Professor Kianda Johnson, Instructor, Department of Mathematics. Click the image to view a sample content video.
This edition’s campus technology spotlight features Techsmith Relay. TechSmith’s Relay program is user friendly lecture capture software capable of recording lectures and cursor movements on your computer screen. This software allows you to create videos that can enhance learning in your classes, or can be used to transform how other academic resources are consumed. TechSmith allows you to create videos, using any Internet connected device, that can be stored in the cloud for easy access by intended viewers. View a one minute overview here.
Fall 2015 semester, Professor Kiandra Johnson presented to faculty on her use of academic video in the Teaching Research and Resources Center’s 3rd Thursday series. The Instructional Technology and Design Services team recently sat down with Professor Johnson to get a little more insight on how she is using Techsmith Relay and incorporating videos into her classes.
Prof. Johnson: I wanted to be able to reach the students where they were. I wanted them to have access to the content more readily and not just in the classroom. I wanted them to be able to go back and review concepts through videos that I was confident they were getting the correct information.
Prof. Johnson: Correct. The accessibility piece is huge because most students study in the evening when instructors may not be available to students. I was trying to get rid of any possible excuses that a student could have for not being able to comprehend the material.
I used it two different ways this semester:
- A Welcome video: I created a 13 minute long video to review the syllabus for each course. At the beginning of the previous semesters I was using one to two class sessions to review the syllabus and my expectations so that everyone could be on one accord. Throughout the video, I expressed that students should write down their questions and concerns. I made the video available to students prior to the first day of class and left instructions for them to share their questions and concerns on the first day of class. It worked wondrously! I am doing this from this point forward. In the video I used the same humor I would use in class to help students to loosen up a bit. On the first day of class I spent about 15 minutes reviewing questions students wrote down from watching the video.
- Content videos: At the start of the video, I may provide a definition, show 1 or 2 examples and then insert a quiz for the student to check their understanding of the concepts.
Pros
- User friendly (pretty straight forward) – unlike Camtasia which has a number of moving parts
- Customized content – I can create videos for anything. For example, if a student expresses a need for additional exposure to a particular concept, it is easy to quickly create a video and publish it to Moodle.
Cons
- You have to be ready to do the video in one sitting. A 3 minute long video, may take up to an hour to complete. If I mess up, I have to start the whole process over to perfect the video.
- I wouldn’t recommend anyone create a video that is longer than 20 minutes. From my experience, if you consider the maximum length you desire for the video, multiply that amount of time by 5 so that you know how much time to set aside for recording.
- Create a script! When I began recording video, I was creating the script in my mind and I made a number of mistakes and needed to start the recording again. Once I began writing down exactly what I wanted to say, it decreased the amount of time I was spending creating the video.
- Be sure to put your personality into the video; I think it is important for the student to be exposed to the same person they see in the classroom on video.
Click here to view TechSmith Relay’s list of best practices for creating academic video.