Consider the different types of messages you might want to communicate to students in a face-to-face class.  At the beginning of the semester, you might spend time introducing yourself and discussing the syllabus. And in your typical course day, you might start with a greeting , and then review key points from the previous class.  After that, you might begin your main instructional time, concluding with a description of the day's tasks.  There is likely a natural flow, and all important points are communicated successfully without regard to their specific purpose.

In an online class, content is often separated by purpose.  The content areas of your weekly folders (items, folders, blank pages) all contain different types of content.  If you plan to use video in your course, each video (or set of videos) should be tied to one purpose.  For example, it is not recommended to create one video containing an introduction and assignment explanation. Rather, it would be best to create separate videos for the introduction and assignment explanation. This will make it easier for future editing, but also easier for your students to identify the content they are looking for.

To become familiar with common types of videos, see the examples below.

Lecture Videos

Typical lecture videos include an instructor speaking over a presentation such as a PowerPoint.  If you have a high volume of material to cover, it's highly recommended to segment videos into small "chunks" of at most 15 minutes each.  This is because our ability to concentrate and internalize information decreases the longer the video goes on.

Example: One segment of a lecture from the Public Health course Public Health Policy.

Weekly Introductions

Weekly Introductions (or "agendas" or "overviews") are an opportunity for you to deliver a personal message that supports students' achievement of the week's goals.  These videos should be short (under 10 minutes) and may cover the following areas:

  • Key points in the week's lectures/readings
  • Feedback from the previous week's tasks
  • Information about an upcoming assignment
  • Class updates (i.e., changes to a due date)

Example: Week 5 Overview from Sheldon Zhang's Criminology course Criminal Homicide:

Course Introduction

Course Introduction videos allow instructors to provide similar information to what they provide on the first day of a face-to-face course.  These videos are typically short (under 10 minutes) and could cover the following topics:

  • Expectations for students
  • Course goals
  • Summary of assessment types, grading criteria, and grade weights
  • Course policies
  • Advice for success

Example: Introduction for Mauricio Geleilate's Management course Strategy Formation and Implementation

Instructor Introduction

Instructor Introduction videos are an opportunity for you to personally engage with students at the beginning of the course.  Typical Instructor Introduction videos contain information about professional and academic backgrounds, as well as student goals for the course.

Example: Ivy Chong's video for Psychology course Implementation and Supervision Practices in Behavior Analysis

Task Explanation / Demonstration

Your tasks might ask students to use course technology in a way that is new and unfamiliar to some students. Because of this, students might benefit from having a task demonstrated or illustrated, and you can create a video to do just that.

Example: Casey Leon demonstrating how students log their hours in her Public Health Practicum course: