I am a relatively non-tech savy online instructor. My first class was a cable course where students were supposed to watch a 45-minute lecture online, read instructions for essays online and then turn in essays and assignments via the internet. It was awful, to say the least. The lecturers had been prerecorded by another instructor many semesters prior, and the assignments weren’t even my own. Because I was following someone else’s pre-designed course, I had to kind of follow along like a student. I’m going to be honest- I tried to watch the lectures. They were exhausting. They felt sloooooooooooooow, and since I couldn’t participate, they turned into a passive listening experience. I usually started cooking or texting or painting my nails. Usually cooking though. I’d constantly tune out and then have to rewatch them looking for hints about the assignment. After that experience, I knew that online lecturing was not the way to go.
Nevertheless, I am auditory learner and I keep catching myself drawn to the videos over text when it comes to taking online classes. Still, if the video is more than 3 minutes and starts off slow or resembles a power-point in any way, I’m out! I may sound like some “over-stimulated” “tech-saturated” lazy-minded youngster with the attention-span of a hamster, but I’m not. Give me a book and I’m satisfied sitting still for hours. Put me on the internet and I want out as fast as possible. I just like hearing things too.
Thus, what I want, in order to make my online course more engaging for my auditory learners and my visual learners, is an app or a tool for recording short and sweet videos/teaching segments where I can highlight a concept that I really want my students to understand.
I’ve never made a video in my life. Help me?
Working It Out in the Virtual Classroom 