Week 13 and Final Blog Post for my Practicum

Wow! I cannot believe I am finally done! It did not seem like this day would ever come a couple of years ago. I started the program in 2015 and was poised to finish in the spring semester of 2016. However, several factors delayed me until the spring of this semester. That being said, I could not have asked for a better practicum experience.

It got off to a rocky start because I had to have Camtasia 8 installed on my home computer at the IT office at Lenoir-Rhyne. That went fine, but the IT guy forgot to give me back my power cord and they were closed for the next three days. Fortunately, this did not set me back and my professors were very understanding.

For the practicum, I was to design and make videos and how to use Camtasia 8 for the Lenoir-Rhyne faculty and staff. I have never made videos before, much less instructional videos so I was apprehensive about how it would go. I also was not sure about the process of making videos and definitely did not realize how much goes into making instructional videos. The biggest surprise to me was all the work before and after the making of the video.

Before making a tutorial, I would have to first figure out if I would be able to record the screen and show the information or if I would have to take screenshots. With some of the tutorials it was not possible to show the steps and how the screen would look if I was recording. Therefore, I had to take screenshots of the what the screen would look like and incorporate those into my video. After I had all my screenshots if they were needed, I would write out a script for the video. At the beginning of the semester the initial format that I scripted usually had to be altered for various reasons: too much time, poor flow, or it just did not feel right once I finished the video. Towards the end of the semester, I was much better at planning my videos.

The actual making of the video was also more difficult then I thought it would be. I definitely have a new found respect for narrators and anyone that does live television. I'm not sure how many takes it took me to get the first video right, but it was a lot. I would stumble over words or just get tongue tied in what I was trying to say. If I happened to get the narration correct, I would mess something up with what I was trying to show on the screen. It was very frustrating at the beginning, but the last couple of videos I made were completed in a much more efficient manner.

The most time consuming aspect for me was the editing after the video was complete. I would go back and have the video zoom in at certain points so the viewer would be able to see what I wanted them to see instead of having to look at the entire screen and hope they they were looking in the right place. I also added title pages to the videos so the viewer would know they were watching the correct video. Another great function in Camtasia is the ability to cut parts of the video. This allowed me to cut out dead space when I was waiting for something to finish uploading or saving. At first, I thought I was going to have to fill that time time with talk which is something I did not want to do. I know I don't like listening to someone on a video talking just to fill space. Adding closed captions was not as easy as I thought it would be. That could be because of my voice or my computer. I am going to blame my computer. I tried training my computer to my voice several times, but I typically had to retype 85% of the lines. This took a while because I had to listen to the same box multiple times to make sure I had everything right. I also had some problems getting the closed captions to appear on several videos, but it was user error.

I really learned a lot about not only making videos, but about Camtasia 8. It seems like a great way to produce videos. I had great professors that worked with me through the semester and gave me excellent feedback. I cannot thank them enough for all their help. So, I guess that is all I have for today. Looking forward to the Hooding Ceremony and I am excited and nervous for what the future holds. Thanks to everyone that has helped me achieve this goal!

Week 12 of my Practicum

This week I went back over all my videos looking for any mistakes.  I found a couple mistakes with the closed captions.  It took a little bit to figure out how to fix the issue. When I uploaded the Mp4 version from Google Drive it would not bring up the closed captions in Camtasia. I had to upload the file saved to Camtasia in order to do this. Then, I saved it in an Mp4 format so I could publish it to Google Drive.

I also had to add a title page to one video, but for some reason I could not find it saved to my computer. So, I made a copy of the video in Google Drive and saved it and was able to add the title page. 

This has been a great experience so far. I never realized how much went into making a video before and after you made the video. The zooming in and making sure the viewer is looking where you want them to look.  It was something that I wasn't sure if I would like at the beginning, but I really started to get the hang of it the last couple weeks.  I'll get a review sometime after Tuesday and I'll go from there.  I would definitely feel comfortable making more tutorial videos in the future.

Week 11 of my Practicum

This week I made three videos for my practicum on how to use Camtasia. I think I have finally found my zone and these might be my last videos for this particular project.

The first video I made was on how to use transitions. This was a pretty simple video and did not take me long to plan or to make. Transitions can be used to create a smooth flow between clips, show passage of time, change in location, or to call attention to something. 

See the transitions video below:

The second video I made was about using cursor effects in Camtasia.  This is an option that allows you to make the cursor more prominent and easy to follow.  You can increase the size of the cursor, add color to the cursor, and add both visual and audio effects when the mouse is clicked.  It can also be a very helpful tool in guiding the viewer to what is important instead of them looking around to try and find what you are talking about.

