Sharing Promising Practices in College Tech Prep

Once again we are accepting "Promising Practices" videos to share with colleagues across the state of North Carolina.

What to Create

Create a 5 to 10 minute video showing a College Tech Prep activity or project. It is hoped that we can improve the College Tech Prep programs across the state through the sharing of promising practices.

How to Create It

Here are several ideas for different ways and tools to create your video.

• The easiest way to create a podcast is to point a video camera at whatever you want the viewer to see and have the narrator stand near the video camera in order to pick up the voice.
• Better would be to capture video clips of your CTP project or activity and then assemble them on the timeline of a video editor. Add a narration in the video editor to describe what the viewer is seeing. An example is Person County
• Besides using video clips, with a video editor you can also include still images as well as PowerPoint slides. An example of assembling video segments, still images, and adding a narration is Guilford County
• You could create a PowerPoint presentation, use PowerPoint to add a narration, then export the PowerPoint presentation as a video. This has always worked on Macintoshes, but PowerPoint 2003 on Windows does not have this feature. I have not used PowerPoint 2007 on Windows. Carteret County may have done this to create their podcast.
  On the Macintosh version of PowerPoint, from the File menu, select "Make Movie."
• Use a program such as Camtasia to convert your PowerPoint presentation into a video.
• Create your presentation in PowerPoint, save the slides in JPEG (.jpg) format and import those slides into your video editor.
• Create a PowerPoint and add a video of the presenters in the bottom corner. This is similar to being at a conference where you can see the presenter, but you can also see the visual on the big screen. Camtasia might have been used to achieve this effect. Example is Dare County

Video Editors

You could just shoot the video and not need to edit it. But if you wish to piece together several sections of video, or want to insert PowerPoint slides or other images into your video, or want to add a narration audio track, you need to use a video editing system. There are a few free video editors that should do everything you need to do.

Macintoshes come loaded with iMovie. iMovie information on the Apple website.

On Windows computers, Movie Maker is a free download from Microsoft.

• Movie Maker 2.6 for Vista.
• Movie Maker 2.1 for Windows XP.

Submitting your Video and Other Documents

Submit the information about your video podcast.

Send the completed video and associated documents to Chris.

The easiest way to create a podcast would be to shoot your video and then send in the video tape (mini-DV tapes or DVD only). Be sure to indicate the time on the tape (start time and end time) if it is not the only thing on the tape. Chris will take it from there.

Better would be to shoot video of the project/activity, transfer that video to a video editor, assemble the video clips on the timeline, and add a voice-over narration.

Acceptable formats for video submission.

• mini-DV tape
• video DVD
• CD-ROM or DVD-ROM
  • video can be in just about any format. wmf, mov (Quicktime), avi, mpg, mp4, and flv are popular formats.
  • videos will be resized to 480x360 dimensions. Feel free to resize your own video or allow us to do it for you.
  • frame rate should be 30fps. This is normal, so ignore it if it does not make sense.
  • associated documents could include Word, PDF, etc. that support your video. These could be included on the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

Tips to Make Quality Podcasts

• Students should not be recorded without a signed media release. Follow your local procedures to ensure you are covered.
• Follow your local procedures and policies for staff and faculty on media releases.

Technology Tips

• Get the camera as close to the subject as possible. This will ensure better capture of the audio.
• Find a quiet location to record. Background noises will sound louder on the video than they do in real life.
• Make sure there is plenty of light on the face of the subject. Do not shoot video with a sunny window in the background.
• Limit the amount of "talking head" video, where the viewer watches someone talk. Instead, capture the video of someone talking, and then in your video editor, keep the sound of the person talking, but replace the head shot with other video or PowerPoint slides.
• You can mix a little bit of "talking head" with live videos or still shots like Onslow County has done.
• Try capturing lots of video and assembling the video clips in a video editor. Then add a narration track to tell the audience at what they are looking.
• Use a tripod when shooting live video. Shaky video is hard to watch.
• Use large fonts. When the video is compressed, small fonts, anything less than 32 points, are hard to read.
• Keep the background simple. Look for things in the background that you do not want to show to the world.

Links to tutorials about shooting video.

• 8 Ways to Shoot Video Like a Pro from lifehacker.
• Guidelines for Shooting Quality Videos from Desktop Video Guide.
• Don't shoot! 10 tips to beat bad home video from cnet.
• Video Techniques from Knight Digital Media Center.

• 12 Tips for Shooting Better Video with Your Camcorder from Crutchfield.

• Video Shooting Basics from School Tube.