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"The DMC provided services including video equipment rental & DV tape digitization, that helped improve classroom experiences for the students & instructors. I am glad that I could take advantage of these services as a graduate student to help enhance my teaching & research experiences as well." - Allison Philips, Graduate Research Assistant, CALS, Genetics

Digital Media Center @ Biotech

Services - eTEACH Production

eTEACH allows instructors to create dynamic and engaging course presentations using PowerPoint combined with audio and/or video. eTEACH is a cross-platform, Open Source, time-based media aggregator created at the University of Wisconsin. eTEACH is accessible to persons with disabilities including those persons using screen readers such as JAWS.

There are many pieces that go into creating an eTEACH presetion and the DMC is here to help. Because eTEACH projects can range in scope from one or two pieces of supplemental material to 3 lectures every week for a whole semester, the initial step in the DMC's eTEACH Service is a consultation with one of our managers, Alan Wolf or Josh Harder. This will allow us to assess the scope of your project and where the DMC can fit in with your needs.

What the DMC's eTEACH Service CAN do for you:

  • Loan you the equipment you need to capture your content through our Equipment for Loan program.
  • Consult with you about the overall look and feel of your eTEACH project.
  • Advise you on best practices for your audio, video, and PowerPoint files.
  • Digitization of your audio and/or video content.
  • Uploading of your PowerPoint, audio, and/or video files to eTEACH.
  • Captioning of your eTEACH presentation if you provide the DMC with a transcript file. We suggest using a transcribing service such as Enablr Transcribr.

What the DMC's eTEACH Service CANNOT do (or may require client presence):

  • The DMC cannot capture your content. We can provide you with the tools for recording your content and give you tutorials, but we cannot provide any recording services. During the initial consultation we can discuss content capturing options that may be available to you.
  • The DMC cannot create, edit, or modify transcripts provided to the DMC. The transcript text files you provide to the DMC should be in their final form. We suggest reviewing your transcript file after receiving it from your transcription service.
  • The DMC cannot time your captions to your video perfectly. The tool we use for captioning is World Caption which may have less than perfect synchronization, but it is pretty close. If you would like your captions timed perfectly with your video, we require your presence during the captioning phase.
  • The DMC cannot create customized Tables of Content (TOC). TOCs are generated automatically based on the PowerPoint file. If you would like a TOC that is not the default, we require your input and/or presence.
  • The DMC cannot create customized eTEACH Presentation layouts. If you would like to use something other than the default layout (slides in big screen and media in little screen) we will need your input and/or presence during this phase.
  • The DMC cannot create customized eTEACH Resources. The Resource tool is a very diverse tool that could have multiple purposes. Because of this we would require your presence for customized Resources content.
  • The DMC cannot make PowerPoints for you. We can help you with the layout, design, esthetics, and any technical issues.

Policies

  1. Deadlines and schedules must be established during the initial consultation.
  2. The eTEACH Service is on a first come, first serve basis. If we have a full queue of projects, we may ask you to leave your contact information so we can contact you when the queue has an opening or we may be unable to take on your project if the current load is too large. Although the DMC may be unable to take on your project, we would be able to provide support as you or your designee create your eTEACH presentation.
  3. All DMC created eTEACH projects must be in instructional purposes. Preference will be given to timetable courses.
  4. Only basic digitizing and basic production work is offered. Basic digitizing involves capturing video/audio content and compressing it for eTEACH. Basic production work involves doing edits based on specific instructions from you (the client). You would provide specific timepoints for doing cuts and crops to the video/audio. For example, you could request that the first portion of a video be deleted up to timepoint 04:24:20. Due to the subjective nature of video and audio editing, instructions such as "cut until the presentation starts" or "cut out anything the looks bad" are not acceptable. In order to get specific timepoints we will request your presence at the DMC during the editing phase. Basic production work does not involve doing more advanced techniques like fades, zooms, panning, etc.
  5. If you would like to keep any of the source files of your project, you must provide us with media on which to store your digitized materials. The DMC does not offer space on our machines nor servers to store your materials.

    Storage Media Available at the DoIT Tech Store:

When you drop of your materials to us you will be asked to sign a form stating you agree to the terms listed above. We will contact you via your preferred method during the production project for more details, reviewing of material, and the completion of the project.

Please call (608) 265-4817 if you have questions regarding your materials and/or eligibility.

Best Practices for PowerPoints to be Uploaded into eTEACH

While working with PowerPoint and eTEACH, the DMC has come up with a list of suggestions for maintaining a happy relationship between the two applications. This PowerPoint template is a good starting point for your eTEACH PowerPoint presentation. Here are some guidelines to follow with your PowerPoint files:

  1. Create a title for every slide.
  2. Use slide layouts to create your slides.
  3. Do not use .pptx files(this is the default format for PowerPoint 2008 and PowerPoint 2007).
  4. Under "Page Setup" set the size to 11X17.
  5. If you decide to record your audio directly into PowerPoint, be sure to set your audio quality high enough. If you record audio into your PowerPoint presentation you cannot use video.
  6. DO NOT use builds within individual slides. In other words, if you have a bulleted list, do not have each bullet point come in sequentially. Have all content in the slide appear with the start of the slide.
  7. DO NOT use advanced PowerPoint techniques like embedded video, animation, motion paths, transitions, etc. Keep the presentation simple.