Hot tips for online teaching. Please

[WhyNotMe40]

At the moment I am doing (as instructed) everything via showmyhomework and email. But I've had a heads up that it is about to change and we will need to provide lesson videos. (Currently link to oak national academy or BBC Bitesize lessons where appropriate)

I am a bit of a technophobe although I do try, and I'm very nervous about recording lessons.

Please help me out a bit and tell me what works for you?

Ideally I want to be able to video PowerPoints playing with my voiceover and somehow scribble extra notes? I don't want them to see me, and it needs to be prerecorded as my small children will not cooperate with live lessons.

I have a pretty ancient laptop with a touchpad which has Linux not windows (blame my brother who's laptop it was originally) I do not have a visualiser. Could possibly find a mouse from somewhere.. we use office 365 at school that I can log into from home.

Can anyone help me? Thanks

[Phineyj]

I just use a phone. I am explaining Economics diagrams though so I am not that fussed about production values as it's just me pointing at bits of a diagram. I have been uploading to YouTube then linking them into Firefly.

[WhyNotMe40]

What's firefly? I thought that was a Sci-Fi series?
So you record your laptop presentation by pointing your phone at the screen? Is that right?

[Piggywaspushed]

You sound at my level whynot! phiney lost me at just I'm afraid....

I feel your pain. I think we have live lessons coming our way,too.

I blame Andrew effing Adonis.

I teach a subject which requires the detailed analysis of film clips and techniques...no one can tell me how that one works.

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

Do you have access to Microsoft Teams via office 365?

[orangeicecream]

I record using the share my screen option on zoom. They don't see me only the PowerPoint or whatever. Good quality recordings too.

[Piggywaspushed]

Is that just like doing voiceover? How is that recording? Sorry, probably a thick question.

[mumsneedwine]

Teams is better. Has a whiteboard and you can talk over a PowerPoint too. Just press record and students can rewatch the lesson whenever they want.

[Piggywaspushed]

Teams only has a decent whiteboard if you have the pricey version.

[orangeicecream]

On zoom there is an option to record the meeting. I just start a meeting, with only me in it, start recording, share my screen (if you want to show a video make sure you tick the include audio box), do the lesson, close meeting and then either upload video to a streaming store and/or attach to show my homework task.

[Piggywaspushed]

I know OP has little kids but I don't understand the need for talking over ppts... they have words on them.

This may be the English teacher in me! Unless I can hire Sir Patrick Stewart to read the, I am not interested

Can you play YouTube clips and stuff ??

[Coldfinger]

I'm recording voice overs over my PowerPoints. In the slide show tab is a record option. Use that on screen over, as long as your laptop has a microphone. If you are careful about not speaking over a slide change you can re-record multiple times. A google search brings up loads of how to videos. Then you can either post the PowerPoint as us on SMHW or export the video . No internet needed.

[mumsneedwine]

I just have the Teams that come with my school outlook. It's better in the app than the desktop.

[worstofbothworlds]

I'm a lecturer and the words on my PowerPoint are about 10% of what I say; they aren't self explanatory.
I'm not sure what age the OP teaches but my primary age DCs would find it hard to concentrate without their teacher's face. Though one read a story really well (intro had her face, most of it was the pictures, moving slowly over them as if you are looking at it) and one really badly (much too much living room, small face, tiny book you couldn't see).

[WhyNotMe40]

Going to have to read replies later - I may have had a cider or two thanks though please keep it coming! Very appreciative x

[tadjennyp]

I teach MFL and have been using the record audio button on the PowerPoint. I have been reading out the reading texts that I have snipped from the textbook and giving more explanations of the grammar. I doubt it would last a whole hour though. I have also found that some of our kids have such old tech that they can't hear the audio so I have saved the media files separately and emailed them out.

[pfrench]

If you use Smart technology, then it has a Smart record option that will record your screen and hour audio.

Or (and this is what I've been using for the last 4 weeks), screencast o matic - download it and play with it, really straightforward. I then save and upload to YouTube, then give kids the link via our school website. Will start using Teams if/when kids get going on it (probably never - I like the school website ease).

[pfrench]

Oh, screencast o matic is free for first 15 mins of recording. If you want to be able to do longer, or use extra things like recording the computer's audio instead of just your voice, you have to pay. $1.99 a month.

