Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Professor writes article on bringing videos to class

 Michael F. Ruffini, professor of teaching and learning, has written a guest blog for TechSmith Blog outlining how teachers can incorporate video in their classroom using the applications PowerPoint and Camtasia.
Driven by significant advances in digital technologies, today videos are much easier to access – whether it be by the Web or mobile devices. Because video is so ubiquitous, it is an invaluable educational tool. Video is revolutionizing the way we teach and learn and is a powerful medium used extensively today in both eLearning and mLearning. For example, online resources, such as TeacherTube, Khan Academy, and YouTube provide thousands of streaming educational video clips for teachers to use in their lessons.  
Communication through the use of video can bring lessons to life, initiate discussions, and impact learning on both an emotional and cognitive level. Video can illustrate complex, or abstract concepts, take students anywhere around the world, go back in time, explore beneath the oceans, take a look into a cell, and travel to the moon and beyond! Digital video is revolutionizing the way students learn.  
Read the rest of the article.
Ruffini teaches both undergraduate and graduate educational technology courses in the Department of Teaching and Learning. Michael wrote a fantastic book on communication and learning through screencasts called PowerCasts – Creating Dynamic PowerPoint Screencasts with Camtasia Studio. He has also been published on The Educause Review twice, for articles titled Screencasting to Engage Learning and Creating a PowerPoint Screencast Using Camtasia Studio. For more information on his work, visit his website, The Teacher Cast Academy, or send him a note at mruffini(at)bloomu(dot)edu