How I create video content for the M(F)L classroom

In my last blog post I showed an example video I created for my students to explain a Directed Writing task and I shared some tips and tricks on what makes an engaging video. In this post I will show the workflow of how I create these videos, including some tools that I use. Let me start by saying that I'm by no means experienced in any of this, and that there are lots and much better tutorials and resources out there for any single step in my workflow. I will link to ones I found useful where appropriate.

The script. Creating video content can take a LONG time, even just the recording takes much longer than the length of the actual video. What helps reduce this time is to have a good story board, just like you would have for a lecture. Unless you know 100% what you will say at any one time, it might help to read off a prepared script. There are some very fancy professional screenwriting tools out there (e.g. Scrivener on the Mac), but since we're not aiming for the next Oscar, a piece of scrap paper will do, or a Word document, or whatever other note taking software you prefer. Another time saver is not to strive for perfection. For my first couple of videos I re-recorded endless takes whenever I made a mistake (perhaps this would make for a nice blooper reel). However, I quickly realised that I wouldn't repeat myself over and over in the live classroom either, and that students probably hardly notice a quick slip of the tongue. Getting the overall result out in a timely manner matters much more than perfection.

The recording tools. As mentioned, I use a mix of things depending on the content. My main recording tool is my trusty old laptop and the in-built webcam. For audio, the in-built microphone does a decent enough job, but as mentioned last time, a cheap lapel microphone greatly improves audio quality. Whenever I record myself, I try to establish good lighting, and the camera should be placed at eye level (I place my laptop on a stack of books) to avoid the good old shot-up-the-nose perspective. A dedicated USB webcam would improve my image quality, especially in low light conditions. But they aren't cheap, at least not the ones which would constitute a worthwhile upgrade over my MacBook.

The recording process:

• Standard video. Many apps can be used for simple webcam recording, including for example Quicktime on the laptop. I use the same software as for slide recording (see below). Nothing special to say here, just make sure that the lighting is good, i.e. very bright. A background light helps to balance out the harsh lighting on your face. I try to keep the background tidy even though my kids do their best to prevent this.
• Slides. Whenever slides are involved, I use Powerpoint for the content. Powerpoint conveniently offers an in-built tool which allows you to record a voiceover while you walk through your slides. This however does not allow you to simultaneously record the webcam. I therefore use a free screen-recorder such as Screen-Cast-O-Matic, which was the first tool I explored. I've since come to the conclusion that Loom, which offers much of the same functionality, is the better choice. Loom requires a pro subscription for recording HD content, but this is currently free for educators. If you plan to record slide presentations with a camera overlay, make sure to leave some whitespace for the overlay on your slides (e.g. bottom left or right), otherwise some of your content will get blocked.
• Hand-written and live content. For some purposes it can be really helpful to record yourself writing by hand. In STEM subjects, this is perhaps more common (problem solving), but I find that it is also very useful in M(F)L teaching, especially in tutorials or when recording instructions (like the Directed Writing Task How-To I linked in my previous post). The best tool for this kind of thing is a dedicated "document camera" (very similar to overhead projector), but these are expensive and were also hard to get hold off during lockdown 1. A document camera is a USB webcam on a stand (like a little tripod), that usually comes with its own lighting  in the form of a LED light that you can point at your desk. It also comes with an app which allows recording for offline use but  also screen mirroring for live sharing of content on e.g. Teams. I don't need this fancy functionality — perhaps that would be different if I were teaching Maths or Physics. So instead of using a fully-featured document camera, I made my own by mounting my phone in a cradle on a cheap stand. I then record my writing directly on the phone, using the camera app, and then I download the resulting video onto my computer for editing. Finally, one could use a graphic tablet (like Bamboo or XPen) and a whiteboard app, or even a tablet (iPad or Android) with a stylus. I haven't found a need for this yet, but I've seen some people successfully use collaborative whiteboard apps like ExplainEverything (see e.g. this 2017 blog post from Rachel Smith) in the M(F)L classroom.
• Audio and video-on-the-go. For quick in-between recordings, and also audio clips, I often just use my phone instead of the fancier tools. The camera app does just fine for video, and I use Voice Memos (iPhone) for audio clips that can then be imported into video editing software.

Video editing. Having recorded all clips required for my "screenplay", I import them all into iMovie. This is as simple as dragging the clips across in Mac Finder (file management system on the Mac — unfortunately I can't tell you how to do any of this on Windows, although I imagine there is very similar software as mentioned previously). If you took care to create good quality clips, often all you need to complete the final video is to drag them into order, add a couple of fade-in-and-out transitions, and you can now export the final video. Usually you need to do some trimming to get smoother transitions between clips, and I've learned by now to always leave a couple of "blank" seconds at the beginning and end of each clip before and after speaking in order to enable proper transitions. Audio clips can be added and edited as separate tracks, and I've started to add background music that I mostly find on YouTube by looking for royalty-free tracks. (Don't take my word for it, make sure that they are licensed for free use and also to be modified if you trim or edit the audio in any other way). There's hundreds of tutorials on this out there, I recommend this one for iMovie.

Sharing content. Depending on what you use in school, you can upload your video content to YouTube or any other platform you might prefer. For YouTube, you need a Google account. Make sure to keep the link private if you don't want the whole world to watch your creations, or at least switch off commenting. I share content on Ms Stream, which is part of my school's Office365 subscription. From Stream you can easily link into your class channels on Teams, or into ClassNotebook.

Captioning. We have to be mindful that for some of our students audio and video content might not be suitable. At the very least, we should ensure that all video content is supplied with captions. YouTube can generate these for you, but so can Ms Stream.