Lecture Capture
Lecture capture is a general term used for recording lectures and then making them available online, typically for students to review. These videos can be recorded at the same time as when a face-to-face lecture is being given, or can be recorded in the comfort of your office or home.
Austin Community College (ACC) provides support for two lecture capture tools, VidGrid and Mediasite. Both tools have their strengths and weaknesses, and it is at the discretion of the faculty/staff member on which tool to use.
VidGrid
VidGrid is a video platform that allows faculty to easily record, share, edit, and manage videos in the cloud within one app.
The VidGrid desktop recorder captures anything on your computer screen from PowerPoint slides to web pages to complex animations, as well as video from webcams and audio devices connected to your computer.
Features
VidGrid includes the following features:
- Upload and edit previously recorded videos (trim, blur, add music)
- Instant machine captioning (ADA-compliant) with just a few mouse clicks
- Individual videos can be shared within your Blackboard course via a short video link
- Share videos with specific people or make them available to the general public with a custom web address
- Categorize videos within an organized library allowing VidGrid users to collaborate on a collection of videos
- Organize videos into specialized folders with various sharing permission options
- Ask multiple choice questions to test viewer attention and information retention
- Interactive features like adaptive quizzing, polls or surveys from directly within the video
- Video analytics that track number of views, and who has been viewing
- Receive notifications when users watch or interact with videos
- Record content from computer, iPad, and iPhone
- Embed questions within videos to ensure students are engaged
- Attach powerpoints or documents to videos
- Segment videos into chapters to seamlessly organize information
- Annotate and capture mouse clicks on the screen as you present
- Allows students to record videos that upload to secured folders with a shareable video recording link
Restrictions - VidGrid is primarily available for faculty, but staff accounts can be created depending on the use case.
Getting Started with VidGrid
Step 1: Request an account by emailing Dr. Ninghua Han. Your account will be activated within two business days.
Step 2: Once your account is activated, visit the VidGrid website and use your ACCeID credentials to login and start using VidGrid.
Training & Support
A number of articles and training videos have been created and can be viewed on the Instructional Technology Knowledge Base.
VidGrid also has a help center available for questions. The VidGrid Help Center is searchable and covers FAQs and updates as well.
The Faculty Instructional Support Specialists (FISS) on each campus can also provide guidance, and training on using VidGrid.
Mediasite
Mediasite is not only a lecture capture tool, but also features a robust video streaming platform. Think of Mediasite as an “internal YouTube channel.” Videos stored within Mediasite can have varying permission settings, can be embedded within your Blackboard course, and shared with others through a unique web address. Mediasite also supports the display of video captions.
Features
Mediasite includes the following features:
- Available to all ACC faculty and staff (no individual license required)
- Upload and edit previously recorded video, audio, and caption files
- Embed individual videos and video channels within your Blackboard course
- Restrict videos to ACC users (by logging in through Okta) or available for the general public with a custom web address
- Collaborate with other Mediasite users on a collection of videos by using shared folders
- Embed questions within videos to ensure students are engaged – scores can be reflected in Blackboard Gradebook.
- Use powerful analytics to identify students in need of further help
- And more!
Getting Started with Mediasite
Faculty: Login to your Blackboard course and enable the Mediasite tools.
Staff: Visit the ACC My Mediasite page and log in with your ACCeID credentials.
Mediasite Considerations
Video Retention Policy
Videos stored on Mediasite will be kept for 1 year after the last time the video has been viewed. After this time, the video will be archived and become unavailable in Mediasite. Videos can be restored from the archive by submitting a Mediasite Support Request Form.
Shared Folders
Creating and adding users to shared folders must be requested by submitting a Mediasite Support Request Form.
Video Ownership
While Mediasite supports multiple permission levels on each video, videos can have only one owner. Video ownership can be changed by submitting a Mediasite Support Request Form.
Training & Support
A number of articles and training videos have been created and can be viewed on the Instructional Technology Knowledge Base.
The Faculty Instructional Support Specialists (FISS) on each campus can also provide guidance, and training on using Mediasite.
If you have additional questions about lecture capture tools, please let us know by contacting the Office of Instructional Technology.