At a Glance

In this guide for faculty and staff, you’ll learn how to record an instructional video in the MIT Sloan Teaching Studio. For our purposes, an instructional video is any video that an instructor creates for students in their course.

Here are a few highlights:

  1. Make your instructional video less than six minutes long.
  2. Create slides using a Teaching Studio slides template.
  3. Review our Choose Your Outfit page to pick clothes that will look great on camera.

Request a Consultation

To reserve the Teaching Studio, request a consultation with a member of the Teaching & Learning Technologies team. We’ll contact you to learn more and schedule your studio session.

  • Submit your consultation request form at least ten business days before the studio session date.
  • When you fill out the form, select Teaching Studio from the first dropdown menu.
  • If this is your first time using the studio and it is available, we’ll confirm your booking after you complete the required studio orientation and (for some projects) a studio consultation.
  • Some projects may be eligible for instructional design support including presentation design guidance and video script reviews.
  • All Teaching Studio projects must be closely related to teaching and learning at MIT Sloan.
  • Scheduling is based on both studio and staff availability, with priority given to teaching and learning projects on a first-come, first-served basis.
Request a Consultation

Create Your Slides

1. Download a Studio Slides Template

We designed these slide templates to adhere to Teaching Studio best practices and MIT Sloan brand guidelines. If you’re considering using a different design or format, please consult with our team for guidance.

Projector Scene Slides Template

Person icon on the right side and a presentation in the top left

In the Projector Scene, your slides appear in a window next to you. This setup looks like a classic presentation. We designed the Projector Scene Slides Template with an empty “buffer” space on the right 20% of most slides so you don’t have to worry about blocking any essential information during your presentation. Learn more about the studio scenes.

Download the Projector Scene Slides Template

Full Screen Scene Slides Template

Outline of a person in front of a slide that takes up the entire background behind them.

In the Full Screen Scene, your slides fill the entire backdrop behind you. This setup looks more like a typical video with content appearing around and alongside you during your presentation. We designed the Full Screen Scene Slides Template with an empty “buffer” space on the right 40% of most slides so you don’t have to worry about blocking any essential information during your presentation. Learn more about the studio scenes.

Download the Full Screen Scene Slides Template

2. Customize Your Slides

Once you’ve downloaded the slide template of your choice, you can customize it to fit your content. While the design and layout need to adhere to MIT Sloan’s brand standards, there’s still room for personalization. Add images, text, and other visuals to make the slides uniquely yours.

Prioritize Visual Content

In Multimedia Learning, Richard Mayer’s research-based guide to multimedia instruction, the Multimedia Principle states that “People learn better from words and pictures than from words alone” (as quoted in Davis & Norman, 2016). How can you optimize your video for this principle?

  1. Include images to illustrate key points.
  2. Make sure all images enhance or clarify meaning rather than being purely decorative.
  3. Use simple graphs, charts, and infographics to convey complex ideas in a way that’s engaging and easy to understand.

Remember that visuals should always support and enhance your spoken words, not overshadow them.

Keep It Simple

Less is more when it comes to designing slides for studio presentations. As Mayer describes in Multimedia Learning, learners benefit most from streamlined content free of extraneous material (as cited in Davis & Norman, 2016). Aim for a minimalist design that helps your audience concentrate on the key takeaways.

  • Use a clean layout with plenty of white space to highlight the essential points.
  • Limit the text to key phrases or bullet points
  • Use a large font size (at least 18pt) for easy readability.
  • Where possible, make sure the text on your slide exactly mirrors what you say out loud. This helps your slides support rather than compete against your spoken presentation.

Write Your Script

Crafting an effective instructional video requires careful planning. Consider these tips to create an engaging and informative script for your video.

Tip: Use our optional Teaching Studio Script Template to format your script so it’s easy to read in the studio teleprompter.

  1. Define the Learning Objective: Start by identifying the main topic, learning outcome, or goal of the video. This will act as the foundation for your script.
  2. Identify the most essential content to include. Here are some kinds of content that often work well in videos:
    • Algorithmic content like how to solve for an equation
    • Clear visual aids like maps or diagrams
    • Examples and anecdotes that illustrate ideas or emphasize important points
    • Complicated concepts that students might want to review multiple times
  3. Keep it short and simple. Instructional videos usually work best if they’re less than six minutes long (Guo et al., 2014). You can think of a video as a highlight reel or a quick dive into an important topic. Also, note that extraneous information can actually distract from learning (Ibrahim 2012). Stick to the essentials so students know where to focus their attention.
  4. Start with a hook and wrap up with a summary. Capture your audience’s attention from the get-go. Consider starting with a big question or an interesting real-world example. Then, after your audience has journeyed with you through the video, help consolidate their learning by providing a quick recap of the topics you’ve covered.
  5. Think about context. How will this video fit into your class?
    • Will you share the video alongside activities that help students process the information in the video (Brames 2015)? That might mean you ask them to submit a quiz after they watch. Or you could make the video part of a flipped classroom experience.
    • Will  you assign the video as homework? If so, how will you make it part of a balanced homework diet? Students are more likely to watch one video than five before a single class session. They may also be more interested in a new video if they’re not already balancing a heavy homework load.

Choose Your Outfit

Review our Choose Your Outfit page to learn how to pick clothes that will look great on camera.

Practice Your Presentation

Practice your presentation at home and during your studio orientation. This way you can confirm the length of your presentation, get a sense of what works, and spot any desired revisions. Keep these tips in mind:

  • Smile and be energetic.
  • Remember to enunciate.
  • Use your normal speaking voice and volume.
  • Feel free to use hand gestures if they feel natural.
  • Use good posture and open body language.
  • Look directly at the camera lens as often as possible.
  • Pretend you’re talking to a friend who’s behind the camera.

By following these guidelines, you can convey your content effectively and create a memorable experience for your viewers.

Attend Your Studio Session

On the day of your studio session, a technician will let you into the studio. They will make sure the technology is working properly. When you’re ready to start your presentation, the technician will leave the room. They will stay nearby in case you need support during the session.

When you arrive, make sure to put your phone on silent and mute notifications on your laptop or iPad. During the session, try to pace yourself. Keep your energy up by drinking water, eating a snack, or going for a quick walk outside.

Share Your Video

Share your video with students using Panopto and Canvas:

  1. Embed your video in a Canvas Announcement, Assignment, Discussion, Page, or Quiz.
  2. Add the video course content to a Canvas module.

Tip: Make your Canvas site easy to navigate (for example, by following MIT Sloan School’s Gold Standard Canvas Course guidelines) so students know exactly where to go to watch the new video.

References

Brame, C. (2016). Effective educational videos. Life Sciences Education, 15(4). https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.16-03-0125

Davis, G., & Norman, M. (2016). Principles of multimedia learning. Wiley University Services. https://ctl.risepoint.com/principles-of-multimedia-learning/

Guo, P. J., Kim, J., & Rubin, R. (2014). How video production affects student engagement: An empirical study of MOOC videos. ACM Conference on Learning at Scale. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262393281_How_video_production_affects_student_engagement_An_empirical_study_of_MOOC_videos

Ibrahim, M., Antonenko, P. D., Greenwood, C., & Wheeler, D. L. (2012). Effects of segmenting, signalling, and weeding on learning from educational video. Learning, Media and Technology, 37(3), 220–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2011.585993

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