With regard to the use of videos in courses, two different approaches can be distinguished. On the one hand, I can create videos as a teacher to support my teaching and to design learning processes. On the other hand, the creation of videos can be used as a didactic method. Learners are thus given the task of creating their own videos on a specific topic as part of a course. In the following, different approaches for video creation will be explained, which are quite suitable for both approaches.

The term screencast refers to the recording of processes on the computer desktop as a video. Such a video can be used, for example, to record commented presentations or lectures as a video, to explain the use of certain programs in tutorials, to create demos of self-developed software or to explain certain work processes. With certain programs it is also possible to stream the recordings live on the Internet.

There are a variety of different software tools for creating screencasts (here is an overview), each with a different range of functions. In some operating systems, software tools for creating screencasts are already pre-installed. MS PowerPoint also offers the option of recording a presentation based on PowerPoint slides and exporting it as a video.

If you use a tablet computer or a graphics tablet in conjunction with a drawing software/app, it is possible to draw and illustrate content and record this as a screencast at the same time. There are also already drawing software that have an integrated screencast recording function. In the end, you export the created image along with a video file of the creation process. This can also be used to create instructional videos.

Big Picture is a process in which all content is arranged on a large surface, an image or poster. This can be, for example, a digital image that is created with the help of graphics software or a certain presentation software. The video is then created with a screencast software and then one moves piece by piece the surface and comments or explains the content shown. It can also be a poster or an arrangement of content on a whiteboard, which is then filmed with a smartphone or video camera. The actual large image can also serve as a background and the actual content is then arranged or faded in.

Laying Videos try to visualize content with the help of inserted image and text elements. Image and text elements can be designed by hand or created on the computer. A camera is directed by a tripod or by a second person on a surface, on which then picture and text elements are pushed in and pushed out again. This form of video can be produced entirely without post-processing on a computer using a smartphone or tablet (more information here).

A stopmotion video is similar to a flip book. Several photos are taken, which are then played back one after the other. Since a lot of photos have to be taken, stopmotion videos can be a bit time-consuming. But if you have a very good photo camera with good lenses, you can produce good videos. Of course, it is also possible to simply create individual scenes of a video with stop motion, this can make the video more varied, e.g. stop motion effects can be incorporated particularly well in laying videos. If I want to create a stopmotion video a camera to take the photos, and these damm with the help of a video editing program to a video together. For smartphones or tablets, there are also apps that are specifically designed for creating stopmotion videos and still bring some features that simplify the creation. Stopmotion videos can therefore be produced entirely with a smartphone or tablet, even without post-processing on a computer.

Interview scenes are a common form, as we also know them from television or radio formats. As a rule, a person answers questions from another person who is not in the picture. Here, it is important to make sure that the person fills the picture accordingly, sitting or standing either a little to the right or a little to the left of the center of the picture. Ideally, only the person's upper body is in the picture. The person asking the questions sits next to the camera. The person being interviewed does not look directly at the camera, but looks at the person asking the questions.

The time lapse is a cinematic effect in which a motif is filmed for a very long time. The film is then shortened very much, so that the filmed processes and movements are greatly accelerated. For a similar effect, a photo camera can be used, which shoots a photo at certain intervals. Time-lapse photography is suitable for phenomena that occur very slowly and are therefore very difficult for humans to perceive, such as tidal processes, plant movements, weather phenomena, and manufacturing processes.

In contrast to the time-lapse effect, the slow motion effect (slomo) slows down movements and processes very strongly. Slow motion is suitable for visualizing movements and processes that are normally too fast to be perceived properly by humans. In order to achieve good slow motion effects, the camera or smartphone must be capable of filming at a high number of frames per second. The more images the camera can capture in one second, the more the motion sequences can be slowed down.

The different concepts and effects presented can be the focus of a video, but several of these concepts can also appear in a video to add variety to the video. Current smartphones and tablets are equipped with various pre-installed apps that allow one to record and edit videos without the need for a computer for post-production editing. On current smartphones and tablets, the pre-installed camera apps have some of the features presented, such as time-lapse and slow-motion capabilities. On current computers and tablets, there is often the function to record a screencast as a video without additional software. In addition, special apps can be installed, e.g. for stop-motion videos or for editing or post-processing the recorded videos.