A course intro video is a great place to start off the course. Spending a few minutes introducing yourself and the course is an excellent way to show your personality, humanize the online learning experience, and help build a positive relationship with your students. This kind of video is especially important for those students who are hesitant about the course or new to online learning.

Common Set-ups

• Talking Head

Examples

A course orientation video is helpful for students to become familiar with the Learning Management System (HuskyCT/Blackboard), getting to know where to access the materials, submit assignments, and check grades. Draft a list of items and take your time to cover all the items in detail. This will help minimize the support effort needed later in the course.

Common Set-ups

• Screencast

Content walkthrough videos are short, dedicated videos to review certain elements of the course with students. For instance, videos for the syllabus, schedule, major/complex assignments, tools (e.g., VoiceThread, Perusall) could be beneficial as walkthrough videos. These videos are also helpful in de-stressing students so that they can focus on the content of the course.

Common Set-ups

• Screencast
• Slides with Voiceover

Example: Jean Coffey, NURS 5030

Module/topic overview videos give an opportunity to engage students from the beginning of the unit. Provide a quick overview of the content, your expectations, where students should pay special attention, or even some cliffhangers. These videos are simple yet powerful in showing your preparedness and make the learning experience personable.

These videos could be prepositioned in the module or sent out as a weekly announcement.

Common Set-ups

• Talking Head
• Slides with Voiceover
• Screencast

Example: Elizabeth Mayerson, NURS 5470

Lecture videos are the most popular type and are generally what people think of when they refer to educational video content. These videos are commonly delivered by topics and arranged in a meaningful sequence. The goal of these videos is to serve as the primary source of the course content in an online course; therefore, they often include outlines, visual aids, examples, and questions.

Additionally, guest lecture videos are a great way to provide varied expertise beyond the lecture videos primarily delivered by the instructor.

As seen from the many other examples, lecture videos are only one way to effectively integrate video content into your courses.

Common Set-ups

• Slides with Voiceover
• Screencast
• Lightboard Studio
• Live Session Recording
• Camera

Examples:

Interviews with experts and industry professionals are another great way to provide varied expertise beyond content delivered by the instructor.

Common Set-ups

• Slides with Voiceover
• Screencast
• Lightboard Studio
• Live Session Recording
• Camera

Experiential learning videos can take your students out of the typical classroom lecture environment into realistic experiences through the lens of the instructor. These videos allow a higher level of flexibility regarding locations and tools used for recording and can be substantial in building instructor presence and encouraging engagement.

Common Set-ups

• Camera

Examples

Student-created videos are another great strategy to engage students. Consider encouraging students to use videos for class introductions, discussion posts/responses, and class projects/presentations.

Common Set-ups

• Talking Head
• Slides with Voiceover
• Screencast
• Lightboard Studio
• Live Session Recording
• Camera

Example: Matt DeBacco, SPSS 2130 & 3680 (Camera)

A talking-head video features the instructor (or student) speaking directly to the webcam.

Common Purposes

• Course Introduction
• Module/Topic Overview
• Student-Created Content
• Feedback

Examples

Slides with voiceover combines [PowerPoint] slides with the instructor’s narration. Depending on the recording software used, this format may include picture-in-picture with a talking head.

Common Purposes

• Content Walkthrough
• Module/Topic Overview
• Lecture
• Student-Created Content

Amanda Denes, COMM 5200 (Lecture)

A screencast video captures the instructor’s computer screen along with voiceover narration. Depending on the recording software used, this format may include picture-in-picture with a talking head.

Common Purposes

• Course Orientation
• Content Walkthrough
• Module/Topic Overview
• Lecture
• Student-Created Content
• Feedback

Examples

Lightboard is a special studio recording setup that allows instructors to record and annotate on a transparent glass illuminated with LED lights. A lightboard video resembles the face-to-face environment in that the instructor stands facing the camera and writes on the lightboard in front of them. Lightboard videos are found to be of special value for lectures where instructor annotations are called for. Because the teaching process (writing and explaining) is happening at the same time, it requires less editing and animation techniques compared to other video formats.

CETL’s lightboard studio is open for appointments. Our studio is also equipped with a green screen that allows instructors to record raw footage and composite images to be used for video production.

Common Purposes

• Lecture

Example: Amit Savkar, MATH (Lecture)

View more examples on the UConn Lightboard website.

Live session videos are recordings from a synchronous class session, event, or presentation, either in-person or online.  To meet best-practice regarding content alignment to course learning objectives and video length, this format may require special video editing software and skills.

Note: Recordings of synchronous lectures should be used with caution when there is student presence in them. The U.S. Department of Education has issued guidelines specifying the dos and don'ts to be FERPA compliant. UConn's interpretation can be found in an April 2020 announcement from the Privacy Program. All questions regarding this matter should be directed to privacy@uconn.edu.

Common Purposes

• Lecture
• Interview

Example: Beth Settje, UNIV 4800 (Guest Lecture)

A web conference session allows for easy recording of an interview or panel. This type of video could feature slides or a screencast in addition to talking heads.

Common Purposes

• Interview
• Student-Created Content