Let's Go to the Video
October 06, 2008
With more than 50 million people watching online video every month and millions of non-technical users generating video content, now's the time to jump on board the video bandwagon.
By Mark Chrisman
Have you noticed how much video is on the Web these days? We have video mail, video conferencing, video blogging, video hosting, and interactive video. One U.S. research study found that almost a third of broadband users of all ages have uploaded homemade content onto the Web, and an increasing amount of that is video.
It is now practical to think of video as an everyday tool for online learning. Editing tools are much easier to use, cameras are more affordable, and there are many mobile devices that can record and play back video that is "good enough" to use in instruction. Free Web services; near-universal availability of broadband in urban areas; and cheap, plentiful bandwidth facilitate the move online.
To help you take advantage of these trends in your work, this quick overview discusses how organizations and individuals are using video, gives examples of tools and online services for creating and sharing video, and shares recent conversations with the people who provide some of these tools and services.
Finding, Creating, and Sharing Content
People love to share ideas, experiences, and knowledge, and they are doing this more and more online. Web-focused companies such as YouTube, Qik, Ustream, and Eyejot give users a fast way to upload and even live stream video. Many (including e-learning professionals) already are using these services to capture events and interviews as they happen. These services also provide pre-formatted "embed" codes to copy and paste into e-mails, Web pages, blogs, and social networking accounts. Suddenly, people without prior technical knowledge can create and share Web-based media.
Online video recording, editing, and sharing tools have turned people from passive content consumers into active content creators. This new video revolution is democratizing video generation and distribution. For example, Instructables provides a place to post instructional videos on topics ranging from art to science. Other online knowledge repository services with video support are TeacherTube, LearnHub, Neulio,
Learning Portal, eHow, and iTunes University. Voice Thread is an "online media album" for creating, collaborating on, and organizing images, documents, and videos.
Ustream co-founder John Ham sees two major strengths of online video. The first is "time shifting," meaning that knowledge and information can be shared on demand, anywhere, any time, and, most importantly, as often as needed. The second strength is "interactivity," meaning that video can help create a comfortable virtual environment to engage the learner. Ustream's user-generated content includes elementary school science experiments, guitar lessons, conference presentations, and college lectures.
Because there are now many different video hosting services, content creators needed an efficient way to distribute their videos to multiple sites. TubeMogul is an example of a company that provides this service at no charge. It automatically adds new submissions to the top video sharing sites. A learning center shows producers how to use the service. TubeMogul also provides useful analytics on who, what, and how videos are being viewed.
Big name companies are embracing video and quickly developing video products and platforms for enterprisewide use. Cisco has the Digital Media System, which is a suite of enterprise television and desktop video applications that allows companies to use digital media to enhance customer experience, and facilitate learning. Microsoft provides video conference recording in its Live Meeting product (see "In Sync with SLS"). Such applications save travel time and reduce cost when organizations conduct large training events.
Two-Way Communication
Video is transforming online communication into a rich multimedia experience. You can use services such as Eyejot to send video e-mails. These can be useful for quickly capturing technical concepts for just-in-time reference or performance support. They also enable the exchange of questions and answers with subject matter experts. Eyejot CEO David Geller says, "Video allows you to impart tone and energy in ways that text cannot, and to convey complex sentiments and ideas more efficiently." For example, hearing-impaired users have started to use video e-mail for virtual sign language conversations.
Are You Streaming This?
American blogger and technical evangelist Robert Scoble is an avid user of California-based Qik (pronounced "kick"), a free service that lets users stream video live from their cell phone. Scoble has used Qik to rapidly capture and broadcast news, events, and interviews from his iPhone. Services such as Qik enable anyone with a mobile camera and an Internet connection (or a smartphone) to broadcast one-to many video. Qik content can be embedded on any Website or blog. These streams also can be archived for asynchronous retrieval by people who didn't "catch it live."
Qik Director of Marketing Jackie Danicki and Product Marketing Manager Rishi Mallik reveal how online video has changed things: Video breaks distance barriers and "allows for live human interaction. An employee in California can train and interact with an employee in Dubai." They add, "It is not just about the technology, it is more about the social interaction."
This decentralized distribution model for user-generated video empowers people to share knowledge and experience in new ways. An unspoken Qik philosophy, according to Danicki and Mallik, "is that the users (individuals) win in the end. In other words, turn control over to the people to use the tools as they want to use them, not how you want them to be used." Qik also supports instant messaging, so people watching online can send questions and feedback. Qik integrates with YouTube and other services, and allows video file export to a local drive.
Rapid Development
Have you ever considered using video for rapid development? Video has become a tool of choice to prototype and develop e-learning. You can
spend days programming an animated scenario, or you can write a script and use homemade props and a video camera to capture the same scenario in a few hours.
Common Craft's "In Plain English" is one online video series that illustrates how simple this can be
(www.commoncraft.com). The Common Craft developers use handdrawn characters, objects, and sets timed with narration to present technical concepts in easy-to-understand videos. You easily can create similar videos of your own.
Another easy and effective way of utilizing video content in e-learning courseware is to incorporate it with branching scenarios. Rather than include "talking head" video for the sake of adding video, use the video to help illustrate the scenario and create an experience for the learner. You can use a tool such as Adobe Captivate to develop your module framework and interactivity and seamlessly import and layer your Flash video into your content. Users are not just reading or being told what they are experiencing, they actually are experiencing it.
Recording Devices
Video recorders can range from desktop Webcams, handheld devices, and camcorders to broadcast-quality video cameras. Many mobile phones, such as the iPhone and Blackberry, have built-in video capability.
Handheld devices and camera phones are convenient to carry, easy to use, and quick to stream or upload to the Web. One such device is the Flip Mino, which costs
$179; captures up to 60 minutes of good quality, easy-to-upload video; and fits in your pocket.
As more camera phones and handheld devices enter the marketplace, your organization may not need to buy new recording equipment. You instead may be able to use the equipment that subject matter experts and users already have and know how to use.
Moving Forward
If you are new to online and usergenerated video, visit popular video sharing sites and see what people are doing. To bring video into your organization, survey your employees. Find out how many employees already are creating online video. It also is a good idea to talk to your information technology or communications department about your plans, to ensure adequate support.
With more than 50 million people watching online video every month and millions of non-technical users generating video content, video already has revolutionized informal learning. Tools and services are lowering the learning curve for video, so the time is right to jump on board. If you are not currently empowering the users in your organization to create, deliver, and share video content, then you may be seriously missing out. There are so many potential ways to harness untapped value and enhance communication and collaboration, as well as transform he way users learn and transfer knowledge.
Mark Chrisman is a Seattle-based e-learning specialist with a B.S. in Communications/Fine Art and a Certificate in Multimedia. He develops enterprise-wide e-learning solutions and advocates for new collaborative Web technologies. Chrisman also manages an Adobe Learning Group in Seattle, which focuses on e-learning and Adobe Captivate. For more information, visit www.seattlelearning.ning.com. His personal blog is www.badsquare.wordpress.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @badsquare.
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