How can I make a video to share with my students?
(Photo by William Moreland on Unsplash)
There are lots of options available.
To get started you need to be clear about what type of video you want to produce. For example, is it:
- Talking head - just you speaking to camera informing the students about something;
- Screencast - you with accompanying slides (say from PowerPoint) or a recording of something on your computer (eg walking through how to use a particular piece of software);
- Capture - a recording of a ‘live’ event, such as a lecture, whilst it happens;
- to include ‘green screen’ effects (as in weather forecasts, where you/presenter appear in front of an image or background video);
- made up of multiple segments added together (e.g. rather than a single ‘take’);
- something that you want to share publicly and openly, or something that should only be accessible by students on your module/course?
The best solution will vary depending on which of these (or which combination) you are looking for, so planning is definitely the first stage!
Solutions for Making your video
Let us suppose that you just want either to record you speaking straight to camera, or include some slides. You can do this on your computer (whether laptop or desktop) quite easily, especially if you are happy enough with the quality of your webcam and built-in microphone. The following suggestions are useful for recording your screen or a presentation.
| Technology | Solution |
|---|---|
| Canvas Studio | Canvas Studio is a video platform integrated within Canvas (VLE) that allows users (staff and students) to create, upload, and manage videos for educational purposes. It offers tools for recording new content directly through the platform or uploading pre-recorded videos. Instructors can embed videos into course materials, add interactive elements like quizzes and captions, and track student engagement with analytics. It also allows students to submit video assignments and collaborate through video discussions. See https://universityofgalway.instructure.com/courses/107/pages/video-in-canvas?module_item_id=25371 for more details |
| Clipchamp | Clipchamp is a browser-based video editing platform, on your Microsoft Office account, that allows users to create, edit, and export videos easily. It offers a range of features, including trimming, cutting, adding filters, transitions, text overlays, and more. Clipchamp is designed to be user-friendly, making it accessible to both beginners and experienced video creators. It also includes a library of stock footage, music, and templates to streamline the video production process. As a cloud-based tool, Clipchamp eliminates the need for heavy software downloads, allowing users to edit videos directly from their web browser. It's available at https://www.microsoft365.com/launch/clipchamp/ in Edge or Chrome and when you launch the Clipchamp desktop app for Windows, then log in with your university Microsoft account. |
| Quicktime on Mac | ...then it is very easy indeed! Mac OSX comes with Quicktime Player built-in and although most people might only use this for watching videos, it can actually also make videos and screencasts. For simple recordings, you might only need to use Quicktime itself. Find out how to make a Quictime Recording. |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | PowerPoint itself can produce video files of a presentation with an audio narration. Depending on the particular version of PowerPoint that you are using, you can go to the Slide Show menu, select 'Record Show' and then work through the slides one by one whilst recording an audio narration. Find out how to make a recording in Powerpoint. |
| Microsoft Stream recording | See How to record in MS Stream |
| Windows 10 Video Editor | Windows 10 includes Video Editor, a full-featured set of video creation and editing tools. Find out more here. |
| Microsoft Teams | You can record your meetings in Teams to capture audio, video, and screen-sharing activity. The recording happens in the cloud and is saved to Microsoft Stream, so you can share it securely. Find out more about Microsoft Teams. |
| Zoom | You can record in Zoom also, and share the link to your recording directly. Just open a session and start recording yourself, a presentation or a live meeting. You can record to the cloud or directly to your computer. |
|
Techsmith Screencasting tools (Individual purchase required) |
If you plan on making the production of screencasts a regular thing, then it’s probably worth considering paying for a copy of Camtasia. This is quite a powerful package and has lots of editing options, including setting questions, etc. Camtasia also has ‘green screen’ capabilities. It runs on Mac as well as Windows. Snagit is a cheaper, more basic option from the same company. |
|
Windows 10 inbuilt Video Editor |
An easy-to-use but full-featured set of video creation and editing tools with music, text, motion, and 3D effects. Video Editor is the successor to Movie Maker on Windows 10, with a focus on easy-to-use creative tools. |
| Windows 10 inbuilt screen recorder | ...then there are a number of different ways you can do this. Windows 10 has an inbuilt screen-recorder, but it’s hidden away amongst the Xbox/gaming tools (used to record gameplay). It is quite limited in terms of options, but it’s still free! You can learn about it here. Otherwise, there are many online tools that you can either use for free or pay a small licence for. These are of varying capabilities. |
| For mobile devices (phones, tablets) | There are multiple apps (including basic ones which will have been supplied with your device) for simple video capture. You can also use Canvas studio to host this video, if you access it via a Canvas Teacher or Student account. |
| Audacity (Audio only) | Simply having an audio commentary or recording in conjunction with some slides or documents may suffice. There are many ways of doing audio recordings, including via your phone, and of loading these onto Canvas (as ‘podcasts’). The free audio processing tool Audacity, is very useful for this. A good quality microphone can make a huge difference. |
Need additional online training on doing your recording?
The All Aboard project has the following resources to help:
What other options are there for recording on campus?
We also have a ‘mini-studio’ in University of Galway, which is available to any student or staff member. All you need to do is bring along a USB memory stick, on which your video will be recorded and which you can take away with you to edit or share, and press the single button marked ‘record’ in the room. All the equipment switches on and off automatically. If you want to capture a presentation on your laptop then bring it along and you can plug it in to the system and it will recognise that you want this automatically! If you know what you are doing, there’s a green screen available in the room too! View this video for a tour.
‘Lecture Capture’ is the term used for recording a lecture or similar event. Lecture capture is best done in venues which have been explicitly set up for this purpose. There are specialist software tools and hardware devices to enable such recordings. These allow events to be scheduled for recording in advance and for the processed recordings to be automatically posted up in the correct module in Canvas, a website, or wherever.
Where is lecture capture available on the University of Galway campus?
In other countries, particularly the UK and Australia, universities have equipped all their teaching rooms for this and, indeed, record every scheduled lecture by default. This is currently not the case at University of Galway.
What can I do instead?
It is possible to use MS Teams or Zoom to do a rough and ready lecture recording (or indeed any of the screen capture tools we mentioned above) in several teaching venues on campus.
To make a lecture recording, in a venue where there is no lecture capture solution in place, plan it carefully. Where things often go awry is with the quality of the audio (or sometimes a network issue). If you are planning on making such a recording, check that the audio from the microphones is being passed through to the computer that you are using. Testing out in advance is essential.