Favorite student emails

[AmLitHist]

Apparently someone thinks it's grossly unprofessional to re-use lecture videos.

Clearly that someone doesn't have to put in the time and effort to make new lecture videos every time. 

(A friend is using lecture videos from a couple of years ago, and a student who was failing early in her 16 week online class transferred to the 12 week online session.  That student complained to admin that the same videos were used in both classes.  Clearly someone has way too much free time, as my friend quickly made crystal clear to the admin who suggested it really would be nice for her to update separate videos for separate sections.)

[AvidReader]

Apparently someone thinks it's grossly unprofessional to re-use lecture videos.

Clearly that someone doesn't have to put in the time and effort to make new lecture videos every time. 

(A friend is using lecture videos from a couple of years ago, and a student who was failing early in her 16 week online class transferred to the 12 week online session.  That student complained to admin that the same videos were used in both classes.  Clearly someone has way too much free time, as my friend quickly made crystal clear to the admin who suggested it really would be nice for her to update separate videos for separate sections.)

That is ridiculous. I taught 6 sections of the same intro-level class this fall. No way am I making a separate video on, say, citations for every class. What a (potential) waste of instructor time and resources. Next semester, students taking that intro class will get the same videos, and students taking the next course in the sequence will still be directed back to some of these videos when relevant.

Also, the student should be grateful for the consistent overlap, since it would theoretically mean that the student would not need to re-watch material already covered.

AR.

[Anon1787]

Apparently someone thinks it's grossly unprofessional to re-use lecture videos.

Clearly that someone doesn't have to put in the time and effort to make new lecture videos every time. 

(A friend is using lecture videos from a couple of years ago, and a student who was failing early in her 16 week online class transferred to the 12 week online session.  That student complained to admin that the same videos were used in both classes.  Clearly someone has way too much free time, as my friend quickly made crystal clear to the admin who suggested it really would be nice for her to update separate videos for separate sections.)

Include a 30 second introduction saying that the video was specially formulated for this particular class (much like textbook publishers that frequently issue new editions with minor changes to squelch the used textbook market). Voila!

[waterboy]

We've been specifically told that any videos created this fall cannot EVER be used in class again. (Are they worried about infecting 2021 and beyond?)

[Aster]

We've been specifically told that any videos created this fall cannot EVER be used in class again. (Are they worried about infecting 2021 and beyond?)

Just ignore "directives" like that. Your lectures are your intellectual property, and you can do with them what you want.

[downer]

We've been specifically told that any videos created this fall cannot EVER be used in class again. (Are they worried about infecting 2021 and beyond?)

Who does the directive come from? It would make more sense if it came from faculty, because that would emphasize the indispensibility of that professor-student connection made at a special moment in time.

If we can just re-use videos, then that means faculty are more dispensible, so long as their videos are still available to show the students. Just show the videos and hire someone to interact with the students and grade the work (using a rubric of course). That could significantly reduce the need for faculty.

[OneMoreYear]

We've been specifically told that any videos created this fall cannot EVER be used in class again. (Are they worried about infecting 2021 and beyond?)

This sounds insane. I have heavy video content on my LMS for a skills based class (examples of me demonstrating).  I've been building videos for the past few years (adding, replacing, updating as tech/materials change, etc). It's hundreds of hours of work. There's no way I could re-create this every semester.  I'm sure I'm not alone in this process. Are they going to delete everyone's LMS video cache in December?

[marshwiggle]

We've been specifically told that any videos created this fall cannot EVER be used in class again. (Are they worried about infecting 2021 and beyond?)

Who does the directive come from? It would make more sense if it came from faculty, because that would emphasize the indispensibility of that professor-student connection made at a special moment in time.

If we can just re-use videos, then that means faculty are more dispensible, so long as their videos are still available to show the students. Just show the videos and hire someone to interact with the students and grade the work (using a rubric of course). That could significantly reduce the need for faculty.

I think the worry from admin is like the worry about high tuition for remote instruction. Since the (literally) visible part of what "instructors" do is stand up in front and "instruct", replaying recorded videos calls into question the value of the "instruction".

(Of course, the obvious point is that the real work in instruction isn't delivering lectures, but in choosing course content, developing and evaluating assignments, projects, exams, etc. But those aren't so "visible".)

[downer]

We've been specifically told that any videos created this fall cannot EVER be used in class again. (Are they worried about infecting 2021 and beyond?)

Who does the directive come from? It would make more sense if it came from faculty, because that would emphasize the indispensibility of that professor-student connection made at a special moment in time.

If we can just re-use videos, then that means faculty are more dispensible, so long as their videos are still available to show the students. Just show the videos and hire someone to interact with the students and grade the work (using a rubric of course). That could significantly reduce the need for faculty.

