Recording Mini-Lectures in Camtasia

1University of Wisconsin-Stout © 2013 The Board of Regents, University of Wisconsin

Learning Technology ServicesA Unit of Learning Information and Technology

Making Mini-Lectures in Camtasia

At UW-Stout instructors used Camtasia Studio to make their mini-lectures because of its fl exibility and relatively low price. It is also an application which is supported by Learning Technology Services (LTS). LTS can train instructors and provide technical and instructional design assistance. Some instructors have used the mini-lectures for completely online courses where there is no face-to-face (F2F) component. Others have used it for blended or hybrid courses, where students receive some lectures in a F2F setting and receive other lectures materials online using the mini-lecture format.

Process

Most instructors follow a similar process for creating their mini-lectures. This process is simple and can be replicated at most institutions.

1. Preparation of materials. Instructors take traditional F2F lecture materials and chunk them into sections that take between 5 and 15 minutes to record. This involves splitting apart PowerPoint lectures or other grouped materials. If it is a new course or instructor, the instructor develops the materials so that they can be recorded in 5-15 minutes.

2. Training in Camtasia. Some tech-savvy instructors opt out of training. Most decide to take the training from LTS, which takes about 60 minutes. Training involves basic recording, adding title slides, noise reduction, deleting unwanted pieces of recordings, captioning, and producing. LTS also gives training in other areas of Camtasia that are of interest to the instructor, such as live screen recordings.

3. Recording and editing. Instructors with their own copy of Camtasia can record anywhere. Instructors without their own copy may use the LTS Multimedia room, which has a computer with Camtasia, soundproofed walls, and a studio microphone. LTS staff are available for assistance when instructors use the LTS Multimedia room.

4. Saving the project fi le. Instructors are strongly encouraged to save the project fi les that are created when they are making mini-lectures. Saving the project fi le enables an instructor to modify an existing mini-lecture (e.g. add new information) without having to completely recreate the mini-lecture.

5. Producing for streaming. Once the instructor has completed their recording and editing, they produce their video to be streamed. This is done by going to the custom production settings and choosing the MP4 format. Producing in this way enables the instructor to add metadata to the fi le that helps others to know which instructor produced it, that it was made at UW-Stout, and that it is copyrighted.

6. Uploading to the streaming server. Once the instructor has completed the producing of the mini-lecture, they provide the fi le to and LTS staff member. Key members of LTS have access to the UW-Madison streaming server. The fi le is uploaded to an appropriate area on the server.

7. Linking to the fi le. Once the fi le has been uploaded to the streaming server, an LTS staff member creates a redirect fi le and link. The link is provided to the instructor, who then places it in the appropriate area of their D2L course.

Things to Consider

• To ensue effi ciency, decide on the divisions in your lecture materials before beginning recording.

• Adequate time for recording and editing is necessary. Plan out how many recordings you plan to make available to students. You will most likely want to have a good portion of your recordings fi nished before the start of the semester.

• It is much easier in the long run to caption lectures as they are produced than to go back and caption them later.

• MP4 fi les can be loaded directly into a D2L course but large numbers of fi les may cause performance issues or problems when copying course components between course shells. Using the linking method saves instructors from these problems.

• When loaded to the streaming server, the MP4 fi les can be played on laptops and most mobile devices.

• The speech-to-text feature for captions is not perfect, but can be trained to your voice to improve speed and accuracy.

2University of Wisconsin-Stout © 2013 The Board of Regents, University of Wisconsin

Learning Technology ServicesA Unit of Learning Information and Technology

Of 112 students, 49 fi lled out the survey for a response rate of 44%. Results are shown below. A complete report including student comments is available. To receive the report, please email [email protected].

6.12% 6.12%4.08%

8.16%

24.49%

20.41%

30.61%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

0% oflectures

1-20% oflectures

21-40% oflectures

41-60% oflectures

61-80% oflectures

81-99% oflectures

100% oflecutres

Percentage of recorded lectures watched by students

2.04% 0.00%6.12%

36.73%

55.10%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

StronglyDisagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

The audio quality of the recordings was satisfactory

2.04% 0.00%6.12%

32.65%

59.18%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

StronglyDisagree


The video quality of the recordings was satisfactory

4.08% 2.04%

14.29%

22.45%

57.14%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

StronglyDisagree


The recorded lectures played back without problems

2.04% 2.04%6.12%

28.57%

61.22%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

StronglyDisagree


The visual elements were easy to see in the playback

2.04% 2.04%

14.29%

28.57%

53.06%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

StronglyDisagree


The player controls were easy to use

2.04%4.08%

14.29%

36.73%

42.86%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

StronglyDisagree


The length of the audio recordings was appropriate

0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%80.00%90.00%

100.00%

Too Long Too short Neither. I thought thelength was satisfactory

If the length of the recorded lectures was not suitable, the problem was because the lectures were:

16.67%

31.25%27.08%

6.25%

18.75%

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%

5 Minutes orless

10 Minutes orless

15 minutes orless

30 minutes orless

Length of therecorded

lecture doesnot matter to

me.

The optimal length for a recorded lecture is:

4.08%0.00%

8.16%

30.61%

57.14%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

StronglyDisagree


The recorded lectures added instructional value to the course.

2.08% 0.00%

16.67%

27.08%

54.17%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

StronglyDisagree


Listening to the recorded lectures reinforced my understanding of the course content.

4.08% 4.08%

10.20%

36.73%

44.90%

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%50.00%

StronglyDisagree


The content in the recorded lectures was a good supplement to the other course materials.

2.04% 2.04%

20.41%

42.86%

32.65%

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%

StronglyDisagree


Listening to the recorded lectures helped me to feel confident that I understood the course materials well.

2.04% 4.08%

22.45%

53.06%

18.37%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

StronglyDisagree


Listening to the recorded lectures helped me to master the course content.

0.00% 0.00%

22.92%

12.50%

64.58%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

StronglyDisagree


Having the captions on the recorded lecture was helpful.

4.08% 4.08%

16.33%

26.53%

48.98%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

StronglyDisagree


I used the recorded lectures to prepare for tests and exams.

4.08% 2.04%

20.41%

38.78%34.69%

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%

StronglyDisagree


Listening to the recorded lectures helped me to do better on tests and exams.

4.17%0.00%

25.00%

37.50%33.33%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

StronglyDisagree


Listening to the recorded lectures helped me to get a better grade in the course

20.83%22.92%

31.25%

12.50% 12.50%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

StronglyDisagree


If given a choice in the future, I would opt to have recorded lectures instead of face-to-face lectures.

2.04% 4.08%

20.41%

26.53%

46.94%

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%50.00%

StronglyDisagree


If given a choice in the future, I would opt to have recorded lectures in addition to face-to-face lectures.

93.88%

81.63%

93.88%

36.73%

67.35%

85.71%

65.31%

77.55%

6.12%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

90.00%

100.00%

I could playthem any

time Iwanted

I could playthem

anywhere Iwanted

I could playthem

multipletimes

They aremore suited

to mylearning

style thantraditional

lectures

I could readthe captions

whilelistening tothe lecture

I couldpause therecordings

to takenotes

Theysignifcantlyincreses theinstructionalvalue of the

course

They wereuseful in

preparingfor tests and

exams

Therecorded

lectures didnot appeal

to me

Recording Mini-Lectures in Camtasia

Education

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