In this free, hands-on course you will

  • Explore ways students can use video for creative expression and to communicate information 
  • Develop an idea for a video project that aligns with your curriculum or content area
  • Develop a standards-aligned (CCSS, NGSS) lesson plan in which students create a video to demonstrate learning 


Who Should Take This Course

K-12 educators in all subject areas who want to develop skills and confidence with media making and media literacy.

Course Features

Learn online at your own pace with step-by-step videos and hands-on activities. Join live events with instructors and peers. It’s completely free!

Certificate of Completion

Earn a Certificate of Completion for 12 hours of professional development. Go further with graduate units or PBS Media Literacy Educator Certification.


Learning Objectives

Master the basics of video production and gain the confidence to lead video projects with students, including: 

  • Learning the ins and out of the production cycle:
  • Pre-production: Writing a script, creating a storyboard
  • Production: Choosing the right equipment to gather your footage
  • Post-production: Diving into basic editing, adding music, effects, text and transitions on a digital editing tool
  • Exploring video design elements to enhance the quality of the footage you shoot
  • Create a project or lesson plan for a classroom video project that aligns with curriculum standards to ensure that video production results in student learning you want to see
  • Learn by doing: Make your own model of your video project to better understand the rewards and challenges of video production to support your instruction and inspire student learning


Course Curriculum


  Introduction
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Using Media in the Classroom
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Focusing on Storytelling: Video Pre-Production
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Getting Started with Video Production
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Shooting your Footage
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Video Editing & Post-Production
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Plan Your Lesson and Finalize Your Video
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Course Wrap Up
Available in days
days after you enroll
Enroll now for free!

You will have four weeks to complete the assignments in this course and receive a Certificate of Completion. If you would like to continue to access the course content after those 4 weeks, you are welcome to re-enroll. There is no penalty for taking the course multiple times.

Your Instructors

We support educators in integrating video storytelling, audio podcasts and other media literacy skills into their teaching practice.


Angel Valerio

Angel is KQED’s program manager for STEM professional learning. Previously, she worked in South Los Angeles and East Oakland for 8 years as a high school life science teacher and instructional coach. She is passionate about the intersection of science, social justice, and uplifting youth voice.

Rachel Roberson

Rachel is KQED’s program manager for humanities professional learning. Previously, she was an English and social studies classroom teacher and teacher leader in San Francisco, Oakland, Austin and internationally. Before becoming a teacher, she was a newspaper reporter in the Bay Area.

Rik Panganiban

Rik is the manager of online learning and educator certification at KQED. Rik was the head of Digital Learning at the California Academy of Sciences and the instructional design lead for Science Action Club.

PBS Media Literacy Educator Certification by KQED

This course helps prepare you to apply for the Making Media for Classroom Use: Audio/Video micro-credential on Digital Promise.

Earn all 8 micro-credentials (MCs) to become a certified PBS Certified Media Literacy Educator.

About KQED

KQED is a nonprofit, public media station and NPR and PBS member station based in San Francisco that offers award-winning education resources and services free to educators nationwide. KQED Teach is a collection of professional development courses that empower educators to teach media literacy, make media for the classroom and lead media-making projects with students in K-12.

All course content unless otherwise noted is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This license excludes all user generated content unless explicitly labeled for reuse by the user. Permission to reuse user generated content should be directed to the individual creator.

Have a question? Email us at [email protected] or check out our FAQ. Find out about our district supports here.