Desktop Videoing

Desktop Videoing is by no means a new phenomenon. It is been around for as long as I can recall tinkering with computers. In teaching and learning, in my opinion, it has been under-utilized at our institution. It's under-utilization can be attributed to a number of factors one of which may be that too few academics are aware of the value it can add to teaching and learning and the fact the area of videoing is largely seen as the domain of a handful of skilled professionals. My return to the notion of "desktop videoing" has been prompted by the progress that has been made in the available technology such as the introduction of high definition webcams, increased bandwidth, better sound etc. all at a cost that is a lot more accessible than was previous the case.

 

We are often called upon to record presentations 90% of which finds its way to the WWW and therefore does not demand the high image quality. For this reason, I believe that desktop publishing offers a very good solution for videoing on a budget. Obvious advantages include the minimizing of person power to record a talk, the relatively low cost of the technology, and not to mention the convenience of being able to do it at your desktop. In my experience, with videoing speakers I find that many find speaking into a camera intimidating and often has to go through a number of takes which requires post-production ie editing to get achieve and acceptable product. In most cases speakers stumble over their words or forgot what it was they wanted to say. So I have used quite an old logitech webcam to record myself in this presentation.and used a free teleprompt software call "prompt" to demonstrate what is possible. Apologies for the bad lighting but I hope you get the idea. So I'd like to see more teachers add this tool to their arsenal of teaching and learning tools for online teaching. HAVE FUN WITH IT!