Development in production of teaching videos – Lightboard now standard equipment at Creative Studio

2.10.2019 Admin

Teaching material with a vast amount of chemical and mathematical formulae, graphs and lots of data can often be difficult to comprehend just by listening or reading. Lightboard will revolutionise the making of educational videos as it helps illustrate even the more demanding topics in web lectures. It is also easy as well as cost-efficient.

“To make a teaching video is completely different from giving a lecture”, say Lauri Manninen and Heikki Jantunen, the men behind the video production at Unigrafia’s Creative Studio. ”Even if lecturing in front of students might come natural to a teacher, in front of the camera they might freeze completely. Some might feel anxious if they are unaccustomed to being filmed. In addition, you must have the ability to summarise and shorten what would usually take up an entire lecture.”

This is exactly why filming at Unigrafia has been made as easy and as comfortable as possible. When a client arrives at the studio they do not need to know about technology, the equipment or anything else about filming a video. They just need to have the knowledge of their subject – the video team will take care of the rest. ”It’s our job to make sure whoever steps in front of the camera feels relaxed”, says Jantunen smiling. ”We will have a chat, offer them a cup of coffee and often we will be the ones going in front of the camera to show them how it’s done,” adds Manninen. ”We have noticed that this relieves anxiety and lightens the atmosphere.”

The need for new teaching methods has sharply increased over recent years. Instead of traditional lecture recordings and talking heads, clients seem to be interested in impressive animations, visualisation of data and multifaceted infographics.

”Sometimes this means reaching the budget limit rather quickly,” Jantunen points out. Lightboard solves this issue as it’s affordable to use, yet, you are able to create eye-catching material. ”Up till now we have utilised the lightboard in the Aalto University premises. Since we have witnessed a growing demand in educational videos, we decided to acquire the same equipment for us here at Unigrafia. There were rumours about it in the spring and we received lots of inquiries during the summer. Now Lightboard is finally arriving to our studio!”

Formulas, graphs and visualisation of data — how does lightboard work?

The way Lightboard works is simple. A non-reflecting glass acts as a chalkboard and fluorescent markers are used for writing. Embedded LED lighting frames the glass board illuminating the writing. Despite the new technology, the teaching method is familiar to every lecturer – the only difference is the equipment. Instead of a chalk, you use a fluorescent marker and the chalkboard has been replaced by a glass board. The lecturer looks at the camera through the glass facing the viewer the whole time. The biggest advantage to a traditional chalkboard or an overhead projector is being able to see the lecturer’s expressions and gestures even when they are writing and drawing on the “board”.

The Lightboard is especially useful in the field of sciences and economics where lectures can contain a substantial amount of formulas, graphs and data. Emphasising information on the glass board helps make sense of and understand the teaching. Drawing formulas, pinpointing details, highlighting main ideas and visualising on a glass board helps students grasp even the more difficult subjects. Electronic data, for example PowerPoint slides or Excel tables, can be added to the final video product.

“Little by little the subject at hand begins to manifest itself and take form in front of the student – it’s brilliant and almost magical!” Heikki Jantunen says enthusiastically. “When we were shooting a series of economics lectures, even someone like me who is uninformed in the subject, was able to understand the idea behind the formulas as they were appearing in front of me”, Lauri Manninen chimes in. “A teaching video filmed using Lightboard is actually like an animation. The realisation and production, though, is considerably more simple and cost-efficient.”

Are you interested? Contact Unigrafia’s customer service for a quote!

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