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Week 12 - Activity 2 - Blog Reflection

What have you learned thus far about designing instruction from a video media perspective? What was beneficial? What was difficult? How did it change the way you think about learning and teaching?  What is helpful about using video versus a single medium for delivering instruction?

For this week’s assignment, my instructional set changed from text and audio to video only instructions.  Doing this video project made me realized that you have to have the right equipment, such as video camera, light, software, space, tripod, etc. in order for the project to turn up nicely.  Sadly, I had an outdated camera, poor lighting and couldn’t get anyone to assist me in some of the shots.  I also made the mistake of shooting some videos with an iPhone and some with my old camera and I didn’t realize the size of the videos were going to be different.  I had to re-shoot several of the videos due to this problem.

Positives
There are a lot of positives for using video for instruction.  Moving images and sound makes it easier to demonstrate the instruction steps and allows for the content to be presented in a more engaging manner.  Video allows for complicated content to be played as many times as necessary until the content is fully learned.  Video also provides the learner with the ability to slow or fasten the speed of the content.  Another benefit to using video for delivering instruction is that the content can be used in the absence of an instructor and re-used for a long time.  Video also allows for the zooming into important content.  Video connects with a wide audience as it uses moving images, audio and sometimes text.

Negatives/Difficulties
There are some negatives when creating video instruction content.  A script must be prepared prior to shooting the video.  The use of voice-over might also be necessary for some videos.  Also, some type of storyboard should be created before filming so that each step is followed properly and to avoid mistakes.  Video recording might have to be done several times before getting the correct shot.  A video editing software is required and the user needs to learn how to use such software.  Video files tend to be very large, compared to other formats, and publishing them online to sites such as YouTube and Vimeo, can be a slow process.  With video content, one also has to make sure to provide the students with the correct video file format so that the video is playing with different systems.  And finally, the cost of producing video content over audio or text is a lot higher.

References

Brame, C. J. (n.d.). Center for Teaching. Retrieved July 24, 2016, from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/effective-educational-videos/

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