What you use to record videos? And how hard is it to upload to YouTube?
In short, everything!
Canon Elura MiniDV Camcorder – I bought this several years ago for our Isaac Watts Film Project as part of our piano camp and have been using it ever since! It’s been a great little camcorder. I can record onto the miniDV cassettes and then transfer them over to the computer, or I can use a Firewire cable to connect into the computer and record directly into my Adobe Premiere Elements software. From there, footage can be edited, exported, and uploaded to our YouTube channel.
Canon PowerShot SX130IS Digital Camera – This is the one I use more frequently in lessons because it’s easy to record onto the SD memory card, play it right back for the student, stick the card in my computer and upload it either to the hard drive or directly to YouTube.
iPod Touch – Ever since I got this amazing little marvel of technology, I use it for everything. Including recording students. I have it linked with my YouTube channel, so it’s a piece of cake to record the student and select the option to upload it directly to the site. The video is HD, so the sound and image are both great. There is a time limit, so this doesn’t work for every piece, but it’s so easy and fun when it does!
Webcam – Either a built-in or external webcam can work for recording video. I don’t use this option much because the quality isn’t the greatest, but if you need a real quick way to record and upload you might consider it. YouTube has an option on the Upload page where you can choose to record from the webcam. Once you record you have the option to view the video and either save it or re-record it.
SmartPhone – Even my handy little Samsung Intrepid has saved the day a few times when it was all I had on me to do a recording. Most SmartPhones now have video recording capabilities. And I can use this, too, to upload directly to our YouTube channel via SMS messaging, which is nice. The audio leaves much to be desired, so I would never use it for anything other than an emergency situation where we just need to capture something on camera.
As you can see, the options are plentiful! If you haven’t already, I would recommend setting up a YouTube channel and then go from there experimenting with equipment you already have on hand to see how it works and what you like best. You might also be interested in checking out the post on Using Video With Your Students if you want more info about using your own YouTube channel.
Did I miss anything? Do you have another way you do video recording with your students that I failed to include in the list above? Please share!
Remember, if you have a question you’d like to contribute to next week’s Monday Mailbag, leave it in the comments below or send me an e-mail sometime this week with Monday Mailbag in the subject line!
Leave a Reply