Developing Low Cost Digital Video to Increase Foreign Language Students

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Developing Low Cost Digital Video to Increase
Foreign Language Students Exposure to Natural
Language A Transferable Production Model

• Nic Earle University of Bristol
• Marga Menendez-Lopez University of Surrey

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Project Rationale

• Need to find a low cost way of developing
  educationally effective digital video-based
  activities for delivery via a VLE.Particular
  ExampleNon technical tutors from the language
  centre want to be able to capture footage when
  abroad themselves and create their own VLE
  exercises is this a feasible proposal?

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Project Aims

• Increase understanding within the Centre for
  Learning Development (CLD) of when it is
  pedagogically appropriate to use online
  video-exercises.
• Establish a level of support that CLD can
  realistically scale-up to accommodate others in
  the future, and assess whether this would be
  adequate.
• Determine whether non technical academics can
  produce good results using low cost equipment and
  with the supported provided by CLD.
• Identify limitations of using a low cost
  production model and better understand when when
  it is necessary to employ a professional unit.

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Method

• Identify 3 video projects that varied in
  production complexity, and academics keen to work
  with the CLD on each.
• CLD determined a level of support that they
  anticipate they can realistically provide others
  in the future.
• Academics asked to keep a log of time spent on
  various design and production activities.
• Two production methods used, DIY and PRO.
• Test the video-based activities in live courses.
• Evaluation involving academics and students.

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CLD Support

• This took the form of
• attending planning meetings
• reviewing ideas
• equipment inductions
• being on hand during early stages of editing
• assistance with final VLE integration
• review evaluation tools

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Talking Heads Project Rationale

• Pros of using video in the foreign language
  classroom
• Natural language.
• Verbal (aural) and non-verbal communication.
• Exposure to a variety of accents.
• Focus on real situations.
• Different learning styles.
• Promotes effective learning in an engaging
  manner.

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Advantages of Going Online

• Foster autonomous learning
• Flexibility anytime, anywhere.
• Integrated with formative self-check activities,
  i.e. instantaneous feedback.
• Continuation with the face-to-face class
  listening out of the language classroom.
• Revision.

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Main Production Stages

• 2 meetings between CLD and language tutors to
  explore and review ideas and plan production.
• Poster adverts to find native Spanish speakers
• Meet applicants and assess suitability
• Capture subjects responding to topics
• DIY version ½ day
• PRO version ½ day
• Sort and edit captured footage (25 clips for each
  model)
• Design first two activities and implement
  questions using Hot Potatoes
• Upload video and activities to VLE (academics
  required some help here)

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• Demo Talking Heads

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Mime Project Rationale

• This project took an existing classroom activity
  whereby the tutor acts out a mime scenario. As
  they do so, the students call out the actions she
  performs and what might happen next in the
  language being taught. This allows students to
  practice vocabulary, verb congregation and tense
  in an interesting an active manner.
• By creating an online version of this activity, a
  range of exercises can be produced from it for
  all levels of learners. Further more, by
  rewriting the text-based questions in a different
  language, the same video could be used to support
  the teaching of any other foreign language.

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Main Production Stages

• 2 initial meetings to plan stages
• Adapt existing script to work on screen (props,
  sounds, etc.)
• 3hr rehearsal and script review
• Actual capture with actress
• DIY version 2hr capture, 4hrs edit
• PRO version, 2hr capture, 3hrs edit
• Tutors design activity questions and implement
  using Hot Potatoes
• Questions and video uploaded into VLE module

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• Demo Mime

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Hospital Kitchen Process

• An aim of one of the SBMS nutrition modules, is
  to provide students with an understanding of a
  busy hospital kitchen that provides hundreds of
  meals a day. Each year a visit is organised to a
  hospital kitchen in Portsmouth which allows
  students to better understand the processes they
  have been learning about in class.
• Text and images are limited when describing the
  flow and atmosphere of the kitchen whereas video
  lends itself well. Students will be less
  overwhelmed when they actually arrive on site and
  can more readily focus on the processes taking
  place. A distance version of the module is now
  under development.

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Main Production Stages

• Initial planning meetings
• Script development
• DIY pre-shoot at Portsmouth Hospital
• Script modification
• Actual Shoot and edit
• DIY version 1 day capturing, 2 days edit
• PRO version 1 day capture, 1 day edit
• Design activity questions and implementusing VLE
• Upload activity and place into course

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• Demo Hospital Kitchen

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Evaluation Methods

• To better understand the time involved in video
  production, the academics were asked to keep a
  log of the amount they spent on each stage.
• They also completed a questionnaire designed to
  assess their perceived technical confidence,
  visual literacy level and previous experience of
  video production.
• To examine the academics experiences, compare the
  results of the two production models and see if
  the support provided by CLD was felt to be
  sufficient, focus group style sessions were
  held.
• The perceived educational value of the exercises
  was gauged by asking the students to fill in
  questionnaires after using the activities.
  Further qualitative evidence was obtained from
  small student focus group sessions.

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• Project Outcomes

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Comparing Production Models

• In both academic focus groups, it was unanimously
  agreed that they is very little difference in the
  audio and visual quality between the final DIY
  and PRO versions of the video in all three types
  of exercise.
• All DIY version videos are completely usable.
• It was recognised that there maybe more complex
  situations when a professional production team
  may be required.

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CLD Support Sufficient

• All agreed the support was sufficient.
• It was suggested that some printed quick-start
  guides to using the editing equipment and
  compression software would be useful.
• CLD can now offer some simple evaluation tools
  for video exercises.

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What do the Students Think?
Agree Neutral Disagree
1 I found the video-based activities useful 25 6 0
2 The video image and audio quality was adequate 23 6 2
3 It was clear what I had to do from the instructions 24 6 1
4 The videos were easy to control 27 3 1
5 In ULearn, I prefer video-based activities to reading ones 16 12 3
6 I am happy to use other video-based activities in the future when it is appropriate 25 6 0
7 I viewed the videos without any technical difficulties (please circle) Yes 18 No 11
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Example Quotes From Students
Please provide any other comments you have about
this video as a learning tool very helpful and
well cut good way of learning, better than
pictures felt some other ones would have been
good useful and interesting way of learning
but took long time to load/ time consuming when
didnt load really good to see a real life
situation
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Conclusions

• The support provided by CLD was perceived as
  sufficient.
• With this support and using low cost equipment,
  non technical academics can produce reasonably
  complex and effective online video-based
  activities.
• The time it took to develop videos was generally
  much less than anticipated, however, it did
  increase significantly with more complex video.
• The students' perceived the video exercises as
  being beneficial.
• There are significant technical issues when
  viewing video off-campus (investigate streaming
  technology).
• The time taken to produce the video has been
  surprisingly less than anticipated, and it is
  believe that through planning is the key to
  this.
• The need for a professional film production may
  still be required for the highest quality, e.g.
  for external marketing purposes, recording
  narration or as an advisory service.

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Future Directions

• Reusability of current clips off-line CD ROM and
  video tape with transcripts.
• Develop exercises for the rest of the video clips
  recorded. Captured.
• Create more language video-based exercises from
  footage capture by tutors when abroad.
• Use of dialogue.
• Capture footage for higher language levels,
  including body language and gestures.
• CLD are using the videos to promote further
  appropriate use across the University.
• Implement streaming server technology.