7 Tips On How to Use Video as an Educator

If there's one thing that units students universally, it's video. Young people spend more time on YouTube than watching any cable network in the country. Video is the best way to meet your students where they are.

From incorporating video into your lesson plan to engaging prospective students, here are 7 fun ideas educators can do with video!

1. MAKE A QUIRKY CAMPUS TOUR (FEATURING CAMPUS CELEBRITIES)

Not every potential student will be able to visit your campus in person, so how can you acquaint prospects with your campus environment? An online video!

Take prospective students and their families on a virtual tour.  Use an interactive map that encourages viewers to feel engaged with your physical layout.

You can further orient students to campus life by highlighting fun local traditions and landmarks. A series of shorter videos are great for browsing, and they allow you to use multiple faces and voices – maybe popular campus athletes or faculty – to represent the people at the heart of your campus.

Video is a fun, engaging way to welcome students and show them what you have to offer.

2. CREATE AN ACCEPTANCE VIDEO WITH NEXT STEPS INCLUDED

In addition to sending an acceptance letter, engage your recruits with an acceptance video! The video can congratulate them on acceptance, let them know they are important to the university, and start them down the path to finalizing their admissions process.

You can include helpful presentations that show them how to find and applying for housing, enroll in courses, and engage with extracurricular groups on campus. Use this time to describe interactive classrooms, top-of-the-line science labs, and the many study spots available to fit each learner’s needs.

The videos will ease their concerns about fitting into campus life and will assist their transition into the next phase of their educational experience.

3. PRESENT COURSE MATERIALS

Videos are a great teaching medium. Faculty can use videos to open up time in class for more interaction and practice of skills.

Videos can help students reflect and prepare before discussions, show complex experiments or equations, and demonstrate intricate procedures.

Video walk-throughs of new concepts and problem-solving approaches provide anytime access to instructors in a format that can be watched as often as needed as students complete homework and work toward mastery.  

4. STUDENTS AS CURATORS AND CREATORS

Students are not just consumers of information and content. Many are excited to share knowledge and experiences as video creators. Expanding traditional written assignments to include a video component allows for increased student creativity and engagement.

Not only will students learn the subject matter, they’ll also discover how to present content in visually compelling ways. The process will increase their information literacy skills and add a bit of camera skills and video editing to their repertoire.

Video can be done many ways – complex, full production video, screen capture while solving a problem, or a simple interview recorded with a smartphone.  

5. PROVIDE STUDY TIPS AND TRICKS FROM OTHER STUDENTS

Students enjoy learning from other students. Transforming into a college student requires the cultivation of many new skills, and everyone needs a little inside scoop.

Let students share tips with each other in short, fun video interviews. You’ll help reorient what can seem like an unmanageably large organization into easily negotiated pieces.

Faculty and staff can also share survival tips for everything from time management to where to do your laundry.

6. KEEP YOUR ALUMNI ENGAGED

No matter how far and wide your alumni have traveled, video can keep them nostalgically connected to their alma mater, enjoying campus life via video.

With video, your alums can re-visit a former hangout, stay up with campus transformations, and even sing the fight song with students in the quad before the big game. Encourage your alums with video to take an online class from a favorite professor. Show off the great research your faculty are producing.

Perhaps most importantly, the right video can acquaint alumni with current students, showing them the remarkable recruiting potential and talent base at their own alma mater.

7. SHOW THE CULTURE OF YOUR COLLEGE TOWN

Potential students want to know about the new town they’ll call home. Where will they eat dinner when their parents visit? What’s a good place to enjoy a refreshment with friends after studying? What are some of the big and small entertainment venues?

With a series of short videos you can bring the local culture to life by showing landmarks and discussing the history of your town. Fill students in on campus haunts, volunteering opportunities, and the places and people that make your college town unique.

Whether you’re discussing the weather or listing the ten most popular local fashions, these videos will show potential students the wider community they’ll inhabit.