Title: Module 1 Building Your Course Activities (BYCA)
Course: TOPkit Sample Course Lite > Section: Module 1 - Navigating the Online Environment

Notes for Course Facilitator

Summary:

This page explains the options available for instructors to build their instructor/course introduction.

Suggestions:

- The content on this page is provided as an example and may be updated with your institution's examples (e.g., Written Instructor Introductions, Video Instructor Introductions, and Video Course Introductions).
- If your institution does not offer video production services to faculty, remove or update Record an Introduction with the <Replace - Video Department> Production Team section.

Gentle reminder: Update all content highlighted in yellow to reflect your institution.

For the next assignment, you have the option to create a instructor/course introduction. An instructor introduction is a great way to introduce yourself, your online persona, and teaching philosophy to your students. A course introduction provides students with an overview of your online course and your expectations for their success. There are several ways to introduce yourself to your students, including a written, video, or audio introduction.

This article, "How To Make the Most of a Video Introduction for an Online Course" in Campus Technology will help jump-start your thinking on this assignment.

Before you begin building your instructor/course introduction, explore the variety of options available for creating introductions and examples created by <Replace - Your Institution> Faculty.

Written Introductions

A written introduction is a good place to start, whether you plan to create a written, video, or audio course or instructor introduction since this may serve as the basis for a video or audio script. In the written introduction examples below, instructors added images to their instructor introduction to share their persona with their students.

Examples of Written Instructor Introductions

- Duncan Dickson (Hospitality)
- Phil Kalfin (Education)

Video Introductions

Some instructors prefer to create a video or audio introduction to help convey their personality or to engage their students in a format other than text. If you choose to create a video introduction, you should always start with a script. A script will help you organize your thoughts and make the production process more efficient. To address accessibility, the script may be used to create closed captions for the video or it can be used to provide transcripts for the audio portion.

Record an Introduction with the <Replace - Video Department> Production Team

One of the services that <Replace - Department Name> provides to you during and after completion of <Replace - Course Name> is the support of our <Replace - Video Team> team. The video team will work with you to produce professional and high quality videos for your online course. <Replace - Video Team> will assist will all phases of production (e.g., refining ideas, recording, editing, and delivery).

There are several benefits to working with <Replace - Video Team> which include the following:

- High quality video and professional grade camera, audio, and lighting equipment
- Teleprompter so you can read through your script as you record
- Your script will be added to the video and close captioned for accessibility
- You may choose to record a video on location or in their studio utilizing green screen technology
- They take care of the delivery of the video by hosting it on campus maintained servers with the option to embed videos or link them in your course

You will need to create a script prior to recording the video with them. If you keep the information in your introduction general and do not include semester specific information, such as due dates or textbook editions, you will be able to use the introduction video for multiple course and semesters. Generally introduction scripts are about one page in Microsoft Word.

Video@UCF produced the following sample video introductions:

Examples of Video Instructor Introductions

- MC Santana (Communication)
- Carolyn Hopp (Education)
- James Brown (Theater)

Examples of Video Course Introductions

- Fernando Rivera (Sociology)
- Warren Waren (Sociology)
- Brett Meltzer (Legal Studies)

Record Your Own Introduction Using a Webcam

You can record a video introduction directly into <Replace - Your LMS> using a webcam. This approach is a quick and easy way to record a video from your home or office computer and is recommended for faculty who wish to share just-in-time information with their students and have one-on-one communication. Writing a script helps make production run more smoothly. It is possible to add captions to your video.

There are challenges to recording your own introduction using a webcam. If you have poor audio or lighting quality when recording, students may have a difficult time seeing and hearing the video. Try to select a quiet, well-lit place to record.

Record an Audio Introduction

An audio introduction is an alternative to a written or video introduction. You may record an audio introduction directly into <Replace - Your LMS>. Begin by writing a script to follow as you record the introduction. You can then post the script along with the audio recording to address any accessibility issues.

TOPKit Sample Course was prepared by the University of Central Florida (UCF). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.