Creating and Using Video Assignments

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 Assign, edit, and manage: Video Assignments.

Assignment Suggestions

Critique a Video

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.

Explain an Assignment

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.

Audio Book Assignment

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.

Recorded Presentation Assignment

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.

Video Composition Assignment

If you require students to compose videos, they may upload their projects for grading using this tool. Rubrics tools are available.

File Size Considerations

Please check the user guide for the most complete instructions.

To effectively use this tool, the following specifications are required:

supported file types: avi, flv, mov, mpeg, mpg, mp4, m4v, qt, wmv, 3gp
*Note: For now, we only support YouTube embeds. Other embeds will be available in the future.
supported file size: up to 600 MB

Compression Guidelines

Before uploading, instructors and students should compress video files for these settings:

File format: .mov or .mp4
Codec: H.264
Resolution: 640 x 360
Bitrate: (smaller is better—the drop-down should have choices)

FREE software for compressing video

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	Consult the YouTube tutorial, particularly 0:35-2:42 and 5:49-7:40.