Students and Teachers Making Videos and Podcasts
By: Curtis Kelly & Heather Kretschmer
The Value of Students Creating Videos, Podcasts, and Other Digital Media
Heather: I honestly can’t claim to have extensive experience with video creation. In fact, this past semester was the first time I asked my students to make videos. The idea came from George MacLean, an English teacher and Performance in Education (PIE) SIG member in Okinawa, Japan. He proposed trying an asynchronous virtual exchange between one of his classes in Okinawa and one of mine in Germany. So, we gave it a go.
As part of the virtual exchange, our students recorded short videos about their student life and something about their country or culture. That meant my students in Germany got to know a little about life as a student in Okinawa, Japan, while George’s students learned about the German student experience.
Curtis: A picture is worth a thousand words; a video, ten thousand.
Heather: Indeed. The project supported learning in different ways. Before creating the videos, students had to think about what they wanted to share. They also had to express their ideas clearly in English for students in the other country, which required them to have audience awareness.
Curtis: Video production requires a lot of training and a special skill set. So Heather, how did you get around those speed bumps?
Heather: We had our students create simple PowerPoint slides with a focus on images and very little or no text on three to four slides. I encouraged my students to use PowerPoint to record their videos, but they were welcome to use another tech tool of their choice if they wished. My students commented afterwards that this project helped them not only develop their communication skills but also their digital skills.
Curtis: Welcome to the new roaring twenties!
Heather: Yes. After a bit of initial trepidation and some tech hiccups, students really got into the project. They had a real-world need to communicate in English, and they were genuinely curious to learn about student life and the culture in the other country. My students were a bit envious that the Okinawan students could go to the beach every day!
Curtis: Another benefit was speed. Way back, I had my students in Japan exchange letters with refugees in Thailand, but it took so much work on my part and a month or so for each exchange. Now, we have Instant Net. One site, Flip*, even allows students to record videos to a class site right from their phones. It keeps track of their work for the teacher, too.
Heather: There sure are a lot of tools out there, and choosing a suitable one can be challenging for teachers. George and I decided fairly quickly on PowerPoint as students can use it in other classes and in their future job when they need to make presentations.
I think that this virtual exchange video example illustrates one of the many ways video creation can develop students’ communication skills in the target language and simultaneously help them learn valuable digital skills. In this issue, Ashley Ford-Mihashi, Sean H. Toland, Gordon Rees, and David Kluge each describe wonderful projects they had their students do in a variety of contexts.
Curtis: Yes, as teachers, they wrote what the rest of us really need to know…enablers. And the four-minute Main video, from the single best website on teaching–Edutopia–actually shows a class being taught how to do a podcast. Also enabling.
The Value of Teachers Hosting Podcasts and Creating Videos for Learners
Heather: Of course, students aren’t the only ones creating digital media; teachers do, too. For example, in this issue, Darren Kinsman writes about the podcast he hosts for the PIE SIG (link). He launched the podcast as a way to reach other language teachers interested in performance in education. I’ve been a listener from the start and really enjoy every month’s episode.
Curtis: Teachers making digital media. Now we are getting to something else I consider important, and in my opinion, really hard, but let me explain why with an experience from 25 years ago. Back in my Japanese uni days, I remember one particular professor who refused to use email. She was such a pain in the neck. The staff had to print out all our emails for her, which slowed her responses down to a week or so later. And students could only communicate with her by going to her office or writing letters. “Get with it!” we all thought, “Or get out!”
I wonder if we are coming to another point of technological change with a similar risk. Don’t you think, Heather, that we have entered the age of video communication? The smartphone-bound learners we are facing these days were raised on it. It behooves us to adapt and take advantage of this change and add video-making to our skills. After all, we might soon face our own “Get with it or get out.”
Heather: Definitely. However, I still find it easier to develop written materials for students, and I am far more likely to find videos and podcast episodes for my students than to create anything myself. But I think you and I are gradually “getting with it.”
Curtis: (chuckle) Yes, we have both made videos for our online courses, and it was daunting. It wasn’t easy learning how to use video apps, how to speak to video, how to edit, and how to break a 30-minute lecture into three shorter ones (this is extremely important in this age). I recorded or revised some of my videos up to 17 times. I think what saved me from disaster was using techniques I had honed in oral presentations, such as telling stories, avoiding details, making the audience care at the start, and putting in “Wows,” (see Gallo’s book).
Heather: As for techniques, in our More podcast episode, Karen Costa talks about her book, 99 Tips for Creating Simple and Sustainable Educational Videos (link). She writes about all the aspects you just mentioned and far more. She gives superb tips for teachers who want to create videos for their students, integrating neuroscience as support for some of her advice. As I was reading her book, I was struck by how the videos you created for the iTDi Neuroscience courses correspond so well to many of her tips.
Curtis: Ahem.
Heather: Let me start with the social brain. Karen Costa writes, “We’re teachers and students who are seeking ways to build real connections in service of our humanity and the learning process. The most important part of any educational video is that it supports those connections” (p. 68).
Curtis: Oh. I came across that a week ago. One of my daughter’s high school teachers has put short lectures for each class in her Google Classroom, so absent students can see what they missed.
Heather: That’s a perfect example. Karen Costa recommends teachers use videos to serve a variety of purposes, such as welcoming students, introducing new modules or units, and explaining assignments.
Curtis: And let’s not forget these uses: student self-introductions at the start of a class, showing models of other students’ work, giving feedback, showing before and after progress (recorded before and after mastery), bringing in outside speakers, celebrating the end of a class, and just having fun with music or YouTube videos. Here is a link to my favorites of the latter.
Heather: Exactly. And the videos don’t just benefit the students. Karen Costa teaches online, and creating and sharing videos helps her feel less lonely and isolated (p. 18), which brings me to another important point—emotion. Costa advises teachers not to be overly cerebral when recording videos. Citing Sarah Rose Cavanagh (2016), Costa encourages teachers to express emotions in their videos (p. 59) and also to tell stories (p. 33). In your content videos, Curtis, I love how you tell stories, like this one. I also like how you link to touching YouTube videos, such as the one on the garbageman superhero.
Curtis: I want my learners to get as teary-eyed as I sometimes do.
Heather: And you speak from the heart, which is Costa’s 99th tip.
Curtis: Nothing could be more important, Heather, and to me, that’s your strong point.
Heather: Karen Costa’s book is an excellent read. It’s very accessible, and Costa keeps things practical, low-cost, and teacher-friendly. I particularly appreciate this point:
Many models of teaching, I’ve noticed, don’t look at how the teaching experience can benefit teachers. We often argue that faculty should sacrifice themselves on behalf of their students, becoming martyrs to their students’ success. I don’t think that any human can sustain this type of constant self-sacrifice. In my experience and observations, it leads to burnout. (p. 55)
I think it’s great that Costa keeps teachers’ well-being in mind. For example, she suggests teachers avoid aiming for highly polished videos and instead keep videos short and simple and not agonize over misspeaking. There’s more to learn in the More podcast episode, and I’m excited to try out some of her ideas in my next round of classes.
Curtis: It is fun adapting to this new age! I’m shooting for recording TikTok and Instagram videos next…but my teen daughters will feel violated if I do.
*once known as Flipgrid
Curtis Kelly is a long lost son of Japan, now an Uber Papa (meaning he drives his kids everywhere).
Heather Kretschmer teaches English at the University of Göttingen in Germany.