Making Videos Active.

 

I try not to assign videos to my students unless there is some sort of interactive element.  If students have to interact with the video, they are more likely to pay attention and really watch it rather than just being distracted and not getting anything from the material. 

One of the places I've used in the past is Edupuzzle because it allowed me to add questions to the video so it would automatically pause.  In addition, they offer a free plan with up to 20 videos in ones account.  I do not know if you can delete the ones you've already used so you can designate more to your account.  

The nice thing about Edupuzzle is that you can use premade videos or you can make one yourself.  When you look on a premade video you can check it out and it tells you where the activities are in the video and what type of activity are inserted.  In addition, they list the other videos based on the one you are looking at.  If you don't like one, you can make one of your own.  You choose the video from one of many sources from Youtube to National Geographic to TED talks and more.  Then you insert the type of activity which could be multiple choice, open ended, or a note and you can use all of the video, or only a small part of it so you have a ton of versatility.  Finally, you can use your google ID to log in and you can set up classes so you can assign the videos to each student but there are permissions involved so Edupuzzle offers letters you can send home explaining it all.

If this site is not for you, you can use google suite to create interactive videos.  This site has a lovely hour long video showing how to create interactive video lessons using G suite with a focus on distance learning but the material is still valid for creating interactive videos and you can select just a specific topic rather than planning for a full class period. I love videos because I can watch, stop it, and try each step myself.  I've found when I can see what is supposed to happen is much more helpful than just reading the steps.  The real information on the video starts around 13 minutes in since this is actually a presentation.  It takes you from start to finish and begins with google hangout which will be google chat after January 1, 2023. I mention this because the person has you begin with meeting yourself on google hangout but google chats will still allow you to have video meetings.

When you meet with yourself, you record your whole presentation just like you would do if this were a real meeting.  She talks about how one would include handwritten examples which is awesome in math. She walks you through the process step by step to make your own document camera so you can do it on a paper if you don't want to use google jam board. 

I like that the instructor takes you step by step through planning a lesson with all the things you need to think about and shows you everything in detail. I like the information and directions included so I can make the videos with examples and assessments.  She talks about including assessments by using google forms or a rubric via google classroom. If you want a set of interactive videos available to help students, check the site out and have fun.

So you have Edpuzzle which uses regular videos from other content creators with questions and notes and gsuite that will allow you to make your own lessons.   Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great weekend.