Lecture Recording and Conferencing Options
There will be times in your online courses when you might desire to record lectures or have synchronous discussions or study sessions. There are a number of lecture recording and web conferencing options available for free or for a small fee, that might suit your needs. We have listed a few good options below.
Please keep in mind, before selecting any application for use in your course, that students with cognitive, audio, visual or motor impairments should be provided with the same learning experience as their classmates. For instance, when making an audio only recording, provide a transcript. For video, use synchronized captions. Software should not be cognitively or physically difficult to navigate. Please contact your instructional technologist for more information about creating accessible content.
Lecture/Training Recording
The following tools are options for creating instructional videos with screen recordings, video, audio and more. You might use these applications for short chunks of information for a lesson or for an audiovisual response to a student's inquiry. You can quickly describe concepts using multimedia and make the recordings available either as a file to be emailed or posted on the Web.
- Cam Studio (always free):
This software (PC only) allows you to make screen recordings (audio, video, callouts) and do simple editing. - Camtasia Studio (free trial):
This application is widely used in application and allows desktop/application recording and much more. You can use a magnifier tool to highlight areas, add quizzes, and split the audio and video for easy editing. Files can be saved in a variety of formats. This software has what I consider to be the easiest way to add open or closed captions to meet accessibility requirements.
Check the Camtasia training page for movie tutorials (close captioned) on all of Camtasia's features. - Screencast-o-Matic (free and paid versions):
This web-based option allows you to start recording immediately without installing software. Make recordings (up to 15 minutes each with free version) and save them online or on your computer in a variety of formats. You can also upload the recordings directly to YouTube.
Web Conferencing
- BbCollaborate (old Elluminate and Wimba):
This web conferencing tool is popular in eLearning and includes a wide variety of tools, including a whiteboard, audio, video, polling, file exchange, web tours, text chat, recording, and the ability to use live captioning services. While the full version of Collaborate costs money, there is a free option, called the vRoom, that allows up to three people to conference. It includes all of the options of the regular version with the exception of recording. No registration is required for students attending vRoom sessions. CFCC is currently piloting the full version of Bb Collaborate. - VYEW:
This web-based conferencing application offers audio, video, whiteboard, screen sharing, text and voice notes, and file sharing.
Up to 10 users can access the conference room with the free version. The instructor creates an account and is provided with a link for students to access VYEW. Students are not required to sign up for an account.
- WizIQ:
WizIQ is growing in popularity and includes a free version and paid version. Each includes a whiteboard, audio, video and text chat. While you can hold as many sessions as you like with each, the free version is limited to three saved recordings, so if you plan to save all of your lectures or study session, you might consider the paid version, which is reasonably priced.
