Each lesson in the print book is accompanied by a brief (around three minutes) “Essentials” video that presents students with the key discussions surrounding each topic. These videos are made up entirely of student soundbites and are a great way to jumpstart a class discussion. I also highly recommend assigning them as homework and asking students to bring their own responses to the topic to class.
Along with the 25 Essentials videos, there is another key set of videos in the LaunchPad. Within Becoming a College Writer, there are about 300 student interview quotes used as part of the instruction. In the LaunchPad version of the text, those quotes are accompanied by the student videos for each quote, so that the students’ actual voices shine through. The simplest way to use these videos is to encourage students to click “play” when they encounter one in the e-book within the LaunchPad, but they are also organized into a directory that can guide students to all of the video clips available on a particular topic or even from particular students.
Using this directory (which includes the 25 Essentials videos as well), a variety of assignment ideas present themselves. Students can be encouraged to take a freeform approach, seeking out a student who inspires them, or one to whom they relate. They can be sent on a deep dive, prompted to watch 3-5 videos from a student on a particular topic – such as audience or thesis – or to find two competing viewpoints and pick a side. Some of the student advice is straightforward, but there are students with strong opinions who do not always agree with each other. These moments of academic debate are wonderful teaching and learning opportunities, and serve as a great way to encourage students to try out different approaches in their own writing and see what works for them. They may find, as Alice does, that a conclusion based closely on the introduction is a waste of time and words…or they may find that the introduction is a helpful launching point for eventually drawing things to a close.
Any of these videos can be assigned to students, and you can ask them to leave comments for you – and for their peers – within the video itself. So the video index is also a valuable resource for you; if you find a favorite clip or two, feel free to build activities around them. When you assign your selection, it will show up in the table of contents for the course and prompt students to engage with this digital writing community – and the thoughts and ideas of their peers in your course as well.
By adding video assignments in LaunchPad, you can create assignments that allow students to comment on, upload, and/or score (using a rubric) videos that you or they upload. You can also add videos from our expansive Video Central library. The information below covers some basic assignment suggestions and tips for working with video. For more information about the Video Assignments feature, see Create a Video Assignment.
Embed a video from YouTube or from another source. In your instructions, provide discussion questions. Require students to add 2–3 comments on the video that respond to the prompt. You may grade this assignment with a rubric.
Some projects are complicated because they involve a lot of choice and many stages. Record yourself explaining the project, and upload the video to the Video Assignment tool. Require students to comment by asking a question or by proposing a topic.
Hearing a text read aloud as well as practicing reading aloud can often help struggling readers. Use the video tool assignment to require students to record themselves reading a passage aloud. Tutorial: Audio Editing with Audacity provides guidelines for using one audio-capturing software, but other tools are available, including some for smart phones. You might choose to grade this assignment with a simple pass/fail rubric.
If your course includes a required public speech, encourage students to work through Tutorial: Presentations. Record their practice and/or final presentations. If you have recorded on behalf of students, distribute the files so that students can upload their own speech. They can add self-reflective comments about their performance. You may grade this assignment with a rubric.
If you require students to compose videos, they may upload their projects for grading using this tool. Rubrics tools are available.
Please check the user guide for the most complete instructions.
To effectively use this tool, the following specifications are required:
Before uploading, instructors and students should compress video files for these settings:
| Platform | Software | Discussion |
|---|---|---|
| Mac only | iMovie | If you are in iMovie, export your video using the lowest quality option. You can also change the video type to .avi or .qt for streaming. |
| Mac and Windows | Handbrake | Open source, trusted, for Windows or Mac (rated “excellent” by CNET editors) |
| Windows | Freemake Video Convertor |