Transcript – Creating Effective Video Lectures

A lecture is a popular tool in designing and creating online learning experiences. A short
recorded video lecture can support the guided examination of information for learners. In this
video, we will look at best practices and tools for creating effective video lectures.
First, some questions for you to consider. How long will you watch this video? What do you
think is the optimal time length of a video to promote engagement? How do you feel about
structure? More specifically, how do your lectures fit into the structure of a learning activity?
How are your design skills? What graphic design considerations have you applied in the past
when creating visual presentations or slides? Finally, what tools and resources have you used or
might be available to you and assist in creating lecture videos?
Here's the specific learning objective for this video and that is to be able to describe the design
and delivery techniques of effective lectures. Here are the main points that we'll cover in this
video. First, we will look at the role of the lecture and how it fits into the learning process.
Then, we'll identify some approaches for promoting learner engagement with lectures. Finally,
we will identify some resources and tools for creating video lectures to briefly look at the role
of the lecture in the learning environment--it's really to disseminate information. In the graphic
on the right, we see Bloom's Taxonomy of educational objectives. This is the revised version
and we can see how the lecture can be powerful as it can be used across any of the objectives
that one might want to accomplish in a learning experience, so that's everything from
“remembering” to “creating” on the Bloom's Taxonomy there. And if we look at a specific
example, we will take the “creating” level and the concept that information provided can be
used to create new information.
Here are three specific guidelines for structuring your video lectures: First is a tip to use guiding
questions. If you recall the beginning of this video, questions were posed to you to get you to
think about your prior experiences with video lectures. Guiding questions can be applied as an
identifier for learners to the main points to be recognized in the lecture. Next is to make the
lecture a part of an assignment. Have the information used in the lecture be applied in activities
for the modules. Finally, when creating video lectures, use visuals to reinforce and provide
alternate approaches to information.
An example here on the right: There is this graphic of building blocks, and it's a visual
representation of how a lecture has a relationship and works with other learning activities.
[This is mostly for ASU employees] Speaking of visuals and visual design, I would highly
recommend that you apply the ASU branded presentation template for your video and visual
presentations. It's based in graphic design best practices and provides A variety of layouts to
assist you with creating effective visual design slides. Here's a great design tip and this template
will help you with it, and that is to maximize the amount of text on your slides. Bullet points
help consolidate and emphasize important points. You can access the presentation template,
and the ASU brand guide and website is brandguide.asu.edu. ASU online also provides graphic
design support for you during the development of your course. So if you're interested in that,
please speak with your instructional designer.
Here's the answer to the question around the optimal length for video lecture to promote the
highest probability of learner and engagement, and that is no longer than 6 to 9 minutes. As
you might have guessed, the shorter the time length, the higher the engagement. So how does
that compare with what you thought the answer might be when the question was posed to you
earlier in this video?
Here are visual results from a study that used millions and millions of learner interactions in the
MOOC space, or that is the Massive Open Online Course space, in regard to video usage, and
you can see in the graphic that the videos in the sub-9-minute length range have close to 100%
engagement. Videos over 9 minutes will drop to about 50% engagement or even less for longer
videos. So with that information, it's a best practice to take materials that might require more
time for explanation and just break them into segments. You might even hear the word chunks,
breaking them into chunks or portions, again to promote engagement for the video.
For the creation and delivery of video lectures, there are a variety of resources and tools
available for you. You can see the three main categories here of hardware, software, and then
streaming video servers. And then underneath those, are some specific examples for those
categories.
For the hardware, using a desktop or a laptop computer will allow you a high level of flexibility
for where and when you record your lectures. Although many computers have built-in
microphones, and that works for the most part, for the highest quality audio, I’d recommend
that you use a separate or external microphone, so that is a headset or an external microphone
that connects via USB and that will significantly increase the quality of the audio.

The next main component is identifying software to record your presentation. Again, you can
see a variety listed there and they have various levels of features and functionalities, such as
editing capabilities. Some might be no cost, and others might have a license fee.
The final tool that you will need to deliver the presentation is a streaming media server for the
video. You are probably familiar with the YouTube product and how that works. You have some
specific tools that are available. For example, the MediaAmp Video Media Server is built directly
into or accessible through the Canvas Learning Management System, and that's available for all
courses to use here at ASU.

Here's a specific example about how this video was created and delivered. So, I use an Apple
desktop computer. I have an iMac with some apple earbuds that have a built in microphone
with them. The QuickTime recording software is part of the Mac Apple operating system and
it's included. So that's no cost there. And then, ASU Online uses the Wistia media server. and
that is the delivery mechanism that you're watching this video right now.
To summarize the main points of the video, please consider these recognized best practices for
creating effective lecture videos. Make videos shorter and time length and have them be
focused on a few specific goals. I would recommend to break large amounts of Fletcher content
into smaller amounts. For example, take a 30-minute video and break that into 5 6-minute
videos when possible. use visual design and images to assist in further explaining information.
Signaling is an approach to use vocal or visual cues to highlight important ideas or concepts.
Finally, provide structure around the lectures and promote active learning by having the
lectures be a part of an associated assignment and activity. Here's a table for your reference,
and it goes into a little bit more detail. And you can even see the website link down there at the
bottom to visit that and explore on your own. And then finally, here is the full reference list for
the information in this video.