October 18

Recorded SIG Webinars

The Minnesota Online Quality Initiative team has updated their list of video resources from the past webinars hosted by the Special Interest Group.

You will find the recording link along with the presenter and webinar description. This is a great opportunity in case you have missed a live webinar but are still interested in the topic. Here are some of the archived recordings:

  • Self-Assessment of Discussions
  • Ten Steps Closer to an Accessible Course
  • Time-Saving Tips for Stressed Out Instructors
  • Just-in-Time Teaching

Just click on the link provided above and choose the title of your interest. Majority of the recordings are about 45 minutes long.

Don’t forget, there is also a Google drive folder with various resources (in Word, PDF, or PPT).

Finally, you can always register for the upcoming webinars here.

Image credit: minnesota.qualitymatters.org

SIG Learning Spaces and Instructional Technology

September 26

Lynda.com Video Library

linkedin-and-hied

Lynda.com is an online training resource that offers thousands of video tutorials in various areas such as technology, business, software and creative skills. Training modules are available for Microsoft Office (2013, 2016 and Office365), Adobe Creative Cloud, graphic design, e-learning, social media, customer service, project management, and much more.These videos can be used as supplemental material for classes or a learning database for students. In addition, LinkedIn purchased Lynda and is offering learning opportunities to their users through this integration.

Even though our SCSU Library currently does not subscribe to Lynda, these resources can be accessed for free with an active Great River Regional Library card.

  • Instructions on how to obtain a GRRL card for free.
  • If you already have a GRRL card, go to the Great River Regional Library web site. Click on Databases in the navigation and locate Lynda.com in the list of databases. Log in using your GRRL barcode and PIN. (Note: You must access Lynda.com via the GRRL web site.)

Other county library sites such as Anoka, Dakota, Carver, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington also provide similar free access to Lynda.com with an active library card.

June 9

MediaSpace to D2L Brightspace: Step by Step Instructions

MediaspaceMediaspace is a nifty solution for using multimedia in your in class or online courses. It is very easy to put stuff from your media to D2L. You simply log in (here) with your star ID and password.

Many faculty members get frustrated with putting up an audio Power Point in their D2L course. The issues are: students cannot view them while in D2L, they have to download the PPT first. Then, many faculty do not want their PPTs downloaded so they would just upload the PDF version of their PPT to their course. This way, the idea of having a voice over Power Point is lost, and you have to settle with what works best for you.

However, using Screen Recording tool in Mediaspace Kaltura enables you to select the specific area on your screen  to record and use the mic along the way. You can record your Power Point and have the audio with it, then just upload it in your D2L course. The cool thing about it – students can view it (and hear the audio) straight from the course and cannot download it.

Bellow are step-by-step instructions of how to do a Webcam Recording or Screen Recording and then embed the video in a Content Module. For additional help and FAQs click here.

  1. Once you log in, you will see your name in the upper right corner. Next to it, to the left, you will see Add New, with the drop down menu. You can select Screen Recording or Webcam Recording (as you can see there are 3 more options, but I will cover the basic two now).Mediaspace Screen Recording tool
  2. Once you click, you will be prompted to Launch the Screen Recorder or if it is just a video – you will be asked to “Record from Webcam” where you click “Allow Camera and Microphone Access”  on the screen. Mediaspace Screen Recording launchMediaspace Record from Webcam
  3. Next, you start recording.  In Screen recording you control the pause button and once you are ready, click done. In Webcam recording, you just click anywhere to start recording and then click anywhere on the screen to stop recording. You will see a box with “Save” appear on the screen. Mediaspace Webcam recording save
  4. It is very important to Save on the screen, as that is how the video is uploaded to your media. Then, Name the video. You can also add a Description for your students.
  5. The most important thing is to always save it as Unlisted! Why – if it is Private, you will not be able to share it with anyone. If it is Published, anyone can see it right away. Therefore, always click Unlisted and then click on the blue save button below. Once it is saved, you get the option Go to Media.
  6. You will click Go to Media and it will take you to the newly recorded video/screen capture. From there, you will click Share. You want to be able to get the embed code and share it with your students in your D2L Brightspace course shell. Have your D2L course open in a new tab/new window next to it. Once you click Embed, you will get an embed code in a window and all you need to do is copy it (right click or ctrl-c).Mediaspace Webcam recording embed code
  7. Now that you have copied the embed code, open your D2L course. In Materials > Content > (any selected) Module > New > Create a File.Mediaspace Webcam recording embed to D2L 1
  8.  Once you click Create a File:  Enter a Title > (**Below the Title box there are options: The first icon in the upper left corner says  Insert Stuff**) > Click Insert Stuff > Enter Embed Code > Paste!!! what you copied in Mediaspace – your embed code > Next >  Allow > Insert. Voila, you have inserted the video in your D2L content page. Don’t forget to publish the newly created file.Mediaspace Webcam recording embed to D2L 2

We hope this post can help you navigate these resources. Again, if you have any trouble getting through the steps, we are here to help! Contact us here, by email att@stcloudstate.edu or just walk in to Miller Center 118.

May 17

Creating Video Content Topic in D2L

MnSCU D2L Brightspace Service Desk

Having a variety of instructional materials is encouraged in your classes. It is easy to put videos on topics related to your class in your D2L Brightspace course shell. Here is a reminder how to do it (Click here for the full post with pictures).
Instructors can create a HTML content topic and insert an embedded video, or create a Quicklink content topic to a video URL.
Video topics are listed in modules with a RNT/assets/images/a1594_video_file_icon.jpg Video icon to distinguish them from other types of files and link topics.
– To create a video content topic, click New in a content module, then select Video or Audio from the drop-down menu.
– Two options: Upload: You can create your video using Mediaspace where you would use the embed code.
Web Video or Audio: paste URL in the field and after the video loads click save.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Note: Any web video can be used to create a video topic simply by pasting its HTML embed code in the Enter URL or Embed Code field. Additionally, D2L Brightspace provides shortcuts for some web sites, enabling users to create videos by simply copying and pasting the URL of the video instead of the HTML embed code.

The following table lists supported sites that were selected based on the most frequently used videos by D2L Brightspace clients today.

 Video Source  URL Support  Embed Code Support  Extract Title Support  Extract Author Support
 YouTube  Yes  Yes  Yes  Yes
 Vimeo  Yes  Yes  Yes  Yes
 D2L Capture*  No**  Yes  No  No
 Dailymotion  Yes  Yes  Yes  No
 Discovery  No  Yes  Yes  No
 Howcast  Yes  Yes  Yes  No
 Influxis  No  Yes  No  No
 Khan Academy  No  Yes  Yes  Yes
 MIT  Yes  Yes  Yes  No
 National Geographic  Yes  Yes  Yes  No
 SchoolTube  Yes  Yes  Yes***  No
 ScienceStage  No  Yes  Yes  No
 ScreenCast  No  Yes  No  No
 TeacherTube  Yes  Yes  No  No
 TED  Yes  Yes  Yes  No
 Adobe TV  No  Yes  No  No
August 19

D2L Brightspace Video Help Library

Attention instructors!

A quick way to find really short and concise videos on any feature of your D2L Brightspace course can be found here.

If you are interested in a specific feature, you can quickly search (e.g. discussions, dropbox, calendar, assessment, quizzes, chat, classlist, etc.).

Also, when you log in to your D2L, in the right upper corner you will have a box named “Instructor Help” which has the link as well.

D2L Instructor Help: Video Help Library

D2L Instructor Help, searchable videos