A Picture IS Worth a Thousand Words!

Providing Audio Visual Feedback in an Online Course

Darlene Jones-Owens & Janet GubbinsUniversity of West Georgia

Traditional Student Feedback

• Typing long descriptions to provide feedback?

• Are the students– reading?– understanding?– comprehending?– learning?

The Course

• Every college and university has a similar course

• At UWG: Undergraduate Education Course:– Media and Instructional Technology (MEDT)

2401 - Introduction to Instructional Technology

– Applications course – use of productivity tools in an educational setting.

– Two F2F sessions – Two Online Classes

All courses (both F2F & Online) are identical in WebCT.

The Students

• Majority are sophomores planning on entering the COE.

• Several juniors and seniors already accepted into the COE

• A very few are students enrolled in other majors -- elective.

Feedback Choices

• Face-to-Face– Takes up too much class time and not possible with

online instruction.

• Email– Graded project not open. – Student may not be reading on computer where

project is saved.

• Assignment Drop Box– Project available, but not open.– Size of drop box feedback field constricting.

Drop Box

Use of New Feedback Tools

• Wacom Graphire Pen

• Enables mark-up of any Microsoft document.

Use of Electronic Pen

Use of Electronic Pen with Video

• Short arrows, question marks, circles

Video Feedback

• A screencast– A digital recording of computer screen output, often

containing audio narration. – Camtasia

• supports compact file formats• has editing features that allow mouse movement and

audio.

• A screencast is essentially a movie of what a user sees on his monitor.

Screencasting

• Screencasts have been useful for software developers to show off their work.

• It is a useful skill for ordinary software users as well:– or to show others how a given task is accomplished

in a specific software environment.

• Screencasts are excellent tools for learning how to use computers.

Using Camtasia

1. Open and evaluate student project.

2. Use Graphire Pen to circle, draw arrows.

3. Film the project corrections and record audio.

Example:

Correcting a formula in Excel.

Student Opinions

1. Downloading and viewing the video file was an easy process.

3% 6%

6%

63%

22%

1 Strongly Disagree

2 Disagree

3 Neutral

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

85% Agree

54 students

Student Opinions

2. Audio quality was good and I could hear the instructor's comments.

0%

0%

9%

17%

74%

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly Agree

91% Agree

54 students

Student Opinions

3. Viewing the video/audio feedback helped me better understand how to use the application program.

0%

3%

26%

31%

40% Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly Agree

71% Agree26% Neutral

54 students

Student Opinions

4. The Audio/video feedback was too time-consuming.

62%

29%

0%

6% 3%

1 Strongly Disagree

2 Disagree

3 Neutral

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

91% Disagree

54 students

Student Opinions

5. The audio/video feedback added little or no value to my learning experience.

59%

26%

6%

6% 3%

1 Strongly Disagree

2 Disagree

3 Neutral

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

85% Disagree

54 students

Student Opinions

6. Video/Audio Feedback is more helpful than written feedback.

0% 6%

14%

29%

51%

1 Strongly Disagree

2 Disagree

3 Neutral

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

80% Agree

54 students

Student Opinions

7. I prefer video/audio feedback over written feedback.

0% 11%

14%

20%

55%

1 Strongly Disagree

2 Disagree

3 Neutral

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

75% Agree

54 students

Student Opinions

8. My opinion of this professor is higher because of the video/audio feedback was

provided.

0%

3%

26%

29%

42%1 Strongly Disagree

2 Disagree

3 Neutral

4 Agree

5 Strongly Agree

71% Agree26% Neutral

54 students

Course Projects

• Microsoft Projects– Word – 3– Publisher – 2 – Excel – 3– Access – 3 – PowerPoint – 2

• Other– Web Pages – 1 (3 pages)

– Web Resources – 2– Search Engines – 1– Lesson Plan – 1– Project “Tests” - 3

Total: 21 student projects

21 x 80 = 1680 projects to grade!

