As teachers, we need to constantly figure out new ways to engage and motivate students. This is especially true for writing assignments because, Let’s be honest, very few students are excited about writing a research paper, biography, or book report.

Today, short-form video is the most popular form of communication. TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are by far the most talked-about form of content in 2025. I won’t debate the impact of this short-form content on our constantly shrinking attention span; I’m just making observations.

Related Post: 7 ways create a video lesson with YouTube

Why is short form video so popular?

• They’re fast: Our brains love quick rewards. Short videos deliver a dose of information or a laugh in a matter of seconds.
• They’re visual: A good short video combines engaging visuals, music, and text to create a more immersive experience than just reading.
• They’re relatable: The best short videos feel authentic and personal, which makes them highly shareable.

While I think that writing is a critical skill, the way we write has changed. Blogging, essays, and other forms of written communication are out. Video is in.

Creating a good video is HARD. It takes lots of planning, decision making, and a really good script. Short form videos can become a writing assignment!

Here are three simple lesson ideas that leverage the power of short video, inspired by the popular TikTok format.

The Explainer Video

The explainer video is a modern take on the traditional research paper or essay. Instead of writing a long, drawn-out paper, students create a short video (30-60 seconds) that explains a topic.

Here’s how it works: Students write a brief summary of a topic, record it as a narrative, and then add music, video clips, and images to support their explanation.

Canva is my favorite tool for creating short-form video. Canva has a ton of templates, stock images, and audio that are perfect for these video projects.

The Trending Audio Video

This idea takes advantage of a popular TikTok feature where a creator reuses the audio from another creator and adds their own visuals.

For this project, you (the teacher) provide the audio clip—a piece of music, a recorded poem, or a narrative description—and the students add visuals to support it. This is a great way to test student understanding of a concept or to have them creatively express a topic.

Related Post: working with audio on a Chromebooks

The Opinion Piece

This idea is the simplest of all three and a great way to get students comfortable with speaking on camera. Students appear on camera to share their thoughts on a topic. This is a great way to wrap up a unit or summarize a book.

Capture student attention

Using trending and interesting content like TikTok-style videos is a great way to leverage student interest and get them excited about building important skills like reading, writing, and computational thinking.

If you are looking for more great ideas and resources for your Chromebook classroom, be sure to sign up for my free monthly email newsletter, the Google Edu Update. Every month, I share tips, tricks, and ideas to help you get the most out of your Chromebooks and Google Workspace.