Learn how to perform basic data manipulation in excel using this screen-casted tutorial video!

This week, we used H5P tools to create an interactive video. This software enables you to add elements such as digital visuals, multiple choice questions, or labels to a screen-casted video. Using these tools, I created a video demonstrating a basic percentage calculation in Excel. A solid understanding of the functions and tools in a program such as Excel is a necessary skill for students entering the field of science, or math, as it is used frequently to gather and synthesize raw data. Providing students with a screen-casted video tutorial is exceptionally useful, as it provides a visual alongside step-by-step instructions. With H5P, I was able to pause the video and add a multiple choice question to encourage students to reflect on the data they calculated. At this point, they are also checking their work to ensure they have obtained the correct answer. Though I didn’t include these elements in this video, I appreciate how H5P also offers a digital visual for your cursor or labels; one would be able to highlight crucial elements of a diagram, or website, for example. I could anticipate this being highly productive in my future science classes while trying to guide students through a website or diagram. Overall, I think including H5P tools would certainly be potentially useful for creating video tutorials for students. For senior science and math classes (Grades 11-12), using H5P to walk students through Excel, a lab procedure, or a project template would likely be effective. Providing a posted video tutorial also enables students to return and re-watch the tutorial on their own time, which makes the content accessible to different learning speeds and styles.

The Multimedia Learning Theory (MML) proposes that visual media (images, videos) in conjunction with text content significantly boosts learning compared to text alone (Pastore, 2018). Essentially, MML supports the notion that better learning occurs when students engage in dual-coding information (ex. verbal and visual), are not overwhelmed with content or information, and are actively involved in the learning process (Digital Learning Institute, 2023). It outlines numerous principles for multimedia content, including provision of coherent visuals that cue learners to draw appropriate connections, without presenting redundant information. It also discusses the importance of spatial and temporal distribution of material, where text and or verbal instruction are closely connected to visuals, and the importance of tailoring or personalizing content to a specific audience, to name a few. Overall, I think these principles are key to construction of lesson plans for secondary teachers, who often use technology by way of PowerPoints, slides, or videos to convey content. Designing lessons in a manner that promotes learning for all students includes careful planning of multi-media resources, and using tools such as H5P to do so. By incorporating some of the MML principles underlined above, educators can create more effective instructional lessons, tutorials, and videos.

References

Digital Learning Institute. (2023, July 18). Mayer’s 12 principles of multimedia learning . Digital Learning Institute. https://www.digitallearninginstitute.com/blog/mayers-principles-multimedia-learning

‌Pastore, Ray. [Ray Pastore, Ph.D.]. (2018, August 16). What is Multimedia Learning? What is Multimedia?. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-sknUVq1mk