I tried out one of my videos with KW children who are in my class. It worked pretty well, but I know now 15 mins is absolutely enough - by the time you're asking them to pause and work things through etc, you're into 45 mins quite easily. Try and try to change your tone of voice and act it up like you would in class. It's weird doing it at a screen in your living room. I've used my own child out of shot for French lessons so that I can get a bit of conversation going.

I've just bought my visualiser home so I can do a bit more modelling without clunky writing with a mouse on screen, and will have to do things like use bits of pasta to help with maths.

[echt]

Talking over PowerPoints is good, indeed any half decent presentation using PowerPoint will be verbal, the notes on the screen summary.

I'm new to it and my God it took an hour to narrate 4 frames!

[pfrench]

Sorry, should have put all this in one...

Screencast o matic does what the Oak stuff does - your face whole screen, just the screen, or your floating head in the corner of your screen - you can change between them as you go through the record, and pause of you need to do chunkier things like use a whiteboard or whatever.

Loom does the same apparently, but I couldn't get it to work for some reason. A friend in the States told me about screencast o matic.

[Piggywaspushed]

My ppts aren't lectures : they are video links and tasks. They tell the kids what to do...It's not explain content as such. Think this might be my subject!

[Rainuntilseptember]

I would go for the powerpoint plus voiceover. Step 1 anyway.
It does worry me if their are children who can't play the audio, and that is where you have explained things - ok if they let you know, but some won't. I won't do anything with my face on it.

[DreamingofBrie]

What's your subject OP?

We are teaching using Teams. My colleagues with small children are pre-recording Powerpoints with voice over, then uploading them for the students to access when they can. If you have your Powerpoint, go to "Slide Show", then click on the "Record Powerpoint" option, then either "record from beginning" or "record from current slide". You can pause between slides. I've just had a go and it'd take some practice, but my colleagues are managing this well.

I use a laptop and have bought an inking pad, which is far more user-friendly than trying to write using a touchpad or mouse. It just plugs into your USB port, no other setting up needed. Here's the one I bought - I was lucky as school refunded the cost to me. I have had to convert my lessons to Powerpoint, as the inking pad is not compatible with the SMART IWB software.

I tend to teach live using Teams, share my desktop with the class and talk whilst inking on the Powerpoint in slide show. My dc are a bit older so they understand that they're not to come in when I'm teaching. I record the Teams lesson so that students can access it later.

Is there any chance the school can give you a laptop or tablet to use? Or are you able to use Microsoft apps on your existing laptop?

[DreamingofBrie]

Forgot to attach the photos!
Photo 1 is where the "Record Slideshow" option is.
Photo 2 is what you see when you start "Record Slideshow". Hit the record button in the top left to start. You can select the pen from the menu at the bottom, then ink directly onto the screen as you talk.

Maybe better to hit "pause" between slides, to gather your thoughts before you start talking on the next slide.

If you're not confident inking and talking, you can type your words in advance, then use the "Animations" tab to make them appear on a mouse click. I did this to start with, when I wasn't confident with my inking pad.

[WhyNotMe40]

Oh you lot are amazing! Thanks
I will have a play tomorrow and see what I can manage. I don't need to start doing this until half term (when I will also be in teaching year 10s) so if I can get most of the learning curve done before then then brilliant.

Thanks again

[SE13Mummy]

It's not quite what you're asking but with my parent hat on for a moment, DD1's school has just started doing occasional live sessions this week. Tasks are uploaded on SMHW as before but teachers are scheduling 'drop in' or Q&A sessions to coincide with one of the lessons during the week. I'm not sure if it's just for Y10 but I've been really impressed at how much they're doing and how willing they all are to have a go.

One thing I am aware of is how reluctant the Y10s are to having their cameras on during these sessions. I know for some of them it's about their hair looking wrong and for others it's because they're facetiming friends whilst half listening to the session, but I do worry that they're going to find it quite hard to be back in a classroom again, without anywhere to hide! As a result, I've been forcing myself to appear on screen when having staff meetings or doing virtual teacher socials in a vague effort to demonstrate to my teen that no one minds how we look and being able to see each other's faces makes everything flow more naturally.