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  • The LMS and Video Blogging When?

    By Joshua Kim May 25, 2010 9:04 pm EDT

    Video blogging and the LMS seem like they should go together naturally. Like bagels and cream cheese, the combination is better than either alone.

    This mashup of technologies and communication techniques, alas, has not seemed to catch-on. Why not?

    An argument for integrating video blogging with the LMS:

    1. Easy: With youtube.com/my_webcam or the viddler.com webcam record feature it is dead easy to record a quick video message, grab the url or the embed code, and drop it in a Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai or D2L blog, announcement or discussion board. You can see a quick (21 second) example of what this would look like at this link.

    2. Fast: Recording a video blog and linking/embedding to the LMS is faster than typing. We talk much more quickly then we type.

    3. Social: How much richer would the asynchronous portion of our courses be if our instructors and students were talking to each other with linked or embedded video blogs/discussion - as opposed to only text? We respond to people's faces and voices - video blogging brings the class closer together.

    Speculation as to why the video blog and the LMS have not merged to a greater degree:

    1. Already Happening: Maybe I'm wrong, and this is standard practice in your LMS supported on-ground, hybrid and online courses.

    2. No Knowledge: Maybe people don't know about the easy YouTube and Viddler quick webcam capture and publish tools, or how easy it is to slap a link or some embed code up to the LMS.

    3. No Desire: Perhaps learners (students and instructors) know that this is possible, but feel that having mostly (only) text works better. Text is scannable and fast for the consumer - and can be printed or copied.

    The other wrinkle in all this mobile computing. I think that once the iPad gets a built in camera that we will be seeing a big increase in communication via video blog. Talking is way better than typing on a mobile device.

    Will the next generation of learners finally escape the tyranny of the keyboard?

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Comments on The LMS and Video Blogging When?

  • Missing the point
  • Posted by Dr. Pepper , Academic-in-training on May 26, 2010 at 10:15am EDT

  • I've nicknamed myself Dr. Cranky today in light of this topic :)

    Josh I think you're missing the point when it comes to video blogs. I don't think that it's the combination of LMS+video blog that's failed to catch on, but rather it's the whole concept of a video blog that's failed to catch on. Why? It's pretty simple

    1. It isn't really social. You aren't having a conversation with your fellow classmates and your instructor, but rather you're talking at them. There is no synchronous element. Skype+LMS I'm right there with you, but video blogging - no.

    2. Yes A/V recording is faster than typing - but it doesn't give you the opportunity to sit down and edit what you've said so that you are presenting a clear message to your audience. Sure I can sit down and say 10 things in response to what you said, but are those 10 things of quality or not?

    3. As the ease of production goes up, the amount of dung content also goes up. In YouTube, or in blogs, you can ignore blogs that you don't want to read. In class you're expected to consume the content that your peers have created so that you can respond back. As a student you might want to avoid certain blogposts, but the instructor needs to wade through every single post, no matter how dung-like it is...which brings me to the next point...

    4. If you have the option of text versus audio versus video, text is inherently much faster to go through than A/V materials - which means that even if you have a lot to go through, you can go through it faster than A/V materials. If you've got 5 hours worth of video blogs to go through it will take you 5 hours to go through them (at least). If you've got that same audio transcribed as text, it won't take you 5 hours to go through it....and you won't have to suffer looking at a talking head...which bring me to my next point:

    5. Choosing the best medium for the job: Talking heads are as bad (if not worse than) Death by PowerPoint. Do you like looking at talking heads? Of course not! They're boring! I wouldn't mind video podcasts of film students doing their thing-showing us what they've created, but I have to say that talking heads are a big NO.

    Given all of these factors, there is no doubt why we haven't seen more video blogs - in academia and elsewhere!

  • show us more
  • Posted by dan on May 26, 2010 at 10:45am EDT

  • Josh -

    The caveats above are valid, but brief videos with a clear, simple, direct message can be really useful. Video can be better than print for providing instructions: for example, demontrating a specific problem-solving technique, or showing how to set up a lab project. Why don't you post a video showing step-by-step how you posted the video in your link? That would be a great example of what you're suggesting.

  • a friendly word from your professor
  • Posted by Gary Davis , Instructor at Benedictine University on May 26, 2010 at 12:30pm EDT

  • It's easy and effective to videotape brief comments to your online class. I bought a Kodak Zi8 camera for only $180 and mounted it on a tripod. I shot this video in my study and it was available for student viewing within 20 minutes:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_NOKrveGkk

    Research shows that such videotaped content increases retention in online classes. My students have responded very positively to the videos. They say the videos humanize the course.

  • "Easy" is relative
  • Posted by R.T. Firefly , Learning Technology Gadfly on May 26, 2010 at 12:45pm EDT

  • Josh,
    I'm pretty much in agreement with the previous comments, so I'd just emphasize two points:

    1) "Dead easy" varies greatly among faculty and staff. And in some cases, the easy part can get masked behind an unintuitive tool (like an LMS). In other cases sheer terror (however unfounded) lurks in the minds of the new user who is unaccustomed to creating - and worse yet, viewing - their own video content for the web (or anywhere else for that matter). I still see VCR's out there with a blinking 12:00 on the display. (never mind what still having a VCR indicates...)

    2) More importantly, Dan points at a much higher value proposition - instead of talking heads, use video for what it is really good for: Explaining specific techniques, demonstrating problem solving, step by step's, etc.. We do see these kinds of videos being included, as links, in our LMS's by faculty who have gotten past the issues in 1). I expect the adoption curve will look a lot like the familiar bell spanning innovators to laggards. Such is life.

  • Gary's example - good thoughts all
  • Posted by Joshua Kim on May 26, 2010 at 2:00pm EDT

  • Gary....very much enjoyed your example. I'm sure some Hollywood agent is tracking you down as I write this.

    I find myself agreeing with all the comments on both the cons and pros of getting quick video into our courses. I really like the discussion of effective uses of this technique. Josh

  • Posted by Fred on May 26, 2010 at 11:00pm EDT

  • I once found an app that allowed students to submit video and audio comments to a multimedia presentation. This was analogous to blog comments, except multimedia, and arrayed around the presentation screen. I can't recall it's name or find it now....

  • Voicethread to add audio & video comments
  • Posted by cronegeek on May 31, 2010 at 11:00am EDT

  • When Fred talks about "an app that allowed students to submit video and audio comments to a multimedia presentation," I wonder if he is referring to Voicethread. At Voicethread.com, instructor can create a multimedia presentation (using still photos or video) and then students can comment via audio or text. Hard to locate specific illustrative Voicethreads if you don't have the URL. I remember one by an Art Teacher demonstrating perspective and other aspects of a classic painting and another one where each student had to analyze a painting and then other students commented. I created one about Blogher (the women's blogging collective / aggregator) at http://voicethread.com/#q.b89368.i454916, although no one has commented on it.

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