Come down to the CTLE and check out our new recording room. Do you have a need for creating videos for your class? Or do you want to start podcasting your weekly announcements? We now have a quiet space equipped for you to do that. Now all you would be flippers (faculty wanting to flip their classes) no longer have an excuse. You can come to the CTLE to do it!

What exactly can you do in the new CTLE Recording Room?

You can make selfies! No, really you can record video using iMovie and the built in iSight camera on the iMac. That’s what I’m doing over there. iMovie is easy to use even if you are a novice. We also have a USB microphone for improved sound. And if you’re interested in green screen (chroma key) video, we have the set up for that. You can use the green screen to swap out your background with a different image or video. It’s a nice effect if you want to use the space behind you to add teaching elements. Watch this video to see how to make a green screen video. We also have a white (shown above) and black backdrop if you don’t want to be bothered with green screen.

We also have some other programs available to help you create screencasts, pencasts and document camera videos.

If you’re familiar with the Livescribe Smart Pens, you already know you can record audio and what you write with the pen on the paper into a talking pdf (pencast). This is great for showing students how to work through problems in math or how to diagram sentences in English (just kidding). We have a few Echo Smartpens available for use in the recording room or to check out in our Mobile Recording Kits. Check out some examples of pencasts. You need to have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed.

We also have Camtasia 2 installed on the iMac in the recording room. It’s not as robust as the PC version, but it does the trick. You can do screencapture and record video and audio on Camtasia. This is the program I use the most to create content for my online courses. You can also import video you recorded elsewhere and edit it in Camtasia. This is great for flipped videos. You can also use Zaption or Screencast o’matic. Ask Meghan about that.

You can also use the new CTLE recording room to make document camera videos. We have document cameras as part of our Mobile Recording Kits, so you can use one in the recording room to shoot video off a mobile device or from a textbook. There are so many possible things you can show your students using a document camera. Come down and we’ll show you some examples.

Hold on there. I’m not finished yet. There’s podcasting too! Record your commanding teacher voice for a podcast or announcement using Audacity or Garageband. Again, both programs are easy to use to record and edit audio.

Are you excited yet? Contact the CTLE for more information about the new recording room. We will give you a demonstration and help you get started recording your first video. If you don’t need our help and you just want to use the room, reserve a time slot here: https://www.timetrade.com/book/15VTR

First person to record a video in the NEW CTLE Recording Room wins a prize!