Guest post by Kim Smith, Chemistry Faculty

Hello Faculty – Making YouTube videos for your classes could not be easier with the help of the CTLE and Cheryl Colan.  I primarily made videos for my hybrid sections; however, I have learned that the face-to-face sections use the videos just as much!  Students love online content that they can watch anytime, pause, rewind, and watch again.

I have made two types of videos:  topic videos where I discuss a topic or work a problem, and chapter videos where I talk through the PowerPoint for a chapter.  They are very different in their purpose.

Topic videos are short (4 minutes or less) and elaborate on one topic or one problem.  All students tend to watch these videos no matter the course modality.

Chapter videos are longer (8 minutes or less) and show me in the corner talking through the class PowerPoint.  Chapter videos are used in hybrid sections as the main teaching tool for those chapters. Primarily the hybrid students watch these videos. However, having the chapter videos is very useful to students who were absent in the face-to-face sections.

Based on YouTube statistics, students watch the videos late at night and tend to stop watching around 6-8 minutes.  I have a few longer videos, and they are rarely watched past 7-8 minutes.  So, keep those videos short.  I’ve learned that 5-6 short videos used to cover one chapter is much better than one longer video.