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Teaching, Learning & Technology in Higher Education

Digital Ink on any application using ZoomIt

Published 04 March 2008, 05:36 PM

As I prepare to record a video introduction to my online course, I was searching for a way to record a guided tour of my online "classroom". I have Camtasia to do the recording, but I didn't know how to add temporary ink annotations to a webpage. A free application called ZoomIt does a great job - and has some other handy features for presenters...

ZoomIt is a free download from Microsoft, available at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Miscellaneous/ZoomIt.mspx. I found it by doing a search of the Tablet PC Review forum discussions (www.tabletpcreview.com). Published recently (last November) by Mark Russinovich, ZoomIt is a clever application that enables four very handy functions:

  • Draw on top of any open windows (it's like adding a transparent ink layer to your desktop - just press CTL-2)
  • Zoom in to where your mouse (or pen) is pointing, then begin annotating (CTL-1)
  • Blank the screen (black or white) to create a temporary drawing board (CTL-2, then "w" or "k")
  • Blank the screen and display a countdown timer (CTL-3), good for breaks between presentations, or use it on a second machine facing the presenter to make sure they don't run over their allotted time.

The annotations are temporary, vanishing when you hit Escape to return to normal mouse/pen navigation mode.

They say it runs on any version of Windows, but of course using it with a digital pen on a Tablet PC is even easier - if you don't mind leaving the keyboard exposed so you can toggle between "annotation mode" and normal mode.

If you know of other free applications like this, please post a comment and let us all know!

Jim Vanides, B.S.M.E, M.Ed.
Program Manager - Worldwide Higher Education Philanthropy
Hewlett-Packard

For information about the HP Technology for Teaching philanthropy initiative in higher education, visit www.hp.com/go/hpteach-hied

Posted By jgvanides | 2 Comments | Trackbacks | Permalink
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Comments

Related to this (in the class of little utilities for use on a tablet to give lectures), it's always bothered me that OneNote and Journal turn the pen pointer into a teenie tiny dot. It's good for the writer, but when using the tablet to present a lecture in class on a projector, it's really hard for the class to see what the instructor is pointing at with the pen. So I made a little program to highlight the location of the pen or to draw a pencil or pointer icon in its place. It's available at: http://www.math.uaa.alaska.edu/~afkjm/techteach/?q=node/52
# Friday, April 18, 2008 08:24 AM by kenrick@acm.org
Kenrick - Great idea! Thanks for sharing your pointer icon improvement! - Jim

PS: Kenrick has been the PI for an HP Technology for Teaching project launched in 2005. More information about their project is available at http://www.cfkeep.org/html/snapshot.php?id=70139735071119

# Friday, April 18, 2008 03:41 PM by Jim Vanides

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