Did you know using short videos in your online course is one of the best ways to build community and increase student learning? Research shows that short, instructor-featured videos are great for making announcements, demonstrating course content, and giving student feedback. Students report that these types of videos make them feel more connected to their instructors and more engaged with the course content. Below I describe five ways you might use videos in your online course.
- Post Your Introduction
Include your academic/professional background, research interests, and some personal information such as family or hobbies. Your video can be the model for a student Introductions discussion assignment, in which students post their own videos. (Research also shows that giving students the opportunity to “meet” each other in an online class helps build community, increase retention, and improve student learning.)
- Post a Course Welcome Message
Provide an overview of the course and tips for getting started.
- Make Announcements
Describe a tip or concept of the week (perhaps highlighting an area where you know students may need some extra assistance), explain an assignment, review for an exam, or provide a preview of the week’s activities.
- Give Feedback
Give general, all-class feedback on assignments or exams and publish the video in announcements. In addition, you can give video feedback to individual students.
- Demonstrate How To Do Something
Consider using this type of video, which is actually a capture of your screen, or a combination of screen + webcam capture, when you need to demonstrate a process, such as how to perform a calculation in Excel.
All you need to make these videos is a webcam and an Internet connection. You can capture videos directly in the LMS and post them in announcements, gradebook, and various other areas of your course.
Make them Accessible
If you decide to record your video through Kaltura, autocaptions will be applied; to meet accessibility standards, you must review those captions for accuracy.
Include a Text Wrapper
Regardless of why you post a video, be sure to include a text wrapper. Text wrappers introduce the video in text, telling students what the video will discuss. This essential step lets students know before they even watch the video that it’s worth their time. And for some videos, it may also be appropriate to include a brief summary afterwards, with your key takeaways (this is especially important if you’re sharing a video that someone else made).
This step is good pedagogy. It also alerts students who receive their announcement notifications that the announcement has a video attacked; otherwise, embedded videos are not included in the plaint text emails. For example, “In the video embedded below, I give you some general feedback from the assignment due last week. If you receive announcement notifications via email, please view this video through Canvas announcements.”
Sources
Are Video Lectures Effective in Online Courses? https://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/are-video-lectures-effective-in-online-courses/
Lowenthal (2015). Using video announcements, instructional videos, and video feedback to improve social presence, student engagement, and a growing relationship to one’s university. https://patricklowenthal.com/publications/2015/2015–Using-Video-Announcements-Instructional-videos-and-Video-feedback-to-Improve-Social-Presence-Student-Engagement-and-a-Growing-Relationship-to-Ones-University.pdf
Student Perceptions of the Use of Instructor-Made Videos in Online and Face-to-Face Classes http://jolt.merlot.org/vol5no3/rose_0909.htm
Borup, J., West, R. E., & Graham, C. R. (2012). Improving Online Social Presence Through Asynchronous Video. Internet and Higher Education. 15 (3), 195-203 http://www.academia.edu/2538116/Improving_online_social_presence_through_asynchronous_video