Whether teaching online, hybrid, or face-to-face, instructional videos can be a powerful tool for delivering content, instructions, feedback, and opportunities for practice & review! However, research shows that students don’t watch long videos. We also know that for language learners and students who struggle with processing, retaining, and organizing information, long videos may be overwhelming and sometimes ineffective.

We can use a variety of types of video to deliver content and support learning, such as:

• Teacher-created short video lessons to teach or explain a concept for students. Many teachers who teach online do this regularly, but this can also be a great support for in-classroom learning as well to allow students to watch, rewatch, and review content at their own pace after learning about it in class. 
• Screencasts are another helpful type of teacher-created video. For tasks and assignments that require students to go through multiple steps or access online resources, teachers can record themselves going through the process while explaining it to students so that they can clearly see and hear what they need to do. It can also be helpful to do this for students to go over an annotated exemplar or model of a product, like a writing assignment or presentation, that they will be expected to produce.  
• Video clips from online sources, like YouTube or Khan Academy, can also be helpful to build background or explain foundational concepts for students. Regardless of whether we are creating our own video lessons, screencast instructions, or selecting supplemental videos, we still need to consider how to make them engaging and comprehensible for students.

When using video to deliver content, it is crucial to keep the videos short and to embed breaks so that students can pause and ensure that they are following along and understanding. One way to do this is by breaking video clips into short chunks. We can also add opportunities for critical reflection, comprehension checks, explanation of context/ key vocabulary, and more to make the input comprehensible and support students to stay engaged. It is also a way to embed immediate practice and feedback into instruction. In addition, to support multilingual learners, all videos should have accurate captions that students can enable.

Teachers should consider the following factors when developing and selecting instructional videos: 1) cognitive load, 2) student engagement, and 3) active learning (Brame, 2015). Cognitive load refers to the amount of information we can hold in our brains at any given time. To support access and retention of information, we need to be mindful of cognitive load when we create and use videos. To do this, we should limit videos to short segments of information when possible, highlight and add text to emphasize key concepts, and minimize distractions, like unrelated graphics and music. To keep students engaged, using short videos or a series of short videos is essential. Also, using a conversational tone and pacing as well as personalizing the videos to the class that you are teaching support student engagement. Finally, embedding opportunities for students to stop, think, and react to the video and content can create active learning and lead to deeper understanding. Each of these three areas is described in more detail in the video below and attached Tip Sheet. Embedding interactive elements and questions in short, clear videos can be a great way to attend to these three factors. Check out the videos below for samples as well as additional information about developing effective videos!