1. Initial Recording
First of all, since I’m usually behind the scenes as an instructional designer, speaking in front of the camera felt pretty awkward and challenging. To make this process more fun and meaningful, I decided to use a growth mindset lesson from my second grader’s class. I also wanted to make the content more dynamic and relevant, so I invited two awesome actors—my son and his best friend—to act out some real-life examples. I think this will make the video more engaging and lively, rather than just being a talking head.
One thing I realized is that it was actually way harder than I thought. Finding a quiet, well-lit place too a lot more efforts and time than I expected. Also, making eye contact with the camera while occasionally glancing at the script definitely takes some practice.
I used my smartphone to record the video and edited it with VLLO. Then I uploaded the videos to my YouTube Channel and embedded the links to this post.
2. Edited Video
To make the video more engaging for the K-3 students, I added some lively background music and animation effects throughout the video. The text on the screen also helps to follow the topic and makes it easy to understand.
I believe this content would work well as an introductory video for a class, followed by group discussions afterward. For example, after watching this video, students could be encouraged to share their own responses to difficult situations.
I also edited the auto-generated subtitles by YouTube. I was actually quite surprised by their quality, so I made some tweaks to improve readability and adjust the timing.
One thing I could have done differently is avoid placing text at the bottom of the screen to prevent duplication with the subtitles. Without subtitles, it worked well, but with the captions on, some text was hidden by them, which is not ideal for accessibility.
3. Special Edition (Coming Soon)
This process gave me some ideas to make it even more interactive. To take it a step further, I’ll create an interactive learning module by embedding the video with a quiz afterward using Genially. Thanks to the interactive elements, I expect that students will not only watch the video but also actively engage with it and test their knowledge through the quiz. Please stay tuned!
Jeremy Takada Balden
March 28, 2025 — 6:45 PM
Hi Ran, great job with this video! I really liked the simple and effective frame you added to the edited version, and having the children act out the lessons was not only an ideal way to keep it dynamic, but also a nice use of the “show, don’t tell” principle. I appreciate your reflections about how the text could be better deployed in a future iteration, and I think an interactive version would also work quite well. Nicely done!