Introduce and frame your video content

In our guide How can I structure my Canvas Subject Site effectively?, one of the key tips is to add an overview and summary to your modules. Within the module, the lighter approach can be used to frame each of your videos, providing students with key signposts that can help focus attention, encourage relational thinking, and shift the approach of students from a passive mindset (“I will absorb this content by simply watching whatever comes out of the screen”) to an active one (“I understand the significance of this and will be paying attention, building links, and thinking about the bigger picture.”)

Here are five different sorts of cues you can use to frame the video students are about to watch. Keep in mind these should be brief – you don’t want to replicate the entire content of the video itself!

1. Set expectations

Rather than just landing students in the middle of something where they have to try and work out what’s going on, reduce the cognitive load by giving a preview of what they’re about to see. This aligns with the ‘pre-training’ principle in theories of multimedia learning, in which you describe names and characteristics of key elements before the lesson.

Overviews also help students later if they need to return to a topic for revision. Bullet points can be an easy way to outline the key ideas.

Examples

• “In this video we look at…”
• “Here we explore the concept of…”
• “We now examine…”
• “This is an introduction to…”

2. Contextualise and historicise

As learning objectives become more complex, they are typically scaffolded on top of previous concepts. It can be helpful to flag this, encouraging students to reflect on the evolution or progression of this new material, which can aid comprehension.

Examples

• “This builds on…” 
• “This topic arose in response to…”
• “Earlier we learned… now…”
• “This idea follows on from…”

3. Foreshadow

As with the previous historicising, situate this concept in relation to what will come after to encourage consideration of the bigger picture.

Examples

• “This idea will influence…”
• “Building on this concept, we’ll later look at…”
• “Following on from this idea…”
• “This will lead to…”

4. Justify

Why do students need to understand this? What is its impact? Provide some additional motivation:

Examples

• “It’s important to understand this because…”
• “This is relevant because…”
• “We study this because…”
• “We’re looking at this because…”

5. Activate

You want students to pay close attention to your material, rather than half-listen as they juggle other distractions. Build the association between watching the video and active engagement with the material:

Examples

• “As you watch, consider…”
• “Think about how…”
• “Why do you think…?”
• “Take particular note of…”
• “After learning this, you should be able to…”
• “At the end of the video you will be asked to…”
• “After watching the video you’ll apply…”