Common Practices in the Creation of Educational Videos

Abstract

Goal: To present an analysis of production and common uses of educational video in online higher education courses. Method: This research followed a qualitative inquiry approach, and data came from three sources: secondary data from communication logs during faculty training; analysis of 320 videos in business education and their course designs, and literature review. Results: The use of videos for education, also known as video-lectures, started to be widely used for online and hybrid university classes in the last 10 years. The practice grew with the appearance of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) movement in the early 2010s, and became normal during the pandemic in 2020, when some classes incorporated the use of mini-lectures together with, or instead of, synchronous online classes. The use of pre-recorded video is not new, but it is definitely a practice for which none or very few instructors received training as they were preparing to become university professors. Contribution: This article aims to demystify the creation of educational videos by sharing what are common practices in the creation of video-lectures, and how to prepare for a successful “on-camera” experience.