1st Edition
99 Tips for Creating Simple and Sustainable Educational Videos A Guide for Online Teachers and Flipped Classes
The research is clear: online learning works best when faculty build regular, positive, and interactive relationships with students. A strategy that helps forge such a relationship is the use of videos. Student satisfaction and course engagement levels also increase with the use of instructor-generated videos – the subject of this book.Beginning by outlining the different types of videos you can create, and what the research says about their effectiveness, Karen Costa explains how they can be designed to reinforce learning, to align with and promote course outcomes, and to save you time across your courses. She then describes how to create successful videos with commonly available technologies such as your smartphone, and without a major investment of time, demonstrating the simple steps she took to develop her bank of videos and build her confidence to deliver short, straightforward learning aids that are effective and personal.Embedded QR codes in the text enable you to view sample videos and screencasts that bring the book’s advice to life as you read.If you’ve been wanting to include videos in your teaching but haven’t found the time or confidence, this book will help you to develop a simple and sustainable video development process, supporting both your success and the success of your students.
Figures Foreword—Michelle Pacansky-Brock Introduction Section One. Why Videos Will Work for You and Your Students Tip 1. Be Part of a Movement Tip 2. Recognize Your Power Tip 3. Build Relationships with Your Students Tip 4. Make Students Happy Tip 5. Have Fun Tip 6. Get Connected Tip 7. Save Time Tip 8. Expand Students’ Self-Efficacy Tip 9. Increase Comprehension of Course Concepts Section Two. Aligning Video Content with Instructional Goals Tip 10. Determine Your Instructional Goals Tip 11. Review My Example Goals. Humanity, Instruction, Clarity Tip 12. Show Your Humanity Tip 13. Explain a Concept Tip 14. Clarify a Task or Navigation Tip 15. Tell a Story Tip 16. Get Their Attention Tip 17. Make a Mini-Lecture Tip 18. Take Students on a Tour Tip 19. Use Graphic Organizers to Connect Ideas Tip 20. Welcome Week Tip 21. Greet Students at Door Tip 22. Play a Game Tip 23. It’s Time for a Field Trip Section Three. Guiding Theories and Research Tip 24. Be Present with the Community of Inquiry Model Tip 25. Validate Your Students Tip 26. Begin with Brains Tip 27. Go the Distance Tip 28. In This Together Tip 29. Apply Aesthetic-Usability Effect Tip 30. Fight Fear Tip 31. Get Emotional Tip 32. Cultivate Commonalities Tip 33. Integrate Immediacy Cues Tip 34. Know the Research Section Four. Which Types of Videos Will Work Best for You? Tip 35. Keep it Simple Tip 36. Forget Hollywood Tip 37. Satisfice Tip 38. Create a Talking Head Video Tip 39. Webcam or Phone? Tip 40. Meet Your New Best Friend. Screencasts Tip 41. Combine Screencasts with Talking Heads Section Five. Video Timing and Course Placement Tip 42. Use Course Announcements Tip 43. Include Videos in E-Mails Tip 44. Complement Course Discussions Tip 45. Locate Videos within Course Content Tip 46. Try On-the-Fly Videos Tip 47. Share Videos with Individual Students Tip 48. Use Videos in Graded Feedback Tip 49. Flip Your Land-Based Course Tip 50. Use Videos for Canceled Classes Tip 51. Incorporate Videos into Midterm and Final Reviews Section Six. Setting the Stage Tip 52. Find Decent Lighting Tip 53. Take a Look Behind You Tip 54. Keep the Camera Lens Level with Your Face Tip 55:Use a Microphone Tip 56:Will You Brush Your Hair? Tip 57:Reduce Background Noise Section Seven. Presentation Tips Tip 58:Don’t Use a Script Tip 59. Don’t Read Slides Tip 60. Make Eye Contact Tip 61. Perfect Your Posture Tip 62. The Camera Will Eat Your Energy Tip 63. Keep it General Tip 64. Brevity is the Order of the Day Tip 65. Allow Extra Time at First Tip 66. Explain the Video’s Relevance Tip 67. Break Some Eggs Section Eight. Using PowerPoint in Your Videos Tip 68:Telling Isn’t Teaching Tip 69. Apply Basic Design Principles Tip 70. Use Your Slides to Present Ideas, Not as Speaker Notes Tip 71. Understand the Neuroscience of PowerPoint Tip 72. Complement Your PowerPoint-Based Lectures with Structured Notes Section Nine. Is Being On-Camera for Everyone? Tip 73. Take the Wool Sweater Test Tip 74. Practice Makes Perfect Tip 75. Are You a Deer in the Headlights? Tip 76. Try Screencasts with Audio Only Tip 77. Get Animated Tip 78. A Special Note for Individuals from Diverse Backgrounds. Safety, Security, and Social Change Section Ten. Sharing Videos with Your Students Tip 79. Consult First Tip 80. Share Via Your Learning Management System Tip 81. Use YouTube Tip 82. Note the Video’s Length for Students Tip 83. Try this Simple and SustainableRecording and Sharing Tool Tip 84. Create a YouTube Playlist Tip 85. Caption Your Videos Tip 86. Discover Universal Design for Learning Section Eleven. Building Your Video Creation Practice Tip 87. Keep a Teaching Journal Tip 88. Develop a Plan Tip 89. Prioritize Your Plan Tip 90. Help! Priorities are Hard Tip 91. When in Doubt, Create a Welcome Video Tip 92. Focus on the Positives Tip 93. Seek Support Section Twelve. Practice Exercises Tip 94. It’s Storytime Tip 95. Say a Tongue Twister Tip 96. Make a Mistake Tip 97. Tell a Joke Tip 98. Make Music with Your Voice Tip 99. Speak from Your Heart Conclusion About the Author References Index
