Ever since the start of remote learning and using Zoom, last spring 2020, there have been many resources that have become available to students that many have come to value. One feature that many students have really appreciated is professors having their lectures recorded. Recorded lectures are a great way for students to watch if they are absent from class. It also provides a great opportunity for students to rewatch the lectures to clarify important points and is a great resource when studying and preparing for exams.
If you’re teaching in Zoom consider, as a service to your students, either recording the whole class or even better, recording just the elements that are most likely to be useful to students who miss class or need to review content later, such as lectures, demonstrations or unit introductions.
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 the 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 will take time to process and 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. This will help students easily find the relevant content.
Local or Cloud Recording?
Cloud recording has more options and integrates easily with Canvas. Cloud recordings are automatically moved to the trash after 180 days, but if you are recording as a service to your current students and do not need to retain the content after the semester, that is not a problem. 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!
Check Your Recording Settings
Some Zoom settings can be set on either the Zoom client or the Zoom website (umn.zoom.us) but in the case of Recording, change your settings on the website. A direct link to the Recording settings is: umn.zoom.us/recording. You can see below that there are several options for Cloud Recording. Please note that these are global settings, not meeting-specific settings, and if your recording needs change, you will need to change your settings:
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 of a lecture or presentation will be easier to follow if the video is not jumping between you and your students. Before you start the part of your lesson you want to record, Spotlight yourself. The Spotlight feature ensures that even if students unmute their mics, only you will remain visible. To Spotlight yourself, find the image of yourself, and click on the three dots. This will bring up additional video options. Choose Spotlight for Everyone.
This is different from Pin, because it ensures that everyone in your meeting sees the same video source and you know that only your video will appear on the recording. Here are some caveats to this strategy:
Spotlight is only an option for meetings with three or more participants.
You can Spotlight more than one participant, which can be useful in-meeting, but the recording will probably just capture the active speaker (whether or not the active speaker was in the Spotlight).
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