(video) tool of the month: 1 second video apps for blended learning

Video is an important online trend. The tool of this month is therefore a video tool: the 1 second video app. Video is already important in online marketing, and learning and training follows this trend. I can hardly imagine an online course or MOOC without video. The classic way to produce a learning video is to hire a professional filmmaker ask them to record and edit the video. However, there are many (more creative) possibilities to use video in the design or facilitation of online learning like interactieve video's, animations with Powtoon, whiteboard animations like Squigl or livestreaming.

1 second videos

Cesar Kuriyama once started recording a 1-second video every day to capture a whole year of his life. After this project he decided to build an app that makes it easy to do this. The app is called 1 Second Everyday. You can record a video every day via a calendar, or choose a video from your smartphone. The app will ask you to choose your one second. After uploading for various days you can produce a video by selecting a number of days. Below you can see an example a video I made, filming my garden every day for a week.



Another example: a video of a student who recorded her life in 2017.



There are various apps to make 1 second videos:
 

1 sec everyday (5,49 euros)

 

1 second daily cam (free: you can remove the logo for 1,49 euros)

 

Leap second (free)

How to use 1 second video apps for online or blended learning?

1 second videos are perfect to get participants active in a creative way. A number of ways you can use the app:

1. To get to know each other 

You can invite participants to record something about their lives for a week and then share this online, or show the results during a meeting. It is only a 7 seconds video and will give a creative peek into someone's week. This also reminds me of the introduction of the guests in the Dutch television program the quiz: the guests bring one photo of each day of the week.

2. As a visual start-up of discussions

Ask people to make 1 second videos of moments during the work that make them happy, and they will be very actively involved with this topic. As a follow-up you can share the videos and talk about what makes you happy. Making the video both engages people and leads to a visual result. It will give a different picture than if you start the conversation without this preparation.

3. A look into daily practices

Of course it can also give an image of what someone is doing. Let everyone, for example, every day at noon make a 1 second video of what he or she is doing. This way you get a nice picture of the actual practice. Or a second every hour of the day?

4. As reflecting aid

The research on the Rapp-it app showed coaching in combination with the use of a reflection app improved learning. The use of the app helped participants become more aware of learning moments, record and discuss more learning activities. Likewise, a video diary prior to a reflection session can help not to forget important moments (which your memory might do).

This blogpost can be read in Dutch on Ennuonline.

Shoot your own videos - beyond the talking head

Wednesday I participated in the LOSmakers meetup. The LOSmakers are a group of people interested in learning & social media. Cycling through the rain to the station got me soaked 4 times, but worth it, it was a very inspiring meeting. It was fun to meet and share with others who are also experimenting with video. In university I once made a film about pre-history and we could make use of a professional editing room.  (that was in the pre-historical time before the smartphone). With smartphones and tools like periscope and screencasting video is now within the reach of every lunatic / trainer / consultant. However, it is not easy to really come up with good materials .. I myself for instance don't want to edit movies because it takes a lot of time. As a result I often have the so-called talking head movie. I interview someone put it online.

Professional filmmaker or do-it-yourself?
An important question is: when to do it yourself and when do you turn to a professional filmmaker? Sometimes it simply depends on the budget but I try to at least look at how often you can use the movie and how quickly the content will become outdated. A nice quote from a fellow LOsmaker Matthijs was that "you have to spend hours in making videos yourself". It helps you to improve and to collaborate with professionals.

Storyboarding
We got our hands dirty working on story boarding. Bart Wagenaar explains here what story boarding is (in Dutch). Next week I will attend the Learning en Technologies conference and we decided to storyboard a video from the conference.

It was fun to storyboard, you see that you may be using the same words but that you have completely different images. A nice way to also deploy other design processes. Before making a video it definitely helps to know which shots you want to shoot.

Beyond talking heads
My question is: what else you can do in a video instead of a 'talking head'.  My own case was about a video concerning assessment. What I picked up quickly was the idea that it is good to investigate the objective of the video and the target group and not to jam too many objectives into one video. You may also search for videos that already exist .. you can also pick an existing video from another field, thereby starting a conversation, in my case for example. for a video on assessment of a gymnastics competition. Other ideas that I have gained.:

• Shoot a talking head video but provide some context before and after the talking head (as in the video above with Bart)
• Use existing footage with and voice over
• Screen Cast with a screencast program like Screencast-o-Matic record a powerpoint to tell your story
• Use a series of pictures and tell your story
• Work with images. A nice idea is to use Fiverr.com and ask someone to draw images
• Make animations powtoon of videoscribe
• Film an interview
• Film  2 or 3 mensen in conversation

Any good inspiring examples of do-it-yourself videos?

