The Center for Academic Innovation is happy to offer faculty up to $750 in either stipend or professional development funds for creating new instructional videos in our Lightboard Recording Studio. These mini-grants are open to all full- and part-time faculty.
What is a Lightboard?
The lightboard is a glass “whiteboard” to create video lectures for hybrid or online courses. Instructors can write out ideas, concepts, and equations just like in face to face classrooms, but with the added benefit of facing the camera.
Check out this example video by chemistry instructor James Ford.
The best part is, it’s really easy to use! Our Online Learning Support Specialist has done all the hard work setting up our Lightboard Recording Studio to be easy and intuitive to use; just turn on, plug in your thumb drive, and record!
What we ask of you:
Create up to five videos using our Lightboard Recording Studio with the following conditions:
- Your videos are given a Creative Commons license that allows other faculty to use the video without giving up your own ownership of that intellectual property.
- You share the videos with the Center of Academic Innovation to hold in a video repository available to other faculty who teach in that discipline to use in their courses, and/or for Academic Innovation’s use in Lightboard Recording Studio promotion and training.
- Videos must be completed and shared by November 22, 2024 to receive funds. If choosing to receive professional development funds, those funds will need to be used by May 20, 2024.
What we will provide for you:
- Training on how to use the Lightboard Recording Studio.
- Card access to the Lightboard Recording Studio in the Science Building on the Portland campus.
- $150 for each completed video, up to five videos for a total of $750, in either add-comp or professional development funds.
Best practices for videos:
- Keep your videos short. Break longer lectures into smaller videos by topic. This allows students to move through content at their own pace and more easily find specific content if they need to review it again. As an instructor, this makes it easier to update and reuse your videos, since it’s easier to update one small video if needed then re-record a whole recorded lecture.
- Narrate what you are writing and/or drawing as you record, to ensure all content is captured in both audio and written form for accessibility and useability. This will ensure it meets ADA requirements, University of Maine System Board Policy Section 902, and the Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric for course quality.
How to apply:
Use the form linked below to apply for a Lightboard Video Mini-Grant. Five faculty will be awarded. The application period is open through Friday, October 18, 2024.
