Build Your Own OERs
Building your own Open Educational Resources (OERs) can help your organization create a repository of faculty and student knowledge. These objects can be used by others in your organization. There are many kinds of OERs. The only real requirement for an OER is that it be Open (accessible to others, usually placed online) and Educational. An OER can be a webpage, like this, or a document posted online for others to read and use. Many people look to places like Khan Academy as the high water mark for OERs. People like the combination of animation and voice over narration. These kind of OERs are video files that are placed online. Creating a video based OER is a straightforward process:
- Decide on a topic
- Record the lesson
- Post the lesson
Online Lecture |
ScreenCAst |
There are different tools to help you create these types of OERs. Microsoft Photo Story can help you create an online lecture. http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ can be used for online lectures as well. But it can also record anything that happens on the computer screen. Both of them are explained below.
Microsoft Photo Story 3
Microsoft Photo Story is free, and it is a bare-bones tool that lets you narrate a series of slides, such as a PowerPoint Presentation, and narrate each slide individually. If you create a PowerPoint Presentation you can save each slide as an individual image. You can then upload those images into PhotoStory, narrate each slide, and then export the final product as a video file. The video file can then be uploaded to http://youtube.com and shared with others. The tutorial below was created by graduate students at Winthrop University. It will help you create your own OER.
The final version looks like the video below on 1:1 computing.
Microsoft Photo Story 3
Microsoft Photo Story is free, and it is a bare-bones tool that lets you narrate a series of slides, such as a PowerPoint Presentation, and narrate each slide individually. If you create a PowerPoint Presentation you can save each slide as an individual image. You can then upload those images into PhotoStory, narrate each slide, and then export the final product as a video file. The video file can then be uploaded to http://youtube.com and shared with others. The tutorial below was created by graduate students at Winthrop University. It will help you create your own OER.
The final version looks like the video below on 1:1 computing.
photostory_universityfaculty_version.pdf | |
File Size: | 306 kb |
File Type: |
Screencastomatic
http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ is a free tool that can be used online, or downloaded. It will record whatever happens on your computer screen. When you are done, you can save the video file and share it. There is a paid version, and with it you can get rid of the advertising watermark and record videos longer than 15 minutes. But you really don't want to record anything longer than 15 minute. Sarah Switaj, a teacher in North Carolina and a graduate student at Winthrop University created a white paper on Screencastomatic that can help you learn more about how to use it and why you should be using it.
http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ is a free tool that can be used online, or downloaded. It will record whatever happens on your computer screen. When you are done, you can save the video file and share it. There is a paid version, and with it you can get rid of the advertising watermark and record videos longer than 15 minutes. But you really don't want to record anything longer than 15 minute. Sarah Switaj, a teacher in North Carolina and a graduate student at Winthrop University created a white paper on Screencastomatic that can help you learn more about how to use it and why you should be using it.
sarah_switaj.pdf | |
File Size: | 826 kb |
File Type: |
Windows Live Movie maker Tutuorials
I've created a set of video based tutorials to help you learn to edit your movies. I use Windows Live Movie Maker and the tutorials are for that piece of software. There are a number of tools that you can use to edit video, such as Apple's iMovie. These are short, about a minute a piece, videos to show you how to use particular functions. Click here for the tutorials.
Tips for Creating Your Own OERs
- Find your voice. These are easy to create. So create 3 or 4 of them, and then delete them before anybody sees them. Your first ones won't be very good, so make a few practice OERs before you send any out.
- Chunk your materials. If you have a one hour lecture (and you probably don't), don't create a one hour lecture. Break it into manageable chunks of 5-7 minutes. This will let your students replay the pieces that they need to replay without having to scroll through an hour long video. Shorter videos also are smaller, so they load quickly. And when the content in a particular lesson changes, you can replace a section without redoing the full lecture.
- Label them well. Be as specific as you can both for your learners and for yourself. It is pretty easy to remember what you did if you have 10 videos, but over time you'll create many more. Save yourself some problems now be labeling them carefully.
- Get a Condenser Microphone. A good quality microphone will give your audio a greater sense of professionalism and gravitas. I like to call them "The Voice of God" mic. I use the Snowball Microphone, but there are many others.
- Share them. The power of the OER is in numbers. You can use other people's materials, and other people can use yours. Work with your friends and colleagues to build a collection.
- Delete them when needed. Content changes. When it does, feel free to take down ones that are no longer needed.
Marshall G. Jones