Camtasia Studio

Dr Michael Parkinson/

Eamonn Costello

DCU

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Areas

• What is Camtasia Studio?• Pedagogy• Uses• Programs• Usability• Delivery• Constraints• Summary

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What is Camtasia Studio?

• A method for recording a computer screen together with a voice-over/ video.

• An editing suite for pulling videos together

• A publishing suite for ‘publishing’ the videos in a wide range of different formats.

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Pedagogy

• Flexibility for both traditional and non-traditional learners– Remote delivery– Backup to lectures– Flexibility in terms of

• Time• Place• Pace

• Revision aid

• Remote delivery causes us to think about what we are doing

• Student Centred Learning– VSI– Students take control of

movie-making

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Automated Podcasting Solution Expands the Boundariesof the Classroom

• “We asked students to identify the aspects of podcasting that supported their learning.… The top choices that students selected were that listening to the podcasts helped them catch up when they missed class and helped them prepare for homework and exams”.

• “Students …. used the podcasts to clarify materials covered in lectures, enhancing their comprehension of complex concepts .. and to fill in gaps in their notes”.

• “These patterns indicate that the primary benefit of podcasting is its ability to provide repeat access to lectures. This attribute benefits all students who access the podcasts, not only those that miss a class.”

David Aldrich, Bradley Bell, Tim Batzel  University of Washington http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1181217&coll=portal&dl

=ACM&CFID=16202662&CFTOKEN=34160088)

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Use of ‘Virtual lectures’ significantly improves student grades in BE102

• Students were allowed access to ‘virtual lectures’ to cover the first half of BE102. The 2nd half of the course was taught by a different lecturer and used as a control.

• The more students used ‘virtual lectures’ the higher their grades in MCQ questions, short answer questions, and essay questions.

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Video Supplemental Instruction

• Lectures were videotaped• Groups of students then ran through the

videos supported by a peer mentor.• Grades were significantly better than for

comparison students even though intake qualifications were lower for the VSI group.

• Now web-based VSI http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3950/is_200404/ai_n9353369

http://www.umkc.edu/cad/vsi/

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Student-Created Movies

How may students participate in movie creation?• “Just-In-Time” movie creation – teacher responds

to student query• Student-created movies• “Create a movie explaining a concept or solving

an example of a problem” e.g. http://nolimit.esd113.k12.wa.us/mathcasts/factors_and_multiples/ac-quentin/ac-quentin.html

• Cost

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Uses

• ‘Virtual lectures’– PowerPoint– Freehand text

• Program ‘walk-throughs’

• Live capture of presentations

• VSI

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Camtasia Studio Usability

• Users– IT Sligo

• 60 licences– IT Carlow

• Many licences– Stirling

• Why?– Simple– Quick– Good quality– Cheap ( €204.49)– Sound Pedagogy– Doable– Fast

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Constraints

• Size– Quality– Movement– Video/ Talking head/

voice-over– Size of image

• Delivery platform– CD/DVD– VLE– Podcasts

• Live V rehearsed

• Pedagogy

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Software & Hardware

Commercial Software• Camtasia Studio 4

(http://www.techsmith.com/)

• Macromedia Captivate • Lotus ScreenCam • Adobe Acrobat Connect

Professional • ‘Instant Demo’

Free Software• Windows Media Encoder• Wink • CamStudio [sic]• Instanbul (Linux)

Hardware• Tie-clip Microphone or

headset• Radio mic for live

recording

A good List: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2005/05/screencasting-to-help-your-mom.html (14/05/2005)

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Freehand Text (electronic ink)

Uses:• Mathematics• Diagrams• Draw on any screen• Save black/white-board

work

Hardware• Pen input device

or• Tablet PC

SoftwareCommercial– Microsoft OneNote– SMART (includes recording) – Drawing packages (Flash,

Freehand)

Free– Jarnal

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Math Examples

Assorted Math Movies by teachers and students:http://coolschooltools.com/

By a student:http://nolimit.esd113.k12.wa.us/mathcasts/factors_and_multiples/ac-

quentin/ac-quentin.html

By a three and half year old:http://coolschooltools.com/Movies/Sarah/1/

Extensive mathematics video resource (some traditional videos): http://www.mathtutor.ac.uk

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Summary

• Video production is simple, quick, cheap, effective

• Can improve student learning

• For repetitive tasks can save staff time