7 Videos You Should Make For Your Online Courses
The Corona crisis has forced schools and universities to master completely new challenges. Within a few weeks, teachers had to be utterly open to distance learning and learn that it is not that easy to create practical online courses.
This article will show you how to keep students and course participants engaged during distance teaching by creating video courses with audio-visual learning units.
The Use Of Video In The Classroom Offers Two Main Advantages:
- The medium is ideal for clearly conveying knowledge.
- With video, you can Deliver teaching content asynchronously.
Pupils and students can watch the video recordings to suit their daily routine. This means that Zoom meetings or video conferences only have to be scheduled at certain times, specifically for group discussions, questions, and personal interactions.
Which Learning Videos Should You Create For Your Online Courses?
We have made a list of 7 types of online tutorial videos to add value to your virtual classroom. This is how you secure the attention of pupils and students – even if they are not sitting in your classroom or lecture hall.
1. Introductory Video
It is best to create a small one at the beginning of your video course introductory video.
This is not time-consuming, but it is a valuable orientation aid for pupils and students. Briefly introduce yourself and explain which learning objectives you want to pursue, which course dates are coming up, and what you expect from your course participants.
Feel free to use this opportunity to get a little personal. Tell us about your hobbies, your family, or your pets. This reduces the distance between teacher and learner – even if the lessons occur at a distance. Little insights into your life make you appear more “human” and help students develop a relationship with you and deepen their interest in your course.
2. Course Overview
It doesn’t matter if you only want to temporarily switch to distance learning or create long-term online training courses as part of distance learning. Your students and course participants need to know how the lessons will be conducted and find the necessary learning materials. This Course Overview discusses important dates and resources and explains how to submit homework and student work.
The more detailed you make this overview, the fewer questions you will have to answer individually about the course process.
3. Theme Preview
In this video, you give your students or course participants a little taste of the upcoming week, the next chapter, or a new lesson. This will ensure learners feel better prepared and more involved in the course.
You are welcome to show some enthusiasm for the upcoming lessons. One criticism of many online courses is a lack of enthusiasm. But you can counteract this. Arouse interest in fascinating topics. Can you pique your students’ or course participants’ curiosity with a cliffhanger? Short preview videos, which run like a red thread through your online course, create connections and bring new momentum to the digital learning environment.
4. Explanatory And Instructional Videos
To explain specific topics or tasks in more detail, you can create simple explainer videos for your online course. Don’t worry; you don’t have to dress up extra. Your viewers don’t expect an Oscar-ready production. Be casual and natural; it works best. Most students prefer more informal videos.
“Students don’t care if I made a little mistake, if my hair is right, or if I sneezed during the recording,” said Tracy Schaelen, distance learning director at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California. “They just want to see me as I am and not in the role of a professional speaker.”
Some topics you can cover in explainer videos:
- Lesson plan
- Course schedule
- Laboratory procedures
- Details on projects or homework
- Information on how to participate in discussions
- Instructions for submitting term papers
- Instructions for tests and exams
- Dates, deadlines, and performance targets
5. Feedback Videos
You can use Feedback as an additional teaching method in the digital classroom! Give to your students or course participants Feedback via video, in which you explain your corrections, make detailed comments, and offer concrete suggestions for improvement. In-depth video feedback can also be of great benefit to learners who keep making the same mistakes repeatedly.
Such individual Feedback is much more personal than written comments and increases the learning effect and the motivation to learn.
6. Video Tasks
Your participants can also take the lead and create their own videos for your course! Many students prefer to produce video recordings rather than submitting traditional word problems, which promotes creativity and expands their digital knowledge.
Course participants can, for example, introduce themselves with a short video or deal with discussion topics using video contributions. This strengthens the sense of togetherness, often neglected in distance learning.
7. Video Lessons
Video lessons are the cornerstone of effective online courses, and they convey lesson content and provide explanations on the topics covered.
However, that doesn’t mean you should spend an hour crunching PowerPoint slides on the screen. Keep your viewers engaged by creating shorter videos for your online course and including those videos whenever possible interactive elements enrich. Short learning units are easier to process, and the format also offers advantages for you because the production effort is far lower.
Show your face! Screen captures are useful for conveying information, but adding webcam videos to your lesson will make it more personal. In addition, you can add interactive elements, e.g., a short one quiz to your course video, and thus actively involve your viewers in the video lesson. With the right tools, this can be done without much effort. Some learning management systems like Moodle support this functionality directly or through specific plugins like H5P. Alternatively, you can use a video editing program like Camtasia to create your interactive online learning videos.
Find out which options your video platform or learning management system supports and which workflows you prefer to give your videos more interactivity.
Now It Is Your Turn!
The short-term changeover to Distance learning and digital semesters broke new ground in many ways, but that doesn’t mean our education has to suffer.
Don’t be afraid to give the video a chance in the virtual classroom!
With the help of the tips listed here, you can create high-quality video courses for e-learning scenarios and online training quickly.
Also Read: 3 Typical Video Errors That Can Be Easily Corrected After Recording
