Skip to main content
Course overview
Skip to - Close
Skip to - Close

Making of Lectures for Future

Section outline

  • Making of Lectures for Future

    Making of Lectures for Future

    Learn how lecture series are made as online interactive learning materials. In this learning material you get to see how LFF lecture series are created and what are the different steps that need to be taken.

    •  

      Making of Interactive Lecture Series

      Lectures for Future (LFF) interactive lecture series have the goal to spread knowledge on how to tackle current global environmental issues, especially the ones related to the Sustainable Development Goals. They are created by researchers at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) in collaboration with the LFF Team and in this learning element we describe the process in detail. For a quick overview of the process, take a look at the following video:
       
      Lectures For Future Making of Interactive Lecture Series von Dr. Ruth Schaldach, Carla Orozco Garcia, Tina Carmesin, Sascha Diedler, Fariha Ahmad, Amanda Conklin (CC BY-SA)
      Download video

       

       

       

    • The first step consists of creating a PowerPoint presentation for part 1. To avoid repeating mistakes, part 1 is developed first and once it has been reviewed and finalised, then the other parts are created. Presentations are created using the LFF template (downloadable here in 4 variations: green for part 1, purple for part 2, turquoise for part 3 and pink for part 4).

      The main content of each lecture part is presented in a maximum of 15 slides as otherwise it can be harder for the learner to have a good overview of the interactive presentation and this can also significantly increase the loading period of the interactive element. In addition to these 15 slides, each lecture part includes a cover slide, an overview slide where all lecture parts are listed, a slide with the references, a slide with the image licences and a final slide where the licence information for the lecture is presented.

      The slides also contain spaces for the interactive elements that will be added in a later step. These elements are not created at this stage yet; however, it is necessary to plan them and leave empty spaces and/or slides for them. The following tips are suggested for creating a good online presentation:
      • Use less words and more images to avoid overloading the slide with text.
      • Use videos and GIFs to explain specific ideas in more detail.
      • Imagine the presentation with your audio; audio narrations can be used to give a more detailed explanation of the whole slide or of a specific part.
      • Use weblinks to connect the learner with further learning materials.
      • Include interactive elements such as quiz questions or summaries to get the learner more involved in the topic.
      • See it as a multimedia collage; that is, create slides planning spaces for videos, audios and interactive elements.

      Once the main content of the presentation has been created, the next step is to add references. To reduce the amount of text in the slides, in-text referencing is used after each sentence / paragraph, in the same way as in a scientific paper. A full list of references is included at the end of the presentation in the designated slide.

      In order to have uniformity throughout the lecture series, all reference lists are created using the Australian Government referencing style and the referencing software Zotero. By using the same software, it is possible to create a reference library for all the lectures (accessible here).

      The third step is to check the licences of all images used in the presentation. Images should be available in the public domain, have a licence that allows reuse or be created by the lecturer. If images are found without a licence or with a licence that does not allow reuse, then they have to be replaced. The following are some websites that can be used for finding images; nonetheless, the licence should still always be checked before use:


      A common type of licence that can be found on images is the Creative Commons (CC) licence, which uses a standardised way to grant copyright permission to copy, distribute, edit, remix or build upon an image. 

      More information about the CC licences and the different types can be found here.

      Once the licences for all images have been reviewed, the information regarding each one of them is included at the end of the presentation in the designated slide. The list of licences should include the slide number and image caption, in order to make them easily identifiable to the reader.

      Once the content of the presentation has been finalised, the next step is to add links to further material or videos that can help the learner get a deeper insight into the topic.

      Once the first draft of part 1 of the lecture series has been created (including references and links) and the image licences have been verified, it is uploaded to the Cloud for review.

      The first review focuses on the content of the presentation. This includes checking the references and images’ licences. After the review, a new version is uploaded to the Cloud.

      In this step, the lecturer makes the necessary corrections and changes and uploads the new version to the Cloud for the second review to take place.

      The second review focuses on the design and layout to make sure that the slides are not overcrowded and that the information is presented in an aesthetically pleasant way. The reviewed version is also later uploaded to the Cloud.

      The final step for the creation of part 1 is to make the necessary corrections and changes regarding design and upload the final version to the Cloud.

      After part 1 has been finalised, parts 2, 3 and 4 of the lecture series are created by repeating steps 1-9. This allows identifying possible mistakes from an earlier stage (in part 1) and avoid repeating them.

      nce all the PowerPoint presentations have been created, the audio narrations that will be used to enhance the content are recorded. The lecture series are intended for the learner to learn independently, without the need of a lecturer present; therefore, adding some audio narrations makes the lecture more interesting and easier to understand. Each of the lecture parts incorporates at least an intro audio, where the main focus of the lecture part is briefly explained; and an outro audio, where the main conclusions of the lecture part are given.

      The 12th step is to convert the PowerPoint presentations into H5P course presentations. This step is explained more in detail here.

      The H5P course presentation tool allows the integration of interactive elements, which help make the learning process more interesting and attractive. Therefore, each lecture part integrates at least 2 interactive elements: videos, quiz questions or interactive summaries. A brief description of each one is given below.

      Videos

      Videos are added to H5P presentations either as a video file or by embedding a link to a video that is posted on an external website such as YouTube. They can be added in the following styles:
      • Regular video: this is a short video of the lecturer explaining or demonstrating something.
      • Internet video: these are videos that are already available online and can be linked in the lecture if they are under a licence that permits their reuse for non-commercial purposes.
      • Stop motion videos: stop motion is a visual storytelling technique that helps explain a topic in a simple and descriptive visual manner.
      • GIFs: these are used as short animations to help demonstrate processes in a simple, graphic way.
      • Interactive video: these are video clips (regular videos or internet videos) that also include interactions such as images, quiz questions and links.
      Quiz Questions
      Quiz questions are added to presentations to help test previous knowledge or reinforce knowledge obtained in the lecture. The following types of quiz questions can be added with the H5P tool:
      • Fill in the blanks: in this type of question the learner needs to fill in the missing words from a text.
      • Single choice set: this is a quiz question with multiple answers, in which only the first option is correct.
      • Multiple choice: in this quiz question multiple correct answers are possible.
      • True/false question: in this type of question a statement is given, and the learner needs to select if it is true or false.
      • Drag and drop: in this type of question learners drag a text or an image and drop it on the correct drop zone(s). This type of questions is used to visually identify and group or match elements or put them in the correct order or position.
      • Drag text: this is a question in which the learner has to fill in the blanks of a text by dragging words into the correct positions.
      • Mark the words: in this type of question the learner needs to click and mark the correct words from a text.
      • Dialog cards: this will display a card with a question on the front, that the learner can flip by clicking on it to display the answer on the back.

      Interactive Summary

      An interactive summary allows the learner to build a summary about the topic. This is done by clicking on the correct statement from a list of 2-3 statements, which is then used to build the summary.

      Once all four lectures parts have been converted into H5P course presentations, the lecturer reviews them to make sure that all the interactive elements work in the way they were intended.

      In the final step, the lectures are posted online on the HOOU website.