Podcasts and mini-lecture videos offer students the opportunity to engage with educational content outside of traditional classroom settings. They provide flexibility, accessibility, and the space to review material at their own pace. These resources can complement traditional teaching/grading methods and contribute to a more dynamic and interactive learning experience for students and faculty.
On This Page:
What is a Podcast?
What is a Mini-lecture Video?
What are the Best Practices?
Record
Edit
Publish
How do I Access Equipment?
On Campus Resources
Loan Equipment
Getting Started
Podcasts are audio-based content that can be listened to on-demand. Podcasts often involve discussions, interviews, or presentations on specific topics relevant to a particular field of study. Professors, experts, or students may create podcasts to share insights, research findings, or engage in educational conversations.
Mini-lecture videos are short video presentations typically created by faculty that focus on delivering concise and focused educational content to students.These videos often include visual aids, slides, or demonstrations to reinforce understanding of course concepts.
Before starting the recording process, it's essential to plan your workflow. A bit more time spent in this beginning stage can significantly reduce the time spent in other area of the process, especially editing. Start by outlining the key topics, objectives, and structure of your podcast or mini-lecture video. Create a working script to easily scaffold your content into logical segments to enhance organization and navigation. Equipment plays a significant role, but content is more important.
Once you have prepared your script, you can begin to record. Analyze your environment and ensure you have a quiet area. Be mindful of "normal noises" such as ceiling fans and vents. You may not hear it at the time, but it may show up in your recording. Similarly, chose a location with minimal echo and reverberation to improve sound quality. Small rooms with fabric and soft materials will produce better audio than large rooms with hard surfaces. For video, ensure that the area is well lit and free of distractions to produce a polished product.
There are several editing applications available for editing. For podcasts, we recommend Soundtrap. For video, we recommend panopto as the easiest app, and Adobe products for more advanced features. In general, keep your content concise and focused. Determine the appropriate length of the content and remove excess information, errors, or empty space. Once you are satisfied with the content, we can advance to improving audio. For example, we can increase the volume, clean up errant noises such as doors closing, cars driving past, or unrelated conversations. Once this is done, you can move on to creating transitions or adding background music. For video, this is the stage were we would add visual aids, extra slides etc.
Determine where you will be hosting this content. Will it be on a course Nexus page, a website, or a streaming platform? Each destination will require a specific format and size requirements - once you determine these specifics, you can export your content to upload. Add relevant metadata and tags to your work. Finally, you are free to share the links to your intended audience.
While content creation is more accessible than ever, a product benefits greatly from quality equipment. For podcasting, a quality microphone is essential to capture clear and professional-sounding audio. For mini-lecture videos, a good camera, along with proper lighting, helps ensure clear and well-lit visuals.
There are two options for recording at Schaffer Library. To reserve either, please submit a ticket with your requested dates.
Podcast Room, 234
This room is located inside the Engaging Technology Lab, and is suitable for one person recording audio at a time.
Managed by LE, this room is flexible and spacious. This is suitable for groups of people recording video or audio.
Podcast kits are available to reserve as well. The portable kit is suitable for 1-3 participants and contains a microphone, a camera, green screen, and pop filters to produce the best possible audio on the go. These reservations are limited so please sumbit a ticket in advance to ensure we can provide the equipment on time.
If you are having difficulty or you have unanswered questions, please contact the Help Desk through the ITS Service Catalog or call (518) 388-6400.