Use of Media in Education: My Video and Media Principles

In this reflection I will share some of my “best practices” for using media in the live, virtual or hybrid classroom.

What is most important in terms of video and media is to achieve connection to “cognitive interest” as stated by a decade-old video interview of Professor Richard E. Mayer of UCSB. The key is to make sure the material being presented is concise and clearly understandable by the audience.  

I am learning from practice that professionally produced video is not absolutely necessary to make a difference. You can DIY if you follow some good standards. My best practices include: 

1. Include principles of accessible design (https://webaim.org/intro/#principles). For example, caption and/or provide transcripts for media. 

2. Use principles of effective media design. Carefully place text next to images, choose colors for aesthetic purposes, don’t let audio effects distract from the message or content.

3. Let pedagogical priorities guide your video production so that you build on the instruction of your current students, not some effort to make the media “glitzy” or “popular.”

4. Use as high quality hardware and software as you can to improve the efficiency and overall quality of your media. For example,  external digital cameras and microphones are usually very much improved over the built-in ones.

5. Let your students create their own media. This is an important way to tap in to the creative, expressive potential of media. Use the California Media Arts Standards as a guide in grades TK-12. 

In summary I will say that video and media are essential components of our instruction.

Teacher made content makes all the difference in making the student learning experience more personal.

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