They Might Not Read It, But They’ll Always Watch It!
The COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 revealed challenges for students and teachers worldwide. By the end of the 2021 school year, students in K-12 were months behind in math and reading. Students and teachers had faced changes in schedules, new teachers midyear, internet challenges, and Zoom exhaustion.
These changes forced a sudden change in traditional teaching and learning styles. The digital transformation in education advanced exponentially, creating new opportunities for students to learn through video rather than solely for gaming.
The value of video
Teachers learned how to use videos to keep their students engaged. Video provides the much-needed flexibility and personalization to individualize learning experiences for specific student needs. Students benefit by watching at their own pace, anywhere, anytime, allowing them to stop, rewind, and play again to meet their needs.
“I can watch and rewatch content to get a better grasp of what I am supposed to do, or I can teach myself how to do something new through the power of video.”
— Brian Hayes, University of South Carolina student
Video appeals to a wider range of senses than simply reading or viewing images on a page. When you combine video and audio, you’re able to offer a dynamic view of course concepts, appealing to learners’ audio and visual senses, which can be powerful when studying historical, political, or social settings. These contexts come alive and engage students intellectually and emotionally, making lasting connections with the principles they are studying.
Incorporating video into your class equips you with more data to evaluate student performance. When you assign students a video-based task you gather greater insight into your students’ critical thinking, creativity, and mastery of course concepts.
Gen Zers, the video-first generation, expect personalized, on-demand experiences, with 59% saying video is their preferred learning method. YouTube is the king in their world of how to do anything. One student stated: “Video has enhanced the way I learn because there are no longer accessibility constraints,” said Brian. “I can obtain relevant and helpful information immediately and consume that information at my own pace.”
Revel Shared Media and Video Quiz
This engaging learning method is addressed in Revel by Shared Media and Video Quiz functionality. Pearson curated a selection of expert videos and practice questions with some titles in Video Quiz, enabling you to create or share any video with your students in Shared Media.
You can also create your own quizzes, media assignments, or upload a video from outside sources, such as Ted Talks or YouTube. You may even consider recording yourself delivering a micro lecture to share with the class.
When planning a micro lecture to expand on a reading, remember these pointers from an old speech teacher:
• keep it short, five minutes max, two minutes is better
• make sure your message has impact, not length
• cover only one concept, include an example to illustrate your point
• remember the visual impact of video
Shared Media and Video Quiz allow you can assign videos to your students to help them understand difficult topics, prepare for exams, and create their own video presentations. As a result, students experience increased engagement and greater academic success.
“I appreciate how Pearson has a plethora of helpful videos in place to better help you learn and understand your toughest college courses.”
— Ryan Celestine, Prairie View A&M University student
Take it from experience
I have been using Shared Media for over 13 years (since it was first rolled out as MediaShare). It was the first time my online speech students could safely and confidently send me their speeches. They had been mailing them to me as VHS tapes (that dates me), or later loading them on YouTube and marking them private. Shared Media offered me a way for students to upload speeches easily and safely. Newer updates allow me to send a video example to the students with instructions and require students to submit a video, audio, image, and/or document.
My students are happy because they can upload their videos, their outlines, and their visual aids in one assignment area, making it convenient and easy. I can grade the material in the same assignment area using my own rubric or a pre-created rubric. I am also able to group students in teams and have them do peer reviews for each other using my own rubric or one provided.
Limitless options
Shared Media is not only powerful for communication courses but other disciplines as well. Think about how much instructors could learn about students’ critical thinking skills by having them submit a video explaining a course concept. Additionally, instructors can group students and have them submit a project together as a video assignment.
The possibilities are as broad as your imaginations. Any performance-based class would benefit from a video upload assignment demonstrating students’ proficiencies in:
- physical activities, such as fitness classes
- skills, such as auto mechanics
- talents, such as acting
- mastery, such as public speaking
Disciplines where content is the major component come alive to students when they produce their own creative projects, for example:
- english literature assignments
- history lesson for the week
- art appreciation they are developing
- humanities with an awareness of other cultures
These two vibrant and robust tools in Revel, Video Quiz and Shared Media, give my students opportunities to engage in powerful ways with course concepts.
If you can’t get your students to read or engage fully with the written word, you can enhance their learning and have them demonstrate their mastery of course requirements through the creative use of videos.
About the author
Dr. Terri Moore
A native Floridian, Terri worked in North Carolina for 15 years, directing non-profit agencies primarily in the fields of health care and services. Terri moved into academia where she has taught in higher education for over 19 years, teaching communication courses first at Guilford Technical and Community College, completing her master’s degree in communication studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Returning to her native state, she taught communication and college success courses with Polk Community College as she completed her PhD in Psychology with an emphasis in social psychology.
As a dual credentialed professor with Eastern Florida State College, Terri has been teaching both psychology and communication courses for over 13 years, using Pearson products in classes first with MyLab® and continuing with Revel® as it expanded the list of authors and developed additional integrations such as Shared Media. She has taught extensively, both in face-to-face and online platforms, a wide range of communication and psychology courses, designing several master courses for online programs. She has been a freelance faculty advisor with Pearson for approximately 11 years, making the choice in 2019 to leave full-time academia for full-time employment with Pearson as a Revel faculty advisor for liberal arts.
A skilled presenter with excellent oral and written communication skills, Terri’s preferred research methods are qualitative with a special interest in social psychology and well-being across the life span. Most recently, she published an article based on her research of women choosing to make new committed relationships in later life.