See the cursor effects video below:

The last video I made was a trouble shooting video.  I came up with three topics that caused me some pain and a good deal of time. The first topic was to always save your work to Camtasia and another device.  This is one extra step that can save you if you saved your video wrong or there is a mess up along the way. The second topic was letting the viewer know not to use word.  I wasted a lot of time on a word document at the beginning of the semester and you can't upload word documents to Camtasia. The last topic I discussed was closed captions. I showed how you can extend or shorten the closed captions boxes so they will match with the picture better.

See the trouble shooting video below:

So, all my videos will be turned over to someone else this week and they will let me know if there is anything else I need to add or correct. Hopefully, everything will be to good to go!

Week 10 of my Practicum

This week I worked on two videos.  I thought they were both going to go fairly quickly, but I had some technical difficulties.

The first video I made was on how to add a quiz to your video in Camtasia.  My main problem here was trying to get the quiz to work properly while I was trying to record the screen.  I thought I would get this video done in several takes, but it took me closer to seven or eight. I also spent more time editing the video then I thought I would. I had some issues with getting the closed captions in the video as well.
So...I went back and added two pictures with information to the video on adding a quiz. I kept feeling like I needed to add something else. It was good information and it would take too long to say it all and it would be much easier to read the information. So, skip the first video if you like and just watch the second video.

Here is the video on how to add a quiz:

Same video as above with the added pictures with information:

The second video I made was on how to import media to Camtasia.  This is a simple process but it took me a little longer because my 15 month old decided he wanted to be very noisy right next to the computer room.  I also seemed to have a problem talking and kept stumbling over my words, but I eventually got the video right.

Here is the video on how to import media:

I think I might be getting close to being finished with all of the tutorials.  I'll find out this week if there is anything I have missed and I'll go from there.

Week 9 of my Practicum

For the last few weeks I have been putting aside some time to work on a video describing my practicum experience for one of my professors. It was supposed to be between ten and fifteen minutes long. This not only sounds like a long video, it is a long video :) Unless you make a lot of videos or speeches, you never really know how much information you need to fill fifteen minutes. It is more than I thought.  When I finished writing what I thought would be around seven minutes of material, I timed myself. I did not even have five minutes. I got a little nervous about the time, but the video ended up being almost fourteen minutes.

The hardest part for me always is getting started. I usually have a tough time finding that one thing that will springboard me into the work. I have too many ideas floating around and I have to slow down and focus.  I decided to make a list of what I wanted to talk about and then make an outline. After I had my list, I went back and looked at the videos and tried to find ones that were shorter and did a good job of highlighting some of the capabilities of Camtasia 8.  I narrowed it down to two videos that would last just under three minutes in total.

Now that I had my videos, I began to plug in the details that explained my story.  I began by briefly talking about how I ended up with this practicum during this semester.  Next, I talked about how my semester began and how I was relaying information to my professors because both stories are probably not what you would think. The last two-thirds of the video were on Camtasia 8. It includes information about Camtasia 8 and two video tutorials that I made.

The actual making of the video went pretty smoothly, in my opinion.  I did not get past the first two minutes in the first five takes.  However, I ended up with my completed version by take eight. The editing process took a while. I inserted the two tutorial videos after I made the practicum video by simply splitting the recording and inserting the videos. This did cause a problem with my audio and visual being lined up, but I was able to fix that after a little tinkering. I also had to adjust the zoom when my tutorials were playing and adjust the size and location of my webcam.

I hope you enjoy the video:

Week 8 of my Practicum

This week I only made one video about Camtasia 8 because I am focusing on a 10-15 minute video I am making about my practicum experience.

The video I made this week was a more extensive look into using callouts in Camtasia 8.  The original video I made only showed one option because it was more about introducing the concept and I did not want to put too much in the first video.  I showed the viewer how to use a callout from each section and how to lengthen or shorten the duration the callout stays on the screen.  Callouts can be beneficial to the viewer because they can show the viewer where to focus their attention.

See the below video on more callouts:

I am excited and nervous about my practicum video.  I think I have a good base of information and should be able to fill the needed time.  The main issue will be not talking to fast and taking my time when showing different information that I have learned.  I will be very happy when I finish the practicum video.

Week 7 of my Practicum

This week I produced three videos for my practicum relating to Camtasia 8. The first two videos were pretty short and the third video was around the normal time frame for my videos.

