What does it mean to be a
digital teacher? There is no concrete definition to this term however various articles and websites do try to define this term around the idea of a teacher being able to deliver a course or teach using various digital tools, engaging and interactive content to enhance learning. This definition relates to the terms
online learning, blended learning and
flipped classroom as opposed to the traditional way of learning.
How efficient and effective one does this depends I believe on the level of expertise and experience. I am no expert at this stage and I don't claim to be.
"Evolving as a digital teacher...Tools of the trade" is going to be I hope a series of articles I would like to write on my blog over the next couple of months and onward about what tools I have found and have tried/tested on the courses I have been teaching at DWU.
In Part 1 of the series I list some of the tools I have learnt to use over the last six (and now into the
seventh year) of teaching at DWU and share briefly what I use them for. In the next series of articles I will then share
what I do with each or combination of these tools or how I use them. I wish to say here that I am not an expert instructional designer (am still learning to be) nor am an expert in any of these tools however I would like to share briefly how I use them or what I do with them.
Most of these are
software I use in delivering blended mode units/courses over Moodle LMS
or Canvas LMS. Some are proprietary while others FOSS.
📌 Sparkol VideoScribe - is an animation/story-telling software. Its an amazing piece of software.
📌 Articulate - is an authoring tool
📌 ActivePresenter - similar to Camtasia, this tool is great to do screencasts, record video demos etc.
📌 iSpringSuite - an authoring tool, great for interactive content.
📌 Adobe Captivate 8 - another amazing and powerful authoring tool.
📌 MailChimp - an email marketing tool which I use for academic purpose :D
📌 Camtasia - similar to ActivePresenter this tool can also be used for authoring content.
📌 OBS Studio - I try to use at least two camera views and the desktop, OBS comes in very handy.
📌 Audacity - free alternative to Adobe Audition for doing podcasts but I use it to record audio for VideoScribe.
📌 Zoom - I use this for webinars.
📌 Cisco Packet Tracer - simulation tool purposely for teaching/learning data networking.
📌 GNS3 - emulation tool purposely for teaching/learning data networking.
📌
Facebook Social Learning groups. - so far I find this very helpful as
FB has become more like a universal, easily accessible, lite platform
not just for socializing but for learning also...social learning!!
📌 Canva - for all my graphics, marketing, banner needs etc etc... Canva is there to save me.
Forgot to add two recent tools I've started using, Shotcut... a tool
I use for video timelapse, and VSDC Free Video Editor...for video
editing of course.
Stay tuned for more...
Picture credit:
spark.adobe.com
Was nervous but excited when invited to give a talk as one of the two presenters during the DWU Integrity Week (Feb 24-28, 2020) in the Madang campus. I was invited to talk about online integrity. 
