Classroom and Teaching Technology Update

Kaltura is UC's enterprise video content creation, streaming and video repository tool. Students, faculty and staff have the ability to upload existing videos to Kaltura’s repository. Alternatively, videos can be recorded via Kaltura Capture and uploaded into Canvas. The College of Law also has a public-facing Kaltura Media Space (KMS) page and the Robert S. Marx Law Library has a Kaltura Media Space Channel. 

Kaltura Capture is a video tool that allows both instructors and students to create, upload, and publish videos for use in their classes. This may include a webcam video, an audio recording, a screen recording, a PowerPoint presentation or a combination.

Plan

• Create a script/storyboard. More on storyboarding.

Prepare

• Make sure your examples make sense, test them on others.
• Do several dry runs to test the script and timing.

Create

• Keep tutorials short; modularize.
• Open the tutorial with an introduction and close it with a summary.
• Insure accessibility of your tutorials.

Present

• Add title page, table of contents, contact information, and credits if applicable.

Test

• Create an early demo of the video and send it out for feedback from teammates or other stakeholders
• Test the tutorial in various browsers.

Distribute and advertise

• Add links to your products.
• Embed them into LibGuides and/or Blackboard courses.
• Feature them on library pages and/or media.

Share

• Watch the tutorial from start to finish before you share it.
• Link video tutorials at the point of need and use language that students are looking for and understand.
• Consider sharing your creations in tutorial clearinghouses, such as ANTS, LION, PRIMO , etc.

Modified from Why Screencasting? The Benefits of Interactive Online Tutorials

Pace

• Slightly more slowly than regular conversation

Length

• Short and to the point
• Break videos into 1 minute or 30 second segments
• TOC for quick and easy navigation

Look and Feel

• Simple, straight-forward, informational video NOT entertaining
• Music at beginning to capture attention
• Graphics: clean and professional

Video vs Text

• Make content available in multiple formats, linking pages to suit learning style

Findability

• Link videos at point of need
• Use language that students understand

Bowles-Terry, M., Hensley, M. K., & Hinchliffe, L. J. (2010). BEST PRACTICES FOR ONLINE VIDEO TUTORIALS IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES: A study of student preferences and understanding. Communications in Information Literacy, 4(1), 17-28. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/763599877?accountid=2909

Cognitive Load Theory (CLT)

Mismanagement of multimedia elements can overwhelm and impair the learner’s capacity to process info by introducing distraction, redundancy, and other principles outlined by CLT theorists.

Ways to reduce cognitive load in eLearning

• Present some information via the visual channel and some via the verbal channel.
• Break content into smaller segments and allow the learner to control the pace.
  • Use chunks for pre-training: give learners prior instruction concerning the components in the to-be-learned system.
  • Allow some time between segments of the presentation to give the learner time and capacity to organize and integrate the words and images.
• Remove non-essential content (including decorative graphics and background music).

When it is not feasible to remove all the embellishments in a multimedia lesson, cognitive load can be reduced by providing cues to the learner about how to select and organize the material:

•  selecting words by stressing keywords in speech,
• selecting images by adding red and blue arrows to the animation,
• organizing words by adding an outline and headings,
• organizing images by adding a map showing which of the parts of the lesson was being presented,
• align words with pictures: place words near corresponding portions of the animation.
• Synchronize the presentation of corresponding visual and auditory material.

Adapted from:
Mayer, R. E., & Moreno, R. (2003). Nine Ways to Reduce Cognitive Load in Multimedia Learning. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 43-52.

ACT-R (Adaptive Character of Thought) theory: Declarative and Procedural Knowledge

Declarative Knowledge = facts, terms and other specific “chunks” of info. They precede many of the screencasts in tutorials as “pre-training” sections: introducing terms, helping understand larger objectives. “Chunks” introduced early in a tutorial help students be less distracted by unfamiliar facts when more complex procedures, concepts etc. are introduced – one of the ways to reduce/eliminate cognitive overload.

Recommendation based on this theory

• Provide "pre-training sections" in tutorials to help students be less distracted by unfamiliar facts when more complex procedures, concepts etc. are introduced. For example, show potential resources students might need for completing an assignment before showing how to use them.

ARCS Model of Motivational Design

The illustration below lists some strategies which may be used to improve the general motiva­tional aspects.

Image source and additional information: Keller: ARCS Model Motivational Design Cheat Sheet

Alternative text (ALT text)

• Use it as a textual alternative to non-text content in web pages.
• See Alternative Text (WebAIM) for detail.
• The LONGDESC attribute can be used in addition to ALT text to provide a description beyond 250 characters.
• Put blank (alt=””) attributes in decorative images or images that don’t add any content /meaning based on context.

Captions

• Videos and live audio must have captions and a transcript.
  For more detail see Create ADA-Compliant Captions (TechSmith)

Color

• Choose contrasting colors.
  Tools:
  • Colour Contrast Analyser (for Windows or Mac)
  • WebAIM Color Contrast Checker
  • Avoid red and green.
• Use light color for backgrounds.
• Do not use color to convey significance.

Document structure

• Use headings, lists, and other structural elements to provide meaning and structure to web pages and facilitate keyboard navigation within the page.
• Provide headers for data tables.

Fonts

• Use clear fonts. For detail on fonts see Fonts (WebAIM)
• Good fonts for people with dyslexia: Arial, Courier, Helvetica, Verdana. Avoid italic fonts.
• Font size: 12-14 points/pixels size is recommended, minimum size 9 points/pixels.

Forms

• Ensure that every form element (text field, checkbox, dropdown list, etc.) has a label.  
• Make sure the user can submit the form and recover from any errors, such as the failure to fill in all required fields.

iFrames

Inline frames (iFrames) allow the inclusion of web documents, such as an embedded video, within a web page. Screen readers may indicate that iframes are present.

Good practice for iframe accessibility:

add title="embedded video"

Readability

• Write clearly and concisely.
• See also "Fonts."

Modified from "Principles of Accessible Design." Introduction to Web Accessibility (webAIM) and Accessibility, the Final Frontier: These are our voyages into best practices...

Accessibility checkers

Screen reader emulators

Disability simulators