Tag Archives: tutorial

You Too Can Youtube!

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Want a great way to reach your students in and out of the classroom? Create your own video content. Creating your own video content can help stimulate interest in subject material and reinforce what is being taught in the classroom. Instructors are able to share videos with future classes, reuse captured video material with other video projects, and make content available so students can have access to videos even after they have completed the course.

Creating video content has never been easier. With smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices readily available that have the ability to record HD quality videos, you can quickly create and share video content directly to the web. Youtube offers a free browser-based video editor that allows users to edit video clips with several options that are commonly found in video editing software. The Youtube editor has plenty of features that allow users to create videos and has been updated to allow more precise editing. Some of the key features are:

  • splitting/trimming video clips
  • editing audio
  • adding an audio track
  • adding titles with backgrounds
  • adding annotations

Below is an overview of some of the major features available in the Youtube Editor:

Upload

Once you log in to your Youtube account, click on the “upload” button located next to the search bar. The “upload” page will appear giving you several options to create videos. You can select video files located on your computer, record a video using your webcam, create a photo slideshow, broadcast a Google+ Hangout session or use the video editor. We will be focusing on the video editor features for this article.

Video Editor Interface

The video editor allows users to view the video clips that they have uploaded to Youtube (up to 55 clips) and edit them individually or together on a timeline. The main interface allows users to insert titles, edit clips together, add transitions and an audio track. Users will also be able to publish their edited video from this interface.

Quick Fix

When a video clip is selected, users have the option to apply quick fixes to their video. Users can apply an auto-fix that automatically adjusts color, brightness and contrast. Users can also manually adjust brightness and contrast as well. Another great feature is the ability to stabilize the video clip. This helps remove the “shaky camera” effect when users are recording video without a tripod.

Filters

Users can apply several different filter effects on their video clips to alter the look of their video. These filters adjust color saturation and can give your video a new style or look.

 

Text

Text can be added over video clips or as title bumpers before a video clip. Users can adjust fonts, position, size, style, color and alignment.

Titles

Titles can be applied before clips and transitions. Users can create titles by simply dragging a title style from the title tool directly to the timeline.

 

Transitions

Users can also apply transitions between clips, images or titles. These effects will help transition between titles and clips.

Audio Track

Another great new feature is the audio track tool. YouTube now offers a free audio library that has a collection of music tracks that users can download and feature as background music in their videos.

 

Here is a sample video that was created with an iPad and edited using the Youtube video editor.

Demo: SEU Campus Tour

 

Here are some other helpful resources on ways to use videos in education. Feel free to contact us here at the Faculty Resource Center if you have any questions regarding video production for your classroom. Good luck.

20 Ways to Use Video in the Classroom
http://www.mediacastblog.com/20-ways-use-video-classroom/

6 Simple Ways To Use Video In Education
http://www.edudemic.com/6-simple-ways-to-use-video-in-education/

Different Types of Videos Used for Education
http://56wrtg1150.wikidot.com/youtube-vodcasts-and-skype

Youtube Video Editor Support
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/183851?hl=en-GB

Free music for your videos in Audio Library

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3376882?hl=en-GB&ref_topic=3014750

Help, My Capstone Paper Won’t Open!

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How to Recover Corrupted Files in Word

error message for microsoft word: file corruptedIt’s that time of year when end of the semester projects are in full swing and it’s almost time to turn in that big final paper. This gives rise to a common end-of-the-semester situation at the IT HelpDesk – students needing to fix a Word file that will not open, with Word often displaying an error message that the file is “corrupted”.

Why is my file corrupted? What happened?

There are a number of different reasons why your file was damaged. If Word or your computer suddenly crashes, or there’s a power outage while you are working on a document, it might get damaged. Malware might have come into play. It could also be that the part of your drive where the document is saved has become damaged or unreadable, especially if you yank out your flash drive or external hard drive while your document is still open or while it’s trying to save.

Troubleshooting

  1. In Word, first try to recover a previous version of your file.

  2. If you cannot open your file, or any previous version of it, try opening the document on another computer with Word. All campus computer labs have Word installed on every PC and Mac. If the file will not open on any computer or displays an error message, the document is likely damaged.

  3. Before you start trying to recover your file, make a copy of your file and try to fix the copy. The original might get damaged more over time, or you may destroy the file in your efforts to save it.

  4. The Microsoft support site has articles with several methods for recovering your document in Word for Windows or Word for Mac. Try these techniques to see if it’s possible to recover your document. You might lose your document’s formatting styles, but at least you can recover the text.

2 Ways to Attempt Recovery if your Document Will Not Open

The following screencast shows two options for trying to recover a file that will not open in Word 2010. Remember to try these techniques on a copy of your file. The first option is using “Open and Repair,” and the second one to try is “Recover Text from Any File”.  Again, you may lose your formatting or see some extra Word formatting information, but you can always reformat your text once you recover it.

An Ounce of Prevention

Of course, this situation is only dire if you only have one copy of your document. If you keep backup copies of your documents, you can easily work off one of your backups. Consider the 3-2-1 Method of backup: you should have three copies of your files, two of which you can access locally (like on your hard drive and a USB drive) and a third located outside your home or office (like EdShare).