Okay, in the spirit of trying something different, rather than blog my reflections, I’ll record them.
One of my goals for 2015 was to experiment more with video – but don’t get ahead of yourselves thinking that I’m going to be the next Oliver Stone or something like that. If anything, I’m just dabbling with the tools (this time, it’s YouTube Video Manager) so that I can see what they’re about and how they can be used. Personally, I prefer to write my blogs as it’s a much reflective process and besides, I can never get my hair right and frankly, it’s just plain awkward talking into a camera.
In the spirit of learning out loud, I thought if I could learn this new tool by applying it to a project I’m currently working on, the Work Connect and Learn Program with CCA as it would make things interesting for me (as a learner) but you can also see me “working out loud”.
Yesterday I created this video recording a few hours before I was due to facilitate the first webinar of the Work, Connect and Learn program.
Here are my reflections after running 2 webinar sessions of the first module of the program…it’s WAY too long (I know)…
So I know that I’ve kept you on my blog page for a bit longer than you normally would have been if I had written them as blog posts and for that, I sincerely apologise.
What do you think?
Thumbs up or thumbs down?
(Now come to think about it – it’s not really accessible is it?)
Keeley Sorokti says
21 February 2015 at 2:27 amThumbs up on this format Helen. It makes me think about doing something similar since I haven’t been successful as of yet with regular text-based blogging. It is wonderful to hear your voice after all of this time only interacting via text-based tweets and blogs. As usual, you are a model of the life-long learner.
Bruno Winck says
21 February 2015 at 5:58 amVideos are fine. They introduce a change. Always reading is tiring. I watched them this morning while drinking my coffee. They also convey emotions and in both videos emotions are an important part of your message. The contrast between the excitement of the first and the satisfaction and relief from the second is stunning. Your hair also appear longer in the first and shorter in the second. Nothing wrong it all participate to the message you conveyed before and after delivering the first course. I think it was bright idea to use this media for this before and after message.
None of us or pros of videos and we have to accept it. As a consequence we appear not only as we are but as we fear we could be seen. It is part of the transparency and authenticity so much valued recently. Did the experience recently myself on Movy. As you mentionned Michelle now knows you for real, we don’t. 10 years ago it would been the opposite most of your network would be in the real world people knowing you visually and it would have been normal.
Welcome back to the normal world.
What I realize though is that videos fit well for sharing emotions, facts and easily retainable knowledge. Building videos for sharing complex knowledge with no written support would be a challenge for the visitor.
It is also much better than the podcast a few month ago. It is slower, more distinct but also the body language helps to keep on with the listening.
IMHO you could have saved the spelling of the twitter handle and web site because it’s too fast to write it down, what about having a sign and showing it as i did for #PKMChat invite last week.
Some other changes noticeable between the two videos: colors of 2nd is paler, different background.
I would take care of a neutral background: window, bookshelves. Something uncluttered. I use a curtain sometimes.
activatelearning says
21 February 2015 at 7:54 amThanks so much for the feedback Keeley, I appreciate it. Really, in all honesty, I want to be behind the camera not in front of it. However, I wanted to give it a go just to capture my quick thoughts and emotions. I like to ‘work out loud’ on this project using all sorts of different media as well so that I can experiment with the tools.
activatelearning says
21 February 2015 at 8:07 amThanks for the great feedback Bruno, as always appreciated. You’re right about the hair! You know what happened? I made up my hair and makeup before the session for the first webinar. On the second webinar, my home office was sweltering with the heat (it was a hot day) and my hair had settled (that’s why it looks longer). I thought I’d change the camera angle in the room simply because I don’t have any good backgrounds in my home office – it’s either bookshelves, a window or cupboards but the idea of a curtain is a great one. Maybe I can place a curtain over my bookshelves and take that up and down as I need it? Thank you for that idea. There is lots of natural light in my office – a room which I love so I may have to think about how to make it work for videos. Otherwise, I can go outside the house (noisy) or in another room (which has floor to ceiling bookshelves – which you mentioned may be distracting as a background? And also I may be disturbed by our pet cats who may be curious and jump up on my lap – or miaow for attention)….all these things to consider!!!?? It’s just simpler to write.
Good point about the hashtag and the website – I copied what I had seen others do. I’ll keep it in mind to create a small banner with the name. The colours of the videos was the position of the camera in two different points of the same room – and recorded at two different times of day with the variety of natural light coming into the room.
Anyway, it’s all a test. I see people using selfie sticks and using photos, videos and all sorts of different methods and media to capture their stories and as I’m uncomfortable in doing these for my stories and my blog (writing comes more naturally to me), I need to do them so that I understand how they are done, what can be done, what apps/tools/media are available. Obviously not to an ‘expert’ level but I believe that anyone in the field of learning and development should at least give things a go, get out of their comfort zone and experiment with the tools that their participants in programs already use so that we can be on a level playing field. I think we owe it to our clients, our participants and for our own personal growth and development.
Ryan Tracey says
25 February 2015 at 6:43 pmThumbs up. While writing your own blog allows you to share your style, video takes it to a whole other level – what with the facial expressions, tone of voice, accent, etc. It makes it more “personable”.
Having said that, one thing I don’t like about video is that is relatively difficult to scoot through it; when you fast forward you essentially miss the content, whereas if you pan down a page of text you can grasp the gist of it as you go and make an informed decision as to where to stop and take more notice.
activatelearning says
26 February 2015 at 10:42 amExactly, my thoughts. In the second video, I experimented with the subtitle function in YouTube so methinks one way to overcome missing out in important information is to include boxes or subtitles of new themes that I’m talking about so you can stop there and listen. My next experiment is to actually use the YouTube video manager function to record (and not my own camera and upload) as it may save me some time. That is, record directly into YouTube.