What Makes for a Quality Video Lecture?

Researchers and teachers have increasingly examined the qualities of good video lectures. This page includes some recommendations that I've found.

Guo, Kim, and Rubin (2014) have published one of the most comprehensive and practical research articles on the subject. Please read at least the summary of their findings on this page. The actual article is also fascinating and is linked on the bottom of the page. One of the most interesting findings is shown in the chart to the right. Take a minute and think about the possible implications (click here if you are having a hard time reading the chart)

One the best resources that I've been able to find is by Andreas Zeitler called "Most Common Mistakes in Screencasting." The article focuses on creating tech tutorials and some of it may not apply but please read until you get to the heading "Screen Recording Software." I especially like his recommendation on the use of webcams.

The remainder of this page will highlight different types of video lectures. As you explore the examples, continue to answer the question, "What makes for a quality video lecture?"

Narrated Notes and Drawings

Eric McGlinchey has created weekly "mini lectures" for his online government course. As you can see in the video below, McGlinchey's videos only show his writings/drawings with clear audio narration. He created the videos using an iPad app called Doceri ( https://doceri.com/ ) and then added the voice narration in Camtasia. However, voice narrations could be done in a video editing program such as iMovie if you don't already own a Camtasia license.

This style of video has been popularized by Salman Khan who founded the Khan Academy. Khan has created literally thousands of video lessons that are viewed about 10 million times a month. Much of this popularity is due to Khan's simple but engaging presentation style. Notice how Khan speaks with emotion in his videos. You can really feel the passion that he has for the content.

Similar to McGlinchey's mini-lectures, Khan made his videos using budget-friendly tools. If you are interested, this video shows you how they make their videos. Here's all that you would need to start making screencasts like Khan:

• Webcam with a microphone
• A screen recording program. Khan uses Camtasia Studio which costs about $300 but there are several programs that are much cheaper or free. Screen-cast-o-matic or Jing are excellent, free tools!
• A drawing program. They use a free download called Smooth Draw but you can also use Paint or PowerPoint.
• Something to write with. You can use your mouse but it can be awkward. Khan uses a writing pad called the Bamboo Tablet They have different types but you can get a really good one for about $100.

Video with background slides

Marty Rothwell is a student in our program. In one of our Master's courses, Marty purchased a $160 green screen kit that he set up in a garage. After some experimentation, Marty developed the video style that see to the right.

Star Muir teaches an online communications course for Mason. He knew that he did not want to simply narrate static text-filled slides because he felt that it would be "just short of total devastating death by PowerPoint." In an attempt to make things more engaging he created simple videos of him presenting information in his office or in front of a cloth backdrop. Then during the video editing process he added text slides in the open space next to him. However, to ensure that students stayed engaged, Muir would commonly dress in character. For instance, he pretended to be Aristotle for his lecture on rhetoric and King Arthur for his lesson on mythic criticism. When explaining this choice he said, "Some of it is about personality but some of it is also about trying to speak to students without using a frame of authority while also speaking their grammar--using their tools and their concepts to convey information."

NOTE: The length of the video exceeds the recommended length of an instructional video.

PowerPoint with Custom Animation

When Dr. Jered Borup was a ninth-grade history teacher he created screen recordings of his history lessons for students who were absent or wanted to review the information later. He tried to make the slides visual and would commonly use the custom animation and pen features in meaningful ways. The example video below was created using PowerPoint and has over 50,000 views.

Lectures with integrated assessments

Camtasia Studio allows you to create videos with interactive elements such as quiz questions. For instance the sreenshot to the right is of one video and the dots on the player represent different quiz questions. However, Camtasia studio is expensive and beyond the reach of some educators. We will explore an alternative, no-cost way to do this using features in YouTube.

Lectures with integrated assessments

Camtasia Studio is a great tool if you are able to obtain a license. If you don't have access to Camtasia Studio, Office Mix can be a good alternative so long as you have a PC (sorry, Mac users) with PowerPoint 2013. Office Mix is a PowerPoint plugin that allows you to narrate your slides with the option of including a webcam video of you, digital ink, quiz questions, and other interactive elements such as video.

Take some time to explore teacher examples on this page.