Internet Learning Volume 5, Number 1, Fall 2016/Winter 2017 | Page 49
Internet Learning
ture live lectures for long-life recordings.
There are other applications, such
as to record and present research results
for papers and personal professional
development, and to assess students.
The methods and the technologies are
important, but only if the video content
informs, educates, and entertains the
audience. The craft of achieving these
three objectives is integral to resources
that enhance learning. These principles
can be achieved in the hands of lecturers,
but that means learning the craft,
not the theory. It is hands-on, practical,
and physical. It is a whole-body activity.
Background
A
lecturer interested in video for
internet learning may have an
uphill task. There are good reasons
why. There are practical problems
such as shortage of time to learn new
skills. There are also the conflicting priorities
of teaching and research. Time
spent developing teaching methods can
affect research output. To be a main
stream media performer can be a hurdle
to an academic career. Mainstream
media appearances are by the most
senior staff with recognized authoritative
published standing. Younger enthusiastic
popularizers must tread with
care. Academic staffs, who work with
professional film crews, become aware
of the value of recording, and presentation
and communication methods
that work well in academic life. There
is little incentive to share these methods
with colleagues. A similar situation in
the United States is known as the Sagan
Effect; Carl Sagan was the superstar science
popularizer who lost out on prestigious
appointments in the 1960s and
1990s. Martinez-Conde, Powell, and
Macknick, (2016) report an unsuspecting
high-quality researcher recently
received unintentional acclaim in the
press and online TED only to find applications
for research funding refused
and very unfavorable anonymous review
of his papers.
There is disinclination to appear
in front of a camera. It is not part of serious
academic life. These attitudes are
changing: there is a determination to
use media, but in an individualized way.
We do things differently: an approach
that is logical, because the professional
acceptable method to assimilate new
teaching ideas is through research. Theory
must inform practice. It is a lonely
path, for the awards are for individual
endeavor. New discoveries come with
career rewards for papers and recognition
of teaching excellence. The process
of creating resources for their own
students is a challenge, and an exciting,
fulfilling personal learning journey.
However, there is also much unnecessary
reinventing of the wheel.
Research into new online learning
technologies has value. But it is
the experience of the author that the
principles behind the quality of creative
content for the technologies were
solved by the BBC Radio and Television
education broadcast department staff
long ago. For example, PowerPoint and
Keynote are only digital versions of the
analogue BBC Radiovision Filmstrips
which began in 1953 with full screen
photos; color graphics; stereo sound on
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