Summary
In module 3 of Learning
with Emerging Technologies: Theory and Practice, we studied the concepts of
multiple intelligences which are various abilities that students may, or may
not, have to perform tasks in order to learn from different types of activities,
information processing which analyzes how the brain thinks, learns, and applies
which is similar to the way computers perform functions, and the use of videos
as a mechanism to exploit areas of multiple intelligences and information processing.
We were given the opportunity to create our own videos and post them for other
students in the class to see.
I first want to thank all of my fellow classmates and Dr. O’Connor
for the positive feedback on the video that I created. While the end product
was not what I had envisioned prior to starting the project, it ended up better
than I thought. It is far from perfect and I will address this in specific
questions below. The video I created was a demonstration on using a common
electrical troubleshooting device in an “inappropriate” way and how it could allow mechanics and technicians to
misdiagnose an electrical problem. When finished it ended up being a full 50
minute lecture / demonstration on all kinds of electrically related subjects
including relays, meters, test lights, engine glow plugs, and a few other
topics. After filming and editing, I then had the challenge of trying to manage
the file size without compromising video quality too much, and then I had to
fight with my slow internet connection to get the video uploaded on YouTube,
which meant breaking the video up into three parts to reduce the file size.
Based on videos that you
have created and observed, what other ways can you envision using them in your
finalized learning environment or in your communication areas in general?
After completing
the video I made, while longer than what I had wanted, I determined it could be
used as an actual lecture / demonstration classes when I am not able to be in
class (when I am away at training for example) in lieu of cancelling class, or
it could be used as an outside assignment. To maximize the use of it in this
way I would need to create a study guide, note sheet, or some other type of
work sheet that students would complete while watching the video. This would
help the students to stay focused and would help bring the main learning
objectives to the forefront and avoid the risk of the students “missing the
point.” My original thought was that the video would be useful as a small
segment in an online basic electricity course that I would like to develop for
dealer training that I do with the Bobcat Equipment Company. While this could
still be done, I would most likely redo the video in a much simpler and faster
way since the concept, as important as I think it is, would only be one part of
a much larger topic and I can’t justify 50 minutes of time on such a small part
of a course.
There were a lot
of other great videos posted by students in the class. One thing I noticed is
that there were a number of different screen capture and screen recording tools
used. For my video I used a program called Screencast-O-Matic
which worked quite well for me except I noticed while watching the video play
back that the segments where I was doing schematic diagram tracing on my screen
were jumpy and jerky. I’m not sure if that was from the Screen-O-Matic program
itself, my computer running out of memory, or something in Windows Live Movie
Maker (the editing program I used). Regardless, my classmates’ use of screen
recording demonstrations gave me a lot of great ideas I can use in a course
that I teach related to computer applications. In this class, students have to
use a number of different programs by equipment manufacturers to find technical
information, parts information, and troubleshooting test procedures. Now that I
am familiar and confident with screen recording software and have seen some
great examples of how they can be applied, I will be creating some
demonstrations for students to watch if they get stuck while doing their
assignments.
How can you keep your
videos timely and engaging, without getting too cute? (Or, do you want to be cute at some times?)
I am not too
interested in being “cute” but I like to try and be funny and incorporate humor
where I can. I did not do that well in the video I created, but I think that
will be easier to incorporate with more experience in creating videos and maybe
doing a little more planning ahead of time of what I want to show and maybe
even script my dialogue (not word for word, but at least have an outline to
follow). If anybody wants to see a great example of how a lecture talk video
can be made extremely funny while still maintaining the serious tone of the
topic, see Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk video on school’s killing creativity http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html.
It is an extremely interesting talk and is hilarious at the same time.
In terms of being timely, this was my biggest fear when the
video was complete. My video was 50 minutes long, way too long in my mind.
Sometimes mistakes can teach you something though. Due to the fact that the
file size was so big and it would take a couple hours to upload to YouTube, I
edited it one more time and broke it up into three chunks so I could get at
least the first part posted in a timely manner for other students in the class
to view and comment on. Once I had all three videos uploaded, it dawned on me
that might not be a bad way of doing it. By breaking it up into segments and
allowing students to progress through the total video at three different times
instead of all at once, it would help reduce cognitive overload. Again, knowing
now what I didn’t know then, I would make changes in the original recording and
setup so that the segmenting would be more logical with each segment ending on
the conclusion of a key learning objective. The way I have it now the end of
the first segment leaves you hanging with no closure.
Video training can be
helpful, but often you need to provide written directions too – what can you do
to create multiple training formats without creating too much work for
yourself?
I think we all learned from the video making
activity that just making the video is a lot of work and takes a tremendous
amount of time to get it in the professional quality you want. The great thing
is that once you have it, you can reuse it over and over again without putting
all of that work back into it. Therefore, in time you will have more
opportunity to work at creating worksheets, study guides, quizzes, and other
written materials that will help both the student maximize their information
processing ability by aligning with multiple intelligences and as a teacher it
gives you paper based data to use as evidence of learning (assessment), grades,
and attendance. One thing that I strongly feel teachers should avoid, although I
see it with my colleagues at work all the time, is to show a video and do
nothing but expect the students to watch and do nothing else, then test them on
what they remembered from the video, or worse yet, not use the video in any way
to enhance mastery of the learning objectives of the course or the lesson. Don’t
show a video on how to drive a John Deere tractor with an IVT transmission
unless you actually have a John Deere tractor with an IVT transmission for the
students to drive after watching the video, or unless there is something in the
video that reinforces subject matter they are studying in the class such as how
the transmission works or what to do when it is not working properly, in which
case other written materials will need to accompany the video so students know
to make the connections in their mind.
How can you create videos
that truly engage the different intelligences?
It would be nearly impossible to create a video that engaged every
different type of intelligence in the same video. For that reason I think it is
important for teachers to do two things. First, they should try to mix it up a
bit when possible. For example, if they find themselves always creating or showing
video with nothing more than their own voice, they should attempt a video with
music in it once in a while. If the videos are always watched by students
independently and they have to complete the accompanying paperwork (work
sheets, quizzes, etc) on their own, switch it up and create a group activity
where each student in the group focuses on a different aspect of the video and
then they work together after the video to collaborate and present a group piece
to the teacher. This engages both the intrapersonal and interpersonal
intelligences. Second, teachers should survey the students using an online
multiple intelligence assessment tool to try and determine what the predominant
intelligences might be in the class and make sure that the majority of videos
used or created engage those intelligences. If it is found that certain
intelligences are nearly non-existent in a class, the teacher can feel comfortable
if their videos do not engage those intelligences well as they are not important
in that circumstance anyways. It is also important to note that most people
have multiple intelligences. In other words, most people are not isolated into
one intelligence they can employ to learn, they often times can employ a few
different intelligences, with preference of certain ones over others. The
challenge is to make sure that there are not any students in the class who’s “few”
intelligences happen to be the ones you choose to not engage. The only way to
know that is to survey your students.
No comments:
Post a Comment