This document discusses strategies for incorporating digital video into classroom instruction in a way that promotes productive struggle and academic rigor. It argues that most instructional videos simply replicate passive lectures, rather than giving students opportunities to grapple with problems and build their own understandings. To be effective, videos should incorporate sound instructional design principles and introduce elements of productive struggle that require higher-order thinking from students. The goal should be helping students learn to think for themselves, not just demonstrating skills to replicate.

1. Examining the
Effects of Productive Struggle and Academic Rigor on
Student Achievement

2.  Provides direct instruction
 Delivers essential content
 Screencast “how to” lessons
 Demonstrates requisite skills
 Digital storytelling
 Enriches classroom instruction

3.  is designed to enhance and support an existing
curriculum.
 is clearly aligned with specific standards, outcomes, or
learning objectives.
 interrelates with other learning activities and
assessments.
 must be carefully and thoughtfully planned.

4.  Students access video lessons away from school.
 The flipped classroom is one blended learning model that
utilizes digital video.
 Allows more personal & direct teacher/student contact
during class time
 Allows more opportunities for scaffolding and differentiated
instruction
 Students work at their own pace
 Some research indicates increased student achievement in
blended and flipped classrooms
 The most important aspects of integrating digital video are
the changes in pedagogical approach and effectiveness
facilitated, not the videos themselves.

5.  There are numerous ways video can be integrated into
an existing curriculum.
 There are many free or low-cost video software
programs for teachers to use.
 Videos can be hosted free online, or on a school server
for students to access.
 Video podcasts can also be set up and made available
online free of cost.
 Videos can be saved in a variety of formats for viewing
on any digital device.

6.  Even at its best, it is still mostly passive learning.
 There are many poor instructional videos available on
video sharing sites like YouTube.
 If every teacher starts flipping their classes, students
will spend hours every night staring at a computer
screen.
 Most instructional videos are nothing more than a
regular classroom lecture on video, which is a poor use
of the technology.

7. Many mathematics instructional videos follow a deeply flawed
classroom instructional model that looks like this.
1. The teacher presents a new technique, skill or concept to the class
by explaining and demonstrating at the board in front of the
classroom.
2. Students are given several related problems to practice in class.
3. More problems for further practice and reinforcement are
assigned as homework.
4. The next day, the teacher goes over the homework problems.
There might be further practice, or even a quiz over the same kind
of problems.
5. The cycle begins again with a new topic.
Sound familiar?

8.  It provides no reason or motivation for students to
work out anything on their own.
 There is little or no student inquiry involved.
 It provides little or no academic rigor
 There is little opportunity for students to engage in
productive struggle.

9.  When students are productively struggling, they are
working on a task or problem that requires higher-level
thinking and inquiry.
 Students are “provided both the time and encouragement
within the classroom culture to engage with the problem.”
(Merseth, 2009)
 The teacher does not explain how to do everything for the
students, rather the students struggle to create and build
on their own understandings.
 Recent brain research indicates that for deeper learning to
take place, “struggle is not optional – it’s neurologically
required.” (Coyle, 2009)

10.  Academic rigor can be defined as “helping kids to
think for themselves” (Allen, 2012)
 It is characterized by students:
 knowing how to create their own meaning out of what
they learn
 organizing information to create mental models
 integrating skills into whole sets of processes
 applying what they have learned to new or novel
situations
(Allen, 2012)

11.  For instructional videos to be truly effective tool in a
blended learning environment, the designers of the
videos should strive to
 incorporate the principles of sound instructional design
 introduce more opportunity for productive struggle,
leading to enhanced academic rigor
 create video lessons based on inherently compelling and
interesting learning situations
 break the mold of just recording a routine lecture or
lesson

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