Making a video that will meet your objectives is not an easy task, but there are some simple guidelines to increase your odds of success. I’ve used this space before to describe the challenges I’ve encountered creating online course videos that are actually engaging to view, so it’s fair to ask why I keep returning to this subject, and why I harp so much on faculty preparation.

Here’s why. In my experience lack of preparation on the part of the on-camera talent (faculty, subject-matter experts, etc.) is the greatest obstacle to a successful video production. It’s an easily preventable waste of everyone’s time and efforts.

And it can be a substantial waste. Unless you’re making a quick webcam video introduction that will run at the start of the course and be replaced the next term, producing video is a resource-intensive undertaking. There are meetings to set goals and gather requirements, scripts that must be written and revised, production personnel and studios to be scheduled, props and digital assets to be assembled, editing and compositing in post-production; all before you get something to review and ultimately publish. Unless you have unlimited resources (and who does?) it’s imperative that the end product meets its purpose, whether it’s to add some social presence or help realize a learning objective. And you can be sure that its purpose won’t be met if it’s unwatchable.

So here are some preparation tips for successful video:

1. Determine your objective. Working with your instructional designer (if you are lucky enough to have one), ask yourself what’s the purpose of the video. Do you want to introduce yourself and the course to your students? Or is there a process or procedure you want to demonstrate? Why use a video rather than text, a podcast, or narrated PowerPoint?
2. Write an appropriate script. Some people are naturals on-camera and can speak smoothly without a script. However, most faculty will need a script and a teleprompter unless they’re participating in an interview session. Here let’s reiterate that writing for media is a much different skill than writing for academia. Remember that you will be speaking what you write; your students won’t be reading it. You want to write more for the ear than for the eye. There are many books on this topic; Robert L. Hilliard’s Writing for Television and Radio is an often-cited text and available through the DePaul library.
3. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. The day of the shoot is not the time to give your script a first read-through. Reading aloud through your script will quickly make evident if you’ve included difficult phrases or cumbersome words that make a smooth delivery difficult or impossible. Rewrite the rough spots, and then practice with a friend, spouse, your handy instructional designer, or even alone in front of a mirror. But do it. Repeatedly.
4. Dress professionally and simply.I suggest opting for a solid color suit for both men and women. If you find yourself addressing a clinical matter as a scientist or physician, feel free to wear a lab coat. For a more casual look, a solid shirt, blouse, or sweater would be suitable as well. It’s advisable to avoid patterns and flashy jewelry. Additionally, if you happen to be in front of a green screen, it’s crucial not to wear anything with green in it. Oh, and when it comes to the attire, remember to wear dress just like one of these hot pink prom dresses. See these guidelines here.
5. Wear makeup on camera. Both men and women can use a little help with shiny foreheads and dark circles under the eyes. You don’t want to look haggard or washed-out on-screen; you can find some makeup tips here.

Making a successful video isn’t exactly rocket science, but it does require some basic preparation. So follow these simple tips and you’ll increase the chances of getting results your students will watch and you’ll be proud of.

Business and professional communication is an essential skill, but it no longer takes place solely in person. An important component in preparing students to segue to a professional career is ensuring that they have a plethora of experiences—today, this should include working in a virtual space.  

Many industries offer telecommuting options, require global Web-based presentations, etc. Students who are charged with working in these organizations must understand the etiquette when communicating synchronously and asynchronously.

So developing an online course in public speaking must include a myriad of opportunities to create experiences that enable students to hone communicating in an online context.

As the instructional designer for this type of online course, I spent countless hours researching what strategies other institutions (higher education and professional industries) employ when teaching a public speaking course online (one of the more popular online courses) or communicating in a professional setting.

After sifting through several examples, I created sample projects segmented by synchronous and asynchronous solutions. It was important to distinguish between the types of solutions to ensure that students get experience working with each. See the sample projects listed in the table below.

Each of these examples lends itself to creating different experiences for students to communicate professionally in a virtual space.

As technology becomes more ubiquitous in global work settings, students who are acclimated to presenting in multifaceted formats are better equipped to deliver on-demand and work with a variety of technologies.

