1. Creating an animated tutorial for the online classroom
Helmut Kae
Instructor, Microbiology
Leeward Community College
Pearl City, HI

2. Overview By the end of this workshop you will be able to:
Download an open source “screen-capture” software - CamStudio
Use CamStudio to make animated, narrated “mini-tutorials”
Use YouTube to publish and present the tutorials to your students

3. The Course Microbiology 130: General Microbiology
This course covers the fundamentals of microbiology, metabolism, genetics, and disease
Required for entry into Nursing program at University of Hawai’i
Prerequisite requirements:
ENG 21 or ENG 22 with a “C”
Introduction to College Reading, Composition

4. The Issue In general, students have little science background
For many, this is their first science course since high school
Students have trouble understanding basic concepts of molecules and microbes
In the face-to-face class, simple diagrams and explanations can help clear up issues
In the online classroom, sometimes words can create more confusion

5. The Problem
A Partial sequence of a messenger RNA triplets is as follows:
5’-AUU ACC AUA UCC GCA UCG UGG AGG AUG UUC UAA-3’
Write the sequence of both strands of DNA that correspond to the above mRNA. Identify the DNA strand that serves as template to produce this mRNA.
Write down amino acid sequence of the protein produced by this mRNA, and then write down first letter of each amino acid in order to reveal the hidden meaning (Hint: insert a space after 2nd, 4th and 5th amino acid positions).

6. The Discussion Board Posts
“Hi class. So, I'm working on Ch 8 assignment and I want to be sure I am understanding Question 1 correctly. I hope I'm on the right track with this.. One of the DNA strands will show exactly the same way as the mRNA is shown and is the template.( I think!) The other strand is: TAA TGG TAT AGG CGT AGC ACC TCC TAC AAG ATT> is this what you all are getting?” - JG “No doubt this is confusing. I will need help from Dr. Kae for this stuff.” - KL

7. My response
“What you are looking at is the mRNA strand.  The question is asking for the double stranded DNA strand that this mRNA came from.  For help, draw a quick figure of transcription.  The "template strand" is the DNA strand that is used for transcription, the non-template strand is the DNA strand that is unused.  What will they look like?  That's the starting point for this question ...” - HK

8. The Confusion continues
“I don’t think the mRNA strand is exactly like the DNA strand. I believe the template DNA strand will have the complementary base sequence of the mRNA strand using U instead of T for a pair with A. Then after you get the template strand, the other DNA strand will be the complementary base pair sequence of that. I think?” - MT “I think that’s what I did. Is what I came up with wrong? Hope not cause I thought I was starting to understand it all...” - JG “I'm still confused though....” - BS

9. Another response
“Let's talk transcription.  It helps to draw a diagram while we are doing this.  Transcription is the synthesis of mRNA from double stranded DNA.  Recall, how is mRNA formed from DNA?  How does RNA polymerase (the enzyme that "polymerizes RNA") know what base to include?  How many DNA strands are used during transcription?  What is this strand called?  Try this for now.  I'll check back later.” - HK

10. More confusion
“Does anyone how to do question 1?” – KC “TAA TGG TAT AGG CGT AGC ACC TCC TAC AAG ATT <-- template strand ATT ACC ATA TCC GCA TCG TGG AGG ATG TTC TAA Is this correct? ... If this isn't right, I guess I am completely lost!” – BS “how did you get the second line?? i got the 1st line correct but how did you come up with ATT ACC ATA TCC GCA TCG TGG AGG ATG TTC TAA? im confused.” - RC

11. The Solution
Created an animated “mini-tutorial” that explains transcription and translation the way I do in a face-to-face class
Software is open source  FREE
Published on YouTube  FREE
Total prep time:
15 minutes

12. The feedback
“Thank you so much, That was so easy geeze I feel dumb LOL, thanks again” – AA “I like the animated presentation... I think it helps a lot. You were able to simplify what was in the book to a few minutes and filter out the details to make your assignment question clear. Thanks!” – VQ “It seemed to help more than I thought it would but I guess that goes back to my learning style. You have my vote to do that more often..even for module 6 ” – JG “The videos on youtube are helpful especially for understanding the DNA and RNA portions of this course” - MC

13. What CamStudio Does CamStudio is a “screen-capture” software
It records whatever is on your computer screen
It is absolutely FREE
The “fancy” version, Camtasia Studio, costs $300
It can record audio from a microphone or from your speakers
Applications:
Give a lecture from your desk
Demonstrate how to use applications, websites
Record videos you see on internet
Whatever else you can think of …

14. CamStudio Navigate to http://camstudio.org Click on “CamStudio20.exe”
Or, Google “camstudio”
Click on “CamStudio20.exe”
“Save” or “Run” the .exe file
Install on computer
Installs in less than 2 minutes
Click on

15. Create your own tutorial
Create a tutorial of your choice
Examples include:
How to log in to your course website
How to use one of the tools of the course website
Show off your favourite website, explain what you like about it
Anything else you can think of
If desired, upload it to YouTube
Keep the video short (less than 1 minute)
Once uploaded, try annotating, editing, etc …

16. Creating an animated tutorial for the online classroom
Helmut Kae
Instructor, Microbiology
Leeward Community College
Pearl City, HI