FAQs

The Multimedia Center offers the following services:

• borrow equipment
• advice on recording (visual, audio, etc.)
• download footage from the recording device
• cut video
• compress video
• creating PDFs
• updating operating systems
• installing software
• Zoom
• Dropbox
• Office 365 (Teams, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook)
• Google apps, e.g. email, drive, forms, spreadsheet, docs, ...

Available Workshops

Information about Software in the computer rooms.

Information about Hardware in the computer rooms.

Description of Recording Equipment

The page about the Multimedia Center Policies will explain all about the use of equipment and the rooms.

The City College of New York has a laptop loaner program where you can borrow a laptop for the semester.

If you are a student of the School of Education, with a valid CCNY student ID, you can borrow iPads, iPods, digital cameras and camcorders as well as tripods and microphones for up to two week to document your teaching and learning on and off campus. Priority will be given to students in research courses that require taped interviews and students who need devices to record their student teaching. You can reserve the equipment online.

You have to reserve equipment at least one week in advance before you would like to use it but you should reserve equipment as soon as you know when you need it.

Two weeks.

Usually you cannot reserve equipment for more than two weeks but if there are circumstances where you have to (e.g. the session where you supposed to record your teaching has been rescheduled), you have to summit another request via the Online Form. Put in the notes the special circumstances why you have to extend your reservation.

There is no easy answer to this question. It depends on your circumstances and your familiarity with equipment. As a rule of thumb, you should work with equipment you are familiar with. If you are not familiar with any equipment or you need to use equipment you never used before, make sure that you get to know the device before you use it to record yourself. The Multimedia Center staff can show you how to use our equipment and can answer your questions. We always recommend that you try your equipment in the setting you will record to see if you have any issues with the placement, video or audio. Should you encounter difficulties with the quality of your recording, please talk to the Multimedia Center staff or Doris Grasserbauer. You can review the available equipment.

Follow the instructions below to use the zoom on our iPads (iPad 2 and iPad4):
1. Goto settings, then click on Accessibilty and turn on the Zoom option.
2. Back in the camera app, put three fingers on the screen, double tap the screen, hold and swipe up for zooming in. Swipe down for zooming out. 

Camtasia Studio Closed Captioning and Export SRT

Methods for Creating Caption Tracks in Camtacia Studio 8

In the Multimedia Center we mainly use Adobe Premiere and iMovie to cut or edit videos.

Tutorials for editing videos:

• iMovie Tutorial: Editing Footage in the Multimedia Center (4 pages) 
• Editing Videos in Adobe Premiere (9 pages) - Version: 2015 or 2017
• How can I find my relevant clips the most efficient way? (1 page)

YouTube videos for Adobe Premiere:

• Basic editing
• Insert transitions
• Cut (trimming in timeline)
• Add title

Note: iPad Video Editing Problems in Premiere
Editing videos on an iPad in Adobe Premiere is causing the video and audio to go out of sync during the editing process. Videos work fine in iMovie on an iPad. The described problem is caused by the way iPads record videos with a varying frame rate that cannot be changed on the device. Premiere does not convert the video into a constant frame rate.
In order to avoid this, before importing the video to Premiere, the video needs to be converted to a constant frame rate using Handbrake software.

At home you could use the following apps: (PC and MAC compatible) 

• Open Shot - Tutorial on how to trim
• Avidemux - Tutorial on how to trim

To compress videos you can also use HandBrake, an open-source video converter. HandBrake Tutorial

You could use the free application Any Video Converter to compress videos if they are too big.
You will find instructions in the PC and iMac tutorial.

You can also use HandBrake, an open-source video converter. HandBrake Tutorial

We have the following programs installed on some PCs in 4/221:

ZoomText 10
Allows you to enlarge the content of the screen significantly.

Dragon Naturally Speaking 9
Can read the content of the screen to you and you can dictate content to the computer.

As examples:

• Samsung camcorders record continuous but in 20 minutes files.

• Casio Flip camcorders record 2 hours in one file.

• Canon Vixia recording time with different resolutions on a 32GB SD card:
  
  35 Mbps : 1 hr and 58 mins
  24 Mbps : 2 hrs and 54 mins
  17 Mbps : 4 hrs and 5 mins
  4 Mbps : 16 hrs and 59 mins
  
  When changing the video quality, the camcorder tells you in the lower right corner how much time you have left of recording.
  
