Learning With Video Components
I have been trying using some videos while learning some subjects.
Sometimes it works OK especially when I don't have books available. It works best when I have chance to listen very inspiring lectures delivered by people who are able to provide insightful views about subjects of interest, and those views are usually not from any books but from their own thoughts and experiences.
But most time so far videos are not my favorite format I use to systematically learn something, even though I like watching videos to see how the video presenters deliver their work. (That is my very interest to watch videos actually.) If I plan to learn a subject, I prefer reading books, trying examples, and practicing by solving simple questions step by step. What bothered me most when I studied a subject by watching videos was that the time spent on the video-watching process was constrained strictly by the video length. If the videos were long, the learning process would be very likely an information delivery procedure. That means I have to discipline myself more to watch all videos patiently in order to collect all information I want. If I read books, however, I could do quick reading first, then analytical and synthesized reading next if necessary. (When a book I think is not worthy to take more of my time, I would stop after the quick reading.) When running examples and hand-on problem-solving questions are available with my book-reading procedure, I could feel that my learning result is more sustainable and productive.
One of my colleagues did a survey about usage of videos used in his class. Based on his survey, it seems most of students favored to have videos available online when choosing to have videos or not. It is true that there are various learners who maximize their learning by different methods. I am curious to know why most students favored to have videos available; how students used the videos; and if videos could help learners learn better, why and how long should be the videos? I have asked other colleagues' ideas about videos used for online learning. Based on the answers I collected, it seems that it is "safe" to use videos to facilitate learning. You know you will not make mistakes if including videos and providing this option. But why and how?
I plan to do more experiments by watching videos to learn iPhone programming and other subjects during the summer. I will try a reflection following each lecture I watch. Maybe I can find more later.
Sometimes it works OK especially when I don't have books available. It works best when I have chance to listen very inspiring lectures delivered by people who are able to provide insightful views about subjects of interest, and those views are usually not from any books but from their own thoughts and experiences.
But most time so far videos are not my favorite format I use to systematically learn something, even though I like watching videos to see how the video presenters deliver their work. (That is my very interest to watch videos actually.) If I plan to learn a subject, I prefer reading books, trying examples, and practicing by solving simple questions step by step. What bothered me most when I studied a subject by watching videos was that the time spent on the video-watching process was constrained strictly by the video length. If the videos were long, the learning process would be very likely an information delivery procedure. That means I have to discipline myself more to watch all videos patiently in order to collect all information I want. If I read books, however, I could do quick reading first, then analytical and synthesized reading next if necessary. (When a book I think is not worthy to take more of my time, I would stop after the quick reading.) When running examples and hand-on problem-solving questions are available with my book-reading procedure, I could feel that my learning result is more sustainable and productive.
One of my colleagues did a survey about usage of videos used in his class. Based on his survey, it seems most of students favored to have videos available online when choosing to have videos or not. It is true that there are various learners who maximize their learning by different methods. I am curious to know why most students favored to have videos available; how students used the videos; and if videos could help learners learn better, why and how long should be the videos? I have asked other colleagues' ideas about videos used for online learning. Based on the answers I collected, it seems that it is "safe" to use videos to facilitate learning. You know you will not make mistakes if including videos and providing this option. But why and how?
I plan to do more experiments by watching videos to learn iPhone programming and other subjects during the summer. I will try a reflection following each lecture I watch. Maybe I can find more later.
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