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While reading this question, and specifically Chris Gregg's answer, I started to think about recording my lectures in order to help students review, help students who missed class, and generally provide a way for people to learn about the subjects I teach.

So, how do teachers (with the same goal as I wrote) record their lectures? Do they simply ask someone to record them with a video camera? Do they go in and do more serious editing like you see in Coursera videos where the video transitions between the lecturer's face and slides being drawn on by the lecturer (as described here)?

I'm curious what my options are, considering my university provides zero support for this idea of recording lectures.

Community
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earthling
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    Thanks for the shout-out! This is what I said about the topic when it came up a couple of months ago. I don't edit at all, but I do provide slides separately because it's hard to read on the board when I'm presenting. – Chris Gregg May 24 '13 at 15:45
  • This looks related: Using iMovie and Keynote to Make a Web-Based Keynote – earthling May 27 '13 at 09:55
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    "help students who missed class" I think you meant to write, "help students to miss class". Because if you provide good video recordings of your lectures, many will elect to do just that, thinking they can skip class and just catch up online. If you're OK with that, then try it. I myself feel it's not good to encourage this at a brick and mortar college. – Chelonian Feb 14 '14 at 04:17
  • If you could record lectures it benefits everyone - our uni uses Panopto, but you could use OBS or even just bring a hand-held microphone recorder ('Zoom Handy Recorder' or the like); everyone would benefit even from just a simple audio recording to follow along with the course notes/presentation files. – Vix Jan 19 '21 at 13:42
  • @Vix One issue is that when you give students one more reason why it is OK to miss class, more of them will then miss class. While some students are advanced enough to make an informed decision based on how they learn best, there are students who simply give into the laziness and end up hurting themselves. – earthling Jan 20 '21 at 14:39
  • Whilst I appreciate that @earthling- some of us have unresolved mental problems which inhibit our ability to attend lectures reliably (the cause of this is a topic for another question) but without recordings we would fall even further behind than our more able colleagues and deeper into disrepair; encouragement and consultation with the students as to their lack of attendance begins to address the deeper issues I alluded to - there is often a reason, we wish to be attending and on-top of our studies, mixing us with the lazy/apathetic would be to diminish our possibility at good outcomes. – Vix Jan 24 '21 at 01:36
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    @Vix I get it, I really do. I was only mentioning one factor for consideration. Finding a way to help those who need the help along with not enabling others' lax behavior would be something I would very much like to read about. – earthling Jan 25 '21 at 02:53
  • @earthling "Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.” - this quote sprung to mind, and yet another reply at 4am (wondering why I miss my lectures?) - at this moment in time I'm researching and attempting to implement raymarching which is totally unrelated to my studies but fascinates me. As long as the offer of help is known, and occasionally reminded, perhaps you could issue recordings on a case by case basis after a little bit of enquiry as to why they are failing to attend (then you can determine who is lax vs. struggling and in need of help to catch-up). – Vix Jan 25 '21 at 03:52

4 Answers4

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If my lecture is done via a presentation (not my preferred method, but necessary for some classes), I record the audio of my lectures along with a "video" of the slides I use. I use Camtasia to record everything, so the only other thing I need is a microphone.

When I give lectures at the blackboard I don't record them. However, for those lectures I provide a fairly detailed set of course notes.

aeismail
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    To clarify, are you saying you record using Camtasia while you are lecturing/presenting in front of students? One thing I'm wondering about is how to capture the audio of student questions (whose voices might be too weak to be picked up by a mic in the front of the room). – earthling Jun 24 '13 at 11:37
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    You can solve this problem by repeating the question. – aeismail Jun 24 '13 at 16:47
  • For people using Linux (as I do), an alternative to Camtasia is Kazam. It's very simple but does the job. – A.N. Jun 28 '22 at 17:57
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My preference for teaching undergraduate courses (in physics) is:

  • Audio-record the lecture using a small MP3 player hung around my neck, and provide the file to students as a MP3 file
  • Write coherent notes on the blackboard that students can use as the basis for their own notes

I specifically do not do the following, which I believe is harmful to students' learning in such courses:

  • Provide detailed printed notes
  • Use slides (except for occasional complex Figures and animations)
rexg
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The system my department uses for large lecture classes captures two video feeds: One showing the lecturer and the screen, taken from a camera mounted on the ceiling, the other showing whatever is currently being projected onto the screen, captured on route to the projector. (I normally lecture with a document camera, printer paper, Sharpies, and the occasional small prop.) Audio is captured separately from a microphone on the instructor's lapel.

My department's playback system allows the students to show either or both videos, at adjustable sizes, with synchronized playback, and to slow down or speed up playback. The capturing system automatically locates transitions between slides (or, in my case, new pieces of paper) and provides navigation landmarks for the students.

The system is almost entirely automated. In particular, the lecture videos are not edited at all.

I also provide detailed course notes.

JeffE
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An old question, but a new answer.

Since COVID-19, I've become more familiar with tools such as:

and, depending on the audience, I use one or the other.

Streamlabs allows me to compose a video view that includes my laptop screen, the webcam in the corner, and some text to title the video. I can then share the output of Streamlabs on Zoom, if that is the system the school uses, or stream the output straight to YouTube for playback later.

Even if the students are in-person, many of them (once or twice a semester) miss class and are thankful for the video version of each class so they don't fall to far behind.

Peter K.
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