Quick Tips for Maximizing Lecture Capture Video Quality
YuJa provides the tools you need to create high-quality lecture capture videos for your students, whether you use the desktop-based lecture capture software, hardware capture appliance, in-browser capture tools, or mobile capture applications.
Check Your Equipment
In some cases, video and audio quality issues are the result of poorly functioning or inadequate equipment. For instance, you may find that your video and audio quality is poor if you’re recording with the on-board webcam and internal microphone in a laptop PC.
Audio Equipment Choices
A USB microphone is recommended. Both wired and wireless microphones will work, and YuJa is compatible with a wide range of USB microphones. Wireless microphones are a more practical classroom solution, but if you’re recording from your office or a home office, you can certainly use a wired or headset style microphone for clear audio quality. No matter your audio equipment, try to ensure background noise is limited.
Video Equipment Needs
For lecture capture recordings, a separate web camera is suggested. These are also available at a wide range of price points, with higher quality products offering improved resolution and increased features.
While a microphone and webcam make up the basics of a lecture capture recording, lighting can also matter. If your camera quality isn’t the problem, adding additional lighting may improve the visibility and clarity of your recording. This is especially helpful for on-site demonstrations.
Improving Screen Capture Quality
For most users, the screen capture process will be seamless, producing clear and quality recordings without additional effort. In other cases, however, users may have to adjust settings in the YuJa Software Capture desktop application or their computer to improve screen capture quality. Below, you’ll find some tips and tricks we’ve found helpful to create top-quality screen capture recordings.
Screen Resolution Settings: Match your screen resolution and your screen capture resolution. You’ll find the YuJa Software Capture screen resolution settings in Settings. YuJa’s Video Platform offers adaptive bitrate streaming, which improves the quality of experience by allowing recording in higher video qualities because they don’t rely on bandwidth and network connections. Instead, the video player detects the capacity of the user’s device and adjusts the bitrate accordingly.
“For most users, the screen capture process will be seamless, producing clear and quality recordings without additional effort.”
The ClearType Tuner: Try out the ClearType Tuner included with Windows, which is enabled by default in Windows 7, 8 and 10. In Windows 10, the ClearType Tuner is located in your Display Settings under Advanced Settings; however, it is also available in older versions of windows. Turn on ClearType and use the tuner to improve the display quality of fonts and text on your screen.
Icon Size Settings: In Display Settings, confirm that icons are set to 100% size.
Full Screen Mode: Record screen captures in full-screen mode, rather than in a minimized screen for the highest quality recording.
Zooming In or Out: When showing a file or document on screen, or illustrating a web browser on screen, be certain you are viewing the screen at 100 percent, rather than a lower or higher zoom value.
With just a few tweaks, you can record high-quality video that make your students feel like they’re in your room no matter where they connect.
YuJa Bridges the Education Gap for Active-Duty Military
Education and Active Duty Military
The United States military supports students who wish to begin or continue higher education while on active duty with tuition assistance and other educational programs for those in the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, and most Reserves. The GI Bill and VA Benefits also are available to help with educational costs no matter the type of degree a student is working toward.
Active Duty Military Students can:
- Enroll in evening courses on base, provided by local colleges or community colleges.
- Take evening or weekend courses at an institution in a nearby community.
- Take advantage of distance learning opportunities and online learning.
The pandemic has expanded the world of online learning, with many programs now being offered entirely online. This makes remote learning convenient, accessible and flexible even to those with unpredictable schedules, while in-person learning options may vary depending upon where an individual is stationed, their work schedule, and their role in the military.
Institutions that use YuJa help create distance or remote educational opportunities to support active duty students in meeting their educational goals.
Online Learning for Active-Duty Military
“The pandemic has expanded the world of online learning, with many programs now being offered entirely online.”
Online courses through YuJa allow students to watch lecture captures with integrated multimedia presentations, participate in online real-time discussions, and to connect and collaborate with one another.
To meet the needs of active-duty personnel in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, YuJa offers:
- The ability to watch lectures from any device.
- Features that enable search inside video and to re-watch lecture captures.
- Adaptive bitrate streaming and downloadable content for those with connectivity issues or who don’t have access to WiFi at all times.
