Video content
Canvas Studio is a core video recording and management tool available within Canvas. Our guide on Producing Video Content Using Canvas Studio (in our Hybrid Active Learning (HAL) canvas course) includes recording videos in Canvas Studio for online asynchronous activities and embedding multiple choice questions within videos for formative assessment. You can also ask students to use Canvas Studio to produce multimedia as part of an assignment or collaborative learning task.
Audio Content
For learning and teaching purposes, audio content can include such digital materials as podcasts, voice recordings and notes, interviews, discussions or audio instructions. See our guide on Producing Audio Content (HAL Canvas course), including guidance on available software to record audio at the University, getting the best sound quality, and a guide on recording a podcast.
Lecture Capture
Lecture capture is defined, as a minimum, as an audio recording of the lecturer’s voice delivering the lecture. The audio recording may optionally be supplemented by screen capture and/or a video recording of the lecturer during the lecture. For more details on using tools to record your lectures, such as Canvas Studio, see the Video section above.
We would encourage you to think about re-using lecture recordings more actively, e.g. by picking out key concepts and working with them in class. Student feedback consistently shows that short, 'chunked' recordings (5-20 minutes) are more useful than hour-long recordings of lectures.
For more information on the current University policy on lecture capture, see our Policies page.
Animations and infographics
Animations can be a useful way of producing engaging content, especially when it would be hard to record a video with real people on location. Similarly, infographics can be effective to communicate subject content, or module or programme information to your students. You can also get students to produce animations or infographics to enhance their subject-based communication skills. The University does not have core supported technologies for producing animations or infographics, but there are recognised, 3rd party tools which may be used.
Case studies using multimedia in education
Below are a few examples of using multimedia in teaching, either staff creating content for student use or asking students to create content as a learning or assessment task:
- Student video production projects as pedagogic tools: producing short videos helps students enhance subject knowledge, communication skills and digital fluency, a case study by Dr Kerry Traynor, Communication & Media.
- The use of e-interviews to Support Preparation for Practice in PG and UG Radiotherapy: preparing students for a digital recruitment process, a case study by Bev Ball, Pauline Pilkington & Cath Gordon.
- Enhancing student confidence, skills and employability through the creation of assessed embedded video presentations in posters: Students produce a poster with embedded video, accessed by a QR code for assessment and to engage in subject-based employability events, a case study by Dr Alexis Nolan-Webster & Dr Floriana Grasso.
- CIE Spotlight guide on Digital Storytelling: ideas for getting students to produce digital stories as learning and assessment tasks.
- CIE Spotlight guide on Innovative Digital Assessment: ideas for getting students to create an output using different media to increase their subject engagement.
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