Teaching with video is not new, but being able to integrate video into teaching in a much more interactive way has changed drastically over the years! Read on for our top 5 new tips on using video tools to enhance your instruction!
1: Use Zoom Polls to engage, interact, and check for attention.
Keeping learners involved is important in the learning process. Interaction is a key ingredient. Interaction supports lower-level cognitive skills and is when participants and hosts use technology to communicate. Using Polls in Zoom is a great option for keeping participants engaged and to check for attention. If you want to create and launch Polls in Zoom and have never done so, you may need to enable Polls in your Zoom settings.
Learn more:
- How to Enable Polling for Meetings
- Conducting polls in meetings
- Create advanced polls and quizzes
- Review polling reports
2: Use PowerPoint as background in Zoom to keep your students engaged.
Another alternative for online teaching and learning using video is to make your PowerPoint your background in Zoom. This creates an immersive sharing experience and allows your students to view you as the instructor (video imposed) directly on the screen share. It allows you to manage the presentation directly from within the Zoom meeting controls.
Learn more:
3: Use Kaltura Playlists as an Assignment in Canvas.
You can use media to drive an assignment in Canvas by creating a Channel Playlist from your course Media Gallery. The Media Gallery is private to the course you are in; everyone enrolled in that course can see what’s published in the Media Gallery. You can upload course-specific media or enrichment materials for students to view, scheduling them to appear and disappear from the gallery at set times and in a specific order, making it a great place to share time sensitive materials like the answers to last week’s calculus problems. The playlist allows students to watch media in a logical order that you choose.
Learn more:
- Kaltura: Embed a Regular Playlist
- Kaltura: Organize Media in Channels with Playlists
- Kaltura Learning Path: For MediaSpace Users
- Kaltura Learning Path: For Canvas Users
4: Use VoiceThread as a discussion forum.
All Penn State faculty, staff, and students have access to VoiceThread through the voicethread.psu.edu page. VoiceThread is a web-based application that allows you to increase interaction and engagement in your classroom, creating a collaborative asynchronous learning environment. Each VoiceThread conversation, like a presentation, is comprised of slides, and each slide comprises a piece of digital material, such as an image, video, or document. Anyone with access to the VoiceThread conversation can leave comments on these slides, making it a great space for a discussion board. Users can post comments in a variety of formats, including audio, video, and written comments. Many PSU faculty have utilized VoiceThread for conducting weekly peer topic discussion or module kickoff discussions. The tool can help to build a sense of community in an online course.
Learn more:
- Tips for Engaging Students in Your Course with VoiceThread
- Creating a new VoiceThread
- How to Comment
5: Use Comparison Table to guide video tool integration.
It’s not always better to use only one tool or a lot of tools when teaching with video, but to select the tool that best fits your needs. Choosing the desired video tool for your course begins with deciding what your intent is for using the tool. To help decide which new video tools to implement in your course, refer to the Comparison Table, which compares the features and functions offered by Zoom, Kaltura, and VoiceThread.
Learn more:
For additional tips on using Video in the Classroom – see Tips for Video in the Classroom (June 2022)