Skip to main content
To KTH's start page

Educational video

An educational video focuses on teaching a concept, topic or theory of various kinds. The recommended structure is to divide the video into introduction, content and summary. Here we explain what you should include in the different parts.

Enhance your recorded lectures

Students appreciate recorded lectures, but it is more of a documentation than an educational video. A recorded lecture can benefit from cutting and editing to become more web-friendly. For example, remove technical errors, misspellings, long pauses, interruptions and other things that give nothing to the viewer. You can also insert other material, such as graphics, in your video that you could not bring to the lecture.

Structure in the video

An educational video should have a self-contained structure to help students understand the content of the video and its relationship to other course material. This page explains how to do this with the following breakdown:

  • Introduction.
  • Content.
  • Summary.

Remember to Plan your recording using a script .

Introduction

An introduction should arouse students' interest and curiosity. It also helps prepare students for how to use the video.

In the introduction, you should do the following:

  • Explain the purpose of the video. For example, which part of the course is included in the video and which problems will be solved.
  • Briefly describe how the video is structured and what is included in each part.
  • Mention any boundaries you made in the video.
  • Instruct how students are expected to study the video.
  • Inform about the possible prerequisites needed to follow along in the video. For example, if the students have to see another video, read certain literature, or have access to specific software or the like.

Tip! Please include a short introduction before each part. It clarifies that you have moved on to the next part and reminds the students of what you said at the beginning of the video.

The content of the video

As a teacher, you know best what should be included in the video, so these tips will focus on how to effectively present your material in a video.

Keep your video focused

Each video should cover only one topic or a few related topics to feel focused and relevant to students. You may therefore find that certain content is better suited in its own video, even if it is part of the same classroom-based lesson. The length of the video is thus directly linked to the content, unlike classroom-based teaching, which is always dependent on physical limitations, for example, the length of the classroom booking.

Read more about splitting your video on the page Long or short video?

Allow time for reflection with natural and pronounced pauses

Videos have greater opportunities for reflection than lectures, as the students control the video's playback. But the students' thoughts must be given time to sink in for them to even consider pausing the video to think further. Therefore, you should give room for reflection after thought-provoking material with natural breaks. For example, by stopping for a while and looking down at your papers or with a transition between two scenes. It also feels natural to take breaks between chapters, so feel free to divide your video into chapters.

You can also make use of pronounced pauses and prompts for reflection. Students often experience this aspect of videos very positively and are helped when the teacher says, for example, "now you can pause and try this yourself".

Reduce distractions

Students will likely study for your video outside of the classroom and therefore be exposed to more distractions than in classroom instruction. You can help students focus on the right thing in the video by reducing distractions in it, for example by:

  • having a neutral background without things that move or flicker
  • turning off unnecessary sound and light sources
  • avoiding background music
  • turning off background programs when screen recording to reduce the risk of notifications.

The students' attention should be directed to your voice and what you are showing. Do a recording test before filming and verify that everything sounds good and looks good. Remember that inserted decorative graphics or visual content can be perceived as disturbing if irrelevant to what is being taught.

Point out what the students should pay attention to in the picture. For example, zoom in or add effects so that the most critical thing in the frame is highlighted or the only thing in focus.

The summary ties the video together

At the end of the video, you can insert a summary of the main content of the video to tie it together. Most of the time, a list of the main points, problems, and solutions explained in the video is fine. The summary helps students reflect on the content of the video.

Be inspired by others

Feel free to search the internet for examples of educational videos of various kinds and let yourself be inspired by how others have worked with video. On YouTube, there are many examples of instructional and demo videos created for educational purposes. As you watch the videos, think about how the subject is taught and how they use the video medium to do it. Note how the teacher figures in the video, what kind of graphic elements are present and in which environments the teacher is seen. Also, try to think about where in a course the video fits in and how the students can study the video in the best way.

KTH has also collected some example videos: .