TechTrends

Videos and video technologies are an area of education that is currently expanding at nearly the same mindboggling rate as computers and computer-related applications, just somewhat more quietly. The forseeable future will bring welcome advances in video production techniques and applications. The creation of video yearbooks, documentaries, tutorials, music videos, instructional videos and video portfolios are just a few of the many ways videos and video production can be incorporated into the classroom to enhance motivation, creative thinking, visual literacy, and non-linear thinking. In addition, the production process broadens student attention to other areas, such as awareness of the various forms of media and technology that are available today. Areas of application can focus around the regular classroom, but are not limited to such. Video production can be particularly useful for “at-risk” students and students who seem to have no direction in school, their studies, or life. For students of all ages and classifications, video production links learning to the real world.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-021-00599-4

Accessible online courses enable learning and promote equity. This paper reviews seven national and statewide online course design instruments and identifies 14 recurrent accessibility themes that occur in two to six instruments. This paper then discusses how these recurrent themes address the accessibility guidelines from the Office of Civil Rights, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and the framework of Universal Design for Learning. This paper outlines research-supported design practices that promote accessibility and, in turn, increase learning, engagement, and equity.