When creating videos for online courses, experts agree that it is very important to plan them carefully (e.g., Guo, Kim, & Rubin, 2014; Grant, 2016; Hansch et al., 2015). Different types of videos may be watched differently by students, so you’ll want to consider what the purpose of your video is when planning it out. You may even want to consider scripting your video, and you’ll definitely want to practice. In any case, designing and delivering videos tailored to the online course you’re creating is better than simply chopping up video that was captured for some other classroom or purpose.
Consider the difference in how a student might watch a video that is a lecture or an interview versus a demonstration or a tutorial. Students listening to a story or a presentation of information are more likely to watch a video all the way through, whereas students watching an instructor model a skill they are trying to master may pause and rewatch pieces of the video. As such, when creating a tutorial, it can be helpful to include clear signposts throughout the video for students to wayfind (Guo, Kim, & Rubin, 2014). Some video platforms and tools let you indicate chapters in a video, or you could include longer pauses with on-screen text to indicate a transition.
Experts are somewhat mixed on the practice of fully scripting videos (Hansch et al., 2015). It can be challenging for a novice to deliver a scripted speech without sounding stilted. But given the short recommended length of no more than about four-to-six minutes per video, scripting (or at least very careful planning) can help make sure that you’re delivering only the information that is necessary and avoiding extraneous um’s and ah’s (Grant, 2016; Thomson, Bridgstock, & Willems, 2014). Oakley and Sejnowski carefully scripted their videos in the extremely popular MOOC Learning How to Learn in order to avoid wasting time and superfluous content (Oakley, Poole, & Nestor, 2016).
Though it may take some extra time and effort, planning and creating videos specifically made for your online course are worth it. It gives you an opportunity to leverage best practices like creating short meaningful segments. making eye contact with the camera, and delivering in a personal style that will make your videos much more engaging than simply using video captured for other purposes (Guo, Kim, & Rubin, 2014)
Grant, K. (2016) The transformational use of video in online learning. Humanizing online teaching and learning. Whitney Kilgore. Retrieved from https://humanmooc.pressbooks.com/chapter/the-transformational-use-of-video-in-online-learning/
Guo, P. J., Kim, J., & Rubin, R. (2014). How video production affects student engagement: an empirical study of MOOC videos. Proceedings of the first ACM conference on Learning @ scale conference (L@S ’14). https://doi.org/10.1145/2556325.2566239
Hansch, A., Hillers, L., McConachie, K., Newman, C., Schiledhauer, T. & Schmidt, J. P. (2015) Video in online learning: Critical reflections and findings from the field. HIIG Discussion Paper Series No. 2015-02. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2577882
Oakley, B. A., Poole, D., & Nestor, M. (2016). Creating a Sticky MOOC. Online Learning, 20(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.24059/olj.v20i1.731
Thomson, A., Bridgstock, R., & Willems, C. (2014). ‘Teachers flipping out’beyond the online lecture: Maximising the educational potential of video. Journal of Learning Design, 7(3), 67-78.