Simple Technique for Online Video Lesson

Just discovered "Picturing Information" a 4 minute video which analyzes an Infographic depicting per cent of mothers of 4-year-olds who work outside the home. After pausing to give viewers time to study the infographic and make their own analysis, author analyzes the infographic: Why does child have sad face? Why is mother pictured as a professional (vs blue collar job)?

As you can see from the video below, this is a very simple technique for creating a video to serve as an online lesson.  In many discussions of the 'flipped classroom' (where instructor records and posts a lecture for students to study before class so that classroom time can be used for actual discussion or hands-on activities), the tools involved are quite sophisticated and/or expensive.  But the technique here is easily available to anyone sitting at their home computer who has a smart phone or digital camera that records video.

One can easily adapt the technique of this video to use with widely available PowerPoint.  Just insert the infographic (or poem or short text) in a slide, record your narration, then convert to video (this function included in MS Office 2010 and later).

Final Projects: Intersexuality using GoAnimate

Another student had done a lot of research on intersexuality, but wanted to present the information in a non-academic manner that might reach more of a general audience.  She chose to use GoAnimate.com to create her "movies."  Since free movies are limited to under 2 minutes at GoAnimate, she had to create two movies to cover all the material.


GoAnimate.com: Intersexuality Part I by ashleemoz23

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!
Intersexuality Part 2

GoAnimate.com: Intersexuality Part II by ashleemoz23

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Final Projects: "Hooking Up" at Xtranormal

For their final projects, students were asked to create something of use beyond the classroom.  Many chose to create educational projects using visual media.  One student explored the phenomenon of "hooking up" using Xtranormal.com's free movie making facility  (pictorial backgrounds and characters provided, you add the dialog via typing).

Here I have used the Embed Code from Xtranormal.com, but one can also upload the "movies" one creates at Xtranormal to YouTube - useful on websites that only embed YouTube videos.

What is hooking up?
by: ware0701

Sex Trafficking in Nepal via GoAnimate

Students have been experimenting with many different Web tools, including XtraNormal.com and GoAnimate.com - both of which allow you to create "videos" by choosing from the backgrounds and characters they provide.  You type the text you want the characters to speak.

There are limitations on what you can do with the free tool.  At Go Animate, length is severely limited so student has to make 3 separate videos.  I discovered that I could combine them into one movie using the free Debut Video Capture which I downloaded and installed.  Then I could capture each of the student's videos while they were playing and use Windows Movie Maker to combine them into one movie, which I then uploaded to YouTube.

Boys are Like Microwaves

Need a good laugh?  Check out this video.  Based on actual lessons from an Abstinence Education course.  The video can be found on YouTube.

I showed in class on Feb. 16 as illustration of the Xtranormal.com free online tool which allows anyone to create a "movie" by choosing from small selection of characters (has some people as well as these bears) and typing in the dialog.  The website converts into a spoken "movie."

Learning Styles Discussed 1st Class Period

Tried something new this year on first night of class - beginning with a discussion of learning styles and educational philosophy. We started by looking at portions of Can You Picture This in which art professor Rachel Williams conveys her ideas about making research on women in prison accessible to "the woman on the street" via a comics format. Students had wildly different responses - ranging from "I love this medium" to "too difficult to comprehend". Great discussion of visual learning styles; for what audiences this comics medium might be particularly appropriate; whether feminist scholars have a duty to make their work accessible to non-academic types; and much more.

I also showed the video The Networked Student which focuses on self-directed learning using various Web tools from blogs to RSS feeds to Skype. Several students said that while they could see this approach to learning had merit, personally they preferred the more traditional lecture by professor plus assigned textbook approach. Others related positive experiences they had with this self-directed approach in the past. We discussed that while the traditional lecture/textbook method might cover material more quickly and efficiently, the self-directed approach might result in deeper learning. Many were excited by the possibility that a course built around this approach would probably entail a lot of student choice in what they studied.

Whether just by chance or as a result of beginning this way, students this semester seem really into learning.

Videos: Do Students Really Prefer Them?

I was surprised at the reaction of many of my students to the video The Networked Student. Many said they found all the animation distracting, including some who identified themselves as "visual learners." Students said they had to watch the video two or three times to really take in the content and would have found a text format preferable. True, the video was created in the Common Craft** format where a hand is frequently removing a piece of paper and placing another one on the display board. Perhaps a video created in a different format would not have provoked this "it's so distracting" reaction.



**Common Craft is famous for its Blogs in Plain English, RSS in Plain English, Podcasting in Plain English, and many similar type videos.

YouTube Video - Politics of Class Online

Just discovered the YouTube video "danah boyd - PdF 2009 - The Not-So-Hidden Politics of Class Online" with an excellent discussion of how Facebook users differ from MySpace users. The main point of danah boyd’s speech is that we really need to think about how online networks are perpetuating class and race divisions. And that as activists, if we only appear on Facebook, we are really limiting our audience. A rough draft of the text of her talk can be found at http://www.danah.org/papers/talks/PDF2009.html.