Overview: Smartphone Videos

Smartphones for video recording

There are several tools and workflows for video production these days, and it can get overwhelming and expensive just to consider the hardware, software, and production costs of video projects. The good news is that a lot of us carry video cameras in our pocket. And those cameras can help to show our students that we care about their learning.

Why

This LOFT module will cover the "How" of smartphone videos. But the "Why" is even more important. Why do we include video production in our professional learning efforts in the LOFT? Why do we encourage faculty to use videos in their teaching?

katie-art-of-explanation.jpgWe'll give you a hint: It's not about adding fancy bells and whistles to your class. Here at Mesa College we are frequently explaining things to others. As teachers perhaps we are explaining a concept or a theory to our students. As counselors, we explain the process of selecting and enrolling in classes. Student services employees are constantly explaining new programs and processes to students and community members. Explaining is part of what we do at Mesa. What makes a good explanation?

Lee Lefever, in his book The Art of Explanation, has an answer for us. "Creating a great explanation involves stepping out of your own shoes and into your audience's. It is a process built on empathy, on being able to understand and share the feelings of another"(p 10). 

Videos are one way to show empathy to an audience that isn't present with us, face-to-face.