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)”

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

Apologies! This is not just another pretty PowerPoint ;-)

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?

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?

So as I was saying, why use video…?

Check out these two 1-minute videos: Michael Bay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23ypkgYO4Rc Steve Jobs:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NNdOy0TJSk

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.

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

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)

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.

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

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

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.

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!

Add PoodLL into an assignmentAsk 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.

(just in case the technology fails us )

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.

Student’s perspective- pics

Marking the assignment

Responding with audio feedback

PoodLL just about anywhereYou 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.

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.

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).

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?

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.

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.

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.