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Instructor Home > Helpful Tips for Online Instruction > Videotaping and Script Tips
These guidelines are offered for DL instructors who will be taping an introductory video with TASC.
Guidelines for what to wear in front of the camera:
- Avoid stripes and any kind of fussiness
- Go for simple solid colors
- Avoid whites (which tend to "glow")
As for your video script itself, these are the types of things we suggest including:
- "Welcome to the course....Who I am.... General topic, purpose or learning objectives...."
- "The knowledge and skills you'll gain are important because.... This is a fascinating subject because.../I'm passionate about this course because... (or something along these lines - how can students pick up your enthusiasm?)
- Comments on course content/organization/syllabus as well as study tips, time/participation requirements, etc.
- "Please contact me if you have any problems. I can be reached in the following ways...." (or say where students can find your fax/phone/e-mail or other contact info on Blackboard).
- Closing: "Good luck!" or "I look forward to working with you!"
The teleprompter will be easier to read from if you keep your sentences simple and your paragraphs short (2-3 sentences each). You might add notes to yourself between paragraphs and a note to yourself at the end so that you remember to keep looking at the camera for a few seconds after you finish talking. If you like, your project manager will be glad to review your outline or script before you tape if you send it to him or her as an e-mail attachment.
Your tape can be 5-10-20 minutes long, as you see fit. When students see your video, you'll be speaking out of the Bb screen, as it were, so you're free to refer to the navigation buttons at the left, as they are set up in your course. If you don't choose to send your script/outline ahead of time, please bring it on diskette as a Word document and also saved as a text-only (.txt) file. It'll take the camera crew a few minutes to load up the text file for the teleprompter. We'll put the Word version into Bb along with the video link, for students who may have difficulty downloading or viewing the video.
We suggest that before coming to the studio you practice your script or outline several times out loud, until you feel comfortable delivering it in a relaxed and conversational tone. People sometimes get nervous in front the of camera, though the whole taping event is pretty relaxed. You can rehearse as many times as you like, and we can re-tape as many times as you want. There will be bright lights, and if you appear particularly "shiny," the cameraman may powder you up a bit.
We'd be glad to work with you further if you'd like to tape a couple more short videos to orient students to new modules or special challenges in the course.
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