Biography
Karen Costa has over fifteen years of higher education experience and formerly served as the Director of Student Success at Mount Wachusett Community College. She is a national presenter on brain-based teaching and learning through the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). Karen is currently an adjunct faculty member teaching college success strategies to online students at multiple institutions. She is also involved in various faculty development initiatives including as a facilitator for Faculty Guild. She regularly presents on topics related to student and faculty success.Karen is a staff writer for Women in Higher Education. Her writing has also appeared in Inside Higher Education, Philadelphia Inquirer, On Being, and Faculty Focus. Karen graduated with honors from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She holds a Master of Education in Higher Education from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership from Northeastern University. A proud lifelong learner, Karen will complete her Certificate in Neuroscience, Learning, and Online Instruction from Drexel University in 2020. Karen is also a certified yoga teacher and Level 1 Yoga for Arthritis teacher. She lives in Massachusetts with her family.Connect with Karen on Twitter and YouTube.Also visit her professional site, www.karencostawriter.com.
"No green screens and expensive software here in Karen Costa's inspiring new book; instead, this is a hands-on, let's-go practical guide to using the tools you already have (webcam or phone) so that you can humanize your courses with video. As Karen's examples show, even just a minute or two of video can make a big impact. So if you're looking for creative new ways to connect with your students, you've come to the right book. Highly recommended for teachers and instructional designers in all fields. Bravo, Karen!"
Laura Gibbs, Online Instructor
University of Oklahoma"Reading Karen Costa’s 99 Tips is like spending time with a knowledgeable, encouraging, and fun colleague – the one you would turn to when you want to get started with video or improve your practice. Costa explores technical, pedagogical, and even emotional aspects of creating videos – this guide makes the process seem entirely doable. She makes the case that video enhances the experience of students and teachers alike. 99 Tips is an accessible and motivating read!"
Harriet L. Schwartz, PhD, author of Connected Teaching: Relationship, Power, and Mattering in Higher Education
“Reading 99 Tips For Creating Simple and Sustainable Educational Videos is like sitting down with an old friend and learning all of her best strategies for producing video content that will both help and motivate students in their learning. I loved the simplicity and practicality of Costa’s suggestions and think that this is the perfect book for instructors who want to dip their toes in the video production waters, but are not sure where to start.”
Kathryn E. Linder, Executive Director of Program Development
Kansas State University Global Campus“This practical and theory-driven book is a valuable resource for those new to creating video components for courses (whether for asynchronous, hybrid, or flipped courses). It also provides excellent advice and guidance for those with more experience.
As a guide through online teaching and videos, Costa is trustworthy and reliable. Her decade and a half in education and online instruction are evident not only through the advice provided but also through myriad examples that verify the effectiveness of these tips.
The tips presented are supported consistently by research—a third of the tips contain specific academic references and those that do not are supported by her teaching experience (as shown through examples in the text). The book builds from her experiences, research, and dedication to her students’ needs. Her personal and accessible writing style helps acquaint the reader with her teaching style.
In addition to an inviting academic-casual tone, she includes personable narratives to establish and justify the book’s tips. She also incorporates several QR codes throughout the book that link to YouTube videos in which she further explains concepts introduced in the tip with which the code was linked.”Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence
"The strategies outlined in this book could be easily practiced as hands-on techniques and immediately without a lot of preparation. I would recommend this book as a very useful tool among the diverse tools available to faculty across institutions to hone their video building and application skills in their teaching and learning."
Amar Kanekar
Journal of Faculty Development
