Teaching and Learning
UD Capture Version 2 Upgrade Complete
UD Capture, the University’s own lecture capture system, was upgraded over the summer. The system, which was implemented about six years ago, is widely used by students to review recorded content from centrally scheduled classrooms. This semester, more faculty are taking advantage of UD Capture than ever before.
The upgrade includes all new equipment that adds new features such as high resolution recording capability, a wider range of supported input resolutions, as well as the ability to capture from either analog VGA sources or digital HDMI sources (where available). Certain classrooms also gained upgraded audio capture for the recordings.
New recordings are now in MPEG-4 H.264/AAC 720p format which will play back on a vast majority of devices without the need for the Flash plugin. In addition, playback pages also feature the ability to speed up or slow down the playback of the video without changing the pitch of the audio. This feature was implemented in direct response to student requests.
The upgrade was completed through a collaborative effort by IT Academic Technology Services (IT-ATS) and IT University Media Services (IT-UMS).
It’s not too late for faculty to register their courses for UD Capture.
New Faculty Orientation
The partners of Faculty Commons and the Provost’s Office welcomed 71 new faculty members to campus in August with two days of orientation activities designed to equip the new faculty with everything they would need to succeed in their UD classrooms. IT-ATS participated with other partners of the Faculty Commons in the hands-on training. New faculty were able to check items off their “first day” to-do lists including setting up a Canvas course, registering for UD Capture, and learning about i>clickers.
IT-ATS will continue to support new faculty throughout the year by participating in workshops and other events organized by the partners of Faculty Commons and the Provost’s Office.
Classroom technology orientation
At the end of the summer, the Classroom Technology group within IT-UMS held five classroom technology orientation sessions attended by 41 faculty members. In the first two weeks of the fall semester, IT-UMS staff conducted an additional 30 personal faculty orientations. Faculty members are welcome to call IT-UMS at (302) 831-3546 to schedule an orientation.
Faculty Commons website
Faculty Commons has a new website to make it easier for those who teach at UD to find events, resources, and funding opportunities. A long list of fall events and other new information is added to the site on a regular basis. The best way to stay informed is to subscribe to the Faculty Commons monthly email newsletter. Contributions to the newsletter are always welcome via email to faculty-commons@udel.edu.
