You know you can attract and engage students with video.
But here comes the tricky part. Your staff don’t. Let’s just say they’re not great with change.
They may even suck at it. They may frown and fold their arms and insist that you’re wrong, because the traditional way is right and it works and it doesn’t intimidate them.
Because that’s all it is. A little bit of fear. Some healthy caution. It’s natural.
They’re bound to be wary of taking a step or a leap in the way they teach, because what if it doesn’t work? What if the software messes up and the whole lesson plan goes to pot? What if it doesn’t engage the students and their grades drop?
No wonder they’re saying “No”.
But once they know the facts, once they know they can avoid and tackle these problems and once they know how easy it is to include a bit of video, they might just come around.
So here are a few points that’ll get your staff excited about adopting video:
It’ll Save Their Time (and boredom).
Your teachers will never have to do the same lecture twice.
No need to hear their own voices droning on about the same concepts in every term of every year, slowly dying inside.
If they film their lectures and share them on their learning management system (LMS), they can get students to watch them for homework and use class time for practical sessions, assessments and discussions. And they can keep the same videos for future groups, which means no more boring speeches.
And guess what!
The syllabus suddenly becomes way more engaging, not only for the students but for the teachers as well. Students have more time to voice their own opinions and debate the things they’ve learned. Jaded concepts become shiny and new.
Stephanie Butler Velegol, instructor in environmental engineering, started to flip her classes in 2010 and has never looked back. In an interview with Science Daily, she said, “There’s this saying that you can either be the ‘sage on the stage’ or the ‘guide on the side’. In a flipped classroom, anytime you do active learning, you’re moving yourself off the stage to a guide on the side, and to me, it’s more fun to build those relationships.”
Using video in this way also means teachers don’t have to repeat themselves or wait for slow writers to take notes. Instead, they can just upload the videos and transcripts onto their LMS, so students have all the information they need straight away.
For more info on how to flip your classroom, check out this flipping awesome practical guide.
Less Mess and Stress
This brings me onto my next point: By having all their key concepts recorded in video format, teachers escape the need to print, scan or photocopy notes and worksheets.
They can make videos of their slides or lectures or even get creative and show stories and animations. Regardless of their approach, it means they can share their videos with their students straight away and control the timespan of its availability. They’ll feel safe in the knowledge that their students can access all the course information without having to bombard them with paper resources.
This saves loads of money on printing and means teachers can avoid losing anything in an avalanche of paper. Instead, they can easily organize all their videos, transcripts and other class materials on your institution’s LMS and have an instant online backup.
Plus they can avoid the chore of scanning and photocopying. I mean, come on, who actually enjoys that?
Easy To Create
Your teachers may not want to incorporate video because they lack the confidence to use the software. They envision it to be techy and complicated, when it’s actually super simple. Let them know they don’t need to go fancy if they don’t want to. They can just film themselves lecturing using their own phones or tablets..
James Rolfe, Head of Science at Judgemeadow Community College said in an interview that he filmed experiments on his phone to show his students later: “They’re quick to make on an iPhone and we keep them short and really simple, but they’re so useful and can illustrate everything from how to measure current in a circuit to how to react a metal carbonate with acid.”
But there’s nothing holding your staff back from getting creative with their videos. They can include soundtrack and animations, subtitles and quizzes or even get Drama students to perform a script. They can incorporate video as a form of assessment or get students to make their own. This is a great way to increase student engagement and to let them demonstrate their understanding of the concepts they learn.
Their videos don’t even have to be long. In fact, the shorter they are, the better. Teaching a generation with an attention span shorter than a goldfish’s, you don’t want them to get bored or distracted.
The great thing about video is that it allows your teachers to get their points across so much quicker. Incorporating audio and visual elements (and text if they so choose), a 1 minute video paints 1.8 million words. (Forrester Research).
So much faster than a lecture and just as effective. At least it was for Velegol, who found that her flipped classroom increased student engagement, self efficacy and motivation to learn.
Easy To Upload
What’s that you say? They’re still wary of using video software?
Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered. If you use an LMS like Blackboard, which has a vzaar video plugin, teachers can upload their videos to share with staff and students in just a few clicks.
They can reach the plugin straight from your Blackboard interface, which means they don’t have to get around any confusing external software. And to make your life even easier, we’ve made a short, step-by-step demo on how to use this plugin.
So get your teachers to watch it. Show them how easy it is. They just need to try it out and they’ll love it in no time.
Guest post by: Fionnuala Bland
Fionnuala is an elearning enthusiast and content writer at @vzaar, the video hosting platform.