Today’s students are consumers of videos for entertainment. Is watching a video for learning/instruction
different than watching a video for entertainment? Yes, how you watch a video for entertainment
is totally different than watching a video for learning or instruction. This may seem clear to adults, but
isn’t necessarily for students. Most students do not realize that there is a
difference, so we as teachers need to explicitly teach our students about the
difference. Giving students tips on how
to watch a video for learning/instruction, then modeling in front of the
students how to watch your videos for learning/instruction is important for
flipped learning success.
Below is an acronym that I use to help my students remember what to do: LIFT.
The first thing I want my students to do when watching a video for
learning/instruction is to focus on Learning versus just
starting the video and letting it play.
Having the video play before your eyes does not mean you are learning the
material. Watching a video for learning
means that the students should be Involved in the
video by pausing the video at times to either write notes or work on a problem
before they watch me do the problem on the video. They may even need to rewind part of the
video if they either missed something or did not understand something. Being Involved also means
taking notes. For me that means writing
down, at a minimum, all
the material that I write during the video.
During the beginning of your course with the students,
you should model what it looks like for students to be Involved in your
video. You can and should tell your
students how to be Involved in the video, but
you must model it for them. To model
being Involved in the
video, play the video for the lesson in the classroom then pause the video at
different points and tell the students why you paused the video and what they
should be doing during the pause. At
times rewind the video and explain to the students why you are rewinding the
video at this spot. Depending on your
students, you may have to do this for several days before they fully understand
when to pause/rewind and why. You may
even want to tell your students in the initial videos when to pause/rewind the
videos to help the students to get use to pausing/rewinding videos.
In addition to wanting my students to focus on Learning and being Involved in the
video, I want them to Focus their attention on the video. To help students Focus on the
video. they typically have to deal with
their Tech. What does Tech mean? It means if you are watching on a tablet
like an iPad, turn off your notifications (so you will not be tempted to look
at the latest thing to come from your friends during the video), close extra
apps (music, game, and other apps), and close extra tabs in the browser of the
tablet. If you are watching on a
computer, then close extra tabs in your
browser (email, Twitter…), turn off your music, and close programs that you do
not need for watching the video and taking notes. No matter on what device you
are watching the videos, turn off your music, listen with headphones and deal
with your cellphone (ideally turn it off or at a minimum turn off the volume
and vibration so you will not be tempted to look at your phone when the latest
notification comes through).
LIFT when Watching Videos for Learning.
·
Learning - be concerned
about learning vs. just getting the video watched
·
Involved - be involved in the
video by pausing/rewinding the video and take notes
·
Focus - focus your attention
on the video
·
Tech -
turn off notifications, close extra tabs, put electronic devices away,
close extra apps, do not answer cell phone calls and messages, listen
with Headphones
Modified from Lisa Light's FIT acronym
