Email Raleigh Way at the Center for Excellence in Teaching: rway@georgiasouthern.edu
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