Assignment 2: Video for a Learning Purpose

My Video for a Learning Purpose

What is the learning purpose of your video?

The learning purpose of my video was to teach my classmates how to crochet a simple granny square. As I mentioned in the video, crocheting is a hobby that I have picked up, as I found it was a good way to unwind from the stresses of school and life. This video shows you how to start your first simple crochet project and also details how you can grow with crocheting through this initial project.

Why is video a good medium for this learning purpose?

The use of video for a learning purpose can be extremely valuable, as it adds a heightened level of engagement for the learner. Through using a video, learners can listen to the instructions of the video, while also being given a real-time demonstration of what is expected of them. Additionally, videos add a human element to what is being learned, which not only increases engagement with the information but can help to make the lesson more relevant to them. Videos also help learners to see the information, while also hearing it, which allows for them to learn more easily and faster. For instance, when I first learned to crochet, I knew I would have to watch a video, rather than read about a stitch or someone verbally teaching me. This kind of skill is one that you must see in order to understand how to maneuver the yarn and the hook. Thus, I felt that a video was the perfect avenue for this learning purpose, as it has helped me in the past. Another helpful aspect of videos when learning is the fact that you can re-watch, pause, and rewind the video based on your understanding. When learning to crochet, I had to slow down videos and rewatch many clips, as this helped me to gain a better understanding of how to do it. Learning often takes practice, and videos allow learners the flexibility to re-watch and re-learn at their own discretion.

Which of the principles we’ve covered this term (e.g. Mayer/Universal Design for Learning/Cognitive Load Theory) did you incorporate into your design and why?

When planning my video, I wanted to ensure that I was taking Mayer’s Segmenting Principle into account by making my video concise. For this reason, I knew that I was not going to crochet the whole square on video, but rather, I would segment the project into key elements that the audience had to learn and repeat the steps off-camera to create the final piece. I know that I normally get bored when I have to watch a long video, or I will skip the relevant information. Hence, I wanted to make sure that learners were only receiving information that was helpful and concise. Additionally, I knew that I only really needed to show my hands to teach the concepts in this video, however, I took Mayer’s personalization principle into account and wanted to introduce the video and conclude the video with my face, creating a personal aspect to the video. Along the same lines, I also tried to ensure that my voice was in a conversational tone when teaching the steps of the project. Hearing a monotone voice teach you can be very boring, which is why I wanted to create a social aspect to my video, in hopes that it would engage the learner better. As I remembered Mayer’s signalling principle, I made sure that in the clip where I showed the materials, I signalled to which supply I was speaking about, emphasizing each individual tool that was needed to complete this project. As this is a new project, not all learners will know what each tool looks like, which is why I signalled each supply as it was being talked about. While many videos use background music when there is no talking, I steered away from this, as I knew that this could increase cognitive load for learners and I wanted to ensure that they had the capacity to learn the important steps of my project. Finally, in order to make my video more accessible, I made sure to include captions for my videos, ensuring that they lined up with the narration of my actions. To do this, I was able to experiment with an application called VEED.IO, which also doubled as a video streaming site for my video. With a free subscription, this site transcribed my uploaded video and then embedded it with my video. It also gave me the freedom to make changes in the wording of the transcription in case there were any errors, as well as change the font and configuration of the text to ensure it fit well within my video.

What was challenging about capturing your own video?

For me, the most challenging aspect of capturing my video was setting up the camera to only show my hands. As I had to also work under the camera to show what I was doing, this made it very hard to find an area of my house where I could prop up my camera and give a bird’s eye view, while also working beneath it. Luckily, I managed to maneuver the edge of my desk and place my iPad so that only the camera was facing over the edge. From there, I was able to work below and still have the iPad remain stable to capture the view. However, I also struggled with ensuring that the camera could see what I was doing, while also allowing me to view what I was doing. Normally when I crochet, I am in a comfortable position and I can move freely, but I really had to be conscious about where I had to keep my hands for them to be within the frame, as well as facing the yarn and hook upwards, rather than towards myself.

What did you find easiest?

The easiest aspect of creating my video was voicing over the videos of me crocheting. While I was worried about the speed of my work and ensuring that my narration lined up with what I was actually doing, I was pleasantly surprised at how well my script prepared me for the voiceover. I feel that this process was also made easier, as when I was creating my script, I physically started the crocheting process, to ensure that I was explaining step by step what I would be explaining in the video. I then discarded this work, after creating my script, and restarted crocheting, this time while videoing. I feel that it was helpful to almost work backward and then forward again, as simply visualizing the steps would not have created the most accurate instructions for an intricate project like this.

How would you approach capturing video differently next time?

If I had to create this video again, I would likely approach it differently as far as my time management for it. As I showed various steps of my crocheting process, there was time off camera that I would have to continue crocheting, as the steps shown simply had to be repeated. Due to this, there was a large amount of time that I had to devote to simply completing the project, that was not even shown on camera. Thus, I would perhaps plan my time out better to ensure that I would not feel rushed to finish the project in order to shoot the final portions of the video. Furthermore, I would also utilize the tools of other videos in the creation and editing of my video. After uploading my video clips to iMovie, I realized how confusing the navigation of this application can be at times, and I found myself wasting a lot of time trying to figure this out on my own. However, through trial and error, I found that if I am struggling with simple written instructions for these applications, I should look for a video that can help me, as I learned how to fix my problems much faster this way.