(almost) Everything about video for learning professionals

January was our #videoleren theme on Twitter with the Ennuonline twitter tips. In this blogpost I will try to wrap up this theme. There is a lot of attention for video and use of multimedia online, after all youtube has almost 300 million view hours per day...Gemma Critchley talked about the importance of involving our emotions while learning: "people will forget what you said but they will not forget how you made them feel". Another nice quote on the Learning en Technologies conference in london was: "online learning at times seems emotionless and video is covering that niche". That partly explains the recent attention for video as a medium for learning. Video is thus an intriguing medium and very popular. Furthermore with smartphones, filming something and uploading film is within everyone's reach. First, a mindmap of the main elements of importance in 'video for learning'. Mapping the field.



On the one hand video for learning is a theme with lots of practical questions that deal with searching, editing and creating videos for learning situations. On the other hand, there is a strategic perspective on the changes in learning initiative launched by the fact that there are so many videos are available to learn from / to imitate and the fact that everyone can now film.

Does video change the way we learn and facilitate learning? 
Even monkeys learn from how-to video's So we can not really stay behind ... You can learn a lot today itself by following instruction videos or a MOOC. Tie a tie? That is simply answered on Youtube. But besides do-it-yourself learning video is also a means which now gives everybody the power to make a video with your phone and put it on Youtube. Seth Godin formulates it very neatly 'video is driving culture' and 'this culture-driving ability now belongs to everybody who can make a video that the right people choose to watch'.

An example: Jasmin Patheja, is the initiator of the Blank Noise project (in India), fighting eve-teasing by putting videos of eve-teasing online. In this way they created a whole movement, see the blog.

Within education and training a lot more is done with video. The lowest use of video by teachers is probably motivating the class with choosing a nice song on Youtube when they finish their tasks. The didactic approach is a challenge, an example of didactic approach is the well-known "Flip the classroom". View Salman Kahn's TED talk Let's use video to reinvent education below. He has a clear vision realized in the Khan Academy. Video changes the role of the teacher or trainer/facilitator. Instead of explaining theory, you can refer to videos and you therefore focus much more on the practicing or individual support.



Some interesting links:

• From passive viewing to online learning
• A compilation artikelen over the flipped classroom
• Skillshare has classes around videos
• 4 ways to use observational learning in e-learning
• Organise a 5-minutes filmfestival

Video's zoeken, inkorten, pimpen en bewerken
It's an art in itself to find the right videos for your learning purpose. One idea is if you watch television and relate it to some of your topics you might bookmark them after searching them online. Some fragments you can find them right away on Youtube. See my example of the burger eating Remi at Expedition Robinson. There are also many cool tools that will allow you to add content to existing videos, eg. Questions. Zaption is such a tool that lets you ask a question at one time that viewers must answer before they can continue with the video.

• Good source are Youtube,  but also Teachertube and Tedtalks
• Cut youtube videos with Tubechop
• Start a dialogue with Vialogues, or a lesson around a video with TedED
• Educanon allows you to add information just like Thinglink allows you to add links. 
• With huzzaz.com or a Youtube channel you can make a video list, a library of videos. 

Producing videos
When you want to produce videos you have to choose between professional or 'the beauty of imperfection' = amateur video. The advantage of the amateur films is that they are spontaneous, accessible and inexpensive. There is of course a lot to say about producing videos. For this blog I suffice to say that you can screencast (make a movie of your computer screen), on-the-fly videos (amateur quality with iphone, ipad or simple camera), professional videos, web lectures and live stream (let online follow a meeting by people who are not there). Of course there are also vlogs, video blogs. I almost forgot that there are also new tools with which you can quickly create an animation as PowToon. A number of sources if you want to dive in one of these topics:

• A tool for screencasting is screencast-o-matic. An alternative is present.me or screencastify to record directly from your Chrome browser.
• Use storytelling as techniques
• Weblecture experiences of Hogeschool Inholland
• Make animation videos with Powtoon or videoscribe. A nice idea is a stopmotion movie. (not sure how easy this is). with animoto you can produce a short movie with pictures. 
• How to record a video interview in 8 steps
• Best online tools for instant video recording 

Video in meetings: webinars en videoconferencing
Almost all webinar software, Google Hangouts and Skype will allow you to use video/webcam in your online meetings and workshops.

