Multimedia for the Classroom: Home

Image by Golden Lily,  Flickr

CC#5: Multimedia in the Classroom
In this class you'll learn how to make video and audio tutorials that you can post to shared drives, Web pages, or E-Boards to help your students learn concepts even after class is over! We'll use Smart Recorder, Jing, Audacity, and maybe even a little Moviemaker. Time permitting, you may want to create a LibGuide just like this one where you can post your videos and any other related files, links, or instructions.

Here's a video tutorial made with Jing. Jing limits the length of videos to 3:00 minutes per recording. To get around this problem, I created two 3-minute videos intended to be watched one after the other.

Here's a video tutorial made with Jing. I used this video as the model of how to search a database after a lesson in which I explained the concepts of advanced database searching and how it works. I embedded this video onto the last page of my SmartNotebook presentation. Jing videos are Flash videos, so you can drag-and-drop them right onto a SmartNotebook page!

Here's a video I recently created using SmartRecorder and Moviemaker. The green headlines that fade in from the left side of the screen were Moviemaker "credits" embedded in the video file made using SmartRecorder.  

Here's a video tutorial made using a Flip Mino camcorder plus SmartBoard and SmartRecorder's screen-capture software, both of which were then imported into Moviemaker for editing and adding narration. Helpful tip: when recording your actions on a SmartBoard, it's a good idea to turn off the ink layer reminders!

Here's a video tutorial made with Jing. Jing limits the length of videos to 3:00 minutes per recording. To get around this problem, I created two 3-minute videos intended to be watched one after the other.

Here's a video tutorial made using Jing screen-capture software along with a Smart Notebook presentation (though Powerpoint or any other digital presentation would work, too) plus a digital microphone. The SmartNotebook presentation includes screenshots of my computer screen with arrows, etc., pointing out what I want to teach.

Here's a video tutorial made using a SmartBoard and SmartRecorder's screen-capture software. Since I couldn't get the microphone to work while I was recording what I was doing on the SmartBoard, I then imported the file into Moviemaker and added narration there while watching the video playback.

Note: While using Moviemaker does add another layer of complexity to the task, it does have the advantage of allowing you to edit your video after it's recorded, which you can't do in either Jing or SmartRecorder. If you do choose to use Moviemaker, it is VERY IMPORANT that you "finalize" the video before posting the final video anywhere such as the Web, Shared drive, etc. Click on the "Moviemaker" Tab at the top of this LibGuide, and view the video under "How-To 'Finalize' Moviemaker Videos" heading to see how to do it.

Here's the first video tutorial I made using Smart Recorder, recording my actions on the SmartBoard. I recorded my demonstration of how to use ebooks live on the SmartBoard using SmartBoard pens to circle and point out where to click. This eliminated the need for creating a SmartNotebook presentation in advance. However, I could not get a microphone to pick up my narration while recording the SmartBoard actions, so I had to import the file into Moviemaker in order to add narration. Since I was using Moviemaker, I could add background music in addition to my narration (but I'm not sure it's necessary!)

Here's my very first video tutorial made the labor-intensive way screenshots, with arrows and lines drawn in Smart Notebook, then these pages of SmartNotebook being converted into images that were imported into Moviemaker, and narration recorded in Audacity, which was also imported into Moviemaker, finalized, and then finally ready to post on the Web. There are much easier ways to do this and SmartRecorder and Jing are the answer!