As of July 31st 2009 WebCT was no longer be available at Brock University. Learn more about Isaak, Brock University's Sakai-Based LMS here. This wiki is available for others using WebCT Vista & CE versions 6 through 8 but is not maintained by Brock University.

PowerPoint:PDF:PC

From WebCT Wiki

<Rating> Was this article useful? 1 Inaccurate 2 Not very useful 3 Satisfactory 4 Insightful 5 Excellent resource </Rating>

1 Why is PDF the best option?
2 Getting a PDF creator
3 Creating Your Own PDF Document
4 Uploading Your Documents

[edit] Why is PDF the best option?

Using a PDF creator produces a version of a PowerPoint presentation that can be viewed on all most all web browsers and printed with very little formatting loss. Documents can also be made with six slides a page, saving paper and condensing the information into something that can be kept with your students' other notes.

The PDF formats wide support includes tools used by individuals with learning and other disabilities. Additionally, PDF documents protect (but do not prevent) your information from being 'stolen' as it's no longer in it's original format.

[edit] Getting a PDF creator

Adobe Acrobat Creator was one the original and expensive PDF creation tool, and others such as Cute PDF are available for free, but for this task PDFCreator is the best free option. You can find the PDFCreator at http://pdfforge.org or directly at http://pdfforge.org/products/pdfcreator.

  If you are visiting this Wiki from Brock University or other location in Canada you can download the file from 
  ctlet.brocku.ca/pdf

[edit] Creating Your Own PDF Document

Print Dialogue options

Open your PowerPoint presentation.
From the 'File' menu choose 'Print'
Change the Printer name to "PDF Creator" or whichever applies.
Next you have the option of selecting "Handouts" from the "Print What" option near the bottom of the window, this will allow you to print six (or other multiples) of slides on each page - a common request by students.

Once you click OK you will be asked to give the file a name and location, ensure that you can find the file once it is saved. This will create your PDF document, you can then locate it on your hard drive and open it in Acrobat to preview the document (if it was not previewed automatically for you).

[edit] Uploading Your Documents

To upload your file to WebCT you will have to log in to WebCT (https://webct.brocku.ca ) and enter into your course. While in the "Build" tab you can add your PDF file on the Course Content Home or go inside a Folder to save it inside that Folder. You can create a folder to oranize all of your similar files by clicking "Create Folder".

Get Files

On the Course Content Home click on the "Get Files" button. Select "Browse for Files" from the drop-down context menu.

My Computer Icon is Loading, Please be patient

A pop-up dialog box will open
Wait until the My Computer icon appears. If after 90 seconds, it does not appear you may need to update your Java or do some of the trouble shooting described in the My_Computer_Applet article.
Once the My Computer icon appears, click on it to choose files from your computer
Locate the file from the location you saved it on your hard drive (You can use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select up to 10 files to upload at once).
Click Open
An upload file status window will let you know how your upload is progressing. Depending on the speed of your connection and the size of your file(s), this may take a while.

When the upload status window is removed your PowerPoint should now be in WebCT and accessible by students. You might want to confirm this by entering the "Student View" tab.

For troubleshooting tips please see our My Computer Applet article.