Last fall, I wrote about the challenges of creating engaging video for online courses. Disappointed with the end product I was getting by serving in a mostly advisory capacity, I declared that I would take a more hands-on approach. I was hopeful that by requiring early ideation sessions, script review, rehearsal, and on-site art direction I’d be able to get results that would meet faculty goals and that students would actually watch.

I’m still waiting for that happy day to arrive. I hadn’t anticipated that it would be so difficult to get stakeholders to deliver a draft of a script on deadline, let alone to find time for substantive review and iteration. Rehearsals? I haven’t been able to schedule one yet. As far as art direction, I’ve bumped up against the realities of working with media services that have limited abilities and capacities; without the resources to do extensive compositing and editing in post-production, there’s very little you can do with a static one-camera set up.

Still, the status quo is hard to defend. In the absence of sufficient preproduction planning and active involvement during the shoot, too often what’s created is a hard-to-watch presentation consisting of a speaker at a podium superimposed over hard-to-read PowerPoint slides. The effectiveness of this presentation approach in a live classroom is debatable, but it’s rarely successful online.

Even better-conceived productions suffer from lack of adequate planning and constraints. Rushed into production at the last minute, a recent shoot with two engaging professors discussing a topic dear to them failed because it was too long to sustain interest and relied too heavily on post-production that our campus media services were unable to deliver on deadline.

I’m still hopeful that a more hands-on approach will ultimately be successful. Building in lots more time for preproduction should help, and my department is taking steps to bring more production in-house for greater control of outcomes. I’m also hoping to find a way for our faculty to work with DePaul’s television studio and personnel; the ability to create multicamera interview productions would give us a powerful way to deliver engaging, high-quality online video.

Multimedia is not a new concept. It’s been around in multifaceted forms long before learning management systems and the development of online courses came to fruition.

If asked “what’s the most popular form of media in today’s society?” one would be able to argue the Internet or television depending on your generation, technological savviness, etc. With the evolution of the Internet and the creation and mass use of online video services such as Hulu and video sharing websites such as YouTube, having access to varied forms of multimedia is becoming increasingly more common. So should professors and instructional designers incorporate multimedia from sites like these into an online course? In my humble opinion, absolutely. These sites offer content from a variety of credible entities. With course design, whether face-to-face or online, vetting what peripheral resources are included is essential.

For the purposes of this blog, let’s look at Merriam-Webster’s definition of multimedia:

• Multimedia (noun): a technique (as the combining of sound, video, and text) for expressing ideas (as in communication, entertainment, or art) in which several media are employed; also : something (as software) using or facilitating such a technique

When developing an online course, the collective use of audio, video, and text can certainly enhance course content, but can it detract from it? I would argue yes. Clark and Mayer (2003) suggest that instead of presenting words alone, we recommend presenting words with pictures. Our recommendation is not to add pictures that decorate the page (called decorative illustrations) but instead to add pictures that help the learner understand the material (called explanative illustrations).

Being strategic is imperative not only in identifying which textbook to use, journal article to reference, or technology to incorporate into your course, but also when deciding which forms of multimedia will enhance the fundamental concept being discussed.

So, what should one consider when selecting media? The first question I would ask myself is “does the medium help illustrate and contextualize the concept(s) for a given topic?” If the answer is yes, then utilizing differentiated media can address varied learning styles. The use of audio, visual, and kinesthetic multimedia and learning activities helps to liven up the course by supporting learner engagement.

In a course that I recently developed, I had the pleasure of working with an innovative professor who identified television sitcoms and motion pictures to help articulate the course concepts. When she was unable to find existing media, this professor strategically utilized resources such as theater majors on campus to portray and video record these concepts.

There are a plethora of resources that exist on the Internet and internal resources available through most higher education institutions. The need to develop new content is unlikely given that individuals and organizations have made acquiring content much more conducive via proper permissions (i.e., creative commons, licensing rights via authentic websites, etc.) to utilize their content.

Once you have the framework of your course solidified, identifying (and in the professor’s case, creating) illustrative multimedia can help to ensure that your course content is relevant and piques students’ interest.

