Internet Videos as Teaching Supplements

I gave my students a list of useful videos, pointing out that “Some of these tips and tricks videos will seem just like calling for tech support—you’ll need to adjust your ear to foreign accents!”

The majority of videos I found were not very useful because they were “talking heads” or because the resolution was so poor it was impossible to understand what was being demonstrated.

Rajure Sanjay provides close-up views as he describes how to accomplish various tasks in Windows XP, like this explanation of how to change screen resolution.

Since I am only providing links to videos posted on the Internet by their creators, I don’t think this violates any copyright guidelines.

LMS versus a Multitude of Tools

Using an LMS (Blackboard) suits my teaching style, allowing me to organize everything for students in one place while at the same time giving links to resources outside the LMS.

Blackboard lets me post my Instructor Notes and Student Assignments as Word documents, which allows me greater control over how they look (and how they print for students, if they chose to print). When I uploaded my Module 2 – Windows as a Google Doc, the images (and especially the arrows and shapes I had used to enhance images) ended up in places I didn’t intend. Most font formatting disappeared and I had to re-do it. I had to remove some of the images and shapes, since they were now meaningless and confusing.

Finding My Voice

I was thinking that I wouldn’t need to use my voice in on-line teaching! But I guess I’ll need to get a microphone and try my hand at creating podcasts. At the very least, I need to learn how to record a voice commentary that can accompany slide shows like the one I provided students for the first module, Introduction to Computers.

(Schematic of podcast from http://edmarketing.apple.com/adcinstitute/wp-content/Missouri_Podcasting_White_Paper.pdf)

Podcasts might be useful to remind students of specific class requirements and to give tips as the need arises. However, I prefer to keep all instructions to students in one location, in my written “Instructor Notes” for each module. If students were getting instructions in multiple locations, it would be easier to overlook some instructions. (A valid use of podcasts might be to notify students of changes in written instructions so that they will download the most recent version).

As for podcasts about the content of the course, I don’t think podcasts will be very effective for teaching the skills of this course—a picture is definitely worth a thousand words when learning to use the graphic user interface (GUI) of today’s computer applications. I did some podcast sources on the Internet. Microsoft provides podcasts with instruction on all of the office applications, as well as on specific issues. Consultants like “Mr Excel” also offer podcast tutorials,

Generally, I think videos will be more helpful to students. Microsoft provides online video demos like this one for PowerPoint. Searching YouTube I found numerous videos on specific topics in Microsoft applications like these for Excel, “Working With Formulas,” “Working With Dates,” and “Using the IF Function in formulas” Unfortunately, their usefulness is limited by poor resolution.

It will be useful for me to develop a list of videos that students can consults as an alternate to spending all their time pouring over the textbook.

If Only There Were More Hours in the Day

Social Bookmarking and RSS feeds on Google Reader – both are exciting technologies for expanding personal knowledge and connectivity. I’m glad to know more about them and their possibilities for my online teaching. However, I’m overwhelmed by all the resources and technologies and the time and energy required to take full advantage of the Internet.

Will I Find Useful Course Content by Searching Blogs?

Perhaps….there are blogs for everything!

Basictemplates.com is an example of a blog sharing miscellaneous info on Excel, among other things. But like other blogs that Google found in a search for “Excel Blog,” many of the listings are for products offered for sale, including utilities and add-ins.

I am more likely to find supplemental material of instructional value on Microsoft’s web pages or web resources like these examples of information about Excel 2007 provided by consultants and developers.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Microsoft_Office_Excel_2007.png is image source. The site states that the use of a limited number of web-resolution screenshots qualifies as Fair Use for identification of the software.)

Maricopa District-required course competencies necessitate strict adherence to the prescribed course of study (Introduction to Windows XP and Office 2007). Time is extremely limited for exploring developing technology like the news items provided by ZDNet blogs like All About Microsoft.