From Lecture to...Lecture

Online Faculty Development Course

An Ancient Art

Lecture is perhaps the oldest ways to teach content, but for at least a century it has been criticized and even ridiculed. Critics charge that lectures are part of an outdated model: the instructor-as-expert or sage-on-a-stage, simply pushes information toward students, who presumably (and perhaps uncritically) absorb it. This fails to bring many students into the learning process.

One of the worst stereotypes of teachers is captured in Ben Stein's classic depiction of a high school social studies teacher in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986).

This parody performance, while amusing, isn't altogether fair; some teachers can deliver spellbinding lectures that inspire memorable classroom conversations at intervals or afterwards. Nowadays, professors are finding ways to get the best out of lecture in combination with other teaching and learning styles.

Also, it's worth asking - if lecture is so unpopular, then why does it make money, in business like this? Or this? Why are TED talks so popular?

Options for Online Lecture

There are several options to explore if you wish to record video lectures for your online or hybrid course.

lecturecap.mp4

Transcript

Webcam and Screencasting

On the previous page, we considered D2L's video note, which records simple webcam videos. But you may wish to use a separate webcam recorder application, so you have a file you edit and upload on your own, both inside and perhaps outside D2L. And for online lecture recordings, you may find screencasting, or showing your slides (or other content) on screen to be more useful than an image of yourself.

For most faculty, Panopto is the obvious choice. It's web-based recorder will quickly do simple webcam videos, or even simultaneous webcam/screencast recordings. Panopto's on-board video editor even allows simple cuts and clips to make a tidier video.

For both webcam and screencasting, there are other choices available, that provide particular advantages over Panopto:

Microsoft Clipchamp: ClipChamp is an all-in-one screenrecorder and editor.
Quicktime for Mac is quite simple to use, and you can record without an internet connection. Macs also include a robust video builder/editor app, iMovie.
Microsoft Teams: While meant for more collaborative efforts and lacking in any editing capabilities (at least while recording), Teams is a great and easy-to-use way to start recording. When a recording is finished, it can be edited using ClipChamp (or any other video editing software).
Google Vids: A video recorder and editor powered by AI right in Google Drive.
Open Broadcast Studio (OBS): This open-source tool is used by many professionals. It is a bit tricky and daunting to get started, but is an excellent tool if you are interested in only screenrecording (no editing) and having everything live on your PC rather than the cloud.

Interested in learning more? Check out the Web-Based Videos for Teaching Wiki page.

Emerging Possibilities

Lately, Canisius faculty have been experimenting with the use of iPads connected to their Mac computers to create a new form of screencast, where they have a whiteboard-like screen they can write on.

To the right, Professor Mike Wood (Physics) demonstrates this in a series of videos he built for face-to-face classes.

Additionally, Canisius has a Lightboard Studio. This one-button studio allows us to create professional quality video lecture using a glassboard. Just bring a compatible USB!

Activate Students

While there are options for recording lecture, recognize that long hours of video lecture makes your course a bit like a TV program with homework - which may not be the best way to teach an online course. Instead, consider how you might use shorter, more valuable bites of lecture together with other content. It's easy to install lecture videos into D2L or an online interactive lesson (such as the one you are in now) to connect lecture segments with other content.

You can also provide students with directions on how to get the most from lectures. It is sometimes difficult to imagine, but many students may not have been taught how to effectively take notes, or listen to lectures. Drop the link to COLI's Note-Taking and Studying for College guide into your course. Better still, make a short quiz for it!

Note-Taking and Studying in College: A COLI Guide for Students

copy and paste the link! https://canisius.atlassian.net/wiki/x/hSQYAg

Also visit the K. Patricia Cross Academy, for many more good activities to pair with lecture.

Many of the above ideas, especially if you occasionally provide feedback to students on these, follow Nilson and Goodson's advice, to "help your students categorize and classify material whenever possible." That is, help them learn how to learn in your field or discipline.

Claire Howell Major (@ClaireHMajor) on XI know some folks contrast students listening to a lecture to them "doing something." I think when students are listening to a lecture, they are doing something. They are listening. How actively they listen is in part on us/their teachers.

Tip!

Both Panopto and YouTube allow you to create sharing links that begin at a certain time within a video, that is not at the start.

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