5 Lecturing Platforms
The following section provides an overview of some lecturing platforms and tools you can use for real-time (synchronous) and pre-recorded (asynchronous) lectures. Skylight has developed an instructor guide to recording lectures.
Key Considerations
When choosing what works best for you and your course, you may want to consider the following things:
- Instructors have shared that the creation of pre-recorded videos can be time-consuming, especially if you have not used the recording system before. Instructors suggest keeping your videos shorter than a full lecture and to give ample time within the video for students to work on problems on their own (when you ask them to take 2 minutes to complete a problem, keep the video rolling and set a timer for 2 minutes).
- The majority of instructors are opting for a blended learning approach which requires a careful combination of both synchronous and asynchronous modalities to make sure they complete each other and are meaningful to student learning. It is also important to find a balance between these different modes and to pay attention to workload (for you, the TAs, and students) to avoid the “course and a half syndrome”.
- For synchronous lectures, be prepared that technical glitches are likely to happen. It would be useful to play with the online platform prior to your first class and to have your TAs or other colleagues act as students. For instance, you might want to practice with the whiteboard, slide share, polling, and group breakout rooms.
- Consider what tools and approaches will allow you the ease and opportunity for corrections to content when they present themselves.
**Consult these tips on location, lighting, audio, camera height and camera angle for successful on-line lectures.
Live Lectures (Synchronous)
- Zoom is a web-conferencing platform available to all UBC instructors. See the Skylight-LT Zoom Guide for up-to-date information and instructions on using these tools in your online courses and their integration with Canvas.
- See a video in the Media Gallery where faculty in EOAS and MATH share ideas about the set-up and technology they are using for online teaching.
Pre-recorded Lectures (Asynchronous)
The following table provides a brief overview of Kaltura and Camtasia, two video platforms that instructors can use to pre-record lectures or to create short video clips for students. The investment in learning these platforms is greater than Zoom or Collaborate, as they offer more sophisticated video editing tools. See the CTLT Online Teaching Program for additional information about asynchronous online lectures.
Comparative Table
| Platform | Kaltura (My Media) | Camtasia (Software) |
| Access |
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| Useful features for pre-recorded lectures |
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| Learning investment |
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| Resources |