Inspiration on a Friday

Not sure if you have noticed, but I like to point out little inspirations that I find out in the world.  Most times, these are examples of interesting, well done, and effective videos.
This first video I stumbled across today.  It is very clean video due to its minimal nature.  This style could easily be applied to educational video.
As for this second video, I felt the creators took advantage of music to help move the video.  The music dictated the pacing of the video and not the other way around.  This is a really well done commercial.

Now the best for last.  I got to see James Bond Spectre this weekend.  This opening sequence is one single tracking shot.  No cuts.  Just amazing how the choreographed the camera movements to make this happen.  How does one fluid take make this scene feel to you?  The use of the shot switching from up close to overhead makes me feel like I am a fly there, observing the moment.

Always keep your eyes open, you never know what you might find.

This semester make sure to check out the EHE College Commons!!

Welcome, new students and faculty to the EHE College Commons. Located in Ramseyer 260, the College Commons is open and staffed 46 hours a week to meet all of your needs.

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For new students and faculty:

If you’re looking for a comfy location to lounge while reading a book, the loft area is perfect – complete with big cushions, giant bean bags, and rolling desks. On the main level, there are plenty of tables available for individual or group study sessions. We also have a large number of desktops, both Macs and PCs, open for any student or faculty member to use.

The EHE College Commons is also a perfect place to hold an academic event. The tables and chairs can be arranged in a variety of ways to accommodate your specific needs, whether it be a group discussion, a poster session, or a speaker presentation. Microphones, laptops, projector screens and large rolling whiteboards are available for use during events. For more computer-based events or meetings, reserve our SmartBoards or Collaboration Table, which are ideal for giving interactive lectures and technology workshops.

LX8A0848The College Commons is maintained by the EHE Educational Technology department, so don’t fret if your teacher assigns a project that requires a quality video or audio recording. For a recording project off campus, we have hundreds of cameras, tripods, and audio recorders that are free for checkout to EHE students, faculty, and staff. For a more professional video or audio recording, you could reserve one of our state-of-the-art recording spaces in Ramseyer Hall. The One-Button Studio is a user-friendly studio with a green screen, microphones, a video camera, and a Mac to do the mixing and editing. The Whisper Room is a user-friendly sound booth that can be used for professional grade voice-overs and screen recordings.

For new and returning students and faculty:

LX8A0856The College Commons equipment loan process has gone through a few policy changes for the new year. Our Program Assistant Andy Vogel would like to note a few changes to the equipment loan process.

If students have paid their learning tech fee, all they have to do is present a Buck ID, and they can rent out equipment such as cameras, tripods, and audio recorders from The Commons. One significant change from last semester is that equipment is now due within ten business days of checkout. Students can renew for two more loan periods (unless there is a waitlist) a semester. Faculty gets a full term to borrow equipment. If equipment is returned late, students will have to pay the full price for that piece of equipment. Other details will be given to you when you go to check out equipment.

We can’t wait for you to try out some of our services!

 

 

5 Tips for recording in the Whisper Room

microphone-309680_640Here are some great tips for recording in  EHE Edtech’s Whisper Room!

1. Know your script!

Remember to have your script prepared so that recordings can be completed efficiently, and practice it before you come for your appointment.  Waiting for the recording session to practice your script will waste valuable time and effort.

2. Make sure you’re at the right volume. 

Pay attention to audio levels with whatever program you choose to use.  It is always a good idea to do a test recording of a few sentences of your script, and listen to it, before spending the time to record your entire script.  You can adjust your speaking volume and your distance from the microphone until you get the result you are looking to achieve.  Also be aware that any sounds in the room will be recorded.  Avoid clothes that make noise when you move, excessive mouse clicks, and paper shuffling.

3. Figure out what program you want to use to record. 

In the Whisper Room, we provide the programs Garageband and Audacity. Choose which program is best for your project (Is it a long recording? Is there music involved? etc.). Garageband provides more tracks and mixing options; Audacity is a straightforward voice recorder.  We do provide step by step directions to use Garageband both in a written document located in the Whisper Room and video format: Whisper Room Tutorial  

4. Cut out what you don’t need. 

After recording go back to the audio timeline and delete the audio that you know you don’t need.  The beautiful part about Garageband is that it is a non-destructive editor.  This means that you can always pull back the part of your audio that you over trimmed to its original length.  For more on this topic watch the Whisper Room Tutorial: Whisper Room Tutorial 

5. Save and export correctly.

Saving and exporting with the programs offered can be confusing for some. Use the direction sheets provided in the Whisper Room, or watch the Whisper Room Tutorial to make sure your audio content is saved and exported in the correct format.

