Using video as an instructional tool is grounded in several learning theories. Richard Mayer's Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning states that people learn more using words and pictures than words alone. Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory explains how we learn from observing others. Both of these are in sync with using demonstration videos to teach. From accounting and math to technology topics, these theories support using video tutorials as learning activities. Video tutorials allow users to play, pause, and re-play to learn the topic at hand. Most of my videos are created with the video creation tool Camtasia and can be viewed on my YouTube Channel. Some specific items are also listed below.
How to Create a Narrated PowerPoint
The target audience of this video was online instructors who were encouraged to provide narrated PowerPoints for their online students. With some visual instructions, faculty were able to create the narration, which provided teaching and cognitive presence in the course.
Providing Formative Feedback
Providing individual formative feedback is the best option, but it is also possible to provide substantive "canned" feedback, Using the Moodle Quiz activity as an example, instructors are shown how to create the general and specific feedback that will guide students in their thinking and knowledge acquisition.
Microsoft Word's Citation Manager
When several faculty members commented that students do not know how to properly cite their sources, I recommended Microsoft Word's Citation Manager. Using this feature properly, helps learners stay focused on the content while still providing properly formatted citations.
Learner Centered Teaching Enhanced with Technology
This video highlights how learner-centered teaching can be enhanced with technology. The learners in this case are teachers. Viewers will gain insight into some of the research as to why learner-centered teaching is most effective, as well as how technology can be used to promote a learner-centered environment.
Reusable Learner Objects
Certain elements are useful for many courses. Items such as understanding plagiarism, how to use boolean logic in searches, and so forth, can be used over and over as courses require. This video describes and demonstrates this concept.
Schedule Appointments in Moodle
This video demonstrates how online students can schedule a synchronus meeting with their instructor using the Moodle "Scheduler" activity.
Multimedia Course - Assessment of Basic Shot Types
The audience for this video are students in an online Multimedia course. The video demonstrates and explains how to create a final assessment of the four basic shot types. Using video examples helps clarify many questions for online learners. Additionally, videos help build cognitive and teaching presence in online courses.
Dreamweaver Tutorial - Embedding Video
Just like the above video, the target audience are students in an online Multimedia course. This is a demonstration "how to" video for students using Dreamweaver to embed videos in their websites. Technology classes can be very trick to teach online, but I have found that using detailed instructional videos works very well.
Animated PowerPoint
This video was created as an example of a final product for online education students. Instructional videos also were created, but students wanted to see an "end result" so they had a good idea of expectations.
Game Maker Software - Cartoon Story Maker and Crossword Puzzle Maker
After stumbling upon this software, I presented it to a creative Spanish instructor. She used this software and found it to be a successful way to integrate technology and motivate and engage students. Submitting "cartoons" to a common area in the online LMS allowed students to share and/or collaborate on an engaging (dare I say "fun") activity. This video is a "tech how-to" for the software.
Creating Modified Block Style Letters
This video was incorporated into a keyboarding course to demonstrate how to set tab stops and the proper spacing for a modified block style letter. As the instructor and designer of the course, I found that using the videos was extremely beneficial for students as opposed to using only text-based instructions. I now use both the text instructions and the video instructions.
Google Apps Tutorial - Adding Collections
This is one example of a series of tutorials created for instructors to learn how to use Google Apps.
Moodle Quiz Question Types: Drag and Drop into Text
This video was created when Moodle added new interactive quiz question types to the system. This video demonstrates how teachers can create drag and drop style questions for their online quizzes.
Making Online Courses Interactive
During the Spring of 2014 I was a student in the Wright State University course title "Making Online Courses Interactive." This course prepared me for teaching a synchronous online course using the Blackboard Collaborate tool. Many topics were addressed, from technical considerations to creating effective presentations, to ensuring student interaction is an integral feature.