Short videos can be an easy way to create a human connection between students and instructors. They add both social and academic presence. You can also encourage students to communicate with each other through video, allowing them to put a face to a name, to see each other's facial expressions, and create a strong sense of community in a class.

In Canvas, a video can be added to any Announcement, Assignment, Discussion, Content Page, Quiz (instructions and/or questions), Syllabus, and as comments on graded work. And you have the option to save your video or re-record it if necessary. Here's how to create videos in Canvas.

Here are a few uses that faculty have found to be very beneficial:

Create a short overview for each module that welcomes the students, outlines the new topics, and ties the week's content and activities to the learning outcomes. Here's an example:

Summarize an assignment by making comments for the whole class. Here's an example:

Use video within a quiz question. Here's an example:

You will probably think of many more uses.