Happy Recording! – Edtech Multimedia Team

Whisper Room Tutorial; The Making Of:

This tutorial was created in order to address the need for a video guide explaining how to use the Whisper Room, from start to finish. The tutorial covers everything from turning on the room’s equipment to utilizing the computer’s recording software. We at EHE EdTech strive to make our services comprehensible to all levels of technical expertise and this video was made with that goal in mind. It provides easy-to-use instructions that will be sent to the user upon reservation of the Whisper Room. This will enable the user to familiarize themselves with the space before their scheduled recording time, and it will also serve as a reference guide during the recording session if any issues arise.

In order to best serve the target audience for this tutorial, I cast myself in the role of the client during its creation, going through all of the steps a client would in creating a project of their own. As I went through the recording process I made a note of all of the necessary steps to obtain a successful final project. After making my list I went back through it to make sure each step was streamlined and easy to understand. After this, I wrote a comprehensive script for the voice over and recorded my voice over in the Whisper Room.

With my voice over track as a guide, I shot live footage of each of the steps and recorded screen captures of the recording software. From there, I matched the illustrative video footage to the audio track, in Adobe Premiere, and made revisions until it became the product that you see today.

Overall I feel that the video is effective and serves its purpose well. Using the knowledge I gained from producing this tutorial, I am able to make more tutorials on nearly any EdTech subject. I am proud to say that this instructional video has become a benchmark for EdTech’s production quality.

 

Science Meets Art… Remember Simplicity for Inspiration

Video… It can envoke emotions. It can inspire. It can commemorate. When done right, it is powerful. Simplicity can lead to the most beautiful and touching art.

In honor of David Bowie…

Here is an article about the creation of the video.
http://www.vox.com/2016/1/11/10750056/david-bowie-chris-hadfield-space-oddity/in/10513435

 

The video creator, Chris Hadfield, is a real-life scientist and astronaut. He has a YouTube channel where he shows simply, basic scientific principles. See these examples.

Remember to keep things simple and to not take life too seriously.

EdTech Spotlight- Kelvin Trefz

Meet Educational Technologist-Kelvin Trefz!

Kelvin hails from Cardington, Ohio and earned his Undergraduate and Masters Degrees from The Ohio State University. Kelvin’s undergraduate is in Science Education while his Master’s Degree is in Instructional Design. Some highlights of Kelvin’s career include teaching high school Physics and becoming a lecturer and demonstrator of the OSU Department of Physics. Before moving to EHE EdTech, Kelvin worked as an instructional designer for the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO).Kelvin Trefz Educational Technologist

There, he helped manage the Carmen online system that Ohio State students and faculty use for their courses. Kelvin has been with EHE EdTech for four years and has made great contributions to the EdTech team. During his time here, Kelvin has worked on quite a few courses. He has been involved in developing a new survey system that will allow professors to receive student feedback during the semester.  Recently Kelvin has been working closely on the Quality Matters project, which along with the Edtech Curriculum Committee guidelines, helps set standards for online course Syllabi.  Kelvin is looking forward to emerging technologies that the EdTech office will utilize in the future. We love Kelvin’s talent and what he continues to add to the team!

Top Five Tips for Recording Footage

1. Pay attention to the lighting of room you are in.

Lighting can affect your footage significantly. Be aware of lighting especially if you are filming inside a building. Sometimes it is a good idea to bring some extra set lights with you so that your footage is lit correctly and you get the look you want. 

