It’s my view that the inclusion of any video in an online course can add to the learning experience of students (with the exception of lengthy lectures). However, not all videos are created equal, and it’s always nice to have the best production values possible. I recently had a successful experience improving the production quality of an introduction video in one of our flagship courses at UAF eCampus.

The original video above had been shot on a whim in the fall of 2014, and had served successfully in the course for multiple offerings. It had some areas that could be improved, however. The tripod hadn’t been level, the audio wasn’t great, the day of the shoot was overcast and dull, and the quality of the video itself appeared to have gone through several compression cycles. So with new equipment, a nicer day, a larger production staff, and the same instructor, we shot it again:

I also added the titles with the instructor’s guidance, and we conducted a separate shoot to get b-roll of various locations mentioned in the monologue.

Overall, I believe this is quite an improvement and a good example of how video can be included effectively in a course while not being perfect, and later built upon to create an even more polished product.