Create Flipped Classroom Content Easily with Articulate Replay

The flipped classroom model is in the limelight these days, thanks to organizations like the Khan Academy. It’s based on a simple premise: students watch a recorded lecture at home, and then the teacher helps them apply the material on in-class lessons and exercises—what we would have called “homework” in a traditional classroom arrangement.

A common type of flipped content lecture is a video where a teacher records her computer screen as she jots on-screen notes to annotate important information, such as how to solve a math problem. To do this, you need both a way to record your screen and a way to write on your screen. With Articulate Replay and Microsoft PowerPoint, you have the tools to do just that—here’s how:

Step 1: Activate Your Pen Tools in PowerPoint

The process may vary depending upon your version of PowerPoint, but in PowerPoint 2010, you’ll find the pen tools in the following location: File>Options>Customize Ribbon>All Commands. You can add them to a current tab or create your own, as I’ve done in the image above.

Step 2: Match the Sizes of All Project Elements

The largest video in your project will dictate the output size in Replay. To get really professional-looking results, you should make sure that every element in your project uses the same dimensions. So, for this example, let's say that my webcam is set to record video at 1280x720. If this is the largest video in my project, I'll use the same dimensions for my other elements as well. In the image above, I've set my Replay screen recording to be 1280x720 so it matches the settings of my webcam. The final element that I'll match is my slide.

Step 3: Set Your PowerPoint Slide to 16:9 Aspect Ratio

To achieve a seamless look, we want our drawing area (the slide) to fill the entire recording space. Given that our recording dimensions in this example are 1280x720 (which is a 16:9 aspect ratio) we'll switch our slide to match.  In PowerPoint 2010, on the Design tab select Page Setup, click the “Slides sized for:” dropdown, and choose “On-screen Show (16:9)”.

Note: If you’ve set your webcam to be a 4:3 aspect ratio, you don’t need to do this step.

Step 4: Resize Your PowerPoint

Here comes the magic. Resize PowerPoint beyond the dimensions of your Replay recording area, so the slide now fills the entire recording box. I find it helps to close down the notes and slide panel, and pull on the lower right corner of PowerPoint so the slide can consume more space.

Step 5: Record Your Video

Now, all you need to do is click Record in Replay, select your pen tool in PowerPoint, and draw on your slide. If you’re using multiple slides, you can advance to the next slide using the down arrow, which is now off screen. On your next slide, simply reselect your pen tool when you’re ready to write on screen. At the end of your recording, you’ll be ready to edit your creation in Replay and load it to your desired location, such as YouTube, Studio ’13, and Storyline.

So you can see it in action, I’ll walk you through this process in the following video, which I created in Replay and uploaded to YouTube:

Did this article spark an idea?  If so, please share it in the comments section below.  There are so many great ways to use Replay and we'd love to hear your ideas!

If you want to try these tips for yourself but don't have Replay, no problem. Just sign up for a fully functional, free trial. And don't forget to post your questions and comments in the forums! We're here to help. For more e-learning tips, examples, and downloads, follow us on Twitter.