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Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT)
11066 Auke Lake Way
Juneau, AK 99801
Mailstop: BE1

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    Record and Edit a Video

    • Technology & Software

    Last modified: August 11, 2025

    Videos are one way for instructors to disseminate lessons, deliver instruction, or create instructor presence in an online course.

    Best Practices

    • Keep it short – 10 minutes or less is the optimal time for an instructional video. Consider cutting longer material into multiple videos.
    • Use a script or outline – Scripting makes captioning easier and helps you stay on topic, spend your time on the important concepts, and avoid filler words and sounds.
    • If filming with your device, turn it horizontally during filming.
    • Find an editing tool that you can use to cut out mistakes so that you don’t have to start over every time you mess up. We recommend Screenpal (see below).
    • Caption your videos – Captions help all students, and according to ADA regulations, you need have captions. For scripted videos, you can just upload it! For unscripted videos, Screenpal has excellent auto-captions that require only a little editing.

    CELT Resources

    At UAS, we have access to four options for  recording, editing, and storing video.

    1. Use your UAS ScreenPal Premium Account. CELT provides UAS employees with access to ScreenPal. We provide premium access for faculty and staff. 

    • Select Log in from  the Screenpal registration page and use your UA Google account to log in with Google. You'll get a notice that you've been invited to join the "UAS team." Accept and click through to find your account!
    • Once you have a video, you can upload your videos via the Blackboard Screenpal integration that you'll find in the "content marketplace" in Blackboard. These are not public unless you choose to make them so. Screenpal also has advanced editing and captioning features for accessibility.
    • This is our recommended option, but we know not everyone has time to learn a new tool right now so we've prodided information about alternatives below. 

    2. YouTube
    A simple option available to you is to upload your file as a public or an unlisted video via your UA Google account, which includes a YouTube Channel. This is a simple-to-learn option for many, but some instructors prefer not to use YouTube for privacy or intellectual property reasons.

    3. Zoom + Blackboard LTI
    Another simple option for many: you can also record videos using Zoom and publish them directly to Blackboard through the Zoom integration. This works well if you already use Zoom, but please note it is not recommended for videos you want available longer than one year.

    4. Microsoft Suite: especially your storage in OneDrive
    UA provides Microsoft OneDrive with storage where you can upload your videos privately and share links with your students through Blackboard. This option may be right for some instructors as a transition tool, but is lacking in Blackboard integration as well as editing and recording features compared to the options above. 
    Please note that we do not recommend storing large files in Google Drive, as UA users are likely to face storage limitations in the near future on Google Drive.

    More resources

    The CELT office in Juneau (Egan 103) has the following hardware that you can use:

    • professional lighting
    • phone tripods
    • webcams
    • microphones
    • green screen for recording

    Related CELT webpages:

    CELT video tutorials: 

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