***Written by Amy Skyles***

Beginning Fall Semester 2012, all Blackboard classes at Missouri S&T will be enabled with lecture capture software. The lecture capture system used on campus is called Tegrity. If you’re interested in using Tegrity to enhance your classes, here are some tips and tricks from eSchool News “How to Make Videos Your Students Will Love” (Bergmann and Sams 2012).

1. Keep it Short: If pre-recording, one video should relate to only one topic. In order to keep students engaged, your video should not be a class-length lecture. Ten minutes or less is usually ideal. If you  simply wish to give students the ability to review the lecture after class, a 50 minute video may be acceptable. However, consider chunking the video into segments based on particular concepts.
2. Animate Your Voice: Make the topic interesting and appealing to students. If your voice is the only tool you have to reach the students, it is important that you use your voice to make the videos exciting.
3. Create the Video with Another Teacher: A conversation is far more engaging than a single talking head. If another instructor is not available, use students for discussion in the video.
4. Add Humor: Humor can help to keep students interested and coming back for more.
5. Don’t Waste Your Students’ Time: If you don’t want the students to fast-forward through important information, leave out unimportant or irrelevant details. Only include the things pertaining to that one course for which you are creating the video.

If you would like to learn how to use Tegrity lecture capture in preparation for Fall Semester 2012, EdTech is offering hands-on training. Visit the link below to sign up for a training session:

http://edtech.mst.edu/events/tegrity/    

Additional Lecture Capture Resources:

St. Louis University: Tips for Teaching with Lecture Capture

UNC Charlotte: Lecture Capture: Student Opinion and Implementation Strategies

University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching: Lecture Capture: A Guide for Effective Use