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faculty course intro videos

One purpose of creating a short video of a faculty member introducing her- or himself to students at the beginning on an online course is to offer students a sense of each faculty member's interests. This helps them form a context for the course and offers a useful first glimpse into potential thesis and dissertation advisors. Another purpose, absent face time in a classroom, is to offer students an opportunity to gain insight about the instructor from his or her nonverbal cues.

These introductory videos are most effective when very brief: in the range of 90 seconds to three minutes at longest. We suggest faculty consider speaking from the following talking points:

-introduce yourself and your educational backgrond
-summarize your long-term professional interests
-offer an example or two of a current project as it relates to your teaching
-wish students the best in their coursework

Optimally, the faculty intro video doesn't touch on course-specific or housekeeping issues and can be used for a number of years in multiple contexts. We conceive this "portability" in regard for faculty's time as well as concision and utility.

Posted by pdb on January 7, 2009 10:41 AM | Permalink