For my US history class, I want a slideshow, with music and narration, of art during the 1920s, a subject textbooks cover very poorly. I’m into modernism anyway (see my new photos) and I want students to see the historical connections.
So waaaaay back in 2002, I created a slideshow to be embedded (hand-coded html, you know) into my lecture on the 1920s.
[qt:http://lisahistory.net/hist111/pw/lectures/Twenties/modernism3.mov 450 575]
I didn’t have a microphone headset in 2002, so I recorded it in the bathroom and it sounds like it. I added the music using SoundStudio, the only audio program I had and which I had paid for. Then I saved it all as a Quicktime movie, having to record several versions until I got the file size down (2.7 MB) that it could play on students’ computers. I had to use QuickTime Pro to get it right. That also cost money.
When I watch it now, it seems so old-fashioned technologically, so I remade it using PowerPoint (I could have used Libre Office) uploaded into Slideshare, with voice rerecorded into Audacity with a track for the music, then exported as mp3 and uploaded into Slideshare to make a slidecast.
[slideshare id=13944859?rel=0&w=597&h=486&fb=0&mw=0&mh=0&style=border: 1px solid #CCC; border-width: 1px 1px 0; margin-bottom: 5px;&sc=no]
So much better, I think.
I have other older things like this that are harder to duplicate; for example, I have another I made in 2005 using LiveSlideShow, which has better focus capabilities and now costs $69 (it was less then). I did upload it to Vimeo for easier embedding, which lost a smidge of quality.
[vimeo 32757183 w=650 h=431]
If it’s important for my pedagogy to do a presentation, I make one. And if it’s worth making, I should remake it as the technology gets better. Remaking this one would be tougher, but some really are worth the update.
I agree that the remake is much more interesting to listen to. I was wondering….when you actually record your voice, do you write a script and then read that? When I make the sound tracks, I always think my words are to casual and too much like I’m just talking to the listener/watcher. I’m wondering if it would be better to sound more rehearsed.
For presentations like this, where the whole venue and audience is online, yes, I use a script. Also for artifacts I expect to use for awhile. For recordings of live presentations (online or on-site) I don’t worry about that at all. I think each format has its role.