Activity: Enhancing Video to Support Micro-lecture Delivery
Dr Elizabeth Bailey – College of Social Science – School of Education – Senior Lecturer/Programme Leader – Staff Profile
Introduction
After putting together micro-lectures (videos, usually between 5-15 minutes long) as part of our School’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the move to online teaching, I was really sold on the idea of using these once we returned to campus. My students had liked it, too, and module feedback suggested they found these useful for breaking down their learning into smaller themes which they could approach at their own pace each week.
When it came to creating our new degree, BSc Education and Digital Learning, I knew that I wanted to utilise micro-lecture videos in some modules and that I would need to start learning how to put this kind of content together. Something that was particularly daunting with a new generation of TikTok-ing students on their way…
Implementation
I was running a new module in digital education on our BA Education degree and decided this was the perfect opportunity to trial the use of short videos over traditional lectures. As part of their assessment, the students themselves were also making a video for a client, as part of a learning package they create in teams, so it seemed fitting I would demonstrate the use of videos for learning, too.
Each week, instead of a one-hour lecture (which is typical for us in Education), the students received a playlist of sorts. This was usually a mix of around three short videos, or two videos and a podcast, and so on. Some of these videos were external (e.g. YouTube), but most were ones I had made. With the help of Mike and Dan in LALT, I learnt how to find stock videos and images and was introduced to the idea of editing videos on Adobe Premiere Pro which I would then upload to Panopto for students to watch.
I’m still very much finding my ‘style’ and working out what has a good time-spent-making to quality-of-video ratio, particularly when it comes to adding snazzier elements to my videos. I’ll share a few tips below (please skip over if you’re a video-editing pro … these are for newbies like me).
So, I experimented with simpler videos (‘5 issues in…’), videos with no speech, with and without music, videos with a lot of stock footage versus a PowerPoint with voiceover and I think I’m now starting to find my feet with what works well for my needs. I’ve put together a montage you can watch here and see some of the things I’ve tried.
Here are some things I’ve learnt:
- First and foremost – get / access a good microphone. Bad sound quality can be really disengaging in the world of (some…) high quality digital content students live in.
- Adobe Express is fantastic for snappy videos with minimal content, as well as animated titles (apply text animation and download as a video)
- Add audio on your whole video using one piece of software only. The difference in sound, even with the same mic, is jarring if you switch between PowerPoint to PremierePro, for example. I like to just record voiceover on PremierePro, personally.
- Create a short clip that you use at the beginning (and middle and end, if you wish) of your videos so they all have the same feel and orientate your students to the content. You can then remove this and swap in another if you use this content elsewhere. I use animated text from Adobe Express for this, but you could use a PowerPoint slide with an animation, or a clip or pre-made graphic from your editing software.
- Using the zoom function on your video-editing software can be a really effective way of adding life to still images
- Save a bank of stock footage that relates to your field so you can import these easily to videos you make.
- Don’t be afraid of talking toyour students. Ask them to pause the video and reflect, set them tasks, direct them to the reading list or a website, but don’t date your videos by referring to recent events or last week’s class etc. You’re making more editing work for next year… instead, add these in clips at the beginning or using text on Blackboard.
- Spend more time on videos you know won’t change very rapidly (e.g. key theories and concepts) and try and do one-take, simpler videos on things that might change (e.g. policy and new research)
- Finally, I always like to script my videos. It means I reduce my editing time (fewer ‘uhmmm’s), I say exactly what I want to say (which I don’t always manage in a live lecture..!) and I can upload this for students to use or to add/correct the captions on my video.
The video below highlights a few examples of different video techniques in practice.
Outcomes and Benefits
The students reported enjoying the video content in their digital education module. They liked being able to cover the teacher-centred content at home and at the pace they wanted to. I could still check they’d watched the videos through Panopto so that eased any concerns I had about engagement. I also ran the module with a flipped approach. So, I always followed up on the videos in the seminar session we had the same week and the students always had activities related to the video content. This also meant an easier planning experience for me as the videos and seminar content went hand-in-hand so the seminar content emerged quite naturally from the videos.
I really think video content has many advantages for students: the ability to rewind, rewatch, break down their learning over the week, and watch with captions, for example. They have time to sit and think about what has been presented to them, to engage with any related activities at their own pace and using whatever support tools they need to. They can arrive at a face-to-face class feeling confident about what they’re going to share and that they had the chance to take in all the content, even if they still had questions for me in the class.
I also like what video content offers me, as their lecturer: the longevity of what I produce, the ability to script exactly what I want to say, how I can track who has watched and how much, and how I can edit and re-work video content to serve different purposes on different modules. I like to be able to preserve class time for the students to take the lead, too. I can be confident they have what they need to know from me waiting for them on Blackboard each week.
Resources
Support Resource | Video Based Toolkit | Digital Education Support