What I Wish I Had Known Before I Made My Student Instructional Video

Asense of relief washed over me as I slipped my instructional video assignment into an overnight envelope and handed it to the postal worker. As my head cleared, I started to think of how I could have made my video better, what I should have done in preparation, and what I would have done differently.

Instructional videos are fast becoming a staple of distance-delivered courses. They are used as an effective way to present material, in addition to being used as an instruc-

tional exercise for developing instructional technology and distance education (ITDE) educators and administrators.

As students and employees we have all had the experience of viewing “talking head” videos. Recently, I participated in a hospital new employee orientation, where I was subjected to a long video of an infection control officer reading her PowerPoint presentation. Next, I endured a 90-minute video of a registered nurse standing in front of a classroom lecturing about various detoxification topics. The presenter shot off her presentations in a rapid-fire manner. Although the content was excellent, I do not remember much of what she said.

Why did both of these videos fail to fulfill their purpose; that is, fail to instruct/facilitate learning? What did I learn in making my instructional video that I should have, could have, and would have done? What advice can I give students and new instructors in developing videos for distance-delivered courses?

The most important aspect of making an instructional video is to select a suitable topic. I had a vague understanding of my topic which, for the purposes of this article I will call the “New Computer Devices (NCD) Project” at my former hospital located in the Midwest. I contacted the project director and asked for permission to make my video on the computerized patient care documentation initiative. I looked up the hospital’s corporate Website and found a short description of the NCD project.

I should have thoroughly researched the topic for a clear, thorough understanding of the topic and how it was being implemented at the local hospital.

I contacted the hospital’s training coordinator, as instructed by the director, and met with him and two of his staff, the nurse liaisons, to discuss how the NCD Project was progressing and how the project’s training would be done. Unfortunately, the training coordinator admitted that he did not know how or when the training would be implemented in the near future.

I could have seen the red flag or heard the warning siren that I would have trouble doing this video on the NCD Project training. It is impossible to have a clear understanding of a topic if there is not one visualized by the principal players.

I made an appointment to shoot my video while interviewing the NCD Project team members. I thought that through the interviews I would better understand what the project was and how it was being played out.

After researching the topic, I should have better planned how to make the video. Storyboarding using PowerPoint or a video editing program helps in visualizing the video. Because a video is both seen and heard, it is imperative to plan both, I could have made a storyboard incorporating both, instead of just the visual scenes.

I made a narration and constantly revised it to fit the video clips I had.

I would have had an easier time if I had a well-thought out, well-researched narration/script that I had run by the NCD Project team. I could have incorporated their input to clear up misconceptions and discover if any inaccuracies existed.

I made a second date to shoot the NCD Project team and record the three new computerized devices. When I arrived I saw that only the auxiliary nurse liaison was in the room with the three devices. Even she did not know that no one else was coming until they didn’t show up.

I learned that it is very important to see your location for shooting beforehand. I could have checked the lighting, devices, my equipment, and scanned the room for physical or auditory barriers to taking a good shot. I should have made some practice shots to check the lighting on my subject and the three devices. If I would have rehearsed my talent describing the three compute devices, I could have eliminated th jerky camera shots I ended up with I should have worked with my talen on finalizing a script before th shoot date. This would have given me the timing necessary for th video clips beforehand.

I had no experience as a photog rapher using a camera or a cam corder. I purchased a digita camcorder the night before I was t do the first scheduled shooting. ordered the Roxio Video Editin program right before I needed it. had no idea how to make a video.

The video was not due until and a half months into the semester I should have and could have made schedule of what I needed to do in order to complete the assignment. would have made a schedule as fol lows:

Week Activity

1-2 Review or learn how to us a digital camcorder and camera, a tripod, lighting and anything else you might need to make you video. If necessary, find arti cles or books on video mak ing. Order your vide editing software, if neces sary.

3-4 Select a topic from severa applicable choices. Do som preliminary research t make sure that you have clear understanding of th topic and you can selec three or four key points to showcase in your video.

5-8 Plan your video considering and coordinating the visual with the audio. Your narration/script must be fine-tuned now for a professional result.

9-10 Select the talent and location to shoot the video. It is important to rehearse the talent and to examine the location beforehand. To determine suitability of the location, you must consider lighting, distractions such as busy wallpaper or vertical lines, and acoustics. Can you hear noise from adjoining rooms? You need to bring all of your video equipment to the practice shoot—camcorder and an extra battery, tripod, and additional lighting.

11-12 Learn or review the editing software. Edit your video. Turn in your video to your instructor.

One of the key characteristics of the distance learner is that we take responsibility for our learning. Our professors treat us as professionals and assume that we will take the initiative to fill in our knowledge gaps. Knowing where to look for knowledge gaps hopefully could, should, and would facilitate learning for the video maker and viewer.