Our Favorite Cool Stuff from 2019 : EHE Academic Technology

December 9, 2019,

A year-in-review isn’t official until it contains a list. Behold: some of the things a few of the EHE academic technology team members found cool in 2019.

Cool Team Member	Cool Thing 1	Cool Thing 2
Andy	Ditto Wireless Presentation A software-based wireless presentation application. You can run this software on a Windows machine and have your Mac project to it! Ideal for classrooms or when your trying to cast your image to a larger screen.	Surface Hub An interactive whiteboard that works like an oversized Surface tablet. Responsive stylus replicates paper and ink. Includes the ability to screen share to other devices.
Cara	Inclusive Language This guide of considerations is something put out by a conference for folks submitting proposals, but it is a great reminder for all of us when we communicate in written and verbal mediums.	Top 200 Tools for Learning One of my favorite times of year is looking at the results of Jane Hart’s annual survey of tools for learning. She has segmented this for corporate learning and development as well as tools for higher education.
Carol	Adobe Premiere Auto ReFrame Auto Reframe intelligently identifies the actions in your video and reframes the clips for different aspect ratios. This feature is really handy for posting your video to different social media channels, such as Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook.	NVIDIA GauGAN Paint by numbers just took a giant leap! Listed as “Best of What’s New” byPopular Science, it allows you to produce life-like images with simple brush strokes in real time.
Casey	Adobe Spark This application suite will have you creating webpages, graphics, and videos with ease. I find it to be intuitive for first-time users and robust enough to build eye-catching graphics. To gain access to premium features for free, follow the Adobe Spark login procedures provided by OCIO.	Color Inspiration Sometimes I need a little inspiration and find it in the form of colors. Coolers is a color-scheme generator. Pick a starting color from an image, text, or just a hue you like, and let it generate a full complementary pallet!
Charles	The Open Faculty Patchbook I find the patchbook compelling in its design, and I think it offers an example of how technology can support authentic learning and community.	The Teaching Tool Parade An excellent example of faculty collaborating with students, these videos examine educational technology from a critical stance.
Matt	The EDUCAUSE Horizon Report 2019 is a comprehensive look at current and future challenges and trends in technology adoption and educational technology use in higher education. EDUCAUSE also surveyed the higher ed community to develop the 2019 Key Issues in Teaching and Learning.	Are we living in a simulation? This philosophical TED Talk (and just-for-fun video) not only gets you thinking about the nature of reality, but the accompanying animation is a clean, engaging example of how multimedia can bring abstract concepts to life for learners – even the idea that we’re all just a part of a computer program.