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Tag: Social presence

Why you should appear (at least sometimes) in your course videos

Published September 25, 2017 by Peg Balachowski

First, a shameless plug: EvCC instructor Joe Graber and I will be teaming up to offer a one-hour workshop on October 3 on using the EvCC lightboard, built by a team of engineering faculty, to create engaging and effective instructional videos. If you haven’t already done so, mark your calendar!

With videos on my mind recently, and with this being a time of the year when many faculty are creating new videos to share with their students, I thought it might be useful to address a couple of the myths, misperceptions, and generalizations about instructional videos that I encounter most frequently.

Students don’t need to see me in videos. All they need to see are my slides and the information I’m presenting. (Besides, I hate being on camera!)

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Incorporating a personal video into Canvas

Published March 27, 2017 by Peg Balachowski

The Spring quarter is just around the corner (if calendars and dates have edges and corners), which is the perfect time to think about and incorporate new features into your classes.

A brief video introduction can enhance your class and foster feelings of connectedness for your students, whether you teach web enhanced, hybrid, or online courses.  The effort required on your part is minimal, and the return on investment is impressive.

Access the Video Introduction Handout with step-by-step instructions and listen to the podcast on the topic.  An Uploading a Video transcript of the podcast is also available.  More Teaching and Tools podcasts are available on our Soundcloud channel with additional episodes in production!

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“It’s not going to be comfortable…and that’s okay”

Published March 6, 2017 by Peg Balachowski

Late last quarter I had the opportunity to chat with EvCC’s Penny Perka about a series of short, informal introductory videos she had created for her College Success courses. Penny’s goal was to increase what is sometimes called “instructor presence” or “social presence” in online class environments, where students can sometimes feel less connected to each other and their instructor than they do in face-to-face classroom settings.

Penny was kind (and brave!) enough to let me film our conversation, a few highlights of which are included in this short video, along with a few clips from some of the videos Penny created:

Although we covered a number of topics, Penny’s emphasis on trying new things and putting herself in the position of her students was particularly inspiring to me.

Though not included in the video, Penny also shared a few important lessons she had learned when creating short videos for her course:

Continue reading“It’s not going to be comfortable…and that’s okay”
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