Adding your own videos
Adding video that you have created to your subject site helps students gain a sense of who their educator is and demonstrates your active investment in the online learning experience. Students are familiar with watching video content for entertainment, news, and connecting with friends and family via social media. Providing content in a familiar format to students can result in a learning experience that is both dialogic and personal.
Why?
Teacher presence within the learning experience is a vital component to the outcomes of student learning.
In a face-to-face setting, this is quite easy to achieve as teachers are physically in the room with students, making connections and sharing knowledge of the content with students. In the online learning environment, it is equally important to retain a level of connection and presence with students to show a shared commitment to the learning experience. One way that this can be achieved is by incorporating teacher recorded videos within the subject content and online learning environment. These videos may be:
- Welcome videos
- Assessment explanations or feedback
- Concept explanations
- Personal recounts or experiences
- Prompting discussion questions
- Clarifying meaning or summarising synchronous or asynchronous student discussions.
Not all teacher created videos require a talking head component, with narrations over images or PowerPoint slides having the potential to be just as, or more beneficial for student learning in some contexts.
How?
There are two (2) recommended ways to record video within the learning platform.
- Using the Poodll plugin to record your webcam directly in Moodle.
- Using Echo360 Universal Capture (UCAP) software to record your webcam and screen capture.
Okay. So by now, most of us are working remotely, which means we're gonna have to get used to communicating across digital platforms, which means you are gonna have to video yourself, but don't freak out because I've got some easy tips that are gonna help you get through this. The first thing to remember is just to be yourself. You know this stuff. Keep eye contact, look straight down the lens. There are a few simple things to consider that will improve the quality of your video without too much effort.
A soft diffused light on the face is best. If you don't have a light face the window, a window at a slight angle will still give you some definition and cast some nice shadows on your face. Avoid the window behind you. You don't wanna be a silhouette. We wanna see you.
Use a microphone if possible, and always record in a quiet place. There is nothing more distracting than noise in the background. Don't let your message get lost in the noise.
When you set up your camera or laptop, set it at eye level. You're trying to fill the frame. So you have a little bit of above your head and a little bit beside your shoulders. Don't set it up too high or too low or too close, or too far away as this makes it very hard to watch.
Make sure the background is clean and generic remove any family photographs or anything that might be a distraction.
Keep your videos short. And to the point, it's much better to produce a range of short videos that hit those key messages than a very long video that tries to address too much.
Video is a great way to communicate, but you've gotta keep it engaging. You have to make it interesting. You're only limited by your imagination. And if you do, you get stuck, we are always here to help.
Should I use Poodll or UCAP?
What is Poodll?
Poodll is a plugin that allows you to use your webcam to record short videos directly in the Atto editor (text editor). It should be used to create short videos – less than 3 minutes. Some use cases for Poodle include:
- Providing additional explanation on a task
- Providing video feedback on an assessment
- Contributing to a forum discussion
- A welcome message
- An explanation of an idea concept
What is Universal Capture (UCAP)?
Echo360 UCAP is software available to all UOW staff for recording videos. Echo360 UCAP can be used to record using your webcam as well as capture on-screen content. Once recorded, videos can also be edited before being included in the subject site.
Recording video with Poodll
To record a video and display it, click Edit for the label, page, book chapter etc. where you want to embed the finished video. Then click Edit settings.
- In the Atto editor, move the cursor to where you want to insert the video file. Click Show more buttons, then click Record Video.
- The Create media file pop-up window will appear including settings to Record/Stop, Play, and Upload your video.
- Click Record to start recording.
Note: You may be prompted by your browser to allow access to your computer’s microphone and camera. Click Allow. - Record your video.
- When finished, click Stop to end the recording.
- Click Play to playback and preview your recording. If you are unhappy with the recording, click Record again to re-record.
- Once finished, click Upload. Once you see three green checkmarks under the buttons in the Create media window, the process is complete.
- Click Insert to add your video.
Recording Video with Echo360 Universal capture
To record video using Echo360 Universal Capture (UCAP), view the Using Echo 360 UCAP to record purposeful video resource.