Resources

• Clark, R.C., and Mayer, R.E. (2003). e-Learning and the Science of Instruction (55). San Francisco: Pfeiffer
• http://www.merriam-webster.com/

Attend any conference on distance learning and you’ll hear lots of enthusiasm for instructor videos in online courses. Whether they’re DIY webcam course introductions or sophisticated in-studio productions, the general belief is that more video equals a better course. I’ve long been an advocate for increasing the use of instructor video, but lately I’ve come to the conclusion that not every instructor is ready for show time.

Why? Mostly it’s because the qualities that make for a good video require skills and attributes that aren’t necessarily found in all, or even most, faculty. Engaging images and narrative aren’t usually what’s presented in a classroom PowerPoint. Brevity is a must, but many academics lecture even when coached not to. Ease and comfort on camera are essential, but I’ve seen too many recordings that feature white-knuckled instructors gripping a podium and staring blankly into the middle-distance.

This isn’t the fault of the instructor. Writing for media and performing for video are specialized skills not part of the typical Ph.D. program. And I’ve been guilty of handing faculty a couple of video production guideline documents, offering some generalized tips, and then being disappointed when the results are less than desired.

No more. I’ve decided that I need to be involved every step of the production process, from ideation to script review to preproduction rehearsal and on-site coaching and art direction. It will be a much longer and labor-intensive process, but I think it’s absolutely necessary to get results that everyone can be proud of.

I’ve also come to the conclusion that some faculty just aren’t able to appear on camera in a way that adds value to their course. While unfortunate, it’s a fact that a stiff, sweaty delivery by a visibly uncomfortable professor leaves a poor impression of his or her abilities as a teacher and, by extension, the program or school. For them there are other ways to add social presence. I’ve worked with faculty who are clearly unsuited for video but who produce really engaging audio podcasts. It would be irresponsible for me to insist on video when using audio gives a much better result.

So are instructors ready for show time? A few are, some others can be made ready, and some will never be. The challenge is to identify which media best suits an individual faculty member, diplomatically guide them to that media, and then follow through with lots of hands-on direction and oversight.

In June 2011, the FITS Department began production of Everything That FITS, an ongoing podcast for members of the DePaul community and the world at large, focusing on instructional technology, pedagogy, and teaching and learning. Podcasts may contain audio transcripts of blog entries on the iddblog.org site, interviews with faculty and staff members, or other content to be determined. We’re dedicated to helping you find your inspiration to teach smarter!

New podcasts will be added on a monthly basis, and you can subscribe to Everything That FITS through iTunes U at DePaul. Use this link to access the Podcast.

Happy listening!

In recent years, the increasing digitization of our world has given the everyday user the ability to do things at home that only the pros used to be able to do. While these capabilities have not gone unnoticed, we are not always aware of our new abilities—until someone lets us know they’re out there.

Take audio recording, for example. Software to record audio in single and multi-track formats has been available on computers for a long time but has usually been the domain of expensive software packages such as ProTools, Logic, or Adobe Audition. Software like this gives users the ability to do at home what used to require purchasing studio time and hiring an engineer; Grammy-nominated artist Moby recorded his first major album in his own house. However, he was still doing so on professional-level equipment with professional-level software.

So what’s the average user to do if he just wants to record some audio without taking out a second mortgage to pay for studio gear? Recently, these capabilities have come to the average user, sometimes for free. The open-source movement has made great strides in advancing everyone’s application libraries through widely available free software. This time I’ll talk about Audacity, for those who want to get their feet wet in the world of audio.

Audacity is a free, cross-platform, open-source audio recording and editing application that was originally developed in 1999 at Carnegie Mellon University. It is surprisingly powerful for free; in fact, it rivals the expensive programs in its features for recording, mixing, and processing audio. I included it on my list of downloads for students in my Music in the Electronic Medium class, since students could record at home or continue editing files they had produced in class on other software. The price point was appealing to them too, since most college students can’t afford a 700 dollar audio recording suite for only a couple of courses.

Let’s get started. First, download Audacity. You can get that here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net. Also, while you’re at it, download the LAME MP3 encoder, from this link: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&i=lame-mp3. The LAME encoder will allow you to produce MP3 files with Audacity. Because the software is Open Source, they cannot by law include the ability to produce MP3s, since that is a patented, proprietary format; instead, you install this separate piece and it takes care of the rest.

Once you install and open the software for the first time, you’re presented with a blank canvas:

It looks pretty daunting at first, but it’s a lot easier than you think. A couple of things to point out here:

The recording selector is at the top right-hand side of your screen. It is most likely set to “Internal Microphone,” but your preferences can change depending on what sorts of sound devices you have installed. For instance, you may be able to record from an attached microphone, or select the sounds from your computer as a source. Pull down the box to select what you’d like to use to record. Many computers and most laptops now have pretty good built-in microphones, and for most simple voice recording, a microphone like this is more than adequate.

The recording buttons are at the top left-hand side of your screen. Once you’ve selected your recording device, hit the red Record button and you’re off and running!

This image shows a recording being done. You can see two audio waveforms in one track; these are the left and right audio channels, so you are recording in stereo. There are a few things to pay attention to while you are recording as well.

The moving red lines you see while making your recording are the volume levels. A thin red line marks the loudest sound in the track; a thin blue line marks the threshold at which the sound will begin to distort. Ideally, you want your sound to be as close as possible to the blue line without or only very occasionally going over it. You can use the microphone volume control (located farther right) to adjust your recording volume if necessary. Just press the orange Stop button when you’re done.

If you want to add another track, just push the Record button again, and it will begin recording a new stereo track for you. You’ll be hearing your first track at the same time though, so before you record, you may want to Mute your first track (see image).

Now comes the slicing and dicing part. Let’s say you want about half of what you just recorded. Click on the audio timeline in your track at the place you want to start cutting, and drag the cursor along the track until you have the rest highlighted.

Hit Delete, and it’s gone.

So now what? You’ve got some audio you like and might want to share with someone. It’s time to create an audio file. First, we must make a distinction between Saving and Exporting in Audacity. If you simply choose “Save As…” you will end up with an Audacity project file. This is not an audio file, but the information saved from your recording session. Basically, it is the links to the tracks you have recorded and all of the data you have created. Audacity also creates a folder in the same place as your project file for all of the raw data. Neither the project file nor the stuff in the folder is usable unless you have Audacity, so this isn’t the option to choose if you want to make an audio file. Furthermore, if you take the project file somewhere and don’t have the data folder too, your project file won’t do you any good either, because it won’t be able to find anything you’ve done. It’s like that PowerPoint presentation with all the great sounds that you copied to another computer for a presentation and none of the sounds worked! However, it can be a good idea to save project files, especially if it’s something you might come back to later to edit. You might want to add some more tracks to a recording or some effects to the sound. You can’t do that if you don’t have a project file.

Let’s Export this to an audio file now. Choose FileàExport. A save dialog box appears, and you can choose the file name and destination. Pull down the Format box at the bottom to pick what kind of file to create.

You may see a number of different options depending on the programs you have installed. The most commonly used choices, though, are AIFF, WAV, MP3 and WMA. MP3 is usually the best choice for sharing audio with people, because it presents a combination of pretty decent audio fidelity with small file size. I know there are audio purists that will disagree with this choice, and it’s true—if you’re looking for the absolute highest quality sound, you should be picking WAV. However, you’ll pay for it with the storage it takes up: a typical MP3 file is about 1 megabyte per minute of recording, while a typical WAV file is more like 11 megabytes per minute.

This has been a very quick and dirty overview of audio recording in Audacity. There are many, many more features in the program, including variable speed playback, effects, mixing and mastering tools, and even advanced features like audio spectrum analysis and the ability to add metadata to exported tracks, so that your media player will display what it’s playing automatically (no more of that 01 Track 1 stuff). Audacity is powerful and a lot of fun to use, and with a price like free, you can’t go wrong. I encourage all of you faithful readers out there to give it a try; I think you’ll be glad you did. You just might surprise yourself, so go get creative!