Educause ELI recently published a “7 Things You Should Know About” article on Microlectures – “short, recorded audio or video presentations on a single, tightly defined topic”. There are lots of reasons why microlectures are a great addition to the classroom! For example,
- they can be used to explain or reinforce a difficult concept
- they can be used as review of material that should have been mastered in previous courses
- they can be used for providing additional examples of working out a problem, or for sharing the answers to a test
- students can replay them multiple times if they don’t understand something the first time
- they can be used as a component of class flipping
- they can be reused for several years and/or several classes.
There are a number of ways that microlectures can be recorded and shared. Here are some recording options that are supported at Cornell:
Lecture Capture
While the term “lecture capture” implies that the output will be a video of an instructor standing in front of a classroom for 50 minutes, lecture capture tools can be used to record video of any length. Very short snippets – say, 5-10 minutes – are not only better at keeping the attention of the viewer, but they are easier for the instructor to record, as well.
Panopto. Panopto is a do-it-yourself option that can be used for classroom or desktop recording. All it takes is a webcam, a microphone, and a PC (preferred) or Mac. Panopto optionally captures the webcam input (you!) as well as your PowerPoint or other screen input; it also indexes the presentation so that it is easy for students to find the content that they are interested in. This desktop lecture from Carnegie Mellon is one example of how Panopto can be used; other examples can be found at the Panopto demo site. Academic Technologies has Panopto licenses that Cornell instructors can use on request.
Mediasite. Mediasite can be streamed live or can be captured like Panopto; it too allows multiple inputs. It is usually used in lecture rooms but also has desktop recording available. At Cornell, our Video Collaboration Services group offers the Mediasite lecture capture as a service, at a fee, and some departments own their own Mediasite units. More information is available on the VCS services site.
WebEx. In addition to live web conferencing, WebEx can be used for lecture capture. Cornell faculty and staff can use WebEx at no charge by just logging in to http://cornelluniversity.webex.com with their NetID. For more information, visit the VCS web conferencing page.
VideoNote. VideoNote is a vendor-provided service in which lectures are videorecorded and put online. The cost for VideoNote is $5000 / semester to record and host a course, or $2500 to host using previously recorded video; however, the Provost’s Office underwrites $2500 of this amount for up to 20 classes. VideoNote can also be contracted to record one-time events. For more information about VideoNote, contact atc_support@cornell.edu.
Academic Technologies – Video Production. Academic technologies has professional videographers who are available to record one-time events. For more information, contact atc_support@cornell.edu.
Screen Capture
If all you need to share is a computer screen and your voice, there are some screen capture options that may fit your recording needs.
Jing. Jing, from TechSmith, records up to 5 minutes of onscreen video along with accompanying audio. It can also be used to capture screenshots. Once your video is recorded, you can instantly share it on Screencast.com, Twitter, or Facebook, or you can save the video to disk for email or for sharing on a blog or web site. Jing is available for both Mac and PC at jingproject.com.
Camtasia. If you need greater control over the screen video output, or if you want to record video for more than 5 minutes at a time, Camtasia is a good choice. In addition to recording video, Camtasia allows you to import video, music, and photos, and includes a powerful video editor. It also has a basic quiz tool for embedding quizzes in the presentation. The education price for the PC-based Camtasia Studio is $179; there is also a Mac version of Camtasia for $75.
Captivate. Captivate, from Adobe, has virtually all of the features offered by Camtasia. In addition, it has more sophisticated interactions including games and charts. The education pricing for Captivate is around $299.
Quicktime Player (Mac Only). Records the screen and audio, and comes with the Mac operating system.
Pen Capture
Livescribe. Livescribe pens, used with special paper, simultaneously record the actions of the pen on paper and the accompanying audio; the information is subsequently loaded on to a computer, from where it can be saved to disk or to Evernote, or shared with others via PDF (which is able to play back video) or Flash. For the purposes of microlectures, a Livescribe pen could be used to capture the work in a math or engineering problem; it could also be used for providing feedback for student papers. Livescribe pens generally start at around $129; the price depends on the amount of memory and whether it uses a wi-fi or tethered method for transferring notes. A sample Livescribe pencast is available here.
iPad
Two iPad screen capture apps used in education are Educreations and Explain Everything. Educreations (free) provides a simple whiteboard interface; captures are uploaded to the Educreations web site for sharing. Explain Everything ($2.99) allows you to either work from a whiteboard interface, or load a document – or web page – to draw on; the capture can be shared via email, blog post, or sent to Evernote. This Chronicle blog post provides more information about the two products.
Let Academic Technologies know if you’re interested in any of these options, and we can help get you started!
