6 Tips To Better Buying & Management of Video Production Technology

Some colleges might become discouraged while searching for new video production technology due to a low budget and high product prices.

However, as the technology boom continues in higher education, Hall says there will eventually be a product for every video production need. He says in some cases, vendors may release a product that fulfills a college’s needs at a smaller cost.

“Never think that you can’t get there,” Hall says. “Somehow, if you’re persistent enough, somebody will put out a product that can do what you want it to do, and it will be at a price that you can afford. You just have to ferret it out, be patient, and work hard at it. Don’t just assume that you can’t do it because it’s going to be too expensive.”

According to Hall, it’s a college’s duty to provide its students with hands-on learning opportunities.

That includes interacting with technology students will see and operate in their video production careers after graduation.

Hall says when colleges invest in video production technology with students in mind, they are helping students better prepare themselves for the real world.

“When you think of the bigger picture of why a university exists, it’s to educate students and give them that opportunity to be able to get their foot in the door so they can get a job and provide for themselves and their families,” he says. “Try to make sure you provide them the best gear that you can, gear that will be comparable to what they will experience in the real world. Otherwise, you’re doing them a disservice.”

Even though some colleges are already equipped with engineering faculty and tech-savvy staff, others may fall short with these resources.

If a college needs help installing and implementing a new video production solution, Randy Hillebrand recommends hiring a systems integrator.

“Many universities go with a more traditional route and hire a systems integrator,” says Hillebrand, Training Coordinator, Adjunct Associate Professor of Radio, Television, Film at Hofstra University. “For those in that position, they can work with an integrator to identify their needs and solve them. Regardless of whether you have an integrator or not, it’s incumbent on the people that are at the university to…understand the advantages and problems that can arise.”

In order to foster a healthy video production implementation, faculty members that will use the new technology should be trained on it early.

That way, they will understand what technology is changing, why it’s changing, and how the college’s pedagogy will follow.

Plus, instructors will be better prepared when it comes time to train students on that technology.

“To get faculty members to shift directions and go into new areas that they’re not used to can be a challenge in itself,” says Hillebrand. “Faculty traditionally might not be as technology-oriented as engineering staff are, so to bridge those kinds of mindsets and get everyone together can be a challenge…but it is a very necessary part of the process.”

Even if a college has a successful video production installation, its staff members may not have a good grasp on how to deliver important messages with it.

Marshall White, Manager, Classroom/Customer Service Support Group at the University of New Hampshire says if a college does not keep the content fresh, people will glaze over it.

He says colleges should develop a system that keeps displayed content new and continually rotating to peak viewers’ interest.

“Make sure that you have some guidelines set up where users know that their content is only going to be up for 10 or 15 days straight, then it’s going to come down,” White says. “Then, they either need to re-submit it or create new content. You sort of force people to refresh their content.”

A good way to drive audience engagement with video production technology is by serving a balance of “broccoli content” and “cake content.”

Rajiv Shenoy, CEO of OrcaTV, says colleges tend to overload on broccoli, the “important, nutritious” content that colleges want students to absorb.

However, cake, the “fun, exciting” content, is what keeps an audience coming back for more.

“Once [content] is curated and distributed, you can prove that once students have been eating the cake, they eat more of their broccoli too,” Shenoy says. “If you give them that fun content, they’ll start “digesting” that imported nutritious information that they need. It’s a real challenge…All of higher ed looks to that broccoli, and they have lots of broccoli, but they need to harness that cake.”