Finding good resources takes time, as I found out last week.  This week I was reminded that creating good resources takes even more time!  In the past I have made a few videos using Camtasia and Snagit, all of me explaining how to work a problem with the screen showing only my computations.  It was informative but not creative or super engaging.   Earlier this year I purchased Snagit because I think this will be my main form of video creation for the online class.

For my video this week I made an introduction to exponential functions that would go along with some lecture notes or a section of the textbook to read.  I am modeling the increase in albino koalas at the Richmond Zoo 

I worked to expand my repertoire by adding pictures, a few slides (so not everything was in my messy writing), and I tried to add my face.   The first two items I was mostly successful with, though Snagit didn’t capture my entire screen which cut off some of my slides.  Snagit doesn’t have a webcam feature right now, so I downloaded Windows Movie Maker (couldn’t make it work properly).  I attempted to make a short video on my phone, but apparently I cannot text that to email like I do with pictures.  Perhaps I can connect my phone and download it—I will investigate options because I do think students like to see their teachers to make that extra connection!

I made notes for my video, and Snagit allows you to pause the recording at any time.  I love this feature so I can complete one step and collect my thoughts before proceeding to the next.  It also has an editor feature, but it’s not super simple to use.  In the future if I make a mistake while recording, I will pause longer to make it easier to cut out in the editing stage.

The main thing I was reminded of: every step of this takes time.  Collecting material, writing the script, recording and editing for a 6 minute video is not a 6 minute process.  I like my first attempt, but it is not what I would call “awesome” or “professional”.  My next time will be better!