I think the worry from admin is like the worry about high tuition for remote instruction. Since the (literally) visible part of what "instructors" do is stand up in front and "instruct", replaying recorded videos calls into question the value of the "instruction".

(Of course, the obvious point is that the real work in instruction isn't delivering lectures, but in choosing course content, developing and evaluating assignments, projects, exams, etc. But those aren't so "visible".)

Yes, that sounds plausible, if the college is private and charges large amounts of money. It's an image problem, convincing the parents to hand over the cash.

[AvidReader]

We've been specifically told that any videos created this fall cannot EVER be used in class again. (Are they worried about infecting 2021 and beyond?)

This sounds insane. I have heavy video content on my LMS for a skills based class (examples of me demonstrating).  I've been building videos for the past few years (adding, replacing, updating as tech/materials change, etc). It's hundreds of hours of work. There's no way I could re-create this every semester.  I'm sure I'm not alone in this process. Are they going to delete everyone's LMS video cache in December?

I'm now very grateful that my LMS can't handle more than 2 videos (they say), so I have been posting everything to YouTube. If I weren't allowed to re-use them in future semesters, I would just assign the past videos as mandatory "reading" (with a quiz) and offer an optional live Q&A on the material.

There are topics where an updated video would matter. Infectious disease research probably changes weekly, at this point. Maybe political studies. But in introductory courses, this type of constraint is a massive waste of time.

Waterboy, can you do what Anon1787 suggests?

(Or re-record, wearing a different shirt, but just lip-sync).

AR.

[Parasaurolophus]

Clearly that someone doesn't have to put in the time and effort to make new lecture videos every time. 

(A friend is using lecture videos from a couple of years ago, and a student who was failing early in her 16 week online class transferred to the 12 week online session.  That student complained to admin that the same videos were used in both classes.  Clearly someone has way too much free time, as my friend quickly made crystal clear to the admin who suggested it really would be nice for her to update separate videos for separate sections.)

No kidding!

I mean, I agree that my video content isn't very good, especially compared to a live class. But that's what you get when I have to record new sets of videos for four classes every week. Give me years to refine things a bit, and I will! (But only a bit.)

That is ridiculous. I taught 6 sections of the same intro-level class this fall. No way am I making a separate video on, say, citations for every class. What a (potential) waste of instructor time and resources. Next semester, students taking that intro class will get the same videos, and students taking the next course in the sequence will still be directed back to some of these videos when relevant.

Seriously: I don't even think it's worth having a slightly different opening splash page for each class. No point having six sets of videos for the exact same topic.

Include a 30 second introduction saying that the video was specially formulated for this particular class (much like textbook publishers that frequently issue new editions with minor changes to squelch the used textbook market). Voila!

Yeah... in my case, the student was complaining (in part) that I'd directed them to a video I'd recorded for a summer class and in which I began by explaining it was formulated for that class. I guess they would have preferred the illusion of original content. Shrug. I might go back and erase the explanation sometime during the winter break. We'll see.

We've been specifically told that any videos created this fall cannot EVER be used in class again. (Are they worried about infecting 2021 and beyond?)

That's totally bonkers. 0_o

[the_geneticist]

We've been specifically told that any videos created this fall cannot EVER be used in class again. (Are they worried about infecting 2021 and beyond?)

I'd ignore that directive.  I've created some very nice, semi-professionally edited demonstration videos that I will use in my future classes, even when we go back to teaching in person.

I get that we want to make sure that we aren't viewed a replaceable by a recording, but I'd argue that the videos are only one small portion of what I contribute to teaching.  And since they are MY materials, I can use them how I want in my classes (and I do NOT have to let anyone else use them).

[AvidReader]

Yeah... in my case, the student was complaining (in part) that I'd directed them to a video I'd recorded for a summer class and in which I began by explaining it was formulated for that class. I guess they would have preferred the illusion of original content. Shrug. I might go back and erase the explanation sometime during the winter break. We'll see.

Because I post my videos to YouTube, I start most by saying something like "This video is on citations [or whatever] but is specifically designed for students at Reader University working on a research essay [or whatever] that requires JSTOR sources [or whatever]." Maybe I should practice adding other caveats and then can swap them in and out as necessary . . .

AR.

[science.expat]

We've been specifically told that any videos created this fall cannot EVER be used in class again. (Are they worried about infecting 2021 and beyond?)

Just ignore "directives" like that. Your lectures are your intellectual property, and you can do with them what you want.

Is this the case in the US? In both the UK and Australia all IP developed in the course of someone's university employment is owned by the university, unless specifically exempt by written agreement. Exemptions tend to be research related and the industry that gets the IP pays a massive premium.

[waterboy]

Personally, my hope is that I won't need to use videos again. Much prefer to stand up in person.  But...I will reuse if the situation demands it.