The first two videos were short because I was displaying general terms for use in Camtasia 8.  I was able to some splitting of screens in one video so that you could see the terms and a short explanation of the functions on the left and then see where those were located on the Camtasia screen on the right.  For the other video, it was the same concept but it was all in one screen as opposed to two different screens.

See the two videos below displaying general terms of use in Camtasia 8:

The third video I made was showing how to produce and share a video to YouTube.  This can allow you to upload your video to canvas or other software programs. First, I had to figure out how to do that myself. It is not that complicated, but did take a little time because there are quite a few steps in the process. As always, figuring out how to do it was much simpler than trying to explain the process on a video. I had a good bit of dead time in the video that I had to cut because of waiting for functions to complete and I also lost my train of thought once.  I am so glad you can cut the video instead of having to start over!

See the below video on producing and sharing to YouTube:

I have a couple more basic videos that I think I need to make.  Once I finish those, I will start working on videos that dive deeper into what Camtasia can do. 

Week 6 of my Practicum

This week I worked on making a video on how to use the playhead in Camtasia 8 and how to do some basic editing. The playhead is a cursor that can move you back and forth in your video. It can also be used with editing functions such as cutting some of your video and splitting a clip. I have found that when making instructional videos there can be a lot of dead air because you are waiting for a file to upload or save. The ability to cut this dead air makes the video more streamlined which will help keep the attention of the viewer.

Splitting a clip can also be beneficial when trying to add material to your video.  For instance, you can split the video at a certain point and insert transitions, title slides, or graphics between scenes. This makes the making of the video a little easier because you can go back and add these after you have made the video instead of trying to quickly add them during the recording.

See video on using the playhead and some basic editing functions below:

I also went back and added a title page to all the videos I have made and saved in Google Drive. This will give a better visual representation of what the video is about. I tried to use word, but could not get the documents to upload for some reason. I ended up using the Paint software on my computer and saving the pictures as a jpeg file.

Week 5 of my Practicum

This week I continued my exploration of Camtasia 8 and made two videos.  One new thing I learned was that I can cut out parts of the video where I am waiting for files to upload.  I am glad this is an option because thirty or forty seconds is a lot of time to fill when nothing is really happening. I also learned how to delete audio from a recording that I was using as background for my new video. 

The first video I made was on how to add closed captions to the video.  It is pretty simple, but the speech to text on my computer is not the best in the world.  I used the "train your computer" option twice.  I have not seen any real improvement in my opinion.  So, I basically have to go back and edit each box.  It is not hard, just time consuming because you have to play the box as many times as it takes so the text matches what you are saying. 

See the below video about closed captions:

The second video I made was on how to produce and share your recording.  It is a pretty simple function to perform on Camtasia 8, but as with most things, showing someone how to do it in a video is a little more difficult.  Within Camtasia 8, you can share to YouTube, Screencast, Google drive, and others.  This makes sharing your video easier. 

See the below video on how to produce and share:

I have also begun working on a 10-15 minute video describing my practicum experience.  My main focus this week has been to make an outline of how I want to begin and trying to figure out how best to incorporate some of the videos I have made.  You do not realize how long 10-15 minutes are until you are trying to make a video.  You can say a lot in 10-15 minutes. 

Week 4 of my Practicum

This week has been more about trying to organize my videos and manuscripts.  Now that I have become a little more proficient with Camtasia 8, I am going to work on not only making the tutorials, but putting them in an order that will benefit a new user of Camtasia 8. 

In order to do this, I have created a folder in Google Drive to store all my videos and manuscripts.  As I was going back over my videos, I noticed a couple of errors in the closed captioning and was able to correct those before sending them back to my professor. 

I made one video this week.  It is a basic introduction video that shows the main components of Camtasia 8. This video did not go into any detail because I just wanted the viewer to be able to see the different functions that Camtasia 8 will allow the user to perform. 

Introduction video for Camtasia 8:

This week I was able to use what I have learned in Camtasia 8 to assist a professor at my school.  The professor needed to know how to have their webcam displayed on their screen and also how to enlarge and move the webcam picture. It felt good to be able to provide that information and save the professor some time trying to figure out how to perform this function.

Next week, I plan on making several videos that deal with general terminology, adding captions, and how to produce and share.  Should be a busy, but fun week.

Week 3 of my Practicum

This week I worked on three instructional videos for using Camtasia 8.  These videos were somewhat shorter in duration then my previous videos.  However, that did not make the process go a lot faster like I thought/hoped it might.  I added closed captions to my videos and had some problems getting the captions to show up on the videos once they were saved, but thankfully it all came together.

