In a previous post, I talked about adding closed captions to flipped instruction videos. I said, "I will tell you that ideally you should write script before you record your video. You should do this whether or not you have to add captions, but I'm telling you it will save you a lot of headache if you have to put closed captions on your videos."
Today, I did just that.
This was not my first time writing a script, but it was my first time writing it with the intention of uploading for closed captions. It took me a few more tries when I started recording as I really like to ad lib or go off on a tangent. Having the script actually helped me stay focused on only the necessary information and kept my video short!
Here are the steps I went through before uploading to YouTube. They're very similar to what I outlined on my previous post.
Outline what I want learners to take away from the video
Write out the transcript
Practice a few times before recording, make adjustments to the script - KNOW what I'm going to click on and when
Start recording
Make any changes/adjustments to the transcript NOTE: This will be uploaded and added to the video exactly how it's written so if you change any words or add any information off the cuff, you need to add it to the transcript!
Upload the video to your YouTube channel - if you used Screencastify you can simply click the "share" button a the top of the screen
Save the transcript as a Plain Text (.txt) file In Google Drive - click "Download as..."
The video below will explain the process of adding the captions to the video from your YouTube account.
This trimester I'm currently teaching a class called Critical Thinking & Argumentation. The class is primarily juniors, and I knew I wanted the course to focus on research skills, critical reading skills, and written and verbal argument skills.
So far, I've discussed the critical reading strategy SQ3R on a previous post. We used that reading strategy at the very beginning of the year to read a chapter from a textbook that serves as the framework for the entire course.
The next reading strategy we used was the Central Question Diagram. I chose this strategy because it set the framework for our project up really well by introducing the students to the idea of a central question.
To introduce our week long research/argument project I chose an article about self-driving vehicles and gave students our central question, "Should research and development of autonomous cars continue?"
Students start at the top of the diagram by filling out the pros and cons with their own ideas or opinions. If students don't know a lot about the topic they may not have muh information in this section. It's OK to make assumptions here. It's not necessarily about the right answer, but about activating background knowledge and creating interest.
Next, students should read the article. I ask students to annotate as they read through the first time and set the diagram aside. Then we discuss any clarifying questions. When I prompt students to do their second read, I tell they they're searching for the pros and cons the author presents. They should list these pros and cons on the central question diagram. I allow either quoting or summarizing, but I do require proper in text citations for each pro/con entry.
For the article we read in class, students quickly realized that the author was very much against autonomous cars and the con side is quite full.
This strategy helps students analyze all sides of an issue before discussing or coming to a conclusion. You can also have students use the diagram to collect info from multiple articles on a single diagram.
Update 9/26 @ 1:06pm -- Just saw a student voluntarially referencing the cheat sheets we created in this workshop!! #teacherwin
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As learners are preparing to jump into the research phase of our next project, we did a workshop on Boolean Search Phrases today. Students, I think understand the big idea behind Boolean Search Phrases and why they should use them, however I think the missing piece was the fact that they don't quite understand what each operator does and why they would use each specific operator. You can read my previous post about the struggle with understanding what I've already taught here.
Today in class I started by putting one of my research questions on the board (pictured on the right). Then, I created a set of two Boolean Search Phrases, both of which had issues.
I prompted students to take one minute to discuss the phrases with their group. Then we came together, and I asked them what was wrong with the phrases.
The first phrase needed a few adjustments, but the other phrase was not even considered Boolean Search Phrase because it had no Boolean Operators.
I stressed that I have been seeing similar phrases on the test they took last week as well as in their research notes from the last project.
We then corrected the search phrases together and talked about the following reminders:
Eliminate any small, unnecessary words such as - in, it, as, so, the
Search phrases MUST have Boolean Operators in them, otherwise it's just a plain phrase and you're not forcing Google to do anything special
Use quotes carefully!! Anything in quotes means you're telling Google you want those EXACT words in that EXACT order. I also tell the learners they really don't want more than 3-4 words in quotes otherwise they're getting too specific.
Boolean Search phrases shouldn't be more than 5-6 words
A student suggested looking at the research question and eliminating small, unnecessary words. Others simply make a list of keywords to start their phrase
I also realized that a big problem students were having was that they really didn't understand what the Boolean operators actually DO. Why use AND? Why use "quotation marks"?
To round out our workshop I asked them to pick one of their research questions, pull out the keywords, and then use operators to turn the keywords into a Boolean Search phrase. I then walked around to discuss each group's search phrase, ask questions, and clarify.
Once they talked with me, they grabbed a piece of construction paper and listed the research question and Boolean Search Phrase.
