Challenge B: Videos

Your goal for this challenge is to, in a group, create 3 x 1 minute educational videos that allows a reader to learn about some idea or concept through the use of text and image. The subject of the videos can be about anything you want so long as it is educational. Utilize the template here to document all your work

As you complete this project, you will be able to:

• Utilize imagery and narration in a complimentary manner
• Evaluate educational videos and make suggestions for improvement
• Iterate on your project with peer feedback to refine and improve your work.
• Engage in design thinking to create multimedia learning projects
• Apply storytelling principles in creating effective learning opportunities
• Apply multimedia principles as you design and create your own educational videos

Important Dates

Fri, Oct 3	Substantive Contribution #1 (Individually)
Wed, Oct 8	Share your prototype (As a Group)
Sun, Oct 12	Provide peer feedback (Individually)
Thurs, Oct 16	Substantive Contribution #2 (Individually)
Thurs, Oct 23	Project submission (As a Group)

About Educational Videos

Videoscribe. (2014). How whiteboard video technology works in education | VideoScribe. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcft5B1c-JE

We are going to look at three type of educational videos. Just a quick note that these categories are not perfectly defined and there is significant overlap.

The Explainer Video

Uses visuals, narration, and storytelling to simplify and convey complex concepts or information in a clear and memorable way.

The Scenario Video

Demonstrates a realistic situation or procedure for viewers to observe, learn, and analyze.

How-to Video

• A demonstration that guides a viewer step-by-step through the process of performing a specific task, skill, or procedure.

“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”

Blaise Pascal, 1657 (a quote that has been recycled many times over: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/04/28/shorter-letter/https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/04/28/shorter-letter/)

Making something short is much harder than something long. You may be able to relate from the difficulties in paring a 1100 word essay down into the 1000 word limit. This pattern emerges everywhere from academics to biology (broken bones spend ~6 weeks to repair, and up to years to remodel, to smooth out the extra bone).

Sometimes people praise media for its length when instead it should be grounds to be questioned. Often what makes media long is irrelevant or tangential content that generates additional extraneous cognitive load. So I hope next time, you think critically about the length of media: a book, a video, a presentation, a lesson, a lecture, etc.

With the design process, we move through expansive, divergent thinking into focused, convergent thinking. At first we have a multitude of ideas, then we slowly abandon ideas until we are left with a few. The more we converge the idea or artefact, meaning the more we take away less important parts, the more focused (or shorter) it becomes. To stop too soon in the design process would result in creating media that is longer than it should be.

I am by no means saying that all long-form media is bad. In fact, well thought-out long media, such as a movie or novel, undergoes the same process, just magnified. For example, a 2 hour movie may have been pared down from 5 hours of filmed material. (See here for more on that: https://miracalize.com/2-hour-movie-time/)

Short form media has become extremely popular in social media. Lately, short videos (less than 1 minute) have immerged as the most consumed medium, such as TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Facebook Reels, Snapchat, etc. There are many factors that people believe are contributing to this (e.g., attention spans, media companies’ agendas, social network effects) that will not be explored in this class. Even the merit of if this is good or bad we will not try to understand. Instead we will explore and capitalize on the medium from an educational standpoint; using the constraints it provides for creativity:

• a viewer can easily maintain attention for such a short time (so long as they haven’t previously been doom scrolling)
• with one minute maximum, there is no room for extraneous components
• multiple short clips allow for huge style and idea shifts (compared to one long clip of the save cumulative length)

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What you have to do

In a group, create three different 1 minute educational videos to teach the reader about some idea or concept through the use of text and image. Each video can be a different style and/or of a different topic. They can support each other as a series, or be totally different – it is up to you! The subject of the videos can be about anything you want so long as it is educational. Utilize the template here to document all your work.

Throughout the Challenge project, you will engage with the following phases:

• Phase 0: Sharing and Helping Discussion
• Phase 1: Understand (Discover, Interpret, Specify)
• Phase 2: Plan (Ideate, Sketch, Elaborate)
• Phase 3: Prototype
• Phase 4: Peer Feedback Discussion
• Phase 5: Reflect and Refine

Sharing and helping discussion (5%) – Individual component

As you work through your project and engage with resources, you will learn a lot that is worth sharing with others.

Individually, you are to create 2 substantive contributions (~250 words each).

1. In the first substantive post, you are to share an educational video that you find impactful and comment on how the multimedia learning theories apply.
2. For the second post, you are to offer a reflection of the design process. What is a design process? What was your process in Challenge A: Comics? Do you identify methods for improvement? How are you engaging in the design process in Challenge B: Videos?

Please format your contribution as a blog post or document and share it in our Mattermost Sharing and Helping channel.

Participation beyond your substantive post is important, so please engage with others by asking questions, offering help, and responding to posts.

Sharing your prototype

Your prototype is the first draft of your final project. You can share it as a web page, a document with clear project documentation, or a blog post.

The Project write-up is done as a group, you can use the same template here. If you are choosing to do a drastically different topic for each video, then there may be aspects of the understand/plan that are unique to each topic that the video will look into.

The prototype is what you intend to test; in order to test your ideas, you need to communicate it with others. Do you want to test the content matter (hint: for learning this is important!)? then a storyboard will work. If you want to test the video style, then a short video clip is needed. Outline the purpose of your prototype. So, the prototype can be a rough outline of your videos utilizing words and/or images, it can be a larger storyboard, it can be a short video clip, or anything else you find helpful. In addition to gaining feedback, the development of the prototype should also be a beneficial step in creating your final video. It doesn’t have to be perfect, the key is to clearly get your point across.

The videos can include real people or be animated, it can narrated or text on screen, it can be explanatory, a scenario, or a how-to. Have fun!