- The potential for instructors or course designers to create flexible, competency-based courses.
10 Essential Features to Consider When Choosing a Lecture Capture Solution
The right lecture capture platform will meet the needs of your IT staff, administration, content owners and learners. While each of these groups may have different priorities, the right solution will meet the needs of diverse audiences and add value to your organization.
Institutions should consider 10 key factors when selecting a lecture capture solution: scalability, compatibility, integration, analytics, automated scheduling, playback, organization, editing capability, and accessibility.
1. Scalability
For many organizations, long-term scalability, or the ability to grow with the organization, is essential. If you outgrow your lecture capture solution, it is a poor short-term investment. The right lecture capture solution for your organization must offer the flexibility to grow to meet changing needs or even to adapt to and accommodate new technology as it changes over time.
Whether you’re using YuJa’s Lecture Capture solution for tens or thousands of users, workflow features like adaptive bitrate streaming, multi-device media encoding and a global content delivery network help make it easy to deliver content to your audience.
2. Compatibility
Technology rarely operates in a silo, working independently without sharing information. Choosing a lecture capture solution that works with your existing technology and is continually assessing and improving its compatibility will help those who rely on lecture capture not only transition into using video tools, but create engaging media content for viewers.
3. Integration
Along with compatibility, when shopping for a lecture capture solution, organizations should select a lecture capture solution that plays well with the current learning management system and which accommodates a range of different peripheral technologies. This will help ease the implementation process and expand its utility. Consider SSO products, captioning vendors, your LMS and other technologies as you assess lecture capture solutions.
4. Analytics
Tracking and measuring data helps instructors see what teaching methods are effective and find areas for improvement. Analytics enable organizations to track who is accessing media, patterns of media usage and user engagement to help maximize investment in lecture capture technology, and enables content owners and administrators to adjust lecture capture strategies for improved user engagement.
There are two main forms of analytics to consider when choosing a lecture capture technology. A good solution integrates both:
- Administrative analytics, which share information of primary interest to IT and administrative staff, like network usage.
- Learning analytics, which share information about how students are using the lecture capture technology.
The YuJa Video Platform’s Visual Analytics suite collects a variety of data and provides reports that cover system statistics, usage and instructional insights.
5. Automated Scheduling and Remote Start
Auto-scheduling is an essential tool for lecture capture. Automated or remote scheduling enables the lecture capture to begin and end recording without direct instructor or content owner involvement. This increases the overall reliability of lecture capture for users, and reduces effort and work on the part of instructors. YuJa’s Lecture Capture technology offers remote scheduling and on-demand recording capabilities.
6. Playback
High quality video playback on any device is essential. Users may watch lecture captures on smartphones, tablets, laptops or desktop computers. Playback quality should automatically adjust to provide a clean, crisp viewing experience for each of these different devices, and should accommodate varying network speeds. Additionally, YuJa’s Video Platform allows users to download content to watch later, even if they don’t have an internet connection.
8. Organization
Lecture capture creates significant amounts of media content in the form of large video files. In order to maximize the usefulness of this content, your lecture capture solution should organize and store media content. In addition, it is critical that content be searchable for future use.
9. Editing Capability
With fully-integrated editing capabilities, instructors can easily edit content, remove errors, update or add a forgotten slide or note about an assigned reading to their lecture captures. Lecture capture features like multi-stream, non-destructive editing within a web browser, smart workflows, inline caption editing and the ability to schedule recordings all allow course designers and instructors to create and deliver higher value content for learners.
10. Accessibility
No matter the size of your organization, lecture capture solutions must be fully accessible with closed captioning, keyboard adaptations, and audio descriptions. In addition, technology should be compatible with screen readers and other assistive devices to make content accessible to all learners.
Learn more about YuJa’s Lecture Capture platform by checking out our comprehensive guide.
2020 YuJa Scholarship Winner – Dara Nicole Díaz Ríos
Congratulations to Dara Nicole Díaz Ríos as the winner of the 2020 YuJa Scholarship Contest
TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF:
I am Dara, I was born and raised in Nicaragua and am moving to Boston to attend Emerson College and follow my dream of becoming an integral visual artist. I would like to be a visual activist and a documentarist. My background is in graphic arts as well as drawing, painting, and sculpting. I love teaching and sharing my knowledge as a way of giving back to my community.
WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE IN SCHOOL?
The experience of being an exchange student in San Francisco was for me a transformational academic experience. One of my fondest memories of my semester abroad was an incredible experience that took me home; on a cold spring afternoon as I was leaving the university gym, I saw my dance teacher from Nicaragua coming toward me. Coincidentally she was teaching at USF and invited me to her dance class with the school’s company. This wonderful opportunity opened my eyes to the realization that the world is more interconnected than ever and that we can connect with our roots anywhere.
HOW DO YOU ENVISION YOURSELF IN 5 YEARS?
By 2025, I will be developing new ways to distribute more inclusive and accessible artistic content for rural Latin American communities. I see myself getting to know and collaborating with rural populations to document and preserve their traditions and give them the gift of art that has been so transformational for me. Additionally, I know I will be continuing with my education a process that will never end.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO LEARN FROM YOUR SCHOOL EXPERIENCE?
My main interest is to be able to develop my own voice, to understand my unique way of seeing the world, and to be able to communicate it to create a positive impact. I am confident that my university experience will help me build a network of artists who have the same interest in developing a global union for artistic inclusivity and democratization.
WHAT EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES DO YOU ENJOY?
My curiosity is infinite, I am always open to new experiences and eager to learn from others. The breadth of my hobbies is extensive: sports, gardening, all kinds of plastic, visual and performing arts, and any opportunity to give back and share with my community. I especially enjoy listening, writing, and sharing stories as this is a way to mix my vocation with my passions.
We would like to thank all the participants for entering in our 2020 Annual YuJa Essay Contest!
We were blown away by the record number of participants and interest in our Essay Contest and we look forward to your participation next year in our 2021 Annual YuJa Essay Contest.
Related Article: Scholarship Submissions 2020
Promoting Active Learning in a Remote Learning Environment
According to a study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, findings suggest that students in a traditional lecture course are 1.5 times more likely to fail, compared to students in courses that promote active learning. Students in active learning classes also outperform those in traditional lectures taking identical exams.
To power this model, YuJa provides video capture and integrated social tools that enable students to tailor their learning path to reflect their strengths and interests.
Discover Ways the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform Promotes Active Learning in a Remote Learning Environment
1. A Flipped Classroom Environment
With YuJa’s flipped classroom software, instructors can record their video and voice alongside slides, documents and screen captures. Users can also create video tutorials, pre-recorded lessons and clarifications. Our cloud-based architecture enables us to instantly scale from small group collaborations to large-scale lectures and webinars.
2. Real-Time Whiteboards
YuJa’s real-time whiteboard enables participants to draw and annotate within a live Video Conference session ideal for one-on-one office hours, small group collaborations, and large-scale video conferencing. Content of any sort added to the Whiteboard appears instantly and helps facilitate synchronous group collaboration, adds visual interest to video learning, provides an essential way to share and annotate, and encourages small group participation.
3. In-Video Quizzing and Commenting
The Video Platform offers interactive assessment capabilities within the video experience including creating video quizzes, inserting related documents, and making interactive comments.
Liven up your video quizzes by combining video quizzes with instructive in-video prompts and time-based supplementation information. Quizzes can contain questions a variety of types including ungraded group polls, multiple-choice, true-false questions, short-answer, reflective-pause and multiple-select questions.
4. Interactive Video Conferencing
With the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform, instructors can split Video Conference meetings into separate Breakout room sessions. Choose how you can split the participants of the meeting into separate sessions automatically or manually at any time.
Video Conference participants can also perform a Virtual Hand Raise within a meeting to make a request, ask a question, or indicate any confusion to the Meeting owner without un-muting their microphone.
Related Article: #COVID-19: How Instructors are Using the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform for Remote Learning
Three Ways a Flipped Classroom Can Support Students
In a flipped classroom, students have easier access to learning resources, and therefore, are less likely to experience frustration or unanswered questions. Flipped classrooms can also enable access to course-related content at any location and on any devices in the event that a student cannot attend a class. According to a LearnDash study, 71% of teachers noticed a positive change in student engagement since flipping their classroom. Here are three ways a flipped classroom can support students.
