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past century, Fabos (2001) concludes that one of the most
significant factors in the
success or failure of an educational technology is the quality of the content, rather than
the technology itself. Selecting video that has strong, visually-rich
educational content is
a critical element for maximizing the effectiveness of video.
Video is a visual medium, and optimal use capitalizes on the strengths of its
visual material. This includes providing visual demonstrations or evidence, dramatizing
events
and concepts, and appealing to the emotions. Educational video with instructional
strategies and cognitive modeling traits embedded in the video itself can aid in student
comprehension. Examples range from zooming in on details, to
providing titles and other
attention-drawing graphics, to animations. Videos with closed captioning can further
promote learners’ reading fluency and motivation to read (Lin, 2003).
Denning (no date) offers the following suggestions of positives to look for when
evaluating videos:
• Variation
in the presentation
• Humor
• Age-appropriate narration and developmentally-appropriate thinking skills
• Chunking,
or organization in sections
• Provision of meaningful examples
• Posing of open-ended questions
• Opportunities for students to carry out individual thinking
•
Opportunities for extension
• Teacher guides outlining possibilities for previewing or extension activities.
Video becomes less effective if the selections shown depend too closely on non-visual
elements of video and thus exploit the weaknesses of the medium by presenting abstract
and non-visual information, relying too much on a “talking heads”
style of conveying
information or presenting intellectual arguments not backed up with physical evidence
(Hampe, 2006). Since video conveys information that is both auditory and visual, these
two modes must work in concert for video to be most effective.
Overly-dramatic sound
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tracks, visuals and narration that are not supportive of one another, and excessive use of
still frames or slides can all detract from the educational message.
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