  This camcorder records for more 3 hours and 30 mins in an experiment. The footage was continuous with no splitting. The video was at 17Mbps Standard (Full HD) quality at the time of recording.

There are different converters which could be used:

1. PDF to Word Converter:
   This converter works properly for simple text. For a document with mathematical equations, graphs and Pi, it does not convert the Pi text properly. It keeps the graphs as pictures. If a PDF is a plain text document the converter works well. There might be some formatting issues that arise during the conversion.
    
2. Adobe CS:
   Adobe Acrobat Professional can convert a PDF to a MS Word document.
   Create PDFs or convert to Word

Below are three different ways you can create an accessible PDF.

1. If you start out with a MS Word file:

• Locate the MS Word file on your computer and open it.
• Convert the document to the latest version of MS Word so you are able to see the warnings. Click the File tab. Convert your document to the latest version by clicking the “Info” tab, then click “Convert.” Once the converting has finished, you can check for accessibility  
• To check accessibility in MS Word, click the “File” tab in the ribbon to open the Backstage View. In the “Info” section, click the “Check for Issues” drop-down button in the “Inspect Document” area. Then click the “Check Accessibility” command to launch the task pane. A list of “Errors” and/or “Warnings” may appear.
• Fix all the issues and errors that were found.
• If there are tables in the document:
  • You should add a title and alt text to them by selecting the table and right-clicking then choosing  "Table Properties"
  • You should click on the "Row" tab in table properties and uncheck “Allow rows to break across pages.”
  • In the same "Row" tab check “Repeat as header row at the top of each page.” 
  • Select OK and check the reading order in Natural Reader
• Save the document and proceed to Natural Reader to make sure the document is fully readable. 
• Fix all the issues and errors that were found, then go to the File tab on the top left of the screen and click on Save As and NOT Save.
• From the options, choose PDF(*.pdf) from the drop-down menu underneath next to Save as type.
• Save the newly created accessible PDF file to your desired location on the computer.
   
• CCNY instructions to create an accessible PDFs

2. If you start out with a PDF file:

• Download and save the PDF file to your desired location on the computer.
• Using one of the following websites, convert the PDF file to an editable Word Document
  http://pdf2doc.com/
  https://www.pdfonline.com/pdf-to-word-converter/
• Once the PDF file finishes converting to a MS Word document, click on the Download tab at the bottom of the screen.
• Download and save the MS Word document file to your desired location on the computer.
• Open the MS Word document and you may see a yellow box at the top of the document saying PROTECTED VIEW with a button saying, “Enable Editing”. Click on “Enable Editing” to start editing the document. If you don’t see the yellow box, disregard the previous sentence and start editing the document.
• Follow the steps above to create the accessible PDF.

3. Alternative Method, if you have Adobe Acrobat Pro follow the step by step tutorial. In that tutorial you will learn how to make a file accessible as well as how to check for errors.

• Use Natural Reader and upload your newly created PDF file by clicking on the blue + sign on the top left part of the screen.
• Once the PDF file has uploaded, click on the check mark symbol beside the 100%.
• Once the PDF file is shown on the screen, click on the play button beside the blue + sign. The website will now start reading the PDF file. If the website does not generate any sound, then the PDF file is not accessible. Read the next FAQ on how to create an accessible PDF file.
• The voice of the playback and speed can be chosen according to your preferences.

Audacity is a free, cross-platform software to record audio.

The tutorial shows you how to open, cut, and move audio clips.

We currently do not have a site license for Notebook. Notebook is installed on all computers connected to Interactive Displays (SmartBoards) in different classrooms in the North Academic Center. Students can experiment and use the Notebook software in the Multimedia Center Room 4/221 or the Learning and Technology Resource Center Room 3/226.

The Multimedia Center supports the students in creating a videos of their teaching.

We offer the following services:

- lend out equipment
- advice on recording issues (visual, audio, etc.)
- download the footage from the recording device
- cut the video
- compress the video
- upload video to Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.

CWE student teachers need to approach Nina Woods at CWE for equipment rentals (on reserve at the front desk). The students should contact her directly to make a reservation and pick up. Her contact information:

Ninoshka Woods
Office Manager
CCNY~Division of Interdisciplinary Studies
at the Center for Worker Education
https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/cwe
e: nwoods2@ccny.cuny.edu

If students have questions, please refer to Professor Gail Buffalo gbuffalo@ccny.cuny.edu  212-925-6625 x272

What is LinkedIn and why should I have a profile?