Along with your prototype, please include your “Understand” and “Plan” phases. These don’t need to be perfect or complete; you’ll have a chance to refine them later. Please utilize this template.

Once you have everything ready, share your prototype with your peers in the Mattermost chat.

Providing Peer Review (5%) – Individual component

Individually, you will be assigned two other prototypes to provide feedback to (~200 words each). The instructor will setup a private channel so only the reviewers, reviewee, and instructor can see the feedback. One of the best ways we can grow individually and as a team is through the process of feedback. Both offering and receiving peer feedback can be hard, scary, and emotional – please consider your words carefully for constructive and actionable comments. Please reach out to your instructor at anytime for any kind of support.

Some prompts for feedback:

Project submission (20%)

This is the final project submission that includes your entire design process from understanding the challenge through planning, peer feedback, and revision. Please share your final project

The components of the final project submission include:

• Understand (Discover, Interpret, Specify) (5%)
  • Define the challenge, context, audience, and learning outcomes
• Plan (Ideate, Sketch, Elaborate) (5%)
  • Develop a solution plan, including a hand-drawn storyboard, script and connections to multimedia theory
• Reflect and Refine from Prototype Feedback (5%)
  • Critical reflection on the peer feedback and the design process as a whole
• Project Artifact (5%)
  • Create a multimedia artifact prototype based on the plan

The process you follow to create your project is where most of your learning occurs, and as a result, the vast majority of your grade will be based on that process. So it is crucial that you record all of your design decisions. The key to success is to work through a clear design process and to justify your choices by referencing class readings and other literature.

Here is a template for you to document your work. This template is designed to guide your team through the design and creation of your project and includes the expected phases listed above.

Examples: Please view past examples here (shared in the course Brightspace shell for privacy reasons).

Resources

You can use any tool or method to create your videos. Here are some popular tools that you could use. and there are so many more out there too, so please keep exploring.

Please be aware of any privacy concerns when using software and services, see here for more info: FIPPA, Privacy, and Consent Resources. When using images in your comments, ensure you are meeting copyright.

Examples

View some exemplar videos in the Brightspace here: https://bright.uvic.ca/d2l/le/content/421805/Home

Assessment Rubric

	0 – 2 (Needs Additional Work)	3 (Marginally Meets Expectations)	4 (Fully Meets Expectations)	5 (Exceeds Expectations)
Sharing and helping (5%)	Substantive contribution is missing or lacks substance. There’s little if any engagement in the discussion.	Contributions are brief and/or inadequately supported by literature or other sources Participation is inconsistent.	The contribution is substantive and relevant to the project. Is an active, consistent contributor to the conversation.	Exceptional substantive contribution that demonstrates sound theory and shows external research. Is an active contributor in the discussion that elevates the conversation.
Peer Review (5%)	Feedback is minimal, generic, or unhelpful. Lack of understanding of the project’s goals. It is delivered in an emotionally harmful manner.	Feedback lacks depth, is brief, and/or is unactionable. There is insufficient understanding of the project.	Feedback is thoughtful, specific, and actionable. The tone is positive, constructive, and respectful.	Feedback is exceptionally insightful, comprehensive, and emotionally intelligent. There is a deep analysis of the project and connection to theory.
Understand (5%)	Poorly defined challenge Insufficient audience description Off-target POV statement Learning outcomes inadequately described Lack of effort is apparent	Challenge is overly simple, unmanageable, or partially defined Audience description is limited POV statement is marginally effective Learning outcomes need refinement	Clear, manageable learning challenge with well-elaborated context. Audience and needs are effectively described. POV statement is clear and effective. Learning objectives and sub-objectives are well-defined. Thoughtful effort evident.	Exceptional focus and context, with an outstanding description of audience needs, goals, skills, and resources. POV statement is highly insightful. Learning outcomes are professional and comprehensive. Clear, thoughtful communication and exceptional effort.
Plan (5%)	Inadequate storyboard/script Few or no connections to multimedia principles Effort is insufficient	Adequate but unrefined storyboard/script Storyboard seems to have been created to match the prototype (instead of the other way) Limited connections to multimedia principles Plan lacks clarity or originality	Relevant and focused topic with a good solution plan. Storyboard/script is functional and clear, with authentic hand-drawn graphics and text. Effectively connects to multimedia principles.	Exceptionally focused and relevant topic with a clear, detailed plan. Outstanding storyboard/script with strong hand-drawn graphics and text, and notes for implementation. Extensive application of multimedia, design, and user-experience principles.
Reflect and Refine (5%)	Minimal or defensive response to feedback. Few substantive revisions. Limited individual reflections.	Limited reflection on feedback or incomplete revisions. Individual reflections are brief or lack depth.	Thoughtful and complete reflection on feedback. Effective revisions descriptions addressing major concerns. Individual reflections are clear and collaborative.	Exceptional reflection on feedback and thoughtful explanations of revisions to the prototype. Insights into strengths, limitations, and potential improvements are outstanding. Individual reflections are constructive and thorough.
Project Artifact (5%)	Significant deviations from the plan Poor application of multimedia principles Limited tool mastery or poor user experience	Limited use of multimedia principles Marginal evidence of effort, tool mastery, or user experience Weak initial prototype or late submission Limited refinement after feedback	Faithful to the plan and effectively addresses the challenge. Good application of multimedia principles. Competent tool mastery and positive user experience. Some refinement made after feedback.	Excellent alignment with the plan, fully addressing the challenge. Exceptional application of multimedia, design, and user-experience principles. Mastery of the chosen tool and an outstanding user experience. Solid revisions made after feedback on initial prototype.