4 sections = approx. 20 students each

The course is about learning to use the computer.

Current Project

• Posting feedback videos to a central place for

student access.

Future Plans

• Using video to record PowerPoint presentations.

• Requiring students to use Camtasia in the online lesson plan.

Resources

• Camtasia: Free Trial:http://www.techsmith.com/download/camtasiatrial.asp

• Editing Tutorials:

http://video.techsmith.com/camtasia/latest/edu/showme/enu/cs_showme.html

Balancing Act

Other Options / Other Uses

• Just-in-time support/training

• Across disciplines

• Other Considerations– Freebies– Issues

Just-in-Time Support/Training

• Past UWG research shows faculty learn how to teach online

– on their own,

– “in the halls”,

– or just-in-time, instead of thru traditional means (workshops, etc)

• How can we take better adv of our limited time with them?

Just-in-Time Support/Training

• SnagIT (still images – some text)

Just-in-Time Support/Training

Informal survey of 20 recipients who received both plain text & SnagIT images

- 14 felt it enhanced understanding

- 3 “would not have understood without the accompanying image”

- 3 felt it did not have an impact one way or another / but 2 said preferred anyway

Just-in-Time Support/Training

Future Direction:

• Camtasia (AV screencasts):

Beyond demos – show ‘em our problem-solving in action

Beyond mini-tutorials – active learning help (they click the hotspots necessary to continue the action & get the answer)

Just-in-Time Support/Training

• More effectively conveys directions (faster, better, re-usable)

• From support helpcall to teaching moment!

Other Methods – Other Uses

• For Discussion-Based DE course:

After unit discussion, narrated

summary highlights key points

/provides feedback on students

work as a whole (Impatica for

PowerPoint)

Just How Easy Is It? (Demos)

• SnagIT

• Camtasia

• Impatica for PPT

Other Methods – Other Uses

• History of MathCasts: tools, grants

& lessons learned– http://www.mathcasts.org/index.php?title=History

• BYU: homework solution– http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/interview/glawlor.asp

• MathTV: many for the price of 1– http://www.mathtv.org/

Other Methods – Other Uses

Villanova 2005 Roundtable demos:

• Chemistry – podcasts, screen casts, games for feedback & instruction

• English/Writing – Camtasia to provide feedback on written papers

• Psychology – blogs for journaling/ e-Portfolio

Other Methods – Other Uses

Drexel resources:

• “Augmenting WebCT Courses Using Podcasts,

Screencasting, Blogs, and Games” Roundtable @

Villanova WebCT Conference 2005

• More at http://drexel-coas-talks-mp3-

podcast.blogspot.com

• Tutorials:

http://drexel-coas-elearning.wikispaces.com/tutorials

Thank you to Jean-Claude Bradley for permissions

Free Alternatives

• Screen View (like Camtasia/ AV Editor)– http://sourceforge.net/projects/scrview

• Audacity (Audio Editor)– http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity

• MultiMedia Office (Audio, Video, Image, and HTML Editor)– http://sourceforge.net/projects/platasoft/

Other Ideas

• Captivate (was RoboDemo)– http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/

• Deliver via podcast or “Flashcast” to mobile phone– http://www.adobe.com/products/flashcast/– http://www.adobe.com/products/flashlite/

Tablet PC Alternatives

Free in Microsoft Packs 4Tablet PC:

• OneNote (has a built-in AV screen recorder like Camtasia)

• Snipping Tool (sim to SnagIT)

Tablet PC Alternatives

• Teaching w/ Table PCs –

CS paper & demos: http://www.math.uaa.alaska.edu/~afkjm/papers/mock-ccsc2004.pdf

Issues

• Open/Closed Environment

• Student/Teacher Privacy

• Time requirement – learning curve

• ADA Accessibility

• Copyright

• Spam if shared

• Cost

Your Thoughts

• Questions?

• Comments?

• Ideas?