SlideShare: educational tool

Normally I'm using SlideShare for my training sessions. It's easier to use SlideShare to publish and share it with my learners than printing hand-outs and send it per e-mail. First I used another website but since it is possible to download the presentation as well I'm a fan of SlideShare.

As a trainer I also use SlideShare for some inspiration. The only thing I missed was the story 'behind the slides'. Most of the time the slides only represent a part of the idea and the meaning. With the SlideCast possibilities it is also possible to share audio (like I did on the previous post). That really enriches the experience.

Let's focus a bit more on this. You can add an audio track to your presentation in a couple of steps. Unfortunately it is not as easy as uploading a presentation.

You have to:

create an MP3-file (for example with the great open source tool Audacity);
store that MP3 on a webspace on the net, it is not possible to store it at SlideShare. You can do this on your own webspace or for example for free at www.archive.org;
point to the url where you put the MP3;
synchronize the audio (line it up with the slides).

This last step works great! It is a very easy to use online tool. For me SlideShare is getting more and more useful. It is easy to embed in online learning environments, you can use full screen mode and the last feature is also nice: you can choose to share your presentation to a limited list of users or even only to yourself. So you can share it only with your learners if you want.

BTW: last week SlideShare put my pecha kucha slidecast in the spotlights and since that moment over 800 people watched it. ;-)