99 Tips for Creating Simple and Sustainable Educational Videos

"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

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 Sustainable Recording 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

Karen Costa

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.

Book Review - Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

YouTube Video Playlist - 99 Tips for Creating Simple and Sustainable Videos

Introductory video - Learn more about 99 Tips for Creating Simple and Sustainable Videos

Tip #37: Satisficing During COVID-19