Your Feedback re: Video in Online Learning

As part of a research project, I put together a short lesson plan in Moodle deployed as a SCORM package. The purpose of this prototype is to come up with a workable model of how video can enhance text-based material and in what context is it most effective/appropriate?

I welcome any feedback you have and how it might be improved.

http://edu.wildbasinmedia.com/mod/scorm/player.php?a=1&currento...
("Lab 2" is the only section that contains video.)

Thank you,
Sean Healy

Tags: distance, learning, moodle, multimedia, online, video

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Permalink Reply by blank on October 31, 2010 at 11:56am

I am not a teacher but I am an education major at a university and I think videos for online learning is a great idea. I myself from experience can say that I seem to retain a lot of information from watching something rather than reading it. Our minds do not seem to wonder as much and stay pretty entertained to retain majority of the information.I hope your project is a success good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Sean Healy on November 4, 2010 at 7:45am

@ Samantha

I am primarily a visual learner, too. Before starting this prototype, I would have thought that there would by more examples out there. After searching, I found very few. More recently, Vook (Vook.com) has begun to create video-book products. I'm not sure how closely Vook has followed (or cares about) Richard Mayer's principles of multimedia design, however (http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/mayer/index.php).

Thank you for your comment. ;-)

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Permalink Reply by james thornburgh on November 3, 2010 at 3:56pm

I think it looks good. how did you create the SCORM package? That and Lessons are things that I haven't used yet, but can see using in the future.

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Permalink Reply by Sean Healy on November 4, 2010 at 8:01am

@James

A SCORM package is nothing more than a self-contained zip file that with all of your files and resources. Everything one would need for a lesson, for instance, is contained within the SCORM. This "centralization" of files and resources and standardization are what makes SCORM portable from LMS to LMS.

At the heart of the SCORM package is the imsmanifest.xml file. Just like a ship's manifest, it is a record of all passengers on board. I use any text editor to create the file.

Here is an example imsmanifest.xml: http://laurawieme.wordpress.com/2009/06/05/scorm-imsmanifest-xml-co...

Thank you for taking the time to look at the prototype.

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Permalink Reply by Tamara on November 4, 2010 at 7:33pm

I think videos could be helpful in almost every context. Personally, I remember things a lot better when I have visuals and other sources to help enforce information. Reading from a textbook can get a little dry and boring. For instance, when I have to do a reading assignment, I find myself reading the same line over and over again. Videos can summarize information pretty well, they're entertaining, and they can be shared pretty easily.

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Permalink Reply by Sean Healy on November 5, 2010 at 10:08am

Hi Tamara,
We've known for a long time that people learn in different ways, but it seems we (teachers) are slow in creating the best means for our students to learn. One of the issues in using video is that you sometimes have to watch a lot of it before you get to the information that you need to know. The prototype you watched is a single video, but it takes the user to a particular part of the video that corresponds to the text. There are some great resources out there for teachers and students that may interest you, for example:

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/09/47-alternatives-to-using-y...
http://issuu.com/richardbyrne/docs/making-videos-on-the-web/1