The era of video lessons has come upon us. Teachers have been using video in their classroom since it was a viable option. That being a 35 mm film roll, Channel One on a linked CRT TV mounted to the wall, or a YouTube video assigned to a student through Google Classroom. Many times the creators of these videos were the outliers, the early-adopters, the teachers that just wanted to see what it would do for their classroom. This time seems to have gone. Where now, the teacher generated video is a standard in the classroom. This is because of the pandemic, where students have been shifted to an at-home learning environment or an in-person blended learning approach. This is new for many teachers, and those teachers that want better for their students are now asking the question:
How can video be more engaging and relevant to my students?
I think the following is a good start. Many of these ideas are nothing new. You have probably read them before. You might even think, “well that is just good teaching”, because it is. Just because we have shifted the medium, doesn’t mean the pedagogy has to completely change.
Keep the Length Short
Keep the video to as minimum time as possible. Even at the secondary-level videos should be no longer than 8-10 minutes. If longer videos are required by the district, then break them up. A required 15 minute video can easily be broken into a 2 minute introduction, an 8 minute content section, and then a 5 minute summary and question sections. Use links in the video, either with YouTube end screens/cards, shortened links mentioned in the video, or on a Google Form that goes to the next page.
Create Dora the Explorer Moments
Give breaks and ask the kids questions to solve before continuing the recording. I don’t know if you ever watch Dora, but she would look directly at the camera, ask the kids a question, wait for a time period, and then answer the question. This might not happen at home, but encouraging the kids to pause the video, work on an example problem or make a guess could at least increase some interactivity.
Text and Images
This is more a clarity thing than engagement, but a kid that is having a hard time following the video will lose interest. Using simple text to label images. Use images that are consistent. Make connections to previous topics and present the material in chunks. Basically all the things you might have learned in teaching school about brain-based learning, but paying attention to it when designing a video. Here’s a really good article on making graphics that are visually accessible https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-lessons-visual-design-make-better-materials-students.
Start with a Question or Misconception
Break the Video Up
The idea is this. Keep your videos the same way you would keep your classroom. Inject some fun, relevant examples, or someway to have the students make connections with the learning. Video production might be scary, but great teachers teach no matter where that may be.
I would love to hear other ideas, or links to videos that you are especially proud of in your classroom. Please share them with me and we can all learn together.