Using Audio or Video

 Video Review or Re-Teach


Recent trends show students want, and respond better to, video interactions from online instructors. This is because being able to see instructors and hear their supportive, encouraging responses not only augments the sense of instructor presence, but also lends personality and compassion to an otherwise tone-dead space. While some instructors use short “vlogs” to relay feedback on essays–which is a great practice, especially on drafts–short instructional videos can also help clarify misunderstood content. These brief “vidcasts” can be a great way to loop in pop culture to drive student engagement and investment. Below is a screenshot from a vidcast I made to help students with rhetorical elements. In this part of the video, I used Netflix’s Blue Eye Samurai to help draw attention to rhetorical context. 



One thing to keep in mind is that we currently live in the era of TikTok, and students will typically not tolerate videos longer than five to ten minutes. Should you decide to create instructional videos, focus on economy of language and stick to explaining just one or two key points per video. If you choose to create short vidcasts in response to their essays, the same rule applies: restrict yourself to two or three big things they need to fix, and focus your presentation on those. 


Software that can be used may include the following: 


Open Broadcaster Software (OBS): A free, easy to use video recording suite with lots of options and minor editing tools. A paid version is available if you want to do more significant edits. You record onto a local hard drive, and will have to upload your videos for students to see them. 


Loom: This is free for teachers, and has screen and webcam recording as well as basic drawing tools and instant link sharing. Recordings are stored on the internet, so no uploading is necessary. You can also annotate student work during the recording to better show what you are talking about. 

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