The first session in a series of video-related Learning Webinars took place on December 2, 2015. It was hosted by Aaron Bannasch and William Guth and attended by many SPS faculty and learning designers. Aaron and William gave a tour of the Video How-To Guides page, which is a central resource for anyone using video in course sites, and showed how to make use of the guides to begin the collaborative process of planning a video.

Also covered was Camtasia, one of the Distance Learning team’s recommended screencasting software applications. Different techniques for scripting and preparing for a video recording were discussed, with an emphasis on Section 508 Accessibility compliance. Finally, examples of videos that can be produced in the new One Button Studio in the Main Library and the Lightboard Studio were given for local faculty and staff.

Some key takeaways from this session included:

• No video production project can be successful without a script, outline, or roadmap for the presentation. Failure to script will result in failure to deliver the message that students need to be successful in their assignments, discussions, and later careers.
  
• The roadmap for your project will likely indicate the correct medium or presentation tool, which may include demonstration/desktop recording tools (e.g., Camtasia), classroom-style presentation (e.g., NU Lightroom or tablet-based whiteboard app), and/or on-camera presentation with visual aids and post-production enhancement.
  
• Adobe Connect is not an acceptable format for recording lecture videos.

The recorded conference can be viewed on Adobe Connect. Continued discussion of the topics from this session can be found on the SPS Distance Learning Canvas site for Educational Technologies, by contacting Aaron or William, or in the comments below.