Why Is video so important?
Video is a powerful way to communicate, share, explore, assess and engage learners in learning experiences. One of video’s benefits is the ability to reply, rewind, review what someone has said often with closed captions so all learners (regardless of language, ability, access, bandwidth) can engage in learning. Here are a few articles, videos and some of the best websites and resources to highlight some key components.
- 99 Tips for Creating Simple and Sustainable Educational Videos | Karen Costa – Amazon Book Link
- Check out Karen’s YouTube Playlist of SOME of the 99 tips
- Ideas and Strategies for Using Video in the Classroom: UBC Faculty of Arts – Webpage
- Scroll down page to see examples with tabbed sections
- Effective Educational Videos | Center for Teaching | Vanderbilt University – Webpage
- Asynchronous Video: A Powerful Way to Teach, Present and Communicate with Students | Faculty Focus Webpage
- It’s not production quality that counts in educational videos – here’s what students value most | The Conversation – Webpage
- Unbounded by Time: Understanding How Asynchronous Video can be Critical to Learning Success | Educause – Webpage
- Teaching in a Digital Age v. 3 | Chapter 8.4 Video by Tony Bates – Webpage
- Effective Educational Videos: Principles and Guidelines for Maximizing Student Learning from Video Content | Life Science Research Paper – Webpage
- Teaching Educational Materials: Teaching with Accessible Video | National Centre on Accessible Educational Materials – Webpage
- Michael Wesch’s lessons on how to build better videos (from YouTubers) about how to engage students online embedded below:
Tips for Creating Video
- Don’t need complex equipment
- Camera: smartphone camera, web cam, using BlueJeans to record, or Go Pro camera
- Lighting: natural light – window, ring light, lots of good lamps
- Tripod: tape a smartphone to a window to have natural light while narrating, pile up some books to hold camera, put webcam on top of a lamp shade
- Use platforms you have access to
- Kaltura Capture (free capture tool to grab video)
- Microsoft Stream (part of 365 Suite if logged in with NIC account)
- Convert PowerPoint slide decks with build-in audio – to MP4 video
- Screencast-o-matic or Camtasia or other low cost software to use
- Consider these Tips for Filming Success
- Plan out your scripts and practice a few times
- Use conversational style
- Speak relatively quickly and with enthusiasm
- Make the material feel like it is customized, relevant and related to the course
- Integrate questions into the video to keep people on their toes
- Stay on script
- Aim for 2-5 minutes for optimal time people will view your videos
- Videos can be longer, but will get less viewing time
- More and smaller videos are easier to digest
- Upload to a streaming server and share!
- Kaltura (MyMedia inside of Brightspace or NIC MediaSpace via https://video.nic.bc.ca)
- no advertisements, no copying on multiple servers around world (like YouTube), control over your content
- Grab embed code or embed via Brightspace OR publish video to your MediaGallery for that course
- Label, tag, explain, add bookmarks to video, quiz questions etc.
- Track view plays and usage
- Kaltura (MyMedia inside of Brightspace or NIC MediaSpace via https://video.nic.bc.ca)
- Keep going, evolving and experimenting
Examples of Using Video in Your Post-Secondary Courses: Created by You, Students or Others in the World
Student-Generated Videos
Videos designed, developed and recorded solely by students as activities, exercises or assessments in a course.
- Any video type below but done by a student rather than an instructor!
- Create a video explaining concepts in own words
- Conduct a video interview from a subject-matter expert
- Record quick responses to open-ended questions
- Create a video blog website with WordPress
- Record an experiment done at home or in class and narrate findings
- Develop a slide deck teaching the class a core concept and narrate via a video
- Create a mini-documentary on a topic like this one
Way Finding / Navigational Videos
Videos that help orient and outline a particularly complex or new learning environment.
- Use screencasting to give students an overview of how to use a website to sign up for an account
- Tour of the parts of an online course as seen below
Get-to-Know-You/Welcome Videos
Videos that help people get to know each other.
- Introduction of instructor to class (Welcome Video)
- Student introductions to classmates
- Sharing what a course is about, introduction to the syllabus, course outline and content etc.
- Welcome Back video (from a university Chancellor to his students)
How-To Videos
Videos that help people learn how to do something – for a course or class or concept.
- Step-by-step instructions of how to use a piece of software through screencasting video
- Video about how to do a particular task with a piece of equipment shot with camera/tripod
Explanation Videos
Videos that provide more in depth explanation, possibly simplified or in easy-to-understand terms with the aid of visuals etc.
- Instructor working through a problem (worked problems) or walk through a complex diagram
- TEDTalk videos simplifying complex topics
- Khan Academy videos like this one on the importance of water for life or embedded below
- Instructor talks out loud all the thinking processes they are going through to explain a concept
- Students explain their response to a math problem by talking through their thinking and how they arrived at a solution
- Teacher explaining top tips or suggestions like this one by Michael Wesch about Tips for Teaching Online
Consolidation and Review Videos
Videos that help consolidate, summarize and /or review key concepts.
- Build a concept map of all the key components in a module or course (but then remove some) and use narration to explain what you have and ask students to fill in missing pieces
- Review key concepts from a module or class with slides and narration
- Create a whole course summary video with slides and narration to capture the essence of the course
Demonstration or Tutorial Videos
Videos that are focused on someone doing a demonstration of a task or activity
- Demonstrating how to do an applied learning activity with a tool or piece of equipment
- Instructor demonstrating how to do some learning task
- Example: Khan Academy – explanation of photosynthesis
- Example: Frog Disssection
Presentation Videos
Videos that capture or record a class, course, guest speaker etc.
- Video used to capture a class
Student Assessment Videos
Videos of either students demonstrating their learning or instructors sharing their feedback
- Instructor produces a short customized video sharing how student is doing in class so far
- Student produces a summary of how well they are doing explaining with examples
- More thoughts on video feedback via this article, Back to Feedback Basics Using Video Recordings