Video Preparation

The edTPA requires the submission of a video clip from your teaching. Requirements for the content, length, and number of clips vary. Consult your subject specific (i.e., elementary literacy or secondary science) edTPA handbook, artifact and commentary specifications section for requirements for your specific video submission. The resources below will provide you with directions to prepare your video.  Directions include best practices for recording, equipment use, trimming and compressing your video files.

edTPA Video Production Outline

For information on where to check out video recording equipment, please refer to the section on Equipment Resources.

Creation of your edTPA video will follow the structure outlined below, for more details be sure to review the appropriate section.

  1. Record your video
  2. Digitize your video (import to computer)
    • From a video camera, you need to get the video from the camera memory card on to a computer before you can edit it. If you have a tape based camera, see the section on digitizing video from tape.
    • If using an iPad, you can record and edit your videos right on the device itself.
  3. Edit your video
    • The edTPA has specific requirements for length of videos, see your edTPA Handbook for more detailed information.
    • With an iPad, you can record and edit your videos right on the one device.
  4. Compress Your Video
    • All videos must be under 200MB, this will most likely mean you will need to use a compression tool to be sure to meet the requirement.

At any time, you can go to the SMART learning commons for technical assistance.

Recording your video050114bush197

Recording Best Practices

  • Make sure to use a tripod
  • Use an external microphone, if possible, so the viewer can hear you clearly.
    (a wireless, clip-on lapel mic is ideal)
  • Set the camera up to capture the interaction between you and your students.
  • Make sure you can see each student clearly.
  • Avoid bright backgrounds, like windows or white boards.
  • Make sure you have decent light on your students
    (from overhead sources, or windows) for a good recording.
  • Plug the camera into the wall to ensure that you don’t wear out the battery while recording. At the very least, make sure to fully charge the camera battery the night before you record.
  • Make sure you have enough blank tape or memory on your camera.

Recording your video:

For information on where to check out video recording recording equipment, please refer to the section on “Equipment Resources.”

iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone

  • Set up the iPad on the tripod or stand given to you with the kit (follow the instructions included with the kit).
  • Launch the CAMERA app and set up the iPad to be able to see the teacher or subject clearly.
  • Plug in the wireless microphone to the iPad, using the small audio adapter included in the kit.
  • Make sure both parts of the wireless microphone are turned on and begin your recording.
  • When you are finished, hit the “Stop” button on the iPad.
  • When finished, the file will automatically added to your “camera roll”. That is where you will access the file later for trimming and sharing.

Other types of video camera

  • Use a tripod and frame your shot as best you can. Use an external microphone whenever possible! Use the plug-in power whenever possible as batteries will run out.
  • If your camera records to an SD card or similar media, make sure you have enough memory to record the length of video you need.
  • If your camera is tape-based, make sure you have enough blank tape to record the length of video you need.
  • Depending on the model of the video camera, you may or may not be able to plug in an external microphone. Refer to the camera’s operating manual for clarification.
  • Once the recordings are complete, proceed to the section on “digitizing” and “editing” your video clips.

Digitizing your video

For information on where to get assistance with digitizing your video, please see the section on support.

iPad, iPod Touch, or iPhone

Videos recorded on a any of these devices are already digitized but you may want to move them to a laptop or desktop computer to edit and compress.  This can be done via Google Drive.

Other types of video cameras

SD Card or “solid state” media

Some cameras that record to media cards allow you to access the files directly and view them in Quicktime Player or a similar media player software. If you find the video files but can’t play them, you need to import them using special software. Refer to the camera’s operating manual for more information, or jump ahead to the section on “editing” in this document.

Quick Guide:
  1. Usually you can plug the camera into your computer and pull the video files off it like an external drive.
  2. Use the accompanying USB cable to plug the camera into your computer.
  3. The computer should recognize the disk.
  4. Copy the files from the camera’s disk to a local folder on your computer.
  5. Depending on the style of camera you have, you may need to pull the files onto your computer using your video editing software.
  6. Import your videos into your editing software and begin editing.

Tape-based cameras

If your camera records on a tape, you will need to get the video and audio from the tape into your computer. If the camera records with MiniDV tapes, you can most likely digitize the video by hooking your camera up to your computer with a firewire cable and digitizing it into whatever video editing software you choose to use. Refer to the camera’s operating manual for further instructions on connecting the camera to your computer

Quick Guide:
  1. With MiniDV cameras you can digitize the video right from your camera.
  2. Plug the camera into your computer with the appropriate USB or Firewire cable.
  3. Open your video editing software (iMovie on Mac, Windows Movie Maker on Windows).
  4. Find the “import from camera” function. This may be called something different but similar depending on your software.
  5. The software should recognize that your camera is plugged in. If not, consult the software help files.
  6. Your video clips should show up in a library of some sort within your video editing software.
  7. Edit your video!