2. Make sure your audio equipment is recording what you want.

Make sure the microphones connected to the camera are not picking up unintended sounds. It’s a good idea to check the volume of the recording to make sure that your audio is being recorded at a sound level.  To do this listen to the audio through a pair of headphones that you connect to the camera.  Have someone speak into the microphone while you listen.  It is common to have this person say “test, test, test,” or “check 1, 2, 3” until you are confident that the audio is loud enough to hear, without being so loud that it cuts out on certain words.  If the audio is cutting out, you will see the sound level bar go into the red and the voice will sound distorted.  Turn down your volume if this happens.  Also, consider turning off things that make ambient room noise – window air-conditions for example.  A good thing to remember is: if you can hear it in your headphones, you will be able to hear it in your recording.

3. Plan out what shots you want for your video beforehand.camera

It’s important to plan out shots before you begin to film.  Consider drawing images of the shots that you would like to capture.  Videographers refer to this process as storyboarding.  The more you map out what you plan to record, the more likely you are to capture the shots you need.

4. Learn to control your tripod.

Make sure you know how to move your tripod before filming. If the screws on the tripod are too tight, it can hard to move the camera while filming which can lead to the recording being negatively affected.

5. If something doesn’t the record the way you want, there is still hope!

 If your recording doesn’t go 100% perfectly, don’t fret. During the editing stage, it is possible to fix many issues that may arise during recording. Editing programs such as iMovie and Adobe Premiere can allow people to adjust lighting, color and sound issues.  With this being said, don’t fall into the trap of “we can fix it in post.”  Just like your favorite dish, the quality of the ingredients included, along with the chef’s skill will determine how great it ultimately tastes.  You might be able to save the dish with salt and pepper if it isn’t properly prepared (fixing it in a post), but it will never be as good as it could have been if you would have taken the time to plan and execute correctly during the cooking process (production.)

Edtech Spotlight-Jennifer Cooke

Jennifer Cooke Education Technology Specialist

Get to know Jennifer Cooke, EdTech’s Multimedia Design Specialist!

Jennifer Cooke comes from Circleville, Ohio and graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Art and Technology. During her undergrad, Jennifer was exposed to web design, graphics, 2D/3D animation as well as other forms of multimedia. She also worked at the Digital Union for two years while at Ohio State involving herself in various consultations and workshops.

After graduating, Jennifer did freelance web design work and taught Interactive Communication Design classes at ITT Tech. She then returned to Ohio State working as a Video Producer for the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and provided video support for the university. Her department was then moved to the Office of Distance Education eLearning (ODEE) which had a heavy focus on the production of online courses.

Due to her passion for education, Jennifer chose to make the move EHE’s EdTech team in order to work with faculty on a more one on one basis. At EdTech Jennifer was able to collaborate with instructional designers and combine her passion for multimedia with her passion for education. In the future, Jennifer will be moving into a brand new position where she will be a liaison between instructional designers and media services at Edtech. Jennifer is very excited about upcoming projects within the office, and she can’t wait to improve her technical and professional networking skills further here at EdTech.

Multimedia team

Using Materials in Distance Education and eLearning

Check out some information about using materials in Distance Education and eLearning below!

The Copyright Resources Center provides information on copyright basics, using works in a distance learning environment, and best practices for finding and using public domain and openly licensed sources (including Creative Commons).

When do you need permission to use a copyrighted work in your online course?

Copyright law provides two important statutory exceptions for distance learning: the TEACH Act and fair use. Using materials in distance learning: A guide to 110(2) (the TEACH Act) will guide you through all of the requirements outlined in the TEACH Act to determine if you may rely on this statutory exception to perform or display a work in an online setting. You may also consider whether your use of a work constitutes fair use. Use the fair use checklist app to work through all of the fair use factors.

Looking for works that are free of copyright restrictions or works that are openly licensed?

The Copyright Resources Center has a growing list of public domain and openly licensed materials.

When using a Creative Commons licensed work, you must provide attribution to the copyright owner. Use this Creative Commons Attribution Guide to review the elements required for attribution and to view sample attribution statements.

If you cannot rely on a statutory exception, such as the TEACH Act or fair use, and the copyrighted work is not available under an open license, you must seek permission from the copyright owner to use the work. More information on the approval process and sample permission forms are available at go.osu.edu/permission.

Questions?

The Copyright Resources Center at University Libraries provides copyright education and guidance to faculty, staff, and students of the University. Information and resources are available on our website at go.osu.edu/copyright. You can reach out to us for any of your copyright questions by phone (614.688.5849) or email (libcopyright@osu.edu).