This document discusses using audio and video in online courses through the PoodLL plugin for Moodle. It explains why instructors should use audio and video, such as providing additional ways for students to learn and meet student expectations. It demonstrates how to add audio and video recordings to assignments in Moodle using PoodLL. It also discusses using PoodLL to provide audio feedback and inserting audio or video elsewhere in a Moodle course. The document provides tips for students submitting video assignments and instructors assessing video work. It promotes open pedagogy through reusing openly licensed content in student video assignments.
Adding audio & video to your online course with PoodLL
1. Do you PoodLL when you Moodle?
And other queries about adding audio &
video to your online course.
The resources from this workshop are offered via a "Creative Commons Attribution
2.5 Canada (CC- BY)”
2. What we’ll talk about
• Who you are, what you do, what you use
• Why use audio & video in your teaching?
• Why create your own audio or video?
• A bit of talk about using PoodLL
• [fingers crossed!] Demo of PoodLL in action
• Getting started with audio & video
• And yes – it’s a good way to be open
4. Are you using ….?
• Moodle?
• Some other LMS? (which one?)
• Audio in your course? A little? A lot?
• Video in your course? A little? A lot?
5. Why use video? An e.g.
Have you ever had to present a REALLY
IMPORTANT presentation? Ever had technical
problems?
…or…
Ever worried that a technical problem could
happen?
6. So as I was saying, why use video…?
Check out these two 1-minute videos:
Michael Bay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23ypkgYO4
Rc
Steve Jobs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NNdOy0TJ
Sk
7. For students, video:
• Offers a secondary or tertiary way to learn
• Appeals especially to certain learner
subgroups: visual & aural learners, learners
with learning disabilities that make it difficult
to learn in more traditional ways
• Meets expectations. Younger people already
make much greater use of media & expect to
use a wider variety of media when they access
information.
8. Video is a powerful teaching tool for
activities such as:
• lecture recordings
• language teaching
• instructional video (e.g. watching a process or
procedure related to health professions,
trades)
• dramatizations, interviews, or critical incidents
for reflections or discussion
• audio or video journaling
9. Video helps to develop critical thinking
skills, like:
• evaluating media sources, information
• developing media literacy
• experiencing multiple points of view
• assessment of self & values (especially when
the material includes strongly emotional
content)
10. So for instructors, video:
• Provides rich content in an alternate delivery
• Provides a tool that you can use yourself; e.g.
to give 'warmer' communication than just text
when presenting to fully online students
• Saves you time when providing feedback.
11. What is PoodLL?
• A free, open source plugin for Moodle
• Adds functionality for audio, video, and online whiteboard
PoodLL makes it drop-dead simple to:
• Record Audio and save it directly into an MP3 file.
• Record Video into assignments, questions, etc.
• Draw Pictures & Diagrams using online whiteboard
application.
• Use Cool Widgets (apparently) like stopwatches, flashcards,
dice, timers.
• Use HTML5 so most features should (?) work with mobile
devices
12. Why use PoodLL?
• to provide copious feedback on students' homework
• to show how to do something
• to let your students submit work using audio or video
• to HEAR your students' answers (e.g. language course)
• to draw out a math equation or solution directly, rather
than using a fussy little math editor
• to let your students submit a diagram or sketch,
without complicated file uploading.
• Best of all – for tech neophytes to dip their toes into
the big wide world of audio & video in online courses
13. Tech stuff – how to get PoodLL
• First you need Moodle! Pretty much any
Moodle version from 1.9 - - ->
• Somebody (maybe not you) needs to
download (from poodll.com) & unzip the
PoodLL plugin into your Moodle
• Somebody needs to configure your Moodle
admin settings to work with PoodLL (according
to directions on poodll.com). Takes ~15 mins.
14. How do I, as an instructor, use PoodLL?
The two most common places you might use
PoodLL are
• in an Assignment; &
• just about anywhere that you type & format
text into Moodle.
**And there is a new plugin called PoodLL
Anywhere!
