First time back in 2018 and I have some new tools that I've come across. I've been involved with conducting a multimedia workshop looking at digital media tools for the 21st century and I hope to bring you some of my discoveries over the next few weeks and months.

As technology progress I have realize how simple they have become. A lot of the complex function simply happens in the background which simplify things for the novice user. However, the latest version of the tool is not always the best. You might find that there was a feature that you used and loved which is suddenly no longer available. While it is great that one can perform a function with a simple click of the button but it also means that we give up control. So the rule for me is that the more control and flexibility you desire the more specialized the software would need to be.

So we've been doing screenrecordings for a while ad typically use "Camtasia" for our in-house productions. Camtasia is a proprietary software that is outside many indivduals' budget so we came a really simple software called "Monosnap".

able to annotate on the fly

One of the really great features is the you can annotate on the fly. You can also effortlessly record in Mp4 format which make uploading to your favourite hosting platform a breeze. It also allows one to activate ones webcam on the fly creating a better sense of presence. The big plus of course is that it is free.

I am still using Audacity and still find it underutilized in the environment I find myself in viz education. I am not sure why that is but I speculate that it is due to the idea that recording ones lectures is still pretty complex. Lecturers could be uncomfortable with simply uploading their classroom lecture without editing and simply do not have the time afterwards. These days cellphones have made it so simple but too many still use their cellphone for social activities rather than for education. I can't help but wonder if that would change if institutions were to provide lecturers with phones specifically for academic purposes.

When I first dabbled with computers I wondered why it wasn't easier to connect ones hands-free headset with your computer to record your lecture. Well, it looks like technology has finally made that possible. With a generic bluetooth headset and a windows 10 computer I have managed to record using Audacity. The quality was acceptable but I am sure that one could get better depending on both the computer and the headset in us.

That's about it for my first go. Check back again to hear how multimodality has changed my approach to the design of a multimedia workshop, feesmustfall and the impact it has had on the adoption of technology and more..