The first video I made was a tutorial on how to use a callout in Camtasia 8.  Callouts are used to point out or highlight important information or objects on your screen.  This video was the quickest and simplest of the three I made because it is a simple tool to use and it was easy to demonstrate in Camtasia.

Below is the tutorial on using a callout in Camtasia 8:

The next video I made was a tutorial on how to use the zoom function on Camtasia.  The zoom function helps guide the viewer to where you want them to focus.  This, in turn, makes it easier on the viewer because they are not searching the screen for the information you want them to retain.  This video was a little more difficult to make because of the different screens and functions I was trying to highlight.  The more words in your script and functions you have to demonstrate, the more difficult it is to get right in one take.  I need to write Camtasia technical support and ask them to add a function where you can stop the recording and back it up to where the mistake was and just start the recording from the mistake.  

Below is the tutorial on using the zoom function in Camtasia 8:

 

The final video I made was a tutorial on how to show the creator via webcam on the screen of your Camtasia video.  This was the shortest video, but it was difficult because I had to use multiple screenshots to illustrate my points instead of being able to use video recordings.  One thing that threw me off at first is that when Camtasia is displaying your webcam feed in its video, it does not appear on the screen until you stop the recording.  After you have stopped the recording, you can move the webcam box and adjust the size to fit your video needs.  

Below is the tutorial on displaying your webcam within a Camtasia 8 video:

Week 2 of my Practicum

I dove a bit deeper into using Camtasia 8 this week.  My first video on how to take a screen shot using Camtasia 8 turned out pretty well.  However, I needed to make a couple adjustments.  The first correction was not introducing myself because of how these videos will be used in the future.  I added a call out to one segment of the video to give a better visual instruction of what needed to be done.  I also zoomed in and out on certain portions of the video so that the viewer would be able to follow along with more ease.  Now that I have made these adjustments, I think it is a much more user-friendly video.

This week I made a tutorial on how to create a "screen-capture" using Camtasia 8.  A screen-capture is a video recording of the screen.  This took some time because of the information I was providing.  I was hoping I could record the screen and then bring up another recorder interface while making the video.  That was not the case. I ended up taking quite a few "screen shots" of different items in Camtasia.  A screen shot is a still image of the screen.  The next step was pasting the screen shots in the paint application and cropping them to an appropriate size.  After I saved the cropped screen shots, I imported them to my Camtasia Studio.  I adjusted the dimensions of the recording box within Camtasia to fit my needs and began recording.  I have a brand new appreciation for anyone that narrates anything because it took me at least 15 takes before I got the speaking portion correct.  Finally, I added closed captioning to the video.  

I am also working on several other videos that will be posted in this blog in the coming weeks.  I was given a YouTube video to watch and I am making several videos that will instruct the user on how they could make the same style of video in Camtasia 8.  

The below video is the revised Screen Shot video tutorial in Camtasia 8.

The below video is the Screen Capture video tutorial in Camtasia 8.

The Beginning of My Practicum

I am finally starting my practicum for my graduate degree in Online Teaching and Instructional Design.  The focus of my practicum will be to create user-friendly tutorials for designing projects within Camtasia 8 Studio.  Camtasia 8 Studio is a software that was developed for creating videos and presentations directly using screen-cast.  It can also be used as a direct recording plug-in to Microsoft PowerPoint.

My first task was to familiarize myself with the software and make a video that instructs the user on how to take a screenshot using Camtasia.  The actual process of taking a screenshot on Camtasia is pretty straight forward.  However, my first attempt at making a video within Camtasia was somewhat challenging due to some technical issues on my end.

I was able to take and edit the video without too much difficulty.  The problem was that I did not realize my speakers had not been plugged in since we changed the layout of our office.  I spent around 45 minutes trying new options within Camtasia to add sound to my video.  After recording my video, I played it back and there was no sound.  There is an audio record option in Camtasia so I thought I might be able to start the video recording and the audio recording at the same time.  This did not work because when I started the audio recording, my video would play straight through without letting me stop the video.  I finally realized the speakers were unplugged!  With the speakers plugged in, I was able to make more progress. 

Once the video was completed I added Closed Captions as an option.  The speech to text function is not the best in the world.  I corrected all the errors of the speech to text and saved my first project on Camtasia.  I converted the video into a MP4 format so that I could send it to my professors.  Having spent some time exploring Camtasia, it seems to be an excellent way to make videos and I am excited to learn more.

The video tutorial on taking a screenshot in Camtasia 8 Studio is below.