Multimedia

Studies suggest that thoughtfully integrated audio and video can be effective tools for use in education (Hsin & Cigas, 2013; Kay, 2012; Lloyd & Robertson, 2012). We have a range of resources to help you create high-quality audio and video objects on location, from your home office, in CIS's Instructional Studios, or in our post-production facilities. 

Recommendations as you consider using audio and video media in your course (Brame, 2015): 

• Keep it short. 6-9 minutes is recommended based on related data (Guo, Kim, & Robin, 2014). 
  
• Be conversational. This encourages social connection and engagement (Mayer, 2008). 
  
• Use a quick pace and enthusiastic tone. Learner engagement increases as the narrator's speaking pace increases (Guo et al., 2014). 
  
• Personalize when possible. Learner engagement decreases when viewing an experience intended for someone else (e.g., a recorded session for another class) (Guo et al., 2014). 
• Integrate questions into the video. Learners perform better on assessments after viewing videos with interactive questions (Vural, 2013). 

Consider these tips (Brame, 2015; Garcia Serrato, 2016; Mayer, 2008): 

• Activate Prior Knowledge – Provide a mini-concept refresher, have class dialogue on previous topics and their relation to the media piece, ask learners to answer several questions related to relevant prior content individually, or use the one-minute paper activity. 
  
• Provide a Clear Purpose for Viewing/Listening – This can be provided conversationally or scaffolded through guiding questions or guided notes. 
  
• Ensure Accessibility – Check our Digital Content Accessibility Checklist for tips.  

• Signal – Highlight important information, remembering that everything can't be important. 
  
• Segment – Chunk information in short segments so viewers/listeners can access what they need quickly. 
  
• Weed – Reduce extraneous cognitive load such as complex backgrounds, competing music, or visual elements that do not serve a clear purpose to the content or style. 
  
• Match Modality – Use auditory and visual channels in a complementary, but not redundant, fashion. For instance, if explaining how to work through a problem, show that on screen or on a reference document. 
  
• Pause to Help Learners Reflect/Apply - Insert interactive questions into the media, or just pause for comment or commentary. 
  
• Allow Learner Control When Possible - Include a table of contents to aid navigation, provide access to video controls to pause, offer tools to annotate, etc. 

• Tie to a Follow-Up Assignment - Help learners crystallize and apply active learning strategies such as turn-and-talk, watch-think-write, concept mapping, applied cases, practice problems, related multimedia projects, etc. 

Ready to record creative media? Please reference the following resources: 

• Learning Media Production Services and Examples
  
• CIS Instructional Studios Overview
• Considerations when recording outside of CIS-supported locations
• Consider using a USB or external microphone and making a couple of test recordings to dial in the levels. Our Pre-Recording checklist can help set optimal levels in Panopto. (CMICH login required)
• Make sure your slides are 16:9/widescreen.
• Don’t put a light source (i.e., a window) BEHIND you. Always have the light source on or near your face. A small desk or table lamp will do wonders!
• Position the camera at eye level, even if that means raising your entire laptop on a stand (OR on a stack of books or an upside-down laundry basket). 

Schedule a time with CIS staff to discuss creative media production. Let us offer some expert guidance to help ensure the best possible results for you and your students.

Brame, C. J. (2015). Effective educational videos. Retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-
pages/effective-educational-videos/. 

Garcia Serrato, M. (2016). 'Watch-think-write' and other proven strategies for using video in the classroom. KQED Education. Retrieved from https://ww2.kqed.org/education/2016/08/23/watch-think-write-and-other-proven-strategies-for-using-video-in-the-classroom/

Guo PJ, Kim J, and Robin R (2014). How video production affects student engagement: An empirical study of MOOC videos. ACM Conference on Learning at Scale (L@S 2014); found at https://groups.csail.mit.edu/uid/other-pubs/las2014-pguo-engagement.pdf. 

Hsin, W. J. & Cigas, J. (2013). Short videos improve student learning in online education. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 28, 253-259. 

Kay, R. H. (2012). Exploring the use of video podcasts in education: A comprehensive review of the literature. Computers in Human Behavior, 28, 820-831. 

Lloyd, S. A. & Robertson, C. L. (2012). Screencast tutorials enhance student learning of statistics. Teaching
of Psychology, 39, 67-71. 

Mayer, R. E. (2008). Applying the science of learning: Evidence-based principles for the design of multimedia instruction. Cognition and Instruction, 19, 177-213. 

Vural OF (2013). The impact of a question-embedded video-based learning tool on e-learning. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice 13, 1315-1323.