Three Ways a Flipped Classroom Can Support Students
1. Access to a Secure, Centralized Video Library
At first glance, instructors new to the flipped classroom environment tend to resort to public resources – such as YouTube – to store and share their video content. However, the lack of a centralized storage location can create a confusing experience for students who are left wondering where certain content is being stored for multiple courses in different locations. Further, by resorting to public locations to store content, this can lead to instructors facing multiple security and copyright issues if stored information is improperly disseminated across public domains.
With an Enterprise Video Library, students and instructors are provided on-demand access to a centralized Video Content Management System (CMS) to store and securely share flipped classroom content and recordings across multiple formats.
2. Content Access at Any Time, Any Place, and on Any Device
One of the core methodologies surrounding flipped classrooms involves the ability for students to access lecture material at anytime, anywhere, outside of the classroom. In some instances, students might only have the means to access technology at specific locations while other students prefer to only learn in specific environments. With an Enterprise Video Platform, video can even be automatically transcoded when recorded and converted to an accessible format playable on any device or browser. As a result, different types of learners are offered a myriad of ways to access content regardless of what device, browser, or player they are using.
3. Convenient Search Features
When it comes to publishing online content, students need a way to easily search and find stored lecture material. A ten minute recorded lecture might be easy to upload, but over the course of a semester, many weeks’ worth of uploaded content can build up. By the time an exam approaches, sorting through content that has gradually been stored can be an arduous task. Further, many public domains are confined to search capabilities limited to searching content by its name and description. Without an Enterprise Video Library to easily access content stored throughout the school year, a student looking for a few minutes’ worth of content can be stuck looking through an entire semester’s worth of video content.
An Enterprise Video Library offers a school-wide platform that includes advanced content search features that enable quick access to course-wide materials. Students can easily look through content spanning class-specific material – including presentation slides, transcripts, and video captions – as well as search for unique keywords mentioned in specific courses. With the YuJa Enterprise Video Platform, captions can be time stamped for users to instantly skip right to what they are searching for. Ultimately, students can not only quickly find the material they are looking for, but can learn effectively and efficiently.
Related Post: How to Caption Your Videos at Scale
June 2017 Scholarship Winner – Christian Parham
Tell us about yourself.
- I am 17 year old senior in high school who lives in California. I enjoy politics and reading. I have one younger sister who is 15. In my spare time, I work with little children and teach them the basics of peewee soccer. I also teach children’s bible classes at my church, and am very active in my community through a leadership program my city sponsors. I love watching history documentaries as well.
- My best experience so far in high school has been being involved in programs like Link Crew and Leadership. Link Crew provides incoming freshmen with 2 upperclassmen mentors, and the mentors help guide them through their first year of high school. Being a mentor to underclassmen has been such a fun experience and I’m grateful I got to have a profound impact on their lives. Leadership is a great way for me to get to know other people in my grade, and make sure I stay involved in all our schools various events.
- The major that I plan to pursue is political science. Due to this election season, I became very interested in the many intricacies of politics. Also, I love history, and politics fits hand in hand with it. You can learn from others policy mistakes, find out what doesn’t work, and avoid scandals and mistakes within your own campaign.
- In five years, I plan to be graduated from college with a major in political science and a minor in journalism. Hopefully, I will find a job as either a politician or working in political journalism. If I want to continue my schooling beyond undergrad, then I will go to law school to become a lawyer.
- I hope to learn skills that will benefit me in my future career, whatever it may be. An example of some skills I’d like to learn is how to effectively communicate what I want to others, and be more assertive with in my beliefs. I’d also like to develop my critical thinking skills to stay competitive in this rapidly advancing world.
- Some extracurricular activities I enjoy are writing. I currently write for a teen magazine called us. I also like being involved in the several leadership groups and helping freshmen acclimate to high school. I tutor almost daily after school in any subject, which has been an incredibly rewarding experience. Teaching Children’s bible classes has also been great.