• 7 Benefits of using LinkedIn by Sarah Rycraft
• Building a great student profile

How can I set up a LinkedIn account?

• Set up a new LinkedIn account - LinkedIn Tutorial

How can I follow the School of Education, The City College of New York and CUNY?

• Follow and Unfollow an Organization on LinkedIn

Follow us:

• School of Education LinkedIn
• The City College of New York LinkedIn
• CUNY LinkedIn

The Multimedia Center Service Desk is a service provided to you to help you through technology and testing hurdles you may encounter while a student of the School of Education.

If you have difficulties with applications (Office 365, Zoom, Google, Dropbox, MS Teams, etc.), please do not hesitate to contact us via our virtual support desk. You could also stop by the Multimedia Center NAC Room 4/221 or the Learning and Technology Resource Center NAC Room 3/226 during our open lab hours.

Our contact information:

• appointment
• mmc@ccny.cuny.edu
• 212-650-6266 
• https://ccny.zoom.us/j/2126506266 (Passcode: 4216)

The CCNY IT Service Desk, a unit of the Office of Information Technology (OIT), is available Monday to Friday 8am-8pm and Saturday 9am-6pm to assist students, faculty, and staff with all their campus technology needs. Students, faculty and staff can call them with any technology-related problems at (212-650-7878), e-mail ( servicedesk@ccny.cuny.edu ), or visit them in the Student Tech Center in NAC 1/301.

• CCNY site license: https://ccny.zoom.us/
  Unlimited participants and time, unlimited meetings.
• Free account: https://zoom.us/
  Free for up to 100 participants and a 40 minute limit per group meetings with 3 or more participants, unlimited number of meetings, unlimited 1-on-1 meetings.
• Zoom Help Center (tutorials on all topics: getting started, scheduling, conference rooms, etc.) and video tutorials
• Recording a meeting
• Best Practices for Securing Your Virtual Classroom

• Did you wonder how you could set up your Personal Zoom room with a message ID and passcode people can remember?
  Review the video explaining how to change the meeting ID and passcode

  You could use your CCNY phone number as meeting ID and room number as passcode. Omit the / in the passcode since it creates problems for participants joining via phone. Another hint, set up the waiting room to avoid people joining the meeting too soon. You might be in a meeting with another person which runs longer. That way you can orderly finish the meeting before beginning the next meeting. The waiting room also protects you from "Zoom Bombing" since you control who joins the meeting and who stays in it.

• Faculty & Staff:
  how to claim your CUNY Dropbox.
  Use your CUNYfirst credentials (@login.cuny.edu)
• Training resources on how to get started, which data can be stored on Dropbox, etc.
• Unlimited cloud storage for faculty and staff
• Share files (with a folder on your hard drive on your computer)
• Work together on a document (similar to Google Docs, 4 mins video)
• Make sure to adhere to the Acceptable Use of University Data in the Cloud Policy!
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Sharing and moving files between Dropbox accounts:
  • How to share a file or folder
  • Move files between two Dropbox accounts
• Smart sync to save space on your local hard drive

• How to access Office 365, video tutorials, which data can be stored on Office 365, etc.
• Faculty & Staff:
  Use your CUNYfirst credentials (@login.cuny.edu) to login (instructions)
• Training resources
• Office Applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.), OneDrive (cloud storage), Teams (communications platform, e.g. collaboration with colleagues, synchronous instruction), and OneNote (information gathering/collaboration platform)
• Microsoft 365 frequently asked questions
• Microsoft Expert Zone about MS Teams
• MS Teams tutorials

Below you will find a few interesting information bits which might be helpful in the process:

• Educating in a World of Artificial Intelligence
  Chris Dede discusses how education can evolve to work with — rather than fight against — artificial intelligence (20 minute excellent podcast)
• How to include AI in your syllabus?
  Instructors around the country contributed to a Google document to share their ways of including statements around AI:
  Syllabi Policies for AI Generative Tools (Google working document)
• 7 Things You Should Know About Generative AI (article)
• Did you ever wonder about the history of AI? (article)
• Why the biggest challenge facing AI is an ethical one (article)
• 10 AI Skill sets for the Digital Native Educator (article)
• Using AI in the Classroom: Tips and Tricks From Two Teachers (video)
• Experimenting With AI In The Classroom (video)
• Evaluating AI Applications: Questions to Ask (article)
• AI Readiness Self-Assessment of Organization (evaluation)
• Consensus: How to Use It to Teach (article)
  Consensus is an AI tool that uses research papers as basis for the natural language processing to answer questions. This tool is very intuitive and can even be used for younger students.
• FACT SHEET: President Biden Issues Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (article)
• CUNY University Faculty Senate Passes Academic Integrity Update for Artificial Intelligence (article)

