Interactive Strategies

The off-campus students see you only through the eye of the camera. Sudden, erratic movements may cause you to "disappear from the screen." In order to help your producer maintain a composed picture, try to keep your movements relatively slow, smooth, and confined to a certain area. Within a short time your producer will become familiar with your teaching style and will anticipate your movements.

When you look into the camera, you are establishing eye contact with your off-campus students and involving them in the discussion. When you are giving directions or responding to off-campus student, look at camera 1 between the two monitors in the back of the room. Try to envision the camera as one of the students sitting in front of you. As you scan the group during your classroom presentation, an occasional glance at the camera will acknowledge your awareness of the off-campus students.

Avoid clothing with small or busy patterns, such as pinstripes of fine checks, especially if there is a sharp contrast in color. Contrasting pattern generate a distracting shimmer or animated appearance when viewed on-camera. Remember that you will be wearing a microphone. Clothing with lapels or a front opening will allow the microphone to be easily attached.

VISUAL AIDS

Tips on Text and Lettering.
When producing visuals for instruction, lettering is probably the most critical consideration. The first characteristic of lettering to be controlled is the size. Lettering for TV should measure a minimum of 36 points, or roughly 1/2 of an inch in height. Headlines should be even larger than regular text. For both overhead camera and computer presentations, think in terms of five words per line with a maximum of five lines per page.

The best font for TV is a sans serif font. Some of the desktop publishing fonts which work quite well are the Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, MS San Serif, and Verdana fonts. Avoid fancy fonts, such as Old English, Zap Chancery and Park Avenue because they are almost impossible to read on the TV screen.

Using the Overhead Camera.
When you present a visual aid make sure that it is legible and properly displayed by watching the overhead camera monitor. Be careful not block the visual with your head or arm, and watch that the visual is properly centered under the camera. Feel free to ask the operator to zoom in or out on the visual. Remember the camera cannot move to the right or left, so it is your responsibility to keep the visual centered. A common mistake instructors make is leaning over the material that the overhead camera is viewing.