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Session 3. Simple Slides, Images and Short Videos
Objective. Make a clear slide set or short explanatory video with one idea per slide, readable text and a printed copy for pupils without devices.
A slide or a short video is only a way to carry an idea to the back row. When it is cluttered, the idea gets lost; when it is clear, you can spend your voice on what only a teacher can do: ask, explain, listen. You do not need special software or a good camera. A phone, a pencil and a sheet of paper for planning are enough. This session shows how to keep it simple and still reach every pupil.
Key ideas
Slides support your teaching
- A slide is not your script. Pupils cannot listen to you and read a paragraph at the same moment, so do one or the other.
- Keep one idea per slide, a few large words and, if it helps, one picture or diagram. Put the details in your voice and on the board.
- Richard Mayer's research on multimedia learning supports this: remove extra content, put related words and pictures together, and highlight what matters.
Text, images and colour
- Use large plain type. A good test: stand at the back of your room. If you cannot read it, it is too small. As a rule of thumb, aim for 28 points or more and about 20 words or fewer.
- Choose strong contrast, such as dark on light, and do not use colour alone to carry meaning because some pupils cannot tell some colours apart.
- Add a picture only if it teaches something. Add a short description (alt text) for pupils who cannot see it. Limit animation to showing steps in order.
Short explanatory videos
- A phone is enough. Plan on paper first: a storyboard with one box per scene, what pupils see and what you say.
- Keep it to one idea and about three to five minutes. Say the same thing the screen shows, in your own plain voice, and stop to ask pupils a question.
- Keep the file small and offer an audio-only or printed version. A 4-minute video that nobody can download helps nobody.
Fair to every pupil
- Not every pupil has a device or a quiet corner at home. For each slide set or video, prepare a printed handout of the key points and tasks.
- Credit pictures and sources on the last slide, as you learned in Session 2.
- Do not show pupils' faces, names or work in a video without permission (see Session 5).
Slide design: do and avoid
| Element | Do | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Few large words, 28 point or more | Paragraphs copied from the textbook |
| Colour | Dark on light, same colours throughout | Yellow on white, red on blue |
| Pictures | One that teaches, with a credit | Decoration and clip-art |
| Animation | Show steps in order | Spinning, flying, sound effects |
| Access | Printed copy and board notes | Slides only for those with devices |
Crowded and clear slide
Crowded
Hard to follow
- Many sentences
- Small type
- Four unrelated pictures
- Sound effects and flying words
Clear
Easy to follow
- One idea
- Large type, few words
- One picture that teaches
- Printed copy for all
Why less on the screen helps
People hold only a few new things in mind at once. Psychologist George Miller wrote about this in 1956, and John Sweller later built cognitive load theory on the same idea: when learners must read a full paragraph while also listening, the two compete, and understanding suffers. A slide with a few words that match what you say is easier to follow than one that repeats everything.
Richard Mayer's work suggests a few practical habits that follow from this: leave out what does not teach, put a label next to the part of the picture it names, and highlight the one thing to notice. If a decoration does not help a pupil understand, it is probably competing with the idea.
Recording a clear video with a phone
Sound matters more than picture. Record in a quiet room, hold the phone steady against a pile of books, and put the light in front of you, such as a window, not behind. Look at the lens as if you were looking at one pupil, and speak a little slower than in class.
Write a short script or bullet notes from your storyboard first and keep each scene to one idea. Record in small pieces; it is easier to repeat 30 seconds than five minutes. Before sharing, watch it once with the sound on and once with the sound off to see if the screen alone makes sense. Keep the file small, and attach the script or a one-page handout so pupils can follow without playing it.
Examples from the classroom
Fractions in three slides
Scene. Malika teaches Grade 6 in Tashkent. Her fractions slide had a rule, four examples and two pictures. She splits it into three slides: one picture of a Navruz pie cut in eight, one with 3/8 shaded and labelled, one question: 'What fraction is left?' She says the rule aloud and pupils write the answer in their notebooks.
Insight. One idea per slide leaves space for the teacher's voice and for a question.
A physics video in Bukhara
Scene. Jasur records a four-minute video on lever and balance for Grade 7. His first try has street noise, so he records again in the empty classroom, with the phone leaning on books, in the light of the window. He shows the lever with a ruler and a pencil and stops the video once to ask pupils to predict what will happen.
Insight. Good sound, steady shot and a pause for a question matter more than expensive equipment.
Eight phones for thirty pupils
Scene. Dilnoza in Fergana shares her Grade 5 slides in the class group, but only 8 of her 30 pupils can open them at home. She prints a single page with the three pictures and the three key sentences, one copy for each pupil. They glue it in their notebooks and do the same task as the others.
Insight. A printed one-pager gives every pupil the same route to the learning.
Common pitfalls
- Copying a textbook paragraph onto a slide and reading it aloud.
- Using decoration, animation or music that does not help learning.
- Making a long video when a five-line message or a picture would do.
- Sharing slides or a video only as a file, so pupils with no device are left out.
Fix the Slide, Sketch the Video
- Read the three crowded-slide descriptions in your Activity Kit. Together, list what is wrong with each, using the do-and-avoid table.
- In pairs (15 min): choose one slide. On plain paper, sketch two or three new slides as boxes with the words you would write and a note on what you would say aloud. No device needed.
- Then take the blank storyboard in the kit and plan a three-minute video for a topic from your next unit: six frames with what pupils see, what you say and the seconds for each.
- As a group (10 min): swap storyboards with another pair. Each pair gives one thing that is clear and one change. Add the line for the printed handout: which three points go on it?
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- What did you take off the slide first, and what did you decide to say aloud instead?
- Could you teach the lesson from your paper sketch if the projector failed? What does that tell you about the slides?
- Which three points would you put on the handout for pupils with no device, and why those?
Reflect
- Think of your last slide set. How many ideas were on its busiest slide?
- Which topic in your subject would a three-minute video explain better than a spoken explanation?
- Who in your class would be left out if you shared only a file?
Try it tomorrow
- Take your next slide set and cut it until each slide has one idea.
- Draw a six-box storyboard on paper before you record or build anything.
- Prepare a one-page printed handout with the key points of your next digital lesson.
Further reading and links
One idea per slide, big plain words, a printed copy for everyone: plan on paper first.