Video and audio: an overview

Video

Videos are an exciting and very effective way to present, structure a piece of work, collaborate, learn new digital skills and have fun. 

 What can I record with?
There really are a lot of user-friendly tools to choose from. Here are only three options which will are good enough for most of us, and often coming with the option to upload straight into YouTube:

1. Flip Video Ultra High Definition Camcorders (commonly known as flip cams)
2. Screencasts: I like to use Screenr (free), but you are limited to 5 minutes of recording. You can then share/embed.
3. iPads or iPhones: A lot of us own one nowadays. They have their appeal and you could experiment using the camera function and upload straight into a YouTube account.

Enquire within your institution; there may be other options.

External editing software
Enquire within your institution for options to find out what is available to you first.

The following are free if you wish to use your own computer:

1- on PC: VideoPad, which you need to install first. [NOT YET TESTED, sorry!]
2- on Mac: iMovie

OERs

Are you tempted to publish your video online to share?
OER stands for Open Educational Resources, and could mean that a video you created can be used by someone else to learn from you, or simply find out about new developments, new ideas.

Consider the following first (on creative commons, and embedding open licences in educational resources).

Mozilla Popcorn Maker

You can take a video published online and add layers of extra information. These can be text, photos and links, but also interactive ones, such as twitter feeds or Google maps: https://popcorn.webmaker.org/

Above is a screenshot: look at the final result in this topic.

Audacity and SoundCloud

Have you been asked to create an audio recording or podcast, for instance audio recordings of interviews, or of interactions that are relevant to your course?

Do be mindful of privacy and get consent before recording. Here is an example of the type of consent which the interviewer should get from the interviewed people before publishing online: consent form

How to record?
Audacity is a free software which you can install on your computer to make audio recordings with. You will also need to download LAME to create MP3s from your Audacity recordings.
The links for downloading Audacity and LAME onto your computer are:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/ and http://lame1.buanzo.com.ar/#lamewindl

Upload into Moodle
You can upload an MP3 file into Moodle in various places, for instance as a Forum post attachment, or an Assignment submission.

Uploading audio content onto a public server such as SoundCloud
You can use SoundCloud to publish audio content you have created (a bit like the YouTube equivalent for audio files). Do not divulge any sensitive information, names, or other personal information publicly. Make sure you select private settings in SoundCloud:
 

Embed an audio file into a web page, such as a blog
The process is identical to embedding video. Here is a (not too exciting) example: