Method Video catch-up
Introduction
In video catch-up students are asked to create a 3 min video in which they summarise the main points of a specific lecture as if to another student who wasn’t able to be there. Students are asked to use their own mobile phone to do the recording in which they simply speak to the camera giving a short summary of what the lecture was about. In it they should be asked to introduce themselves at the start, give a short summary of what the lecture was about in which they cover the main themes and to finish with a statement about what they found most interesting/challenging/relevant in the lecture – i.e. to finish with something that can be understood as their opinion. This kind of technique lends itself well to a competition and also to peer evaluation if that fits within the overall course structure.
Aim To help assess the degree to which students have captured the essence of a lecture; to assess the extent to which they can adopt a critical position in respect to the content under discussion; to help students improve their presentation skills including their ability to distil and summarise a topic; to support their audiovisual production skills
Target group

 

This method can be used in practical any disciplinary setting and at any level. Applying it in lower levels has the added advantage of helping to instil at an early stage the skills of deduction and presentation, while at the more advanced stage it can be helpful particularly in dealing with topics and subjects that experience has shown to be challenging.
Intended learning outcomes
  • Better understanding of what the essential elements of any given lecture have been.
  • Enhanced ability to formally present own opinion to camera
  • improved audiovisual production skills
Description
Introduce the task to students making clear what the parameters are to them, explaining the degree to which their productions will be accessible to others and the extent to which it will be evaluated. Also agree where these videos will be made available for one another to view.

Identify the lecture for which they are expected to create their video catch-up recording – this could be spread out over a term so different students are responsible for different lectures.

Support students in their recording, you may need to offer general support and advice on video production although the idea is that these recordings should be very simple and short presentations to camera making use of the student’s own smart phone. Review the results and provide feedback to the individual student.

Set up peer assessment/evaluation if appropriate.

Preparation by teaching staff Very little preparation required on your part while students needs to prepare and record short video clips
Required resources and equipment All students need to have access to a smart phone that allows for easy audiovisual recording. Once saved they can be sent to the lecturer who may in turn decide to upload all videos to a shared – but private – video space so everyone in the class and review and if relevant, assess.
Success factors The extent to which students are familiar with recording themselves in presentation mode can be a factor in determining the success or otherwise of this method.
Advantages Not only does this method help students learn how to distil and summarise, but it can also greatly enhance their presentation skills.
Disadvantages This method can be difficult for students who find presentation of themselves difficult in other settings although sometimes, the intimacy of doing such a recording usually alone and with your own device, enables such students to feel more comfortable.
Additional information If you would like to point your students to a place where they can find more information on recording simple videos on their smart phone, then take a look at the resources available on Mobile Journalism (MoJo) here:

If you are looking for a channel where you can more easily set up a private viewing space, then consider Vimeo.

Download PDF file:

Video catch-up (344 downloads) Video kopsavilkums (347 downloads) Video catch up PL (321 downloads)
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