Student Peer-Review Creates More In-Depth Classroom Discussions

Creating Visual Content

Using MyMedia as a tool for students to do peer-reviews of rough cuts for a film production workshop frees classroom time for educational topics and more in-depth, thoughtful conversation. Through the Blackboard MyMedia Gallery interface, students upload their media, can look at each other’s work on their own time and at whatever location is convenient for them, and make comments online.

MyMedia

Boston University adopted the Kaltura video streaming platform, and have branded it MyMedia the Instructional Video Streaming Platform.

MyMedia is integrated with Blackboard, so students and instructors can easily access MyMedia content from their course portal. MyMedia provides unlimited storage of content in a huge variety of file formats. Users locate files using a powerful keyword search, rather than clicking through a complex folder structure. Most importantly, MyMedia can serve as a private channel for BU faculty, wherein students can be granted permission to view specific content. The content is protected by BU’s login, so only instructors, staff, and students can access it.

MyMedia also provides CaptureSpace, a video creating and editing tool. CaptureSpace is advantageous for its ease of use. It is equipped with a few simple tools that BU instructors have learned to use successfully within minutes.

Echo360

Echo360 is a multifaceted platform with many helpful tools for instructors and students. One of the most popular functions of Echo360 is its capability to record lectures, meetings, speeches, and other events. Echo360 can also capture on-screen activity, and any combination of audio and video. The resultant videos are published to the Echo360 server and Blackboard, where they can be made accessible to other BU faculty and students. Echo360 also allows users to edit the videos before publishing them. Students benefit from Echo360 because they can view lectures even when they are absent, or when they want to review the course content.

Instructors can search for classrooms with lecture, audio, and presentation capture equipment here.

Published September 2017

Contributor

Charles Merzbacher

merz@bu.edu

Professor Merzbacher has taught film producing, directing, screenwriting and basic cinematography at the Film & Television Workshops in Rockport, Maine, and has served as Executive Vice President of Altar Rock Films, Inc. He is a highly successful filmmaker whose films have been honored at the…Read More

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Charles Merzbacher

merz@bu.edu

Professor Merzbacher has taught film producing, directing, screenwriting and basic cinematography at the Film & Television Workshops in Rockport, Maine, and has served as Executive Vice President of Altar Rock Films, Inc. He is a highly successful filmmaker whose films have been honored at the Chicago International Film Festival, Sundance, the USA Film Festival, the Columbus International Film Festival and the National Educational Film & Video Festival. His first feature film, Jane Street, premiered at the British Film Institute in March 1997.