A recent request came through concerning the creation of rich media presentations. The instructor is going to ask her students to design and produce presentations that can be added to the LMS, where they are then discussed by the other students. She anticipates varying degrees of expertise with technology, with some students excelling and designing highly innovative presentations, while others needed a helping hand from start to finish. So I agreed to put together some support resources covering two possible options for their presentations – certainly these aren’t the only ways to do it.

Given there’s nothing sensitive in the documentation I produced that refers to the instructor, the course, or any of her students, I felt it was reasonable for me to share this resource with anyone else who might find it useful. I’ve uploaded the document to Slideshare, where it is available as a download (just select Get File from the menu at the top of the document). An embedded instance is also included below

I’ve also put together a screencast tutorial covering use of the Slideshare Synchronization Workspace (which is one of the more tricky parts of the process). This is embedded below as well, or available directly on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKtyUPuL-Bs.

Feedback or comments are welcome, as always.

Documentation: Using SlideShare And Picasa Web Albums

Video Tutorial: How To: Using the Slideshare Synchronization Workspace

Linden Labs, the folks who bring us SecondLife, have an amazing support library of videos available for download that cover a wide range of topics.  I only discovered them yesterday but have already watched nearly 20 of them.  They’ve cleared up so much confusion for me!

Anyway the post where I initially found the link was called “‘Inside the Lab’ Podcast, a Discussion on Education in Second Life“.  I’ve yet to read this yet, but that topic alone sounds worth a read.

More importantly the support resources are available via a few different means (see the above link for the full options).  Personally I prefer the podcast option, which is located via this link:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=151557204

The link looks unusual if you’re not familiar with podcasting, but if you load it in your browser you’ll find you’re notified that the content will be loaded in iTunes and asked to confirm.

The content is appropriate for a range of experience levels – including brand new users.  I think it’s also a really nice example of what support possibilities exist when considering use of video tutorials.

Finally, if you’re considering building in SL but don’t know where to start, the tutorials point to an amazing in-world resource centre known as the Ivory Tower which depicts how the build tools can be used from the most simple block through highly intricate arrangements.

The in-world location of the Ivory Tower is: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Natoma/208/171/26

Might be worth a field trip I think  I’ve already had a quick look and will definitely be heading back again soon.  Most likely later today in fact.

Last night during a general browse of YouTube I ran across a link to a new feature called Video Annotation.  This appears to be a new feature that has only just been launched and I’m in the process of experimenting with it to determine it’s functionality, opportunities, strengths and weaknesses.

I’ll report more on this when time permits (see updates below).

In the meantime here is an initial clip I put together.  Unfortunately it appears that annotations aren’t devolved to embedded instances of the clips, so to view the annotations I’ve included in the above video you’ll need to visit the original version on YouTube.

From YouTube Support site (“What are video annotations“):

“Video annotations are a new way for you to add interactive commentary onto your videos!

You control what the annotations say, where they appear on the video, and when they appear and disappear. You can even link from an annotation to another YouTube Video, Channel, or Search result.

To get started, log into your YouTube account and choose one of two options:

Option 1:

1. Click “Account” at the top of any page.
2. Under “Manage My Videos”, click “Videos, Favorites, & Playlists”.
3. Find the video you’d like to add annotations to.
4. Click the “Annotate Video” button.

Option 2:

1. Choose to play one of your videos.
2. At the bottom of your video description box (on the right) you have “Video Owner Options” on a blue background.
3. Click the “Add/Edit Annotations” button.

For more info on how to create and edit annotations, please visit: “How do I create or edit video annotations?”

Video annotations, once published, are shown by default. You can turn them off while watching a video through the “Menu” button on the bottom right of the video player.

Please note: Video annotations are available now as a “beta” feature. We’re working hard to get this out of beta and, once we do, annotations will officially support languages other than English, embeds, and full-screen playback.”

Update 1: Educational Implications

I’m pretty disappointed in the limitations of the new annotation feature in some respects.  What could have been a truly useful tool for providing supplemental reference material has been seriously hindered by the restrictions.  Specifically:

No Outbound Links:

The ability to include embedded links to contextually relevant external material would be so beneficial in expanding the scope and depth of the message – however this is not permitted currently.  By formatting URL references as a clickable link – particularly that spawned in a new tab or window – students would be able bring up additional information to refer to after viewing the clip.

For example, a clip on water conservation could embed links to wikipedia articles, research papers, quotes, news articles, assignments, discussion forums, etcetera.

However as it stands currently that’s not possible.  The only recognised links are those within YouTube – be they search results, channels or other links.

Instructors could of course format the links as static text that students could type into their browser manually, however this is not nearly as effective as the clickable version as the static link would need to be displayed for a much longer duration and would inevitably distract and detract from the main message.

Annotations Not Shown in Embedded Instances:

Equally frustrating is the fact that embedded instantiations of the video clips do not display the annotations (at least currently).  To view them users must visit the site specifically.  In many regards this drastically reduces the value of the annotation tool to education, since video can do only so much for elaboration after which point textual elements are required.

Educators would be forced into a situation where they are either repeating their key points in two separate locations – once as an annotation in the local YouTube clip and again in text at the embedded location – or forgoing the annotation entirely.

Embedded media is an incredibly effective way to convey a message.  Not only does the visual element increase engagement, it also caters to different learning styles.  Given the systemic drought of time availability experienced by academic staff I can’t see them doing both.

I can only hope that the functionality of the video annotation tool will be expanded over time, because it could become a very useful tool.

Update 2 (CORRECTION): Referring to the quote from the YouTube support site above I note YouTube indicates:

“Please note: Video annotations are available now as a “beta” feature. We’re working hard to get this out of beta and, once we do, annotations will officially support languages other than English, embeds, and full-screen playback.” (Emphasis mine)

Therefore it would seem that YouTube has every intention of pushing annotations out to embedded instances in the future, which is very good news.

References:

• “Video Annotation“, Mike Bogle, YouTube, 05 June 2008
• “How do I create or edit video annotations?”, YouTube Support, Accessed 5 June 2008

The entire piece is worth reading as it outlines an informal, yet long-standing citation convention – much of which I use here. I strongly recommend you visit the site to participate in the discussion or at least avail yourself to the information. Personally, I’m bookmarking it and converting it to PDF as a reference for best practice.

Significantly Duncan argues that certain aspects of the convention are no longer followed, saying:

“The rough rules decided on then (by many) are what I’ve followed since; in part some of these may be overkill and sadly some are not followed today, but I’ve always considered this to be the fair way of doing things.”

To add my 2 cents to this, personally I’d like to see bloggers and amateur journalists return to the academic sensibilities and creative ethic that we learned in school when writing essays. That you can’t just state a fact or quote a statistic without showing where the information came from; or that personal opinions must be expressed as such and thus clearly delineate opinion and theory from cited proven fact.

This is particularly important from the standpoint of legitimacy and supporting our statements or arguments. A fact without a reference just isn’t a fact; and if we as bloggers ever hope to be taken seriously by the general public we must hold ourselves accountable to a code of ethics and conduct – whether formally stated or merely implied by the quality of our actions.

Equally important are the notions of idealism and personal responsibility that are at stake. The web we see today emerged as a means of bringing people together – hence the term social software. It’s about community-based efforts, providing for the common good and building a collective pool of knowledge and experience from which we all benefit. This can only be done if we respect the contributions of others and give credit where credit is due.

References:

• “Giving Attribution“, Duncan Riley, The Inquisitr, 11 May 2008