Three Tips for Planning Video Projects

From Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers:

I love video projects because the entire process of developing project ideas, creating the video, and sharing the video engages almost all students. Over the years I have helped hundreds (maybe thousands) of students and teachers create videos in their classrooms. If you haven't tried making videos with your students or you have and it didn't go as you hoped it would have, here are three of my favorite tips for planning video projects.

1. Keep it short and sweet. 
A 90 second video that is well planned and edited can pack a lot of punch. By putting a time limit on the final product you are asking students to really think about what is important in the story they are telling or the points they are trying to convey.

2. Make students draft an outline before they touch any video editing tools. 
By making my students draft an outline before they started to use any video production tools I was able to help them focus on identifying the purposes of their videos. Their outlines should include a list of the B-roll footage they might want to use, types of background images they want to use, sound effects they might add, a narration script if necessary, and a dialogue script if necessary. All outlines should identify what the students are trying to demonstrate through the production of their videos.

3. Identify what you're going to assess.
It can be easy to get distracted by a good-looking video and forget that we are trying to assess what our students have learned or are trying to demonstrate to us. For that reason I always outline what it is I am looking for in a final video and I share that outline with my students. Some of the things that I've assessed in video projects in my social studies classes include understanding of sequence of events, understanding of cause and effect of events, understanding a diversity of view points, and use of persuasive arguments.