Then, I asked them to explain WHY they chose to use the Boolean Operators the way they did. For example, if they put a phrase in quotes, they had to explain why.
I really think this was a huge point of clarification for them. If they can understand, "What are they telling Google to do by using the operators and keywords they choose?" I think they'll be more thoughtful in forming them.
They jump into full research mode on Monday so we'll see how much of an improvement I see in search phrases.
More examples of their explanations. Now we have a ton of example Boolean Search Phrases along with research questions and explanations of each operator.
Google searches. Most of us, including students, do Google searches on a daily basis. However, my students always complain that Google returns lot of junk or that it takes them a really long time to find the information they need, want, or can trust.
I've tried multiple times over the past year to teach students how to use Boolean Operators to create Boolean Search Phrases in order to narrow and improve their search results on Google.
They still don't seem to get it.
It's not that they're not trying. They are. They write long, wordy search phrases and seemingly randomly stick in quotations or parenthesis and sometimes an "AND". But I can tell they still don't quite grasp it.
My mission over the next week is to develop a set of workshops and class activities where we will just hammer how to create Boolean Search Phrases, what the different operators do, and how to put them together in a way that makes for more effective searches.
I'm planning to review the presentation I used previously to introduce operators and how they work, and then I'll have to come up with other activities that might help clarify the process.
Last week, I continued to work with students on their basic research skills. As juniors, they're mostly aware of the necessity of evaluating the trustworthiness of their sources, however most still lack the skills or motivation to do so.
My current course, Critical Thinking and Argumentation, focuses on evaluating, assessing, and creating arguments. I really wanted to focus on getting students to think about the websites they're choosing to get information from, but I didn't want it to be "yes, the website is good, or no, it's not". Instead, I wanted to focus on possible bias or ulterior motives within websites that may have quality information. It all falls back on author's purpose.
Anchor chart that I created for my classroom that goes over the basics of evaluating a source using WHO and WHY!
After finding a blog post that really clarified and simplified website evaluation, I pulled an example website and planned a 15 minute workshop.
I created an anchor chart that encourages students to, if they do no other evaluation, ask two questions -- who and why?
Who created or wrote the information?
Who published the information?
Why did they create it? (Intended audience, purpose, and ulterior motives)
Initially, students found the website to be trustworthy, and they thought it contained quality information. They felt the fact that it was a .org and a non-profit organization made the site even more trustworthy. Students also noticed the celebrity endorsement, and they felt Danica Patrck wouldn't endorse something untrustworthy.
After I asked students for their decision and listened to their feedback we had the following conversation. Keep in mind that I'm summarizing the answers I heard from 3 different classes, so their wording may not match exactly, but I want to convey their overall thinking.
Q1: What is the purpose of the website?
A1: To teach people about different types of insurance. To educate people about purchasing insurance and choosing insurance companies.
Q2: So they're teaching people what insurance they need out of the goodness of their heart?
A1: (Usually) Yes.
I then asked,
Q3: Who is the publisher?
Screen shot from the Life Happens website outlining who the organization is and how they got started.
A3: Life Happens - the non-profit organization
Q4: Who is in charge of Life Happens?
A4: Most found the CEOs name, some found that it was started by a group of insurance companies.
At this point, I directed the students to the About page and ask them to look at the page that says Who We Are. I gave them time to read through the paragraph and then we discus why that might make the website a bias source. If they don't catch on right away, I ask, "What do insurance companies do?" Almost all respond with, "Sell insurance".
Q5: Does the fact that this was started by insurance companies, make them bias? A5: Most answer yes, but can't explain why. Most still truly believe the purpose of the website is to educate people on insurance options.
If they're still struggling we discuss the meaning of ulterior motives. I give them the example of doing volunteer work out of the goodness of their heart versus doing volunteer work to put it on a resume. Either way they're still doing volunteer work, but the reason behind it is different.
Then I ask, Q6: What might be this non-profits ulterior motive? Why would they want to educate people about insurance? Q6: To get people to buy insurance!
I also pointed out that everything on the website explain why I NEED insurance. Nowhere does it give me reasons a particular policy or type of insurance might be unnecessary.
We ended the discussion by explaining that this doesn't mean that the information on this website isn't quality. There might be an article on the site by an insurance expert that is very informative. BUT I use this to show students that you have to think about the author's/publisher's purpose. What do they want you to think/do/say as a reader?
