Best Practices:
University Libraries Video Tutorials & Learning Objects
October 5, 2012 - DRAFT
Content
Learning objectives should be stated.
Audience should be stated.
Timing should be considered:
Brief videos (under 2 minutes) are more likely to be viewed to the end than longer ones.
While content determines length, multiple defined segments may be more effective than one long one.
Identify contributors and their roles early in the process.
Credit sources of content, background music, technical and design work, etc.
Priority for creating tutorials will include areas of greatest need as well as greatest potential audience.
Accessibility: Tutorials and Learning Objects should comply with both Penn State and University Libraries accessibility standards
Videos must be captioned, pdf’s and Word documents must be made screen-readable
Directions must be explicit in a way that does not only depend on sight.
Instead of saying “click here” say “click on the X link.”
Videos should be uploaded onto YouTube.
YouTube is currently the only accessible video player.
Preservation
Write and save script.
Since videos must be captioned, an accurate script is essential.
Subsequent updates and revisions are facilitated by having a script
Save the raw video file before the film is uploaded.
To remain current, updates and revisions are commonly needed. These cannot be made without the raw files.
Save the raw SWF or video files, transcripts, storyboards, audio files and completed tutorial, as well as all other relevant media or data, in one folder with the title of the tutorial. Share these files with the Learning Design Librarian for archiving. These will be saved locally and uploaded into ScholarSphere, the Libraries’ institutional repository. This allows for updating and alteration of existing tutorials, and other future access.
