Learning From Online VideoOnline video would probably be my pick for the next innovation to play a significant role in education. Making predictions about such things may appear to be harmless and nearly anyone who works in the field probably has a favorite prediction. Beliefs about trends are not without consequences. The preparation of new teachers requires some insights into what the classroom environment will look like “when they get there.” I suppose pessimists would say that it will look the same as it looked 100 years ago. Perhaps some day the pessimists will be proven wrong.
In my opinion, part of any educator’s decision making process should depend on personal experience. Reading the journals and professional literature is great, but I still see value in first hand experience. So — how does one get some experience with online video. At one point, I would have suggested visting the web sites associated with major news organizations. The trend here seems to have moved toward subscription services so this suggestion no longer works that well. I now suggest that educators examine some of the work of the George Lucas Education Foundation and the examples of video developed through the inTime project at the University of Northern Iowa. If you explore these sites, consider both what the experience provides you and how you might make use of such experiences with your students.
Or – try to learn something yourself using online video. Several companies now offer instruction in the use of technology online. There are often some free topics the companies make available as demos. Try the Atomic Learning material explaining how to use iMovie.
