What does VAT stand for?
The Frankfort Digital Analysis of Teaching Project (VAT).

Where is the VAT office located?
The VAT office is called the Frankfort Center for Educational Technologies and is located in HW 1026.

What are the VAT borrowing hours?
Students may come into the VAT office in HW 1026 any time between 3:30pm and 6:30pm, Mondays - Thursdays to borrow VAT equipment. Students may also make an appointment outside of these hours to borrow equipment by emailing Emily Schultz or Roxie Turner.

Do I need an appointment to borrow a VAT Kit?
An appointment is only needed if a student is unable to come to the office during regular borrowing hours; Monday - Thursday from 3:30pm - 6:30pm. We do not offer advanced reservations and borrowing a VAT Kit is on a first come, first served basis. If an appointment is needed, please email Emily Schultz or Roxie Turner.

What is a VAT Kit?
A VAT Kit is the kit that we loan to students to complete their Video Analysis of Teaching Project. The VAT Kit is comprised of a digital video camera, a battery charger for the camera, a memory card reader to take the video from the camera to your computer, as well as a small tabletop tripod.

How long can I keep the VAT Kit?
Students may borrow a VAT Kit for one week.

Who can borrow a VAT Kit?
VAT Kits are only available to students currently participating in a student teaching or practicum seminar.

Can I borrow the VAT Kit again?
Students may borrow the VAT kits as many times as they'd like throughout their student teaching or practicum seminar semesters. Students may not renew their current camera, nor borrow a new camera immediately upon returning their last camera. Students must wait at least one business day from the return of one camera to the borrowing of another camera, in order to offer all students access to the equipment.

What happens if I return my camera late?
Returning your camera late can impede the time that other students have to complete their VAT projects. If you return your camera late you will receive warnings from the VAT office, your seminar professor and finally, a stop will be placed on your record preventing you from registering for courses and, eventually, graduating. The stop will be removed when all of the equipment is returned or replaced.

How much video will fit on the memory card?
The memory card will hold 7 hours, 35 minutes and 55 seconds of video.

How long does the battery last?
Approximately one hour.

Do I need to charge the battery?
Yes.

Can I use my own camera?
For 99% of our students, it is easier to come in and borrow a VAT camera than to worry about trying to reformat or rip their video into the appropriate file type and format. The VAT website takes a very specific file format: .mp4 file type, less than 200MB, 320x240 resolution and 15fps. Hunter cameras are formatted to film directly to this file format. Almost no other cameras available will film in this format and Hunter does not provide any technical support for a video that was taken with a non-Hunter camera. Hunter does not condone the use of non-Hunter cameras, but if students feel comfortable converting their video on their own to these specifications, they are welcome to give it a shot. If they choose to take this route, students are completely responsible for the reformatting and uploading of their video.

What file specifications are required to upload to the VAT site?
The file specifications to upload to the VAT site are:
.mp4 file format
less than 200MB
320x240 resolution
15fps.

How do I get QuickTime?
You can download a free version of QuickTime Player for your specific operating system at the Apple website.

How do I get QuickTime Pro?
We only offer QuickTime Pro to students currently participating in their student teaching or practicum seminar and participating in the VAT project. If this applies to you, email Emily Schultz or Roxie Turner and ask for a copy of QuickTime Pro. Be sure to let them know whether you are using a Mac or a PC so that they can send you appropriate downloading instructions.

What is the difference between a lesson video and a video clip?
A video clip is a 3-5 minute short video that is submitted to the Video Clip Library. The Video Clip Library is accessible to all Hunter College School of Education students and faculty. The Video Clip Library is password protected so that the outside world does not have access to the video clips. The lesson video, on the other hand, is a long 45 minute video of a full lesson. This video is private between the student, the student's seminar professor and the student's field supervisor. The student can password protect this video so that it is accessible to other students and faculty only via a correct password.

What is the password to the Video Clip Library?
The password to the library is available through students' seminar instructors.

When is the VAT computer lab open?
The School of Education Technology Resource Center in W708 is open approximately 20 hours each semester and over the summer. The current schedule can be found on the School of Education Website under Announcements.

Does the VAT project fulfill any of the technology competencies?
You may upload your 3-5 minute clip to fulfill competency 11.

PDF Tutorials
Re-Formatting Your VAT Video with QuickTime Pro
Re-Formatting Your VAT Video with iMovie
Re-Formatting Your VAT Video with MPEG StreamClip
Uploading Your Lesson Video
Editing and Uploading Your Video Clip
Finding a Video Clip in the Library
Tagging a Video Clip
Closed Captions