5 Recording Lessons

5.1 Best Practices

The practices below ensure that videos are reusable across courses and can be order in any way.

Therefore,

  • do not include or reference any information identifying course, course number, term, or logos
  • do not include module, topic, lesson or any other titles or numbers
  • do not add title slides; those are added in post-production
  • do not reference any prior videos, lessons, or courses
  • do not refer to prerequisites; those can be included in the transcript or accompanying notes when the video is published
  • do not reference dates or seasons
  • do not reference current events of news unless those are essential for the lesson
  • instructor name, course, and logos are blended in in post-production
  • be careful that slides do not contain logos, course numbers, dates, logos, or version numbers

When recording a narration don’t reference a particular lesson or some prior lesson. For example avoid saying things like “in Lesson 3 we learned that …”. Instead, say “in a previous lesson we learned that” or “we already know that”. Or better yet, don’t say anything – leave the sequencing to the course design – it should not be in recorded lessons in case things are moved around. It’s not that the lessons don’t build on each other – of course they do – but leave that to the instructional design and the sequencing of the lessons. After all, lessons may be reused in other courses so they need to be course agnostic. So, if one lesson uses concepts from another, then just use it; there’s no need to say: “as we learned previously” or “as you remember from lesson 3”; avoid saying things like “remember” or “previously” or “as I said before”.

5.4 Recording Talking Head Narrations

5.5 Recording Slide Narrations

5.6 Recording ad-hoc Chalk Talks

5.7 Creating Intro & Trailer Sequences

5.8 Post Production

5.9 Hosting Videos

Some video hosting sites may not be globally accessible. For example, Youtube and Vimeo are generally not accessible from China unless the learner uses a VPN – which can be legally dubious. Panopto is accessible in China without a firewall. Many LMS can also host videos and most LMS, including Canvas and Blackboard, are accessible in China without a VPN.

5.9.1 Key Criteria for Video Hosting

  • controlling playback speed; allowing learner to play back at increased speed to move through some videos faster; reducing speed to facilitat comprehension for non-native speakers
  • download video as local file so it can be viewed without an internet connection; important for learners who may need to download at an institution, a public hotspot, at a library, or at workbefore going home because of lack of reliable internet or perhaps metered internet
  • works well on phones; not everyone has internet at home
  • automatic captioning and display of captioning; foreign speakers; accessibility, ADA compliance
  • video size control
  • pause
  • embedding of learning checkpoints such as quizzes or polls

5.10 Working with Green Screen

5.11 Logos & Course Titles

avoid logos, course titles, institution names, dates, and other information that would prohibit sharing content across courses, departments, colleges, faculty, and institutions. Logos, copyright information, course titles should be added during post production so they can be easily changed without having to re-record a video.

5.12 Recording with OBS

5.12.1 Setting up Scenes

5.12.2 Audio

  • use a USB lapel mic when recording video; do not use a built-in mic; do not use the mic built into thr webcam as it is too far away
  • recommended audio settings are 48kHz and “mono”

5.12.3 Audio Post-Processing

  • cut out clips and attenuate background noise using Audacity