Converting Lectures Into Vodcasts & Podcasts For Mobile Devices Options For Pc & Mac Users

Converting Lectures into Vodcasts & Podcasts for Mobile Devices: Options for PC & Mac Users
Convergence and Society Conference
“The Changing Media Landscape”
November, 2009

The Student Today
Student expectations
Constant access to information
In the classroom and out
Information that is portable
What they are used to
Grew up with the computer
How many of your students have cell phones?
How many of those are smart phones?

Why bother?
Technology is part of our students way of life
It makes sense to teach them with what they are familiar with
Keeping up with the neighbors
Over half of top 500 schools use iTunes U to distribute course content to their students
Mobile content works
Extends the learning experience beyond the classroom
Flexibility and mobility

Why bother?
Another learning tool
Review and entire lecture or specific section they are having trouble understanding
Less frantic note-taking and more participation in class
Home with N1H1
How stuffy are you?
Allows you to connect to your students on their own turf

Why bother?
The McKinney Study
32 students attend class in person and receive a printout of the lecture
32 students downloaded a Vodcast of the same lecture synchronized with video of the slides
Results
Lecture-only students
Took notes = 62 average
Podcast students
No notes = 62 average
Took notes = 71 average
Listened more than once and took notes = 77 average

Why bother?
My informal study
Vodcasts of software operation of Final Cut Studio lectures for production level 2 & 3 students
PowerPoints lectures also available online
Results
Students who downloaded at least one PowerPoint lecture
Around 50% in each class
Students who downloaded at least one Vodcast lecture
3-4 students out of 16-20 in each class

My Vodcast Users
Characteristics
The brighter bulbs on my Christmas tree
More motivated
Good time-managers
Overall better students than their peers
Vodcastsdidn’t make them that way
Simply another learning tool for them to utilize to help them achieve their academic goals

Outcome of my study
No more lecture vodcasts
For me, for now
Create video tutorial short videos focusing on one subject area
No more than 15 minutes long
Expected results
Saves time for students
No shuttling though entire lecture
Download only what they need
Focus on one particular area of interest
Saves time for me
Can do one short video on one take – no editing needed

Tools for Professors
What do you need?
Long screencasts - whole lectures
Probably need a tool with post editing capabilities
Short screencasts – narrow topic
Do it all in one take – no need for editing
Other enhancements needed?
Annotations, adding images, music
What could your students use?

PC Solutions
TechSmithCamtasia Studio
Toolbar added to your PowerPoint to capture while in the program
Capture screen or section of screen
Editing capabilities
Annotations and zooming in and out
30 day demo
Just released Mac version
Price $300

PC Solutions
Adobe Captivate
This application has the most features, but also the most costly
Interactive functions like quizzes
Text-to-speech function will read yourslides
Can personalize the learning experience
Remembers user name
Trial download available
Price: $800

PC Solutions
CamStudio Open Source
Records screen and audio into AVI videos
Full screen or screen portion
Format can also be converted to Flash videos
Flash video bug in this version (2.0)
Will not play in Netscape or Firefox
Need to add additional HTML to work
New addition will fix this bug (2.5)
Captions, picture-in-picture to include web cam
Price: Box $20 or download Free

PC Solutions
Deskshare My Screen Recorder
Captures desktop or portion of desktop into AVI video
Organizes your recordings into folders right in the program
Pro version also creates Flash, WMV and self-playing executable files on CD and DVD
Price $50

PC Solutions
NCH Software Debut
Can record from screen or other inputs like VHS and webcam
Free edition features
?? – not listed on website
Pro edition features
Videos saved to AVI, WMV, Flash, MPG and 3GP
Photo snapshots, captions and videoeffects
Pro edition price: $65

PC Solutions
Small Video Soft.com Screen Video Capture
Screen recorder or snapshot maker
Videos saved to AVI format
Compression MSVideo1, MPG4 and DivX
Set capture quality, frame rate and audio quality
Pause your capture with a hot key
Price: Free

PC Solutions
Blueberry Software BB FlashBack
Similar to Camtasia and Captivate
Add text, sound effects, music and images
Zoom in and out
Good choice for slower PC’s
Doesn’t affect pc performance while recording
Videos saved as Mov, Flash, AVI and WMV
Price: $200

Mac Solutions
Ambrosia Software SnapzPro X
Record screen, portion of screen or take snapshots
Records QuickTime videos
Set size and frame rate
Make them Final Cut or web ready
What I am using now
Price: $70

Mac Solutions
TelestreamScreenFlow
Similar to Camtasia
Built-in editor, callouts, and other similar features
Export your video to WMV, Flash and Mov
Online tutorials
Trial version available
Price: $100

Mac Solutions
ShinyWhiteBoxiShowU HD
Video capture presets
Final Cut or web ready
Upload directly to YouTube or Blip.TV
Pro version:
Watermarking, hot key recording, shows keys and mouse actions, audio mixing
Classic version: $30
Pro version: $60

Mac Solutions
TechSmith Jing
Screen capture up to 15 minutes, snapshot maker
Sun icon lives on your desktop
Free account online to store your videos
Code to embed your video on a web page or link to their server
No editing features
Works on PC, too
Price: Free
Pro version available

Mac Solutions
Mien Software ScreenRecord
Screen capture or a portion of your screen
Saves video to QuickTime
Studio version includes editing tools
Combination of ScreenRecord & MediaEdit
Add images, other video and audio,picture-in-picture
Classic version: $16
Studio version: $40

Mac Solutions
Decimus Software Screen Mimic
Captures screencasts as QuickTime or Flash videos
Mouse tracking and visual feedback on mouse clicks
Editing features include transitionsand audio dubbing
Price: $65

Mac Solutions
Synium Software Screenium
Capture in high definition or other presets
Mouse pointer visualization, multi-channel audio input, text overlays and picture-in-picture
Available in multiple languages
French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
Price: $30

Online Solutions
Screen Toaster
Capture screen or portion of screen
Hot key support to pause your recording
Some post editing
Add captions, but no cutting and pasting
Post on their server for free
Embed code or link to their site
Price: Free

Online Solutions
Screencast-O-Matic
Works much the same as Screen Toaster
Record up to 15 minutes
Keep your files on their server for free or save them as WMV, QuickTime or Flash files
Price: Free

Make Podcasts Available to Students
Three options
Choose an application that will stow the screencasts for you
Camtasia, Screen Toaster, Screencast-O-Matic
Make them accessible on your Blackboard
Stow them there directly
Stow on streaming server and link to them
Upload them to your course on iTunes U
More iPod friendly

Choose an application that will stow the screencasts for you
If you need editing capabilities look for software that will provide server space for you
Camtasia, other?
If you don’t need editing toolsthese free online applicationsshould do the job
Screen Toaster, Screencast-O-Matic

Make them accessible on your Blackboard
Stow them there directly
All right if you only have a few videos
Stow on streaming server and link to them
Create a RSTP account
Ask for 10GB space
Find out URLs
Where your files willbe stored
The link to access yourfiles

Upload them to your course on iTunes U
Set up your course on iTunes U at your school
Contact iTunes U administrators to create a course for you with administrative rights
Upload your content there
Set access privileges
Only your students, all university students, general public
Upload and download or download only

Links to these applications and more detail available on the paper
Convergence and Society Conference
“The Changing Media Landscape”
November, 2009