The first very important point to make about the use of video material is not to use very long chunks of tape. Try analysing a ten-minute sequence, with two or three viewings, and that will be half the lesson gone before anyone has contributed. In any case it is unrealistic to ask students to retain so much information, and to have the skill required to select which parts are most worthy of comment. Usually one should stick to sixty seconds of tape or less at a time.

• Using the news. Less advanced learners might view the news headlines. Students can do a guided listening activity on the first two viewings: perhaps fill in a grid to indicate what categories of news are covered, politics, national news, environmental issues, etc), and the class as a whole, or pairs, can compare at the end and discuss their choices. Alternatively, learners might be asked to view without the sound first and to make predictions about likely content, and then to view the sound so that information is expanded gradually. More advanced groups might do the above activity quickly as a little refresher (perhaps choosing the story they want to know more about, if the tutor is 'prepared' for a little spontaneity), before looking at a story in detail. Viewing without the sound and brainstorming for relevant vocabulary provides material for a later discussion. A checklist of questions (who, what, where, when, why?) provides more of a structure for discussion. Intermediate groups might benefit from a longer questionnaire with more detailed questions that they can then discuss amongst themselves first.
  
  
• Students behind the camera. First-year advanced level undergraduates might find making a presentation to camera a less stressful introduction to presentation work. A colleague has had a lot of success with a Study Skills module, where groups of students read and research a book in depth, write, direct and present a video on it as a group, and hand in an individual written report. Both the video and the written exercise, which focus on different elements of the text, have extensive guidelines to help students (for the edited module guidelines, see Appendix 2). For this project the students use the resources of the campus's TV services department, but such a project does not need to be technologically complex, as long as the department has access to a video camera.
  
  
• Transactional activities. Transactional / information-gap activities are sometimes tricky for practical reasons (sending half the class from the room? turning the screen away from a particular group of students?). Hill suggests using excerpts with very little dialogue or background sound, eg Mr Bean (Hill, 1999: 24): one student can view / describe, the other can ask questions to build up his or her comprehension.
  
  
• Other possibilities. Freeze on a frame, and ask the class for a quick description of what can be seen (Hill, 1999: 26). Ask students to speculate on what is going to happen next. Use a dialogue as the basis for a reported speech exercise.
  
  
• Communication strategies. Inviting the students to video their own speaking tasks is useful from a learning strategy point of view. Students can be taught how to monitor themselves for errors, and how to improve their general presentation skills (body language, use of notes, eye contact, etc).