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Video selfies
Almost all of the stories in my ebook (coming one day soon!) have follow up activities in which students prepare stories of their own and perform them in front of video cameras – usually their own mobile phones. Videos like these are sometimes referred to as ‘talking head videos’. However, in my class, the term ‘video selfie’ seems to have established itself.
When setting up a task which requires the creation of a video selfie, it is important that students can see an example first. For this reason, I have created a few video selfies of my own. These serve to demonstrate not just the task, but also the video product. They were all created with my iPad.
Example video selfie one: Describing an advert
Task: students choose a TV advert that they like. They create a video selfie in which they describe it but don’t say what the product is. Later, students can watch each others’ videos and guess what the mystery products are.
You can see my ‘big fat hairy belly’ video here.
Example video selfie two: Describing an image in a book
Task: students choose an image from a book and describe it. They don’t show it to the camera until the very end.
Example video selfie three: Describing a funny animal video
Task: students choose a funny animal video on YouTube. They create a video selfie in which they describe it but don’t say what the animal is. Perhaps they can give the animal a human name. Later, students can watch each others’ videos and guess what the mystery animal(s) is/are.
You can see Doris and the raspberries here.
Some tips for students
The most important things for students to remember when creating video selfies are:
- Make sure the camera is the right way around – no vertical video syndrome!
- Place your camera on a surface – a table or shelf, for example. If you don’t have a stand, lean it against something (e.g. a pile of books). The camera should be at eye level and should be stable.
- Get close to the camera
- Speak clearly and loudly
- Prepare a strong opening line (e.g. “In this video, I am going to describe my favourite TV advert ever.”)
- Don’t speak for too long – 2 minutes maximum
- If you are going to share the video on YouTube. make sure that you have permission to do so and always choose the ‘unlisted’ privacy option
I will be showcasing students’ work in subsequent posts. Please get in touch if you intend to use any of these ideas.
Jamie :)