William Vilberg, University of Miami
"Anyone who ever says, 'Let me show you how to do that' on a computer should be using Camtasia Studio," William Vilberg said.
Since 1998, Instructional Technology Support Coordinator William Vilberg has been supporting the University of Miami's faculty in the appropriate uses of technology to enhance instruction. He currently uses Camtasia Studio to assist the faculty and staff.
He first used Camtasia Studio to make a three-minute tutorial for their Blackboard course Web site system, which is used by 10,000 students and over 1000 faculty each semester.
He said, "Everyone's password had to be reset, so we created a video that gave thousands of people a personal explanation and demonstration of how to do it. Where they normally logged in there was a big link to the video explaining how to do it, so they'd just watch the video, learn how to do it, and log in. The best part? We didn't even hear from them."
Now, as soon as there's a new feature added to the Blackboard system, he posts it and points to the video for more information. He explained, "I rarely announce something without having a video for them to watch. They just expect it to be there now."
The most-watched video is 'How to Log in.' He said, "Once someone logs in, they can get to the videos and find help if they have trouble. So thousands of times at the beginning of each semester, students and staff watch the 'How to Log in' video … and they're off and running."
Mr. Vilberg also records his 'Lunch and Learn' sessions, which are one-hour faculty awareness sessions on technology. He wears a wireless microphone and records his PowerPoint presentation and any software demonstrations, along with his narrative. He then posts the entire session on the Internet.
He uses Camtasia Studio because it makes it easy to record. In addition, he also likes the cursor highlighting. He said, "The faculty comes to me time and time again to tell me how easy it is for them to follow. That's incredible.",/
He also finds the callout feature "invaluable." He tested the worth of callouts by creating one video with and one without, and sent it to the faculty to ask them their preference. They all agreed that it's "incredibly reinforcing" to hear, see, and read the information.
"I don't have time to invest in learning a new software program," he said. "I got a free copy of Adobe Premiere and I gave it away. It's an amazing program … but I don't have time to learn it."
On the other hand, when he got Camtasia Studio, he said, "I got it, I read the Quick Start guide, and I started making videos. The ease of use is both incredible and necessary."
In his e-mail signature, Mr. Vilberg provides his cell, home and office phone number. He said, "No one calls me. They don't need to, because they can get the answers on their own. Without Camtasia Studio in place … there's no way I'd be able to give out my home number."
2,419 Users Online