• How and why to use video in webinars
• To webcam or not to webcam
• Een tool to start a videoconference without log in and fuzz is appear.in. 

Innovative uses of video
Finally, a few innovative applications and questions about how video is changing our world.

• Augmented reality videos
• Filming with drones. Look at the below drone video of the Dom in Utrecht. This use of drones has been forbidden in the Netherlands. A beautiful video! 

• Tips for livestreaming. I still admire the use by Obama of hangouts gebruikt to exchange about climate change or the State of the Union. 
• Social reporting to make events accessible from anywhere in the world
• Creative and innovative uses of using online video 
• BP uses video in the Hub for informal learning on oil and gas via video

Please add any other interesting resources or perspectives. Want to scroll through more resources? Have a look at our Pinterest board about learning through video.

Flip your class or training with video

(foto hangop door Debra Solomon) 
What do you do if you want to prepare 'hangop' (see picture if you don't know what it is!)? Do you ask your neighbor, call your aunt or are you looking for information on the Internet? Friday's session about use of video for learning things showed that a mother look for it in a cookbook and her son  looked on the Internet for a movie. The clever use of video was central, to our session: how can you use video in learning and education? The afternoon began with a conversation about changing use of video which immediately yielded new insights about the power and the important place of this medium:

• A student of high school fount a guy on youtube a guy who explains mathematics very well. This helps her understand it. 
• How to tie your tie? : just search on Youtube for a convenient explanation.
• A special knife bought but ultimately not know how it works? Instead of reading the manual a movie will help you out.

How can you use video in education or learning? From two case studies - one from higher educationcollege and another one from a government organization, we examined (and watched) how video is used in different ways. Annelies Ranzijn (see photo) shared the experiences of Inholland with weblectures and I shared the experience of En nu online with the use of video within an online learning program, together we covered a beautiful range from professional to amateuristic use of video and everything in between. Some examples of how you can use video:

• Weblectures of 5-7 minutes on general topics such as language.
• How to- instruction video, for example, how to change email subscription explained in 1 minute. 
• Tedtalks     
• Screencasts by experts or teachers using a powerpoint or prezi with explanations
• Recording Skype interviews and webinars so that others can watch them later

Professional videos or amateur? Although there is a difference in use of professional staff and equipment within the college and use of cheaper tools in the other case, one is not beter than the other. An investment in professional production lends itself more to larger numbers of students and in situations where content remains fairly constant, such as the comparative stages (vergelijkende trap) in the Dutch language. Amateur recording are perfect because they are low cost in situations with smaller numbers of participants and content changing rapidly, eg policy. Of course sometimes it is simply the available budget which determines whether you go for professional or amateur recordings!  
A number of lessons and observations from the two cases ... The interesting thing is that there are some lessons that are similar for both cases.

• For example, in both selected cases, a choice was made for videos of around 10 minutes or shorter. Inholland started by recording all lectures, but stopped this practices. In some cases, a choice is made for a slightly longer video like a TEDTalk of a maximum of 20 minutes.
• In both cases, a choice was made to work with own staff / teachers in the lead for designing and featuring in the videos, instead of professional actors or external persons. This increases the ownership and you make use of the existing knowledge from within the organization, which matches the context of the learning trajectory or module best. Not every teacher or professional is immediately excited to feature in a video, sometimes people do not feel secure enough to act in front of a camera or webcam. What you can do is start by inviting the people who are immediately excited for the new media and opportunities, then show the results to others and try to interest them as well. Producing a short weblecture requires you to know the core of your content.
• Video allows you to bring situations from outside the classroom inside (interviews from overseas via skype, filming on a building site), which make a good link to the practice possible.
• The learning outcomes of the videos is good. In both cases, watching the movies is optional, not mandatory. For example,  in the language classes, students may also choose to join the class without viewing the videos. Participants indicate clearly that they learned from videos, albeit in combination with assignments and discussions (there is no final test). In higher education, the test results have gone up. 
• Finally, the statistics of the number of times a video has been viewed have proven to be very useful to know what works.   

Do you like to learn how to screencasten and live in the Netherlands? In September we offer a new screencast workshop by En nu online.