While a face-to-face class is often scheduled for 50 – 80 minutes, the time spent in-class changes topics and activities over its duration. Lecturettes (short online videos) are ideally a series of short video segments that would cover the equivalent lecture time in a face-to-face setting. For example, if your 50 minute face-to-face class introduces three topics over approximately 20 minutes followed by 30 minutes of in-class activities your online course would likely have three lecturettes (~7 minutes each) for the same module.

Lecturettes can include: a recording of you speaking, short video clips, voice over slides, screen captures and images, animations, etc.

Why consider this content.

Talking head example

sample

Narrated Slide Show (or screencast)

sample

Silent Video

Perhaps you have content you want to share in a video but you don’t want to narrate it. You can consider adding pop-up text, captions or incorporating text within your content. Here is an example of a style you may already be familiar with

Animation

A fun idea is to create an animated video. Animations can be used to provide a dynamic explanation of ideas or concepts in a visually appealing way. Check out this example

Desktop and Laptop

Audacity – This free audio editing software is available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. You can use this to record and mix audio for podcasts or videos.
GarageBand – This Mac OS and iOS only software can be used to create music tracks using loops and/or recordings. Simple and easy to use, you can create fully mixed audio for podcasts and videos.
Camtasia – This nonlinear digital video editing software is somewhere between entry level and professional levels. You can splice together audio and video as you need, insert graphics and titles, as well as a few other interactions. Available for both Windows and Mac OS.
iMovie – This is Apple’s entry level video editing software and is available for both Mac OS and iOS. If you’re new to video editing you may want to get your feet wet by trying this software first.
Screencast-O-Matic – This software is available for both Windows and Mac OS, and has a free as well as a Pro version. At the push of a button you can begin to record right from your webcam, what’s on the screen, or both. When you’re done recording it can export the video to your desktop or even straight to your YouTube account.
PowerPoint – A little known secret about PowerPoint is that you can record audio and creating a timed video slideshow without any other software. If you want to get started on voiceover slideshows, don’t want to spend any money on software, and don’t have time to learn a nonlinear digital video editing software this might be your best bet.
Keynote – A little known secret about Keynote is that you can record audio and creating a timed video slideshow without any other software. If you want to get started on voiceover slideshows, don’t want to spend any money on software, and don’t have time to learn a nonlinear digital video editing software this might be your best bet.
Windows Movie Maker – This is Microsoft’s entry level video editing software and is available for Windows. If you’re new to video editing you may want to get your feet wet by trying this software first.

Online
Go2Animate – This online animation tool offers a wide range of assets to create comprehensive animations. They offer paid plans and a 14 day free trial.
Voki – A little camera shy? Not to worry, with Voki you can create an avatar and use their text to speech software for narration. Don’t like the robot voice? You can also upload audio files or record straight into Voki. Free and paid plans are available.
PowToon – This popular online animation software offers both free and pro versions. It comes with a series of sample music and images you can use for creating engaging animations.
Wideo – This online video editing program allows you to edit your own videos or choose from a series of templates to use. They offer several pricing structures.
Slideshare – This online slideshow sharing platform allows you to upload a slidedeck for public viewing and access. You can also add audio to a Slideshare slideshow.

Mobile

Explain Everything – This mobile app is available for iOS, Android, and Windows. Record voice and animations using the assets provided or insert your own! When you’re done simply export the video to upload to the LMS or your Website.
ShowMe – This mobile app is available for iOS. Record voice and animations using the assets provided or insert your own! When you’re done simply export the video to upload to the LMS,your Website, or the ShowME community.
Educreations – This mobile app is available for iOS. Record voice and animations using the assets provided or insert your own! When you’re done share the video with classes, embed it in a website, share it on Facebook or Twitter, or export it. Free and paid versions available.

A Few Practical Guidelines

Creating a Storyboard

After drafting your storyboard review the topic(s) and learning outcomes. If everything adequately presented? Is there anything present on the storyboard that is not explicitly related to the topic(s) or learning outcomes? If so, why is that content present and would it be missed if omitted?

Audio

Speech – narration does not necessarily need to be written word for word on a storyboard. However, providing more detail will make the recording process much easier, even if you do not repeat it word for word. Attempting to “wing it” often results in multiple takes and wasted time. For more information about recording audio see Tips for Recording Narrations.
Sound bites can add realism, generate emotion, define space, depict identity, set the pace, symbolize meaning, and unify transitions. However, they should not be overused as they can distract the learner and increase cognitive load.

Visuals

Imagery should be self explanatory, simple, at the learner’s level, match it’s purpose, and be relevant to the scene/objective/narrative. In your storyboard you might simply provide a short description,  sketch, table or figure number or title, or a copy of the visuals that are to be on the screen. For more information about selecting types of visuals see A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words: Using Visuals.

Video

Is most effective when the combination of audio and visuals is carefully considered and planned. Storyboarding will help you to identify if there is too much information being presented to the learner at one time (through audio or video) and avoid cognitive overload. Consider the pacing (rate of information), and transitions between ideas and what the learner is seeing and hearing. A general guideline for length is to keep the videos in your course around 6 minutes in length. However, this may vary slightly depending on the purpose and content of the video (e.g. a narrative story may take longer than 6 minutes to complete, but can still be engaging for its entire duration). The key is to make sure the video is no longer than is needed.

Sample Tutorials

Often times we need some basic tutorials on how to use a tool. The quickest way to access this information and learn how to use a tool is to often begin with a search on YouTube. YouTube is filled with videos created by people sharing their own “how-to” expertise. Here are a few examples of what you can find:

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