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Tag: video

Lighting Techniques for Webcam Lecture Recordings

Have you ever wondered how the photos on social media look so glamorous? Even the most self-produced “selfies” typically have a lot of effort put into them that may not be apparent in the seemingly effortless final product. In addition to the positioning of the camera lens and subject, using makeup, photographic filters, and editing software, the lighting is a big factor in the quality of an image.…

Estimating How Long it Takes to Make a Video

A fairly common question for anyone involved in making videos is “How long will it take?”
A Venn Diagram triad is sometimes drawn in response to this question, it includes words like: Good, Fast, and Cheap. “Pick any two.”
So when estimating how long a video will take to make (and in some cases also how long a video should be), I use that framework along with some simple tools and prior experiences to generate a reasonably accurate estimate.…

All About Captions

Captions are one of the most well-known accessibility aids. They are a common sight on TV screens in noisy restaurants, and the option to activate them is available on nearly every DVD and blu-ray menu. But as common as they are, many people may not understand the importance of captioning as an accessibility tool.…

Behind the Scenes of a DL Video

While you can use a variety of tools to produce an instructional video, a video with high production value still takes some careful planning and expert use of advanced production equipment. A recent video production in Abbott Hall required an alternative setting to the DL Studio, and since one of our conference rooms was recently upgraded with echo dampening acoustic panels it made for the perfect location to set up a temporary studio environment.…

DL Studio: August 2016 Online Learning Webinar

William and Aaron hosted a webinar about uses for the studio. They demonstrated the following four features of the studio:

Ability to record multi-angle demonstrations
Capture handwriting lessons using a digitizer tablet or mini lightboard
Record high quality podcast audio or voiceover for screencasts
Replace green screen backdrop with custom graphic or setting to contextualize video

The webinar audience included local instructors who are able to visit the Chicago campus or are designing a course that will be taught on campus for Chicago campus students to do an activity in the studio.…

Selecting a Video Style

What type of video should I make?
If you arrived at this blog post hoping for a prescriptive answer to that question, you won’t find it here. Instead you will find a framework for including video in your online course, a framework to help you focus your course development efforts by narrowing the process of making a video down to three main sequences of events.…

Ready, Set, Collaborate!

Designing and assessing group projects that promote meaningful learning experiences in positive collaborative environments.
While students may groan at the prospect of performing group work, positive group experiences have been shown to contribute to student learning, retention, and overall program success.…

Help Your Students Make Better Virtual Presentations

Common activities that occur in many professional and classroom settings, like giving a presentation, don’t always work in a distance learning environment in the ways we would expect. Differences in technology platforms can make the fairly simple process of talking and showing something to a group a difficult task.…

Announcing the SPS DL Video Recording Studio

A new recording studio will soon open in Abbott Hall. The SPS DL Video Recording Studio provides a space for recording high quality video and audio for use in SPS programs. Request to visit the space using the SPS DL Video Recording Studio Request Form or go to the DL Studio Page to learn more.…

Choosing a Web Conferencing Solution

Northwestern Information Technology recently introduced Blue Jeans, a web conferencing platform that integrates with Canvas. Blue Jeans is now available in all Canvas sites at Northwestern.
Faculty in the School of Professional Studies can choose to either use BlueJeans or Adobe Connect for web conferencing, based on the needs of their course.…