Students are used to the "assess your sources" conversation. It's something they hear over and over in our building, but they rarely actually do it. I think by narrowing the information they have to look for to the WHO and they WHY makes it a bit easier for students to digest and use. I actually had a colleague come up to me this week and say, "Hey, we're talking about evaluating sources and writing research questions in my Chemistry class and students said that they'd done that in your class already."
Students making cross curricular connections and realizing that sometimes the skills we teach them go beyond a single classroom or assignment.
So sickness has hit my household hard this year! My 13-month-old daughter is in a corporate daycare
full time, and she is bringing home sicknesses I have never heard of. After two days out with my own illness she contracted hand, foot, mouth disease, which is terrible. It is also very contagious, and a week later it hit my husband and then me. So three weeks into school, and I've already been out of the classroom for five days, including one professional day for a meeting.
Needless to say it's been a rough start, however I'm happy to say I think the students are still learning something even in my absence.
I have to admit I have the concept of flipped instruction to thank for that. I've been using flipped videos in my classroom for the past few years, but only occasionally. Now, this year I've discovered how helpful they can be when I'm absent or even when students are absent!
In the wake of a new Learning Management System (LMS), new devices, and new course curriculum, AND this sickness, I've had to take advantage of the flipped instruction model more than I have in the past.
I wanted to take some time to share out the different ways I make his work in my classroom including:
Using Screencastify (free Google Chrome extension)
Editing in YouTube Editor
Adding closed captions in YouTube
I won't go into great amounts of step-by-step detail because I have to take advantage of my current sick day to get some grading finished. (Teachers never truly get a sick day, right?)
Screen Recording with Screencastify
First, Screencastify is a fee extension for Google Chrome. If you haven't discovered extensions yet you need to browse the Google Chrome store and see what's available. Extensions are basically magical little buttons that get added to your Google Chrome browser for easy access. What Screencastify does is it allows you to record, up to 10 minutes, of video. It records your computer screen (single tab, multiple tabs, or entire screen) and audio with the option of also recording a video of your smiling face in the bottom right corner of your video. Check out this tutorial for step-by-step instructions on how to use this fantastic extension .
When it comes to flipping my instruction, I've been using Screencastify to how students how to do various critical reading methods and how to use graphic organizers I've created to go along with the critical reading method. In the past I would sit in the front of the room with my computer and/or a document camera and demo how to do the reading method, however by using flipped instruction I can instead walk around the room and provide one-on-one instruction and/or clarification as needed. This allows students who understand the method faster to get right to work, and those who need a little extra instruction or prodding to access me right away rather than me sitting up front for 20 minutes for everyone.
I've embedded one of my most recent flipped instruction videos below.
Editing Flipped Videos with YouTube Editor
Second, I've learned to avoid hitting the stop button when I mess up recording my videos. It can be really frustrating when you get 3 minutes into your recording and someone comes over the school PA or your classroom phone rings. Take a deep breath, count to five, and start a little before where you got messed up. YouTube actually as a pretty basic editing function that can be helpful in cutting out these little bloopers and saving the edited video to your YouTube channel. Now, Screencastify's default is to save the video to your Google Drive, so obviously if you want to do some editing in YouTube's editor you'll need to first upload your first draft of the video to your YouTube channel. Don't worry, you can upload it with the "Private" setting and no one will be able to see the video with the mistakes. I usually delete the one with all the bloopers after I've finished my editing.
Adding Closed Captions
Next, I recently had a hearing impaired student join my class and had to scramble to figure out how to add closed captions to my existing videos. I first turned to YouTube and got extremely frustrated with how their captioning worked, however I realized I was in the wrong function/setting and was making it way more difficult than it needed to be. I will tell you that ideallyyou should write script before you record your video. You should do this whether or not you have to add captions, but I'm telling you it will save you a lot of headache if you have to put closed captions on your videos. Here is the step-by-step document I used when I was trying to figure this out.
When you get to the point that you have to select a method for how you want to add subtitles, you'll have three options. The first is "Upload a file", which is where having a written script that you followed while recording is helpful. The second option is "Transcribe and auto-sync", which is the method that I had to use with my first closed captioned video. It took a while to transcribe, but YouTube worked out the timing perfectly. The third option is the one that I wasted a lot of time with. Let Google do the timing for you, with option number two. It's actually more accurate than trying to do it yourself.
My school uses our own LMS provided by New Tech Network to distribute work to students, which is how I get them my flipped videos. Once your videos are on YouTube though you can get the links to students via Google Classroom or even QR codes. If YouTube is blocked in your school, you can download the video from YouTube and place it in your Google Drive. Be aware that if you download the video, you lose your closed captions, however you can always provide the student with the original script.
