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How Dartmouth Produces Video Podcasts
8/22/2007
Likewise, he said he wants to upgrade to Apple's Final Cut Pro, which allows for batch processing. That would enable him to do the edits and compression on multiple lectures simultaneously.
The Eye (and Ear) Behind the Camera
What won't change is the need for his presence--or somebody's--behind the camera. Instructors tend to move around in the room, he said. So somebody has to be there to redirect the camera. Likewise, when the professor writes on the board, demos something or shows slides, the videographer zooms in so that text or screen is readable. "We would try to get PowerPoint slides and inlay those over the video so that when the person was talking, you could see the slide on the screen," said Largent. "But it turned out that that took a lot of time, and the quality of the video wasn't as good. So now, we just tape the PowerPoint up on the screen."
The presence of the person behind the camera is also essential for the purpose of audio capture. Although the camcorder includes a built-in microphone, it tends to pick up noise from the air handlers in the back of the room. So the instructors use wireless microphones. "When the batteries in the mike die in the middle of the lecture, if you're taking it off the line in the back, you lose all your audio," said Largent. "If somebody is sitting there and they realize what's happening, they can pull out the line audio [from the camcorder], and the mike [built into the] front of the camera will pick things up."
Once the recorded lecture is ready for distribution, Largent posts it to Blackboard, Dartmouth's course management system. Students can log in and download files to watch from their computers (the preferred practice), or they can subscribe so the lectures are automatically pushed into their iTunes libraries.
"We've had a great response from students," said Largent. "Fully a third of the hits on Blackboard for a particular course site are for the videos." Interestingly, he said, "We have not seen a decline in class attendance since doing this.... This is how [students] keep up with the class."
Not every lecture in the department is being recorded. Largent said the focus is on the lower level classes--introductory physics and astronomy classes. Nor is every department in the school providing the service. But that could be change. Largent said he recently attended a meeting with participants from the schools of engineering and biology, as well as IT staff, to compare practices and consider how campus-wide lecture capture could be rolled out.
In the meantime, Largent will continue his work, introducing improvements and efficiencies to the system with every passing hour of lecture he records.
To view a clip from a Dartmouth lecture, click here.
Dian Schaffhauser is a writer who covers technology and business. Send your higher education technology news to her at dian@dischaffhauser.com.
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