Video Lessons - Without the Tutorial

I've written and provided tutorials in the past about tools you can use to provide video instruction in your class. As a refresher, the reason to do video tutorials is to provide either direct instruction or support materials to students outside of class. So, either the students are watching the instruction/demo at home to provide time for individualized support in class or the videos serve as a support for students at home to review lessons. Either way, you have to invest the initial time of recording yourself giving the lesson or demonstration.

I Hate My Voice on Tape

One basic roadblock for a lot of people besides the time is that they have Home-Answering-Machine-Syndrome and hate hearing their own voice on an audio recording let alone video. They aren't very excited about having multiple videos of themselves giving lectures or demonstrations playing in the background of their class as they walk around and help kids. However, there is a solution.

Video Lessons without.... You

You do not need to make a tutorial with you in it to get the same benefits of having video lessons available for your students. There are many sites that help you make a video lesson with the following components.

Video Lesson Parts

• An educational video from the Web that is professionally produced
• A place for students to interact by taking notes, answering teacher generated questions or participate in some sort of activity in the same spot as the video
• A place for all of the student work to get back to the teacher for grading or discussion

Tools

Let's talk tools. For this, I'm going to split the tools available into two categories: Low-Input and High More-Input.

Low Input Tools

Tools with a low input don't require much time. Basically, the video is there and you add comprehension or discussion questions to the video. It can act as a quiz or just reinforcement of learning goals. It's really fast and looks great.

VideoNot.es - A side-by-side notetaking tool for students watching a video

YouTube Questions - Add questions/quiz to YouTube Videos

BLubbr.tv - Yes, I know... unfortunate name but a good tool for adding comprehension and study questions.

TED-Ed - Hopefully you're aware of TED talks but you may not know they have a lesson creator

High More Input Tools

These tools may require a little more time but they allow you to string multiple videos together into one lesson and add things to your activity besides basic text. They still rely on simple drag and drop technology which make them very easy to use for anyone. 

Zaption 

Metta.io

Take Away : You can leverage the power of free educational video content without making tutorials. Give one a try!

Kahoot! A Fun Quiz Game for Class

If you're looking for a fun alternative to common review activities, try Kahoot.


Kahoot is a fun and extremely simple online quiz game which can be used for learning-checks, end of unit review, or general formative assessments. It is very easy and fast for teachers to set up a quiz/review activity and easy for even the youngest kids to use. And did I mention that it's a game (i.e. fun)?

If you're looking for something different than Jeopardy and faster to set up than some kind of template based game, Kahoot will work well for you. Plus, this is a great way to use student devices in class; you don't need to check out the iPads or computers to make this work. Since the teacher puts in his own questions, it will work for any subject.

How it Works

1. A teacher creates an account on the Kahoot website (for free) and creates a new "Kahoot" or activity for kids. 
2. The teacher enters in questions (as many or few as he wishes) and receives a code for his Kahoot. 
3. Kids go to Kahoot.it on any device and type in the code to start playing. 

That's it.

Students watch the questions on the front board and choose the color square on their device to answer. Answers are awarded points based on time to respond and if they got the correct answer. A leader board is shown after each question.

It's fast and free. Give it a try.