My First Video Lecture Experience

This morning I finally was able to complete my video lecture assignment. Although I found it frustrating (details below), I do find that working with technology is the only way to get better at it!

I didn't have any experience with Camtasia, and I'd only used GoToMeeting as a tool to meet for online classes, but I'd never recorded anything using it, and didn't have it on my computer. I downloaded it for the free thirty days, but quickly became frustrated with the beeping sound in the background. I then tried to download Camtasia, but for some reason my download failed I gave up on that idea.



After doing lots of Googling, I eventually figured out that the beeping sound in GoToMeeting could be eliminated by unclicking a box in the "preferences" setting, and that was a great help. I also finally figured out that if I shared my screen, my PowerPoint would be visible. Well, scratch that, I thought I had figured that out, but the first two times I recorded my lecture, I didn't take that step, so my screen was blank! Harrumph! The third time I tried recording, I started off and got off track, so I stopped recording, then started over again, but realized that both the mess up and the right version were all one one take. I did learn that I could download more software to make the file editable, then I would be able to take that part out, but that seemed like more work than it was worth. Finally, on the fourth try, I was able to record it, phew!

As frustrated as I get when I first start learning something, I'm always glad I learned it. I really enjoy learning new software, or more about software I already know how to use, and my current job helps me with that. We design sales training for pharmaceutical companies, and although I'm not an instructional designer, I do often have to do things in Word, Excel, and Powerpoint that are way beyond what I've used them for just making simple documents, spreadsheets, or presentations.

I think learning anything new that's related to technology, whether it's how to use a program or a platform or dealing with social media, and whether it's new to you or new, period, is really valuable in today's job market. I feel confident that I could now record a video lecture in just one try. Well, maybe two.