Editing your video

Be sure to choose your video segment(s) according to the specifications noted in your edTPA Handbook.

In the end, you need separate, individual video files that contain only the segments that you choose to have assessed by your supervisor. In order to create these individual video segments, you need to use video editing software of some kind to trim out the unwanted portions.

iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch:

If you recorded your video using one of these devices, the original recording will be located in your “Photos” app.

  1. Open the video file you need to trim and watch it to identify the section you wish to extract from the recording.
  2. Above the main video display you’ll see a “timeline” of your video file. You can drag your finger to navigate to different times in the video file if needed.
  3. To trim the video, place and hold your finger on one of the arrows at either end of the timeline display until the border box turns yellow. Drag the yellow border to surround the section of the video you wish to extract. Once you’ve identified this, press on the “Trim” command in the upper right of your viewscreen. Select “Save as New Clip” from the dialog box and once processed, your extracted video will show up as a new video file in your Photos app.
  4. You can upload the new extracted video clip to Google Drive from your device, or move the file to a computer first if you wish.

For video tutorials on how to complete these tasks, visit our Vimeo Album.

On a Mac computer:

Editing with Quicktime for Mac:

  1. If you have a Mac computer, you already have Quicktime installed, and you can use it to trim and / or compress your video file.
  2. Open the file with Quicktime Player (version 10 or later)
  3. Go to the “Edit” menu and select “Trim”
  4. A timeline viewer will open up at the bottom of the video player
  5. Drag the yellow border box to surround only the part of the video you wish to extract
  6. Click on the “Trim” button on the right of the timeline viewer
  7. The video will immediately trim in the player, but you need to save it before doing anything further. Save the file under a new name.
  8. If the file is less than 100Mb you can upload this to Tk20. If it is not, see the “compression” guidelines below to compress your video file.
  9. Video tutorial Editing with Quicktime for Mac.

On a Windows machine:

Mpeg Streamclip for WIN (fairly easy):

  1. Windows machines don’t come with a video editing tool pre-installed, but this software is free and fairly easy to use.
  2. Visit http://www.squared5.com/ and download “MPEG Streamclip 1.2 for Windows”.
  3. Install & open the software.
  4. Open the video file to be trimmed.
  5. Set an “In point” and an “out point” at the beginning & end of the section to be extracted.
    • Edit > Select In (or Out) -or- hit the “I” and “O” keys for in and out.
  6. Save the extracted file by selecting “File > Export to Mpeg 4”.
    • leave the compression at “H.264”,
    • set the quality slider to 85%,
    • limit data rate to 900 kbps
    • set the frame size to 640 x 360 (choose “other”)
    • leave everything else at default settings
    • Click on “Make Mp4” and set a destination folder for the new file.
    • Make sure you can find the file afterwards. If your file is less than 100Mb, you can upload it to Tk20. If it is larger than 100Mb, use the compression guidelines below to reduce the file size.
  7. Video tutorial Mpeg Streamclip for WIN.

Other types of video cameras:

As discussed in the “Digitizing your Video” section above, some cameras will require you to DIGITIZE the video using your editing software.

With tape-based cameras, or cameras that record video files to an SD card (or similar) that can’t be directly copied onto your machine and edited, you need to hook up the camera to your computer and pull the video onto your computer using the video editing software of choice.

Using one of the video editing software applications listed above, you will digitize the video from your camera.  Plug the camera into your computer using the USB or FireWire connecting cable supplied with your video camera.  Following the instructions included with the video editing software, digitize the video from your camera into your project.

Once the video has been digitized in this fashion, you can refer to the outline above for instructions on editing and sharing your video segments.

For assistance and support, please make an appointment with the support staff at the University Libraries SMART Commons: http://smart.umn.edu

Compressing Your Video

Okay, so you’ve recorded your video(s) for the EdTPA and you need to compress them to under 200 Megabytes in order to upload them into your application portfolio.

If your video file is not yet edited to the appropriate length requirement, please refer to the “Editing Your Video” section above for information on completing your edits.

If your editing is complete but the video file is still larger than 100Mb, then it needs to be further “compressed” in order to meet that requirement.

You have two options available to get this done:

MediaHub (easy)

  1. Log onto http://mediahub.umn.edu and log into the UMN system using your x500 authentication. Upload your video using the onscreen interface. The system will ask you “How do you want to convert your file?” When prompted, select the “iOS/Android/Mobile” option. Click the “Start Conversion” button and look for the “Success” screen to confirm your submission. When complete, you will receive an email from the MediaHub system with a link to download your newly compressed file. Download the file to your computer, verify that it is smaller than 100Mb, and then upload it to your edTPA profile (Tk20?)

Handbrake (less easy)

  1. This software is also free and available for either Windows or Mac os.
  2. Go to https://handbrake.fr/ and download the software for your operating system.
  3. Use the Handbrake software to compress a video file smaller than 100Mb
    (no tutorial available on this at this time)