Lightboard for Teaching

What is it?

Lightboard is a piece of transparent glass illuminated with LED lights. Instructors facing the camera while also writing on the board are recorded at the same time. We started this project to experiment new ways of lecture recording. More examples of Lightboard at Williams are on Youtube. More about Lightboard at Educause.

Preparing for Your Lightboard Recording Session

Script & Dialogue:

All filmed projects should start with a script. The script writing process helps you hone your ideas and focus on the primary message of your piece. Here are tips and techniques to help you with your scriptwriting.

Due to lighting limitations for lightboard filming (to prevent reflections on the lightboard glass) a teleprompter can not be used. Practice reading your script.  Remove/change any words or phrases that trip you up. Then try ad-libbing the script.  Since you will be writing/interacting with the lightboard itself it is awkward to work from notes or index cards, so you really should concentrate on memorizing your overall outline and then talking through it without notes. You should also be timing each practice to know if you are going overtime.

Other Visuals:

Consider creating intro and exit images/slides in Powerpoint or Google Slides.  The intro slide should contain the title of the piece, & WHO is presenting the piece, at minimum. The exit slide should contain references/biblio for any of the content that requires it (copyrighted images or ideas) and any other acknowledgments/information for further research.

You can include images on the intro & exit slides as well.  We can also cut to an image in the middle of a lightboard session if it is required.  The image needs to be placed on a slide as well (to maintain aspect ratio)

Consider that it takes real time to draw complex diagrams and that it might be more efficient and allow you to present deeper ideas/knowledge by pre-drawing some elements on the board before you start. You can then introduce your concepts, explain the pre-drawing and then add to it as part of your presentation.

Clothing:

The background is a black curtain. Wearing black or other dark clothing will make you disappear somewhat. In contrast, wearing light colors will interfere with the visuals. It is suggested that you wear solid colors of medium hues.

You will need to wear a lav mic that attaches to your clothing, mid-chest. A center-button shirt makes it easy to attach the mic and hide the wires.

Hair should be styled away from the face and hats or other headgear should not be worn.