15. Add PoodLL into an assignment
Ask me for a detailed handout! But here's the gist of it:
• Log in to your Moodle course & turn your editing on
• Add an activity or resource & choose Assignment from the list
• Give your assignment a name & a description
• Add your assignment settings in the usual way
• In Submission settings, choose “Yes” for Online PoodLL.
• Choose your recording type (MP3 Voice Recorder, Video
Recorder, Whiteboard, or Snapshot) from the drop-down list.
• In the Feedback settings area, choose Yes or No according to
whether or not you want to use PoodLL to provide feedback.
If Yes, choose what type of recording you wish to use.
• Finish making your assignment settings & save your work.
17. And from the student’s perspective…
Ask me for a detailed students’ handout! Here’s how to add audio:
• Go to the assignment in Moodle.
• Read instructor's directions for the assignment. Click on “Add
submission” button.
• Adobe Flash Player Settings popup window appears - Allow this
app.
• Make sure your microphone is ready, wait for the recording
controls.
• Check that black bar along bottom of recorder changes to green as
volume changes.
• Choose Record to start recording & Stop to end it.
• Preview recording with the Play button.
• Record it again if necessary - subsequent recordings wipe out
previous ones.
• Embedded clock counts down time left.
• When satisfied with recording, scroll to bottom of page & click on
Save changes button.
21. PoodLL just about anywhere
You can add a PoodLL recording wherever you use the
text editor. Check out PoodLL Anywhere! But in case you
don’t have that installed yet (I don’t):
• Begin at any place in Moodle where you see the text
editor.
• Look in the top menu & click on the icon for 'Insert
Moodle media'
• Click on Find or upload a sound, video or applet...
• In the next window, look in the left column & choose
whether you want to Add a video recording or Record
your audio. You might also like to try some of the
widgets (full whiteboard, small whiteboard, flashcards,
stopwatch etc.).
• Follow the steps specific to each tool.
22. Where are PoodLL recordings stored?
From the PoodLL website:
PoodLL recording via Red5 takes place in the “cloud”
over at our Amazon EC2 server. Immediately after
the recording is complete, Moodle copies the
recorded file into its file system and from then on,
Moodle manages that file as it would any other file.
If you prefer to set up your own red5 server that is
also possible. ... The PoodLL MP3 recorder however
does not make use of any “cloud” technology. The
audio is simply recorded on the local machine and
uploaded to the Moodle server.
23. How much space does PoodLL use?
Test: I downloaded a backup file of a course, added
a PoodLL audio entry of EXACTLY one minute, then
backed up the course & downloaded it again. The
difference was 858 KB – so that’s the cost of one
minute of audio. Definitely this would add up after
a while.
Bottom line: use PoodLL for sound files that are no
longer than a couple of minutes. If you want to use
recordings that are 5 minutes or more, you should
use something else (e.g. Kaltura).
24. Interested in video? Read on…
• PoodLL is great for short snippets of audio &
video
• But if you’re interested in the power of video
to provide more comprehensive instruction,
how can you get started?
• What about students who want to submit
work in a video rather than a paper?
25. Small steps in incorporating video
instruction into your classes
• Start easy! Just include a link in your PowerPoint
or online course to a video file. It is legal to link!
• (AFAIK) you do not have to ask permission to link
to a publicly available video.
• Replace one of your PPT slides with a short video
that illustrates what you're trying to explain.
• Aim for short videos, no more than a couple of
minutes. If you are going to use a longer video,
pause the stream (or direct students to do so)
every couple of minutes & ask a question.
26. Tips for assessing video homework
• Forget about grading students on their
cinematography, audio technique, or professional
acting (unless this is for film studies).
• Engage students’ instincts for visual storytelling.
• Evaluate their content, the choices they make in
presenting their scholarship using visuals, and
their ability to extend their thoughts from the
written and spoken word to a new medium.
27. Video offers opportunities for 'open
pedagogy'.
• Consider this: most work assigned to students is
'disposable'.
• And most assigned work includes the strong stipulation
that ALL work must be original.
• Really, is this optimal???
• Video assignments are a great canvas for the inclusion
of other (openly-licenced) work, to produce something
new and original.
• The completed assignment adds value to the Academy,
the world.
• Video is especially well-suited to this kind of pedagogy.