Quick Guide: Interactive Videos

Embedding interactive content within videos allows for students to remain engaged throughout the video. Content can include questions that test understanding, informational messages onscreen, and instructions for ongoing learning.

Before continuing, please review our Guidelines for Selecting YouTube and Vimeo Videos. This will help you select videos that come from verified sources. Due to copyright laws, please do not start developing interactive content until licensing clears the videos you’d like to use.

• Select videos that cover key concepts you want the student to understand. The interactive elements you add will help to highlight these concepts and test student retention.
• We recommend using videos that are 3-5 minutes long to ensure students remain focused and attentive. However, for longer videos, well-placed interactive content can help keep students engaged.
• The types of videos and content used will be highly dependent on your discipline. Tailor the presentations and tools to align with desired lesson learning outcomes.

• Student Acknowledgement Slide (required)
  • This is a slide that covers the full screen and gives students instructions on how to use the interactive content, especially any graded components. Cognella will add this screen to the beginning of the video.
  • Note that this will add an extra point to the overall point total, although students will only have one option to select.
• Assessment Tools
  • You can include graded and ungraded assessment tools to your videos. Gradable assessment tools can provide questions with correct and incorrect answers that students must attempt to answer before continuing the video. Ungradable assessment tools provide students with further explanation and bring attention to certain elements in the video.
  • Assessments tools are commonly placed directly after key concepts are addressed in a video to test student understanding.
  • It is possible for assessment tools to function as graded assessments for the course, but it depends on the course setup. Contact your project editor for more information.
  • You can include pre- and post-tests before and after videos to test student understanding of key concepts.
  • Options include:
    • Multiple Choice (default choice)
    • True or False
    • Fill in the Blank
    • Drag and Drop
    • Drag the Words
    • Poster (long text posts placed onscreen and not gradable)