When anyone mentions recording lessons to a teacher, there is an almost immediate recoil of horror: “there is absolutely no way I am doing that!”
The reasons are almost always personal – they don’t want to be ‘out there’ in that way (out there = online) or they don’t want to have their face on a video screen. One teacher told me that they wouldn’t want their pupils to be able to make a fake video using them. While this might sound plausible, if you’re an IT teacher (like me), you’ll know that most pupils won’t take the time to disguise a copy & paste job from the top hit on Google, so the idea of them working a deepfake video is akin to performing the miraculous.
At any rate, there will always be reasons to not do something innovative. However, the positives for doing it far outweigh the negatives and that is why we’re here today. Read on to (hopefully) be convinced about recording lessons for your subject area to help pupils continue to learn outside of timetabled classes.
1. Review your own teaching methods and improve them.
Recording lessons allows teachers to review our own teaching methods because it gives us the opportunity to watch ourselves teach from a different perspective. By watching the recorded lesson, we can see how our students are responding to our teaching methods, and identify areas where they may need to improve. This can include things like pacing, organisation, use of visual aids, and engagement with students.
Additionally, by reviewing our own teaching methods, we can identify our own strengths and weaknesses and make adjustments as required. This can help us to become more effective teachers over time, as we can continuously make small improvements to our teaching methods based on our observations.
Furthermore, recording lessons also allows us to see how we are communicating with our students, we can evaluate the clarity of our explanations, the use of language and how well we are getting our point across.
Overall, recording lessons is a powerful tool for teachers to improve our own teaching methods by providing us with a means to review, evaluate and reflect on our own teaching performance.
2. Students can review the recorded lessons at their own pace.
Allowing students to review recorded lessons at their own pace is important because it addresses the fact that all students learn at different rates and have different learning needs. Some students may need to see a concept explained multiple times or at a slower pace in order to fully understand it. By providing recorded lessons, students can watch the lessons again and again until they understand the material.
Additionally, reviewing recorded lessons at their own pace allows students to focus on specific areas of confusion or difficulty, rather than feeling pressured to keep up with the pace of the class. This can help to improve retention, as students are more likely to remember material that they have had the opportunity to review and practice multiple times.
Furthermore, providing recorded lessons for students to review at their own pace can also help with understanding of the material. When students can review the material in their own time, they are more likely to be able to focus on the concepts they are learning, and they will have the opportunity to review the material in a way that works best for them. This can lead to a deeper understanding of the material, as students are able to engage with the material in a way that is most meaningful to them. One point that was made by some of my senior students is that a number of points I make when talking in class are not mentioned in the presentation document-by recording this content, those points can be retained and used for greater learning by my students.
In summary, allowing students to review recorded lessons at their own pace is important because it allows them to learn at their own pace and style, which can improve retention and understanding of the material.
3. Recording lessons can be used as a form of differentiation.
Recording lessons and allowing students to review them at their own pace can be a form of differentiation because it addresses the fact that all students learn differently. Some students may benefit from watching a lesson multiple times or at a slower pace in order to fully understand the material. By providing recorded lessons, students can watch the lessons again and again until they understand the material. This can be particularly beneficial for students who have difficulty processing information quickly or who have learning disabilities.
Additionally, by allowing students to review recorded lessons at their own pace, teachers can provide a more personalized learning experience for each student. This can help to engage students in the material, as they are able to focus on the areas of the lesson that are most important to them.
Furthermore, providing recorded lessons for students to review can also be a valuable form of differentiation for students who are working at different levels within the same class. For example, some students may need to review the material at a slower pace in order to understand it, while other students may be able to move on to more advanced material.
In summary, recording lessons and allowing students to review them at their own pace can be a form of differentiation because it addresses the fact that all students learn differently, provides a more personalised learning experience and can be used for students working at different levels within the same class.
4. Recording lessons allows for absent students to catch up on missed material.
Recording lessons to allow for absent students to catch up on missed material is important because it helps to ensure that all students have equal access to the material being covered in class. When students are absent, they can miss important information and concepts that are covered in class. This can put them at a disadvantage when it comes to understanding the material and completing assignments and assessments.
By providing recorded lessons for absent students to watch, they can catch up on the material they missed and stay on track with their class. This can help to reduce the amount of time and effort required for catch-up work, and it can also help to improve students’ understanding and retention of the material. This also removes any request from parents to help their child to catch up on missed work – it is already available and the pupil can work through the content at their own pace. This then leaves the teacher to check in with the pupil about any potential misunderstanding or lack of understanding that might occur. The task becomes teaching focused, rather than administrative.
