1. What Are They?Camtasia is a mul media recording and authoring program used to record screen ac ons and narrate PowerPoint slides. Video clips, images, and audio can be added. Instructors use Camtasia to make videos of screen ac ons or their PowerPoint slides with voice narra on. Videos can be produced in mul ple formats and posted to a streaming server, YouTube, or directly within a course in a learning management system.

Learning Technology Services (LTS) has a “quiet room” in their work area. This room includes a computer equipped with Camtasia Studio and a studio-quality microphone. Instructors can use this room for free by simply signing up on a calendar. Training and assistance in the quiet room are available from LTS staff .

2. Who Is Doing It? Ann Brand (Educa on) uses Camtasia to create mini lectures explaining the concepts that she would normally discuss in a face-to-face (F2F) class. She provides links to the videos for her online students.

John Kirk (Chemistry) uses Camtasia to create short videos covering content tradi onally covered in class. He uses quizzes through D2L to gauge understanding and encourage watching videos and reading the textbook outside of class. Class me is devoted to focusing on just those concepts that students fi nd diffi cult or interes ng and on more interac ve projects.

Todd Zimmerman (Physics) uses Camtasia to record short lectures for students to view before coming to class. By moving fi rst exposure of material out of the classroom he can spend class me working on problems or discussing diffi cult concepts. He also records short videos for students to watch before reading the text, poin ng out important details to focus on and ques ons they should be able to answer a er they have completed the reading.

Jennifer Grant (Biology) Jen Grant uses Camtasia to instruct students in an online course on biotechnology. Dr. Grant is par cularly interested in how strategic design of course content can be used to bridge the interpersonal gap between online students and their professors.

3. How Do They Work? What Can You Do?Some strategies for recorded Camtasia lectures include:• Chunking classroom lectures into smaller pieces. Shorter recordings are easier for

instructors to record and easier for busy students to watch. Many adult learners do not have me to watch a recorded lecture from start to fi nish. However, if that lecture is chunked, they may fi nd mes throughout their day to watch the lecture modules.

• The screen recording feature in Camtasia can be used to make a video demo of a so ware applica on or website for students. Students can watch the video mul ple mes to understand the applica on or website naviga on.

• Videos made in Camtasia can be cap oned. Cap oned videos are more accessible to students who are deaf, hard of hearing, or non-na ve English speakers.

4. Why Is It Signifi cant?More courses at UW-Stout are being taught completely online and many F2F courses include larger online components. Using recorded lectures enables instructors to address the diff ering student learning styles. Some students may prefer to read from a book.Others may prefer to view a narrated slide show. When instructors post transcripts of

Possibilities & Applications• Provide lecture materials for student viewing

outside class and using class me to explore concepts in more depth.

• Post recorded lectures for completely online students who would not otherwise receive lectures.

• Enable engagement and discussion in the classroom by giving students required knowledge for ac vi es and discussions.

• Encourage student accountability for class prepara on.

• Cap on recorded lectures to increase accessibility for deaf, hard of hearing, and non-na ve English speakers.

• Produce lectures properly for delivery via mobile devices for increased availability to students.

• Create class prepara on or supplemental materials for hybrid or fl ipped courses.

• Provide students with addi onal problem solving exercises.

• Create a screen recording tutorial that guides students through the process of opera ng a so ware applica on.

• Bring history to life through the inclusion of famous speeches, videos, or photos in recorded lectures.

Who to Contact:Learning Technology ServicesRich Bergbergr@uwstout.edu715-232-1223

What instructors are saying:“Yes, the lectures improve student learning. I see it in the breadth and depth of their discussion board posts and their ability to apply the material in other wri en assignments.”- Dr. Ann Brand

What students are saying:“I really liked the lectures that he posted online! They were informa ve and would help clarify parts of the chapter I had already read. Keep it up..... I thought it was very helpful.” - Chemistry Student

7 Things You Need to Know about Recorded Camtasia Lectures from Learning Technology Services at UW-Stout

their recorded lectures, students may read them or use them to take notes.

In completely online courses, narrated lectures help to establish a sense of instructor presence with the students. Narrated lectures help to make the instructor seem more real in the eyes of the student.

Student responses to recorded lectures have been mostly posi ve. Students like the ability to replay lectures, and rewind certain parts of lectures for clarity, something that is not always possible in a F2F lecture.

5. What Are the Implica ons for Teaching and Learning?When recorded lectures are placed online for students, F2F class me can be used to engage students in conversa ons about the course content and gauge student learning.

For completely online students, recorded lectures give the students a chance to gain the same kind of informa on and understanding they would get from the instructor in a tradi onal lecture. Online lectures also help keep the online experience from being a completely text-based form of delivery.

6. What Are the Downsides? Things to Consider?Prepara on is key for instructors when deciding to record lectures for students. It is most advisable to consider preparing recorded lectures the semester before actually deploying them for student consump on. If using PowerPoint lectures, instructors need to have PowerPoint slides up-to-date and chunked into logical sec ons.

Recording and edi ng me is another issue. Instructors may want to do some edi ng of recordings they have made, add tle slides, and add a UW-Stout wordmark. In addi on to the me it actually takes to make the recordings, these edits, depending on how many, may add some me to the process.

Cap oning can be one of the longer processes involved with edi ng, depending on the length of the recording and the amount of speech present. If an instructor does not have the me or inclina on to create a transcript, they may be able to use a fee-based transcrip on service. Some services are already in place for the UW System and can be found at the following link: h ps://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=15016. Instructorsneed only to have a transcript created, which they can import into Camtasia for cap oncrea on. The transcript can also be posted in the instructor’s D2L course site for studentsto read, or to print out for note-taking purposes.

There may be some ini al resistance to the use of recorded lectures, when they must viewed outside of class me in a F2F course. Students may not understand that coveringthe lecture material outside of class enables them to have a richer learning experience when a ending class. To help students adjust to this approach, instructors should strive to make in-class experiences meaningful and enriching.

7. Where Is It Going at UW-Stout?Learning Technology Services has had Camtasia for a number of years. Over the last two years, however, interest in Camtasia has begun to grow. Some instructors come to LTS for training and to do some ini al recordings and then purchase their own licenses, which enables them to record anywhere at any me.

Recent surveys administered by faculty who are using recorded Camtasia lectures and screen recordings have been promising. Student responses have been mostly posi ve. Students have also given feedback on how the recordings could be improved in the future.

Over 75% thought the recorded lectures helped them to feel confi dent that they understood the course materials well

Over 71% thought listening to the recorded lectures helped them to master the course content.

Over 81% thought the content in the recorded lectures was a good supplement to other course materials

Over 87% thought the recorded lectures added instructional value to the course

Over 81% thought the recorded lectures reinforced their understanding of the course content

Ini al Results:Survey responses collected from students whose instructors used recorded lectures

4.08%0.00%

8.16%

30.61%

57.14%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

StronglyDisagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

The recorded lectures added instructional value to the course.

2.08% 0.00%

16.67%

27.08%

54.17%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

StronglyDisagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Listening to the recorded lectures reinforced my understanding of the course content.

4.08% 4.08%

10.20%

36.73%

44.90%

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%50.00%

StronglyDisagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

The content in the recorded lectures was a good supplement to the other course materials.

2.04% 2.04%

20.41%

42.86%

32.65%

0.00%5.00%

10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%40.00%45.00%

StronglyDisagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Listening to the recorded lectures helped me to feel confident that I understood the course materials well.

2.04% 4.08%

22.45%

53.06%

18.37%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

StronglyDisagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Listening to the recorded lectures helped me to master the course content.