Got Visuals?

Got Visuals?

According to the Visual Teaching Alliance, 65% of the population are visual learners yet 80% of instruction is delivered orally. How this new generation relies on videos became more powerful to me after a conversation with a beloved 5 year old. About a week ago, I was cleaning up at my grandmother’s house and the 5 year old asked me about a patterned pillow on the couch. I told him that I made it. Immediately he asked, “How?”. I replied that I used a sewing machine to sew it, he politely asked if I could teach him. Right after he asked if I could teach him to sew, he said, “Let me see a video.” At the ripe old age of 5, he knows there’s probably a video available that will show him how to do this task.

As teachers, it’s important to use what appeals to students. This is definitely the YouTube generation, so start there. Within YouTube teachers can annotate videos. Start by adding videos to your YouTube channel. Next visit the YouTube channel manager. Then click the down arrow next to the video you would like to edit and click the annotation button (should be on the right). Lastly remember to click apply changes. A great way to utilize this and get feedback is to add the video to a Google Form along with comprehension questions. New features in Google Forms allow teachers to build in a self grading quiz.

Often times teachers struggle with students losing notes (especially if you teach adolescents), YouTube is a great way to provide an at home resource. Using your YouTube channel to create a few minutes of video summarizing what happened in class provides at home assistance and a reference for parents. This is helpful for students and parents.

EdPuzzle allows teachers to take a video and record their own voice explaining the videos. In addition to editing the videos, questions can also be added. These great features are free.

If you tried Zaption and loved it, EdPuzzle is a great alternative to that. The Zaption platform will shut down on September 30, 2016 make sure to save your resources.

 

Here are just a few ways to integrate video into lessons. The opportunities extend far beyond this to include students making instructional videos or using videos for reflection to show what they've learned.