The following are recommendations based on the experience of Bethel's instructional media designers

Video Summary

Identify the purpose of your media

Informal / Short-term / Section-specific Media:

Consider creating informal, low-production video or audio files for one-time use media. The benefit of these is that you can contextualize the content for a specific group of students, which can allow students to connect well with you and the course material. These are some examples of media that fit well into this category:

Introduce the course
Introduce yourself to students
Make and announcement
Preview the week ahead
Summarize the previous week
Summarize a forum discussion
Respond to student questions
Explain and assignment or activity
Connect with students
Build community

Formal / Long-term / Content-based Media:

Create high quality media that will be used long-term, or that is content-based. For these types of media invest in pre-production planning and adhere to the suggestions below to extend the longevity of your media:

Explain a concept
Synthesize course content
Give an example
Demonstrate a skill or process
Interview an expert
Lecture on a topic not covered by other course materials

Suggestions for Formal / Long-term / Content-based Media:

Tips to Increase Viewing

Select content that is integral to students' ability to succeed in their coursework
Create content that is unique and that does not repeat other required resources
Create content that is engaging, meaningful for learning, and well-organized
Ensure that the audio quality is good
Ensure that the video quality is good
Create slides that align with the audio
Chunk content into short, discrete segments or topics
Add a hook to set-up the presentation by telling students why the content is important, and what to look for
Reiterate your hook partway through the presentation, or adding a pause partway through the video to ask a question for students to consider
Limit your video length to 8 minutes or less
Speak at your normal pace. Do not artificially slow down your speed
Bring enthusiasm and energy to your presentation; avoid a monotone delivery

Sustainability

Avoid specific course-centric language
Avoid referencing time or location related events (e.g., weather, sports)
Avoid saying how many years ago something happened; reference the exact date or year instead
Avoid including assignment instructions in content-based videos
Use technologies that allow you to easily update your video (e.g., narrated slides, audio files)
Use strategies that allow you to easily update your content (e.g., well-organized, short segments of chunked content).

Planning

Preparation is the key to success. Pre-production = Planning = Effective Learning Objects
Ask yourself these questions:

Does the content support the learning outcomes?
Can existing content be used?
Is the best option to create a video?
What content is to be presented?
How long will it take to present the content?
How can my content be "chunked" into short segments?
What descriptive titles will I use for each segment?
What is the best media type for each video's content?

Media Plan Google Doc (rename and save to My Drive for your own use)

Media Type Examples

Lecture to camera
- With or without slides
- With or without a whiteboard or a lightboard
Demonstration
Interview
Documentary
Narrated slides
Screen capture

Preparation

Identify the location for the recording
Identify the set
Script or outline the presentation
Practice reading your script or presenting your outline out load several times before recording it
Create graphics or slides to accompany your presentation, as needed

Slide Design

Use a Bethel PowerPoint Template. This facilitates the use of:
- a 16x9 widescreen format
- a consistent font and font size
Use a font size of 32 point for headers and 24-28 point for slide content; if there is very little text on a slide make it 32 point
Create slides with a significant amount of white space (blank space); ideally 60% of your slide will be blank
Emphasize important words or phrases by making them a contrasting color, or a larger font size
Limit yourself to six bullets per slide (use more slides for more bullets)
Consider limiting yourself to six words per bullet
Avoid the use of underlining and italics
Use PowerPoint animations to ensure your narration and text on-screen match, by revealing text as you discuss it.
Do not use PowerPoint transitions between slides. These can create technical problems when converting a narrated PowerPoint file into a video format

Scheduling

Determine the timeline
Identify and schedule intermediate due dates
Schedule the recording session
Discuss the project with your videographer or producer (if you have one)
Schedule time for editing
Schedule time for approvals (if needed)

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