Gannon Nordberg loves technology. His passion for tech has led him to Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC) in Middletown, Virginia, where he leads tech and video integration. He is currently in the process of deploying Instructure Learning Management System, Canvas, throughout the campus. ScreenPal plays a vital role in video learning and communication across campus. This includes integration in the Canvas LMS.
“My goal is to just make sure that students can use technology — the tools that we have available to us for collaborating and communicating — and make them accessible to learners everywhere,” Nordberg said.
Video Integration Is the Future of Education
Integration of video within Canvas gives teachers more opportunities to reach their students.
This has proven to be exciting for Nordberg and LFCC faculty because they already know how to use ScreenPal. Now they can seamlessly bring those video components into the school’s courses. One perfect use for video components is class introduction messages used at the beginning of a semester.
“There’s almost no excuse not to try it out. We now have video tools available to us that we just never had before,” he said.
Nordberg said LFCC has a large online presence. He has seen staff build strong relationships with off-campus students by connecting through video. Instead of using a text-based discussion, Nordberg encourages teachers to add more personality to their classrooms with the support of ScreenPal.
“Especially for an online course, that really just cranks up the engagement level. It’s just exciting — the possibility of that. We’re already leaning towards finding new ways to use video in courses,” he said.
ScreenPal Empowers Students Outside the Classroom
Nordberg believes cell phones are another avenue to reach students and move education forward.
“Our attention is constantly being pulled in a thousand different directions with these mobile devices in our hands … there’s an opportunity to put that video as it relates to course work in the same device that we all carry around,” he said.
Students can record videos in real time with their phones or devices and then upload their content.
ScreenPal released an iPhone screen recorder (beta) in May, giving users more choices in using video from mobile devices. For LFCC, this feature brings more opportunity for students and faculty.
Recording With ScreenPal Opens Doors
ScreenPal’s screen recorder allows teachers the ability to get creative with their lectures. As they build PowerPoint presentations, the screen recorder lets teachers show their webcams.
“There’s just lots of flexibility there when you can literally show and record anything that’s on your computer screen,” Nordberg said.
Instead of just using one application, teachers can use multiple tools in a video to spice things up.
Scripted Recording Makes Accessibility Easy
One of Nordberg’s favorite ScreenPal features is the ability to do scripted recordings.
“Because I make so many training and support materials for my faculty, I always want to make sure they’re really polished, and I like the ability to type out what I’m going to say ahead of time,” Nordberg said.
Once he completes writing his text, he imports the file to ScreenPal. The script tool enables Nordberg to record or import audio until it’s ready to share. He can then use the tool to add and edit video in each section.
“I don’t have to re-record it all over again if I flub something up. I can just record one little section and I can re-record that section as often as I like until it’s perfect,” he said.
Nordberg’s videos are available on YouTube. When he wants to upload a new video, he snags the text file from ScreenPal to ensure it’s 100-percent accurate.
“Then I’ve got a beautiful video that’s real tight and clean and concise … It is also accessible because I’ve included the text component to it and that’s killer. That’s a game-changer right there,” he said.
WATCH: Nordberg talks about Scripted Recordings and how it’s helped him with creating videos.
Share Your Story
ScreenPal would like to thank Gannon Nordberg for his story. If you have a story to share, email our marketing team (marketing@screenpal.com).
Related Articles
How Video Enhanced This Company’s Way of Communicating