Put it to video!

Do you have announcements, examples, directions, or any other written document in your course that students routinely DO NOT read?  If you answered yes, you are not alone!  In fact, Linda DesJardines, Lacey Finley, Laurie Haj Ashab, Meggan Hansen, Catherine Neset, and Elise Roberts all shared with me that this was an area they struggled with previously but have seen success in hurdling over by putting things to video!

When I say "put it to video" you don't need to have sophisticated recording devices; rather, using your headset and one of the free online screencasting tools -  like Screencast-o-Matic or Jing - you can quickly and easily articulate, demonstrate,  and explain to your students both visually and with audio what you are trying to convey.

• Catherine Neset shared with me that when she put to video some documents that previously were in the class but seemed to have been ignored by students, she immediately saw a difference in student use and understanding of that information.  
• Meggan Hansen uses screencasting to help demonstrate processes for students to emulate in their own process completion (seeing then doing).
• Lacey Finley highlights to her students the importance of viewing these videos by placing "IMPORTANT, PLEASE VIEW" with the videos and she has seen their viewing rates triple in certain courses.  

Our goals as instructors are to get the information to students, help them comprehend, synthesize, and utilize the information, and ultimately be prepared to use it after course completion.  But if we aren't successful at getting the information to them to begin with, we cannot progress to the next steps.  Video might help in being more successful in that first step.  Give it a try!

You can find information on Screencast-o-Matic and Jing - as well as other video resources - by clicking on the labels on the side of this blog.

Thanks,
Heather Thomton-Stockman
Online Instructional Specialist