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JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 38: 8 Tips to Improve your Video instruction Game

Given the overnight challenge for educators to teach online, and at the request of one of my fellow teachers, here are 8 things to remember to help you improve your teaching practice via (YouTube) video.

MP3 Version:

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Resources/Credits:

• music: Social Blindness – 22K by Smart Sound Music
• All images and screen grabs by Joe Bustillos ©2020 except where noted
• Image: Working on the computer by Dan4th Nicholas, https://flic.kr/p/5ysNis retrieved 2020-05-15
• Article: The Educator’s Guide to Using Video in Teaching and Learning, by Kathleen Morris, The Edublogger, updated 2020-05-13, https://www.theedublogger.com/video-teaching-learning/
• Video: DTNS Special: How to Stream Video from Home, posted 2020-03-25, https://youtu.be/mIQr3T_pYzw
• product: Elgato Key Light
• product: Heil PR-40 microphone
• image: 2020-05-01, GMA Will Reeve Pantsless, retrieved 2020-05-15, https://krcrtv.com/news/entertainment/work-from-home-fail-reporter-appears-without-pants-on-gma
• product: Peak Design Travel Tripod
• product: Benro BK10 (tripod)
• software/application: iMovie (mac), (iOS) 
• software/application: Screenflow from telestream (mac)
• software/application: Sonicfire Pro from SmartSound
• software/application: teleprompt+ by Bombing Brain (iOS), (Mac)
• product: Logitech C615 webcam
• product: Logitech BRIO 4K webcam
• Video: Making a $4 Dollar Store DIY Telephrompter with Mina Studios by Sam DeZeeuw, posted 11-13-2018, https://youtu.be/f62KR51VE6c
• Video: $0.00 DIY Teleprompter: It’s Malki Time, posted 04-07-2014, https://youtu.be/xxIE-xBzbeA
• Video: How to Build a Home YouTube Studio | Less Than $100 by Kellan Rock, posted 11-13-2019, https://youtu.be/TAw-xGSd83I

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Episode Notes/Script/Post:

Joe Bustillos here.

Not long into this work-from-home era, I kicked back into my online-learning/teaching mode from teaching 6-years at Full Sail University and started posting instructional videos to my district-youtube channel. When I shared the links/info with my fellow teachers, one asked: “I would like to start making youtube videos, any suggestions?” Over the weeks I’ve sat through quite a few Zoom meetings… there’s a lot we could learn about online video usage if we’re at all serious about taking advantage of this remote learning/communications challenge.

First off, most of us aren’t fond of our image on camera, which is pretty normal, but also very counter-productive if the point is to communicate and teach someone on the other end, watching your video. Most of us who love teaching understand that it’s not our subject-matter expertise or some artificial measure that makes this job worth doing, but it’s the feeling of connecting with and helping another human being on their learning journey. That doesn’t change whether you’re doing a one-to-one tutorial in the same room or presenting to thousands via satellite. The difference is, and this was something that I taught my video-journalism students, you are trying to cram a reality, a visual reality where our field of vision is over 180°, into a rectangular-frame that might be no bigger than your student’s smart phone screen. That’s a lot of information, a lot of communication that has to happen over a limited visual frame for a limited amount of time. It’s just like when they tell salesmen to smile when they talk to customers on the phone, the same energy that’s needed to effectively use this technology begins with your disposition as the teacher sharing information to your students via a YouTube video. You have to (positively) force the same focused energy that you would use if your were face-to-face with your student across these devices.

Now that we’re set on doing the best videos and not letting a little camera-discomfort deter us, here are eight tips to help you make better videos:

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><figcaption>working on the computer by dan4th nicholas</figcaption></figure>

1. Lighting: The lights need to be mostly directly in front of you and usually much brighter than normal. Yes, it’s going to be shining in your eyes. Overhead ceiling lighting is unflattering and usually not good enough. And by all means, please, for the love of all that is good, do not shoot with a bright light behind you (like the sun), unless you want their face in shadow on purpose (like some FBI “identity hidden” video). Bad lighting is boring. And you don’t have to get expensive “studio lighting,” when well positioned desk lamps can do the trick. Bad lighting can be a non-verbal cue that you don’t care or that this isn’t your best effort. Remember, whether justified or not, our students won’t care about what you’re talking about if they sense that you don’t