[game_edu] Request for Technical Assistance

[Ian Schreiber]

I've used Camtasia for lecture recording, works great. Their website has 
tutorials which make it pretty easy to get up and running, it's not totally 
plug-and-play but it's close.

Another option is to purchase a digital video camera that has the capability of 
downloading video to a computer file (or, a normal video camera + a separate 
device that transfers tape to computer). Then you don't even have to mess around 
with recording software. If you like to give "chalk talks" that might be easiest 
- just set up a camera in the back of the class next time you teach.

As for digital format (mp3 vs avi or whatever), I wouldn't worry about that too 
much. It's like wondering whether to put your graphics in jpg or png format -- 
pretty much every viewing tool out there can support every major format, most of 
them compress pretty well, so whatever format gets output by whatever tool 
you're using is probably Good Enough.

I'd also suggest asking around on your campus to see what kinds of 
software/equipment they already have available to faculty. I've taught at 
several places that would set you up. A few likely resources to get you started:

* Your students. In a typical game dev class, especially if students have 
studied video game art/animation, you might have some who know how to do video 
production, or who know someone who knows how.

* If there's a major in telecommunications (or game art/animation) or similar 
where students learn how to produce video, see if you can contact some of the 
faculty who might be able to get you set up with equipment and training (or even 
a student intern).

* If your school has an eLearning department, they almost certainly will have 
the tools to put lectures online since that's what they do :-)

As for where to put the files, a lot depends on your goal. If you just want to 
get the information out there, YouTube works well (but does have that pesky 
restriction that you have to break everything up into ten-minute chunks, which 
might be a bit unwieldy if you're putting up 50 hours' worth of lecture 
recordings). Your school probably offers at least some web space to faculty, so 
you might be able to host it on the school's website if they don't mind (some 
schools are totally into open courseware, others jealously guard their course 
content as if education isn't their mission so much as their manufactured 
product which must be hidden behind a tuition pay wall). You might approach 
other schools who have embraced open courseware to see if they'd be willing to 
host your files too, even if it's not one of "their" classes - all it takes is 
one to say yes :-)

There are also a number of "DiY education" web services out there where you can 
do everything from hosting recorded lectures to giving (and recording) them live 
via streaming video. Generally you can choose to either make your course 
available to the public, or make it only accessible to those who pay for it. 
Services vary widely in usability, features and cost, so shop around.

If your goal is to make the info available to anyone who wants it, consider 
slapping a Creative Commons license on it. This reduces the number of emails 
you'll receive from people asking permission to reference the videos or other 
work in their own classes.

- Ian



On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 2:58 PM, George D. Phillies <phillies at wpi.edu> wrote:

I sent this yesterday, but I think from the email responders the message went 
off to the great bit bucket in the sky.  If any of you have ehard this before, I 
apologize.

>

>I have written with Tom Vasel two books on game design.  I would like to turn 

>them into a series of lectures that would be internet -accessible to anyone, the 

>way youtube is internet-accessible.

>

>The viewer would see a series of slides, either text or photographic images, and 

>hear my voice making remarks.  A single lecture would run about 50 minutes but 

>could be broken into parts.  Your sugegstions on software and display locations 

>would be appreciated.  The slides should have enough resolution to handle 

>complex equations, say the equivalent of a book page.

>

>To give some background, I teach at the WOrcester Polytechnic Institute. My 

>nominal core department is Physics.  However, we also have a program in 

>Interactive Media and Game Development, with tech and art tracks, that requires 

>all students to take at least some software courses and at least some art 

>courses; these courses are largely taught by computer science and humanities 

>faculty members, though IMGD does have faculty.  My attachment to the program is 

>that I have the world's largest collection of board war games (4100 titles, 16 

>four-drawer filing cabinets), so I teach a course on how to execute the design 

>process for a board game.

>

>While I do do computer work, it is very large molecular dynamics calculations in 

>Fortran, which is of no help here.

>

>Your suggestions on the 'which software' and 'where to place files' would be 

>appreciated. My current kibitzers are suggesting MP4 or AVI files, which they 

>tell me can be produced with an Adobe program whose name I am not clear on. I 

>teach witha chalkboard, so you should assume that whatever software you are 

>proposing I will have to learn, in whcih case I might as well learn something 

>good.  I usually use windows, but am considering adding a machine that would 

>also run unix via dual-boot.  I am not averse to spending money for software.

>

>Many thanks!

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>

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