Ed-Tech mailing list members,
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
We are investigating purchase of a site license for the web content authoring system SoftChalk LessonBuilder. Please go to http://snipurl.com/softchalk and answer three questions about your possible interest in using this authoring tool to create on-line learning materials.
DETAILS:
Would you be interested in a computer program that can be used to create on-line learning materials? Many faculty put PowerPoint shows on-line. PowerPoint slides can help review the material presented in class, but it is not usually the best way to present new material to students. To teach new material, you probably want a real web site with pages of text, internal and external links, interactive activities, and such.
SoftChalk LessonBuilder (http://www.softchalk.com) is an authoring tool that creates online learning material. It is easy to use, requiring little training and producing professional results. The material can be uploaded to a web server, incorporated into Blackboard, or burned to CD. A product such as this is required for most fully on-line courses. Sample lessons produced with SoftChalk Lesson Builder can be found at http://www.softchalk.com/lb_examples.html. Use the "View Lesson (HTML)" links to see lessons from Science, History, Health/Medicine, and Language Learning. There are also a series of videos that demonstrate how to use SoftChalk, to take Word documents and produce a learning package.
SoftChalk costs $400 per copy, but we can get a site license for an average of $4,000 per year, for three years, through our membership in the Florida Distance Learning Consortium (http://www.fldlc.org). SoftChalk is widely used at other institutions, particularly those providing fully on-line learning where the teachers are developing the course content. If there is enough interest, we can pursue obtaining a site license for SoftChalk LessonBuilder.
Please help us out by answering these three questions on the survey at http://snipurl.com/softchalk
- Would you be interested in using SoftChalk to create on-line learning materials?
- Would you be willing to learn to use SoftChalk, assuming a two hour training session would be provided?
- Do you think you would have your students use SoftChalk to create any materials?
(If the link above does not work, try https://www6.miami.edu/UMH/Forms/UMH_Form_Display/1,3233,1195,00.html)
Bill Vilberg
Assoc. Dir. of Instructional Advancement
305-284-3944