Additionally, recorded lessons can be especially beneficial for students who are frequently absent due to illness or other reasons. It can help to minimise the negative impact of their absences on their learning, and help them to maintain continuity in their studies.
Furthermore, recording lessons for absent students can also help teachers in providing feedback and keep them updated with their classmates’ performance, this way they can provide additional support if needed.
In summary, recording lessons to allow for absent students to catch up on missed material is important because it helps to ensure that all students have equal access to the material being covered in class, reduces the amount of time and effort required for catch-up work, and helps to improve students’ understanding and retention of the material.
5. Recording lessons can be used for professional development.
Recording lessons that can be used for professional development is important because it allows teachers to observe and learn from their colleagues’ teaching methods. This can be especially beneficial for new teachers or those looking to improve their teaching skills. By watching recordings of their colleagues’ lessons, they can learn new techniques, strategies, and methods for engaging students and delivering content.
Additionally, by observing their colleagues’ teaching methods, teachers can gain a deeper understanding of how different teaching styles and approaches can be used to effectively teach different subjects and to different types of students. This can help them to develop a more diverse set of teaching strategies, which can be useful for adapting to different classroom situations and student needs.
Furthermore, recording lessons for professional development can also be useful for teachers to observe how their colleagues are using technology, multimedia, and other tools to enhance their teaching methods and to create more interactive and engaging learning experiences for students.
In summary, recording lessons that can be used for professional development is important because it allows teachers to observe and learn from their colleagues’ teaching methods, gain deeper understanding of different teaching styles, develop a more diverse set of teaching strategies, and observe how their colleagues are using technology and multimedia to enhance their teaching methods.
6. Recording lessons can be used as a form of assessment.
Recording lessons and using them as a form of assessment is important because it allows teachers to review student participation and engagement during the lesson. This can provide valuable insight into how well students are understanding and engaging with the material, and it can also help teachers to identify areas where students may be struggling.
By reviewing recorded lessons, teachers can see how students are interacting with the material, and whether they are asking questions, participating in discussions, or working independently. This can help teachers to identify areas where students may be struggling, and to provide targeted support and resources to help them to improve.
Additionally, recorded lessons can be useful for formative assessment, as teachers can use them to evaluate student progress over time. This can help teachers to identify areas where students are excelling and areas where they may need additional support.
Furthermore, recording lessons as a form of assessment can also help teachers to evaluate their own teaching methods, they can observe how they are delivering the material, how they are assessing student understanding, and how they are engaging their students.
In summary, recording lessons and using them as a form of assessment is important because it allows teachers to review student participation and engagement during the lesson, identify areas where students may be struggling, evaluate student progress over time, and evaluate their own teaching methods.
Final Thoughts
There are lots of reasons to begin recording your lessons. The major reason against is the time it may take, but I believe this is outweighed by the benefits it gives to students. In the past I have created video content for teaching databases and found through my YouTube analytics exactly where pupils were struggling. The data showed that they were watching to specific point then exiting the video. It gave me clear evidence for my next lesson to focus on the point of difficulty to ensure it was understood.
A key point to reassure teachers here is that the standard of recording does not need to be Oscar-nominee worthy, the majority of us own some type of smartphone and this alone could act as a sufficient camera – Uneasy Lies the Mind (film released in 2014) was recorded entirely on iPhone. As long as your voice is clear and the content easy to see or follow, then students will generally see the value in watching.
A moment needs to be taken to add a note about TikTok. It is the bane of many people’s existence and in terms of concentration it has ruined many teenagers! Most teachers who I have spoken to, who have already started on this path say that you should aim for videos that last 7-9 minutes. I would suggest something shorter, closer to 5-7 minutes. This specific number can be negated by the point that you should keep the focus in one video to one major point. This will increase the number of videos it takes to cover a topic, but no less time in terms of the total amount of recording time you have.
There are a number of different methods for recording lessons. I use MS Teams a lot because as an IT teacher, a lot of my content is screen-based, so it works sufficiently well to record the content, and my voice. I will sometimes add a recording of me in the corner, but this isn’t always necessary.
It’s also important to identify how you’re going to tackle this. No matter what subject we cite as an example, there will be a lot of work to be done in any subject. So my advice here is to make a plan. What is most important? What areas would students benefit from most? Ask your classes for help in drawing up a priority list and they’ll surprise you with the level of input they can give!