DOTS: Best Practices for Using Video

This presentation accompanies the "DOTS Best Practices for Using Video" session and is available in three formats: You can view the Ooyala video version by pressing the play button above. Alternatively, you can download the video as a M4V file. This version will play in iTunes, QuickTime and on iPods, iPhones and Apple TVs. iTunes is a free download that will work on both Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X. Lastly, you can download the presentation as a 3GP file. This file will play on mobile devices that support the Third-Generation Platform standard for mobile devices. In this short presentation I presented fourteen suggestions for best practices. I also used this opportunity to test some hardware and software - the material presented on the projector was recorded with ScreenFlow, and a BT-1 Bluetooth Webcam was used to stream live video from the back of the room. The test did not go exactly to plan, I lost the feed from the BT-1 about 10 minutes into the presentation. I will continue to refine my testing to see if the BT-1 is suitable for faculty use. Fourteen Suggestions Don’t Replicate the Mundane Don’t attempt to slavishly copy the classroom experience. Your learning objectives may be the same, but the way you achieve this must be different. Be aware of non-verbal communication. Brevity 7 minutes or less. Chunk Your Content Break content into discreet topics. Avoid Numbering The structure of your course content will change in the future. Plan for revisions and reorganization. Provide a Transcript Be aware of ADA (Americans with Disabilities)/Section 508 recommendations. Multiple Methods To View Video Technology fails. Build in contingency plans and redundancy. Streaming Vs. Download Be aware of of the advantages and disadvantages. Ideally you should provide content in both formats. Entwine Video with Assignment Are students able to complete the assignment without watching the video? Look For Feedback Each week I ask six basic questions in my online and blended courses. The feedback helps me understand what I am doing right, and what I need to improve upon: What was the most useful thing that you learnt this week? What was the least useful thing that you learnt this week? Is there anything that you did not understand? Did you experience any technical difficulties? Is there anything you want to tell me? How useful to you were the videos? Archive Intelligently You will need to revise material in the future. Make sure you know where your production files are kept. Inspiration and Pedagogy: Richard E. Mayer Richard Mayer has published widely, I would suggest reading Multimedia Learning: Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia Learning (2nd ed). New York: Cambridge University Press. Inspiration and Pedagogy: Edward Tufte The four texts I would recommend are: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information Envisioning Information Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint Inspiration and Pedagogy: Honda Accord Cog Inspiration and Pedagogy: Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us