SmartBoards are the updated version of overhead transparencies with the difference that the work done on a SmartBoard can be saved and shared easily. SmartBoards allow for the transformation of instruction into an interactive, engaging, student-centered learning and teaching experience.

• Learn about our interactive displays model 4065 and 6065 with SMART Kapp iQ
• SmartBoard 6065 Introduction by SmartTech
• Introduction of the most common tools by a physics teacher at a college 
• Professor Gellert models a variety of ways how to teach with the SmartBoard (MP4 video)
• SmartBoard notes from class session (PDF)

• Mentimeter
  This is a great tool for reflection or to assess knowledge on a topic. In particular the word cloud is a favorite.
  • Go to Mentimeter.com
  • Select a slide you would like to use
  • Create it
  •  Understand what code pertains to your slide
  •  Share screen and have participants go to the listed code on Menti.com​​
     
• Collaborative Google Slides Activity
  Professor Elizabeth Dunn-Ruiz prepared a Monday Mood in Color activity with Google Slides.
  Step by step to create the collaborative slides: ​
  • Go to https://www.google.com/slides/about/
  • Create a Google Slide Presentation with the text and images that suit your activity
  • Click on "Share" and select "anyone with the link" and "edit" to get a link that you can use to invite students to collaborate on the slide presentation
  • Once all students have created slides, you can work together to rearrange the slides by dragging and dropping them into the preferred order
     
• Motivational and engaging activities using technology in-person as well as online:
  • Random Name Generators (Variety of types plus other tools)
    https://www.online-stopwatch.com/random-name-pickers/
  • Jeopardylabs.com (Danielson Activity, Board can be edited)
    https://jeopardylabs.com/play/danielsons-framework-for-teaching-28
  • Charlotte Danielson PowerPoint Tutorial
    https://www.slideserve.com/shen/enhancing-professional-practice-a-frame…
  • Selective Attention Test Video
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo  

1. Connect the Apple VGA Adapter with the iPad: Plug the docking connector end of the cable into the dock port on the iPad. Plug the VGA end of the cable into the monitor port on the LCD projector.

2. Turn on the LCD projector. The projector will display the iPad screen, and you can display the desired content from the tablet through the projector.

There are many free QR Code Generators. The Multimedia Center uses QR Code Generator.

Brightspace is just around the corner. CCNY is in transition group 3 launching Brightspace in Spring 2025.

https://www.cuny.edu/academics/brightspace-transition/#timeline

 What does that mean for faculty?

• As of Spring 2025 you will have to use Brightspace for your classes, replacing Blackboard. Start to get familiar with Brightspace!
• About the last four years of your courses have been transferred to Brightspace already. Check which courses have been transferred ASAP.
• You need to export and download Blackboard courses if you want to be able to access your own archives from Blackboard.
• You will lose access to Blackboard at the end of 2025.
• Merging courses is not as easy in Brightspace as it was in Blackboard. Please reach out to bbsupport@ccny.cuny.edu about merging courses as soon as possible.

What does that mean for students?

Familiarize yourself with Brightspace as soon as possible:

• Student Getting Started Guide
• D2L Learner Documentation
• D2L YouTube Playlists for Learners

Toll-free support line for all Brightspace users: 1-888-895-2511

There is a lot of support for this transition:

CCNY - Teaching and Learning Center tlc@ccny.cuny.edu :

• Getting started with Brightspace: https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/tlc/training

The TLC offers workshops throughout the semester. Look out for their emails!

CUNY

• Sign up for workshops: https://www.cuny.edu/academics/brightspace-transition/training/
• CUNY YouTube Channel for self-paced learning: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM0Ajq8FKzykBaCLw0XHHd49kkIkszZVN

Brightspace

• https://community.d2l.com/brightspace/kb/higher-ed-instructor-documenta…;