Recording a Live Lecture in Zoom – Teach once, use twice (or more)

Zoom is popular for synchronous live teaching, and it can also be used for asynchronous teaching, because you can pre-record lectures and upload them to Canvas. But did you know that you could teach once and that same lecture could be used both today and tomorrow? If you are providing content that you will deliver again, consider recording a live lecture.

If you haven’t recorded in Zoom before, first read the very useful and complete instructions the university has provided, and make sure you have as students’ consent to record. Minnesota state law requires giving notice (Tennessen warning) prior to making a recording. Learn more about FERPA guidance as it relates to online classes and COVID-19.

Once you’ve done that, here are some simple tips to ensure your recording is easy and useful:

When to initiate the recording: 
With Zoom, you can turn on automatic recording when you schedule the meeting OR you can start and stop the recording during the live meeting. Although automatic recording is the safer option (you don’t need to worry about forgetting), the result will be a long recording that you will need to edit. If you start and end the recording during the meeting, you may not need to edit your video at all. You can also create multiple recordings from a single Zoom lecture, and they will appear as separate files.

Local or Cloud Recording? 
Cloud recording has more options, but a local recording may be of higher quality and it will process faster. Just make sure you know where your recording is saved so that you can find it again!

Put the Spotlight on you! 
Although you need your students’ permission to record a class session, they do not need to appear in your recording at all. Your recording will be easier to follow if the video is not jumping between you and your students. Before you start the part of your lecture you want to record, Spotlight yourself. The Spotlight feature ensures that even if students unmute their mics, you will remain the active speaker. To Spotlight yourself, find the small image of yourself, and click on the three dots. This will bring up additional video options. Choose Spotlight Video. This is different from Pin Video, because it ensures that everyone in your meeting sees the same video source and you know that your video will be dominant. See the short video ATSS provided about the Spotlight feature for more assistance.