ASA Connect

I am teaching a summer workshop series on intro statistics and R and after class I record a focused review video to go over what we talked about in class. 

Are there any best practices for recording lecture plus screen sharing content?

Right now I just open a zoom meeting and record a meeting then upload to YouTube and I would like to find ways to polish up that content for my own experience as well as delivering higher quality product to the students.

I was looking into open broadcaster software (OBS) for handling camera and screen content at the same time. But before I dive into any rabbit holes, I wanted to hear what others could share. 

Best,

Victor Feagins

OBS is fantastic, and extremely versatile. After you find your flow in your presentations, you can begin setting up different profiles so you can easily switch between casting yourself vs. R, etc. I also use a Stream Deck (Elgato) to switch between profiles. 

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Michael Costello
Teacher, Statistical Consultant
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First, I am far from an expert on recording videos.

In all of the departments where I have worked at the University of Michigan, the IT people always thought it was best to upload videos to the university's youtube channel, instead of storing them on an internal web server.  Audio files (.mp3) were stored on an internal server, but video files were uploaded to youtube.

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Brandy Sinco, BS, MA, MS
Statistician Senior
Michigan Medicine
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I've been posting the videos I make for class on youtube, but it just occurred to me: does this subject my students to ads, if they can't install an adblocker? Perhaps I should also post the videos to my LMS shell? But the straightforward way to do that seems like it will take much more storage than each shell is allocated. I would appreciate any thoughts or info on this.

Thanks!

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Andrew Ross
Professor
Eastern Michigan University
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-21-2023 09:15
From: Brandy Sinco
Subject: Resources for Best Practices for Recording Educational Videos

First, I am far from an expert on recording videos.

In all of the departments where I have worked at the University of Michigan, the IT people always thought it was best to upload videos to the university's youtube channel, instead of storing them on an internal web server.  Audio files (.mp3) were stored on an internal server, but video files were uploaded to youtube.

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Brandy Sinco, BS, MA, MS
Statistician Senior
Michigan Medicine
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In the creation side the first thing I would concentrate on is the sound. - Don't rely on just your laptop's microphone - go and get a decent USB standalone desktop microphone. Do some test recordings to try and get the sweet spot ( listening to yourself and any room echoes) but don't try and "swallow" the microphone to get that "fat fat sound" as many podcasters are want to do these days. You want to sound clear and natural.

Secondly - if seeing you is a part of your screen recording get at least two cheap USB lights from Amazon and position them either side of the camera to make sure that you can be properly seen, especially if you have a strong window behind you. Also, try and either raise the laptop, or get an external webcam, so that the camera is eye level or thereabouts.

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Michael Bond
IRIS Intelligence
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I agree with others who have recommended OBS as a recording software. It's free, and once you get the hang of it, there's a lot you can do with it, especially easily switching between video recordings showing you talking, screen sharing, presentations, etc. 

I also use additional equipment beyond my computer's built-in webcam and mic. I also agree with others that if you can only add one thing, get a better microphone. I use a Blue Yeti mic and the Elgato Facecam webcam.

If you want to do any editing of your video after the fact, I use the Wondershare Filmora software. It's cheap (but not free) and easy to use. I mostly use it for cutting out mistakes or re-recording a voiceover of parts that I want to change. But editing isn't necessary if you just want to record on OBS and directly upload that video to your LMS or a YouTube channel.

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Michelle Vered
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Wendy Rummerfield, Federica Zoe Ricci, and I have a series of blog posts on recording videos both from a pedagogical perspective and a technical perspective. We explain our process step-by-step. You can access these posts on the DataPedogogy blog. 

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Mine Dogucu
Assistant Professor of Teaching and
Vice Chair of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Statistics
University of California Irvine
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Thanks everyone for the feedback! I started using OBS and it relatively easy to use with room to grow. 

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Victor Feagins
University of Wisconsin-Madison
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