Student perspectives and some requests for recorded video material
Here you can read tips on what students consider important when using video material to learn. As a teacher, you can, among other things, think about actively encouraging the student to pause and reflect upon the content, and to visualize what you are saying.
What students want
What different students have for expectations and wishes for a educational video varies, but some wishes recur. This page lists some general tips that are requested by students. It may, for example, be that the video has a clear purpose, that the content is easily accessible or strengthened by relevant peripheral information. In a video, structure is extra mportant as the student does not have the opportunity to ask questions or ask you, as a teacher, to reformulate yourself, as compared with synchronous teaching.
It is a longer process to get support for students who need clarification of what is included in the published video with associated information.
Some things that students want you to do when designing a video is that you:
- process the video after recording
- create time for reflection with natural breaks
- keep your video short and focused
- visualize in multiple ways
- vary the content
- have a clear and well-thought-out course design around the video.
Process the video after recording
Students spend more time on educational videos compared to a synchronous campus lecture. In synchronous teaching sessions, students acquire the knowledge at this particular moment, while the video is less bound by time and can be watched several times, at later occassions. The students who receive a well-prepared and edited video usually state that they remember the content more clearly than after a regular lecture.
Create time for reflection with natural pauses
Since it can be cognitively difficult to mentally process information while actively listening, it is wise to include pauses in the video to give the students room for reflection and time to write questions without missing the continuation of your lecture. This is usually perceived as a positive aspect of video.
Plan in advance where these pauses should most appropriately be inserted, it benefits both you as a teacher as it will be a reminder for you during the recording itself about this, in addition, the students do not always automatically pause in the video, so set pauses help them to do so. Those who study a video usually tend do the exact opposite, that is, they speed up the video to get through it even faster.
Also remember to divide the video into chapters and give out questions in advance.
Keep your video short and focused
It's better to have a clear focus and that the video is short than trying to include an entire course content. Rather publish several short videos that deal with smaller episodes than a single long video with broad and varied content. You make it easier for students if they can easily navigate and quickly find specific sections.
There are also other benefits to making shorter videos. A short video about a specific part of the course content will be easier to use in more contexts, such as other courses and other teaching situations. Short videos also tend to require less editing.
Visualize in multiple ways
Students request that you as a teacher visualize the content of what you say. Try to think of methods to visualize what you describe easily in pictures. It doesn't have to be lots of effects or different angles, there are easier ways to put in things that activate more senses in the person who is watching and learning.
By proper use of the various technical possibilities offered by the video medium, you can enhance the accessibility aspects of the video. For example, try to stop and insert a close-up of a certain step in a lab when you mention it or show a complicated concept in text as well in the image.
Students more often remember a video that is varied in its design and has a lecturer who conveys enthusiasm and energy.
Vary the content
Students often search for video material from the web themselves to get alternative explanations or extra in-depth descriptions. For example, it is common when students want different explanatory models on mathematical excercises. Students are asking for more options on how to calculate excercises to broaden and deepen their knowledge. However, this does not mean that you as a teacher should overload your videos with more things, but rather vary how you present pre-existing material. For example, you can explain key concepts both formally and informally, or visualize a text-based example.
Have a clear and well-thought-out course design around the video
Have a clear purpose for the video and present it to the students before they start watching the video, so they can put it in context. The information is crucial for motivation and knowledge acquisition.
Where you publish the video, you can inform about, for example:
- why the students should watch the video
- what the students are expected to have learned after watching the video
- what course elements are included in the video
- what course objectives are associated with the video.
