Creating Educational Videos
Videos can be an important resource to "Teach Your Children." Clearly videos shouldn't be used to teach everything. Watching a video can be a relatively passive way to learn and teachers should take care not to over use them. However, when videos are combined with other types of learning they can be a powerful addition to a course. Teachers can find countless videos that others have already made. However, there are times when teachers should also make their own videos not because their videos would be better but because their videos would be better for their students. Your students like to hear from you so while you will likely use videos created by others you should also create some videos yourself.
Videos can be an important resource to "Teach Your Children." Clearly videos shouldn't be used to teach everything. Watching a video can be a relatively passive way to learn and teachers should take care not to over use them. However, when videos are combined with other types of learning they can be a powerful addition to a course. Teachers can find countless videos that others have already made. However, there are times when teachers should also make their own videos not because their videos would be better but because their videos would be better for their students. Your students like to hear from you so while you will likely use videos created by others you should also create some videos yourself.
Video Lectures
Video Lectures
Video lectures are perhaps the easiest type of video to make. Tool such as Screencast-o-matic and Loom make it simple to narrate slides and share them with students. The following is an example of a video lecture on the different types of columns was created by Crystal Dunn, a teacher for Frederick County Public Schools.
Video lectures are perhaps the easiest type of video to make. Tool such as Screencast-o-matic and Loom make it simple to narrate slides and share them with students. The following is an example of a video lecture on the different types of columns was created by Crystal Dunn, a teacher for Frederick County Public Schools.
Crystal Dunn, Frederick County Public Schools
Lectures have a bad rap but they still have their place--when done well. Lecture videos have never been easier to create. The hard part is creating a video that students will actually watch. Guo, Kim, and Rubin (2014) published findings from their research that examined nearly 7 million video views on 862 videos and found:
Lectures have a bad rap but they still have their place--when done well. Lecture videos have never been easier to create. The hard part is creating a video that students will actually watch. Guo, Kim, and Rubin (2014) published findings from their research that examined nearly 7 million video views on 862 videos and found:
- Videos are best when they are shorter than 6 minutes
- Videos that combine video of the instructor with PowerPoint slides are more engaging than videos with only narrated PowerPoint slides.
- Narrated screen recordings that show the instructor writing and drawing are more engaging than those that show static PowerPoint slides
- Videos are more engaging when instructors speak quickly and with enthusiasm
- Videos are more engaging when they show the instructor in personal settings
Edited Videos
Edited Videos
I was curious if I could make the most famous boring lecture more interesting so I edited the economics lecture in Farris Bueller's Day Off. I sped his voice up by 15% to make him sound more animated. I cut out all of the filler words. "Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?" Additionally, I combined video of the teacher with other media (photos and video) and background music. The video to the left is the original and the video to the right is my edited video. It's better, right?
I was curious if I could make the most famous boring lecture more interesting so I edited the economics lecture in Farris Bueller's Day Off. I sped his voice up by 15% to make him sound more animated. I cut out all of the filler words. "Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?" Additionally, I combined video of the teacher with other media (photos and video) and background music. The video to the left is the original and the video to the right is my edited video. It's better, right?
Edited videos are more time consuming to make but they can be more engaging for students. One advantage of videos is that you can take students to locations that would be difficult to do otherwise. Videos can also be engaging for students because they can have titles, frequent cuts, and background music. For instance, let's compare the video lecture above to the following edited video that Crystal also made for her students, only this time she took her students on a tour of their city. I especially loved the background music that Crystal used.
Edited videos are more time consuming to make but they can be more engaging for students. One advantage of videos is that you can take students to locations that would be difficult to do otherwise. Videos can also be engaging for students because they can have titles, frequent cuts, and background music. For instance, let's compare the video lecture above to the following edited video that Crystal also made for her students, only this time she took her students on a tour of their city. I especially loved the background music that Crystal used.
Crystal Dunn, Frederick County Public Schools
The following video gives a brief guide to Washington D.C. and was created by Mark McCullor, a teacher at Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). When he was filming the landmarks he made sure to film in a way that created a sense of motion throughout the final film.
The following video gives a brief guide to Washington D.C. and was created by Mark McCullor, a teacher at Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). When he was filming the landmarks he made sure to film in a way that created a sense of motion throughout the final film.
Mark McCullor, FCPS
One of my favorite videos was created by Katie Cusson, a teacher at FCPS, who took her students on a ride along with an undercover police officer. This is obviously not something that you can/should do with a class of students so video was a great opportunity to show students a side of their community that would be difficult to show otherwise.
One of my favorite videos was created by Katie Cusson, a teacher at FCPS, who took her students on a ride along with an undercover police officer. This is obviously not something that you can/should do with a class of students so video was a great opportunity to show students a side of their community that would be difficult to show otherwise.
Katie Cusson, FCPS
Edited videos can be a great way to launch project-based learning units. The following videos are corny but I'm sure students would LOVE them. Sometimes you have to lean into the corny to engage students and these two videos did so beautifully.
Edited videos can be a great way to launch project-based learning units. The following videos are corny but I'm sure students would LOVE them. Sometimes you have to lean into the corny to engage students and these two videos did so beautifully.
Kristin Cady, FCPS
Chrissy McLaughlin, FCPS
Green Screens are also becoming more common now that free video editing software allows you to easily replace the green screen with other backgrounds. The biggest obstacle is getting a green screen but they can be relatively inexpensive to purchase and now some editors don't even need a green screen at all. The following are two examples of how a green screen can be used to make engaging videos. I'm telling you, it doesn't get better than puppet rap battles!
Green Screens are also becoming more common now that free video editing software allows you to easily replace the green screen with other backgrounds. The biggest obstacle is getting a green screen but they can be relatively inexpensive to purchase and now some editors don't even need a green screen at all. The following are two examples of how a green screen can be used to make engaging videos. I'm telling you, it doesn't get better than puppet rap battles!
Stephanie Alger, FCPS
Marty Rothwell, FCPS
Cell Phone Cinematography
Cell Phone Cinematography
The video cameras on cell phones are getting better and better and I'm guessing that most of you will be using your cell phone to make videos. You just need to remember a couple of things while filming with your phone. The video below provides a good summary.
The video cameras on cell phones are getting better and better and I'm guessing that most of you will be using your cell phone to make videos. You just need to remember a couple of things while filming with your phone. The video below provides a good summary.
