Saturday, June 08, 2013

Why Video?

I like the idea of training all of my students to make short videos that explain a topic. I do this because I believe that being able to create videos to convey your ideas in a concise, compelling, and professional way is just as important a skill as conveying ideas via text. Even though it has been possible for years to create and distribute short videos very cheaply and easily, we seem, within the last year or so, to have reached an inflection point at which many people are making and watching short, compelling videos that explain topics (think of TED talks or the boom in video education precipitated by the rise of Kahn Academy). We have the tools, there's a growing audience for this sort of thing, and the marketplace isn't too crowded yet, so there are many opportunities to make videos about topics that haven't been covered on video yet.

Then I found out about the Journal of Visualized Experiments, the first video journal for peer reviewed scientific research. So, we've reached a point where you can easily make and distribute video about an idea. But why would you choose to make a video about something instead of writing a blog about something? Even though making videos is quite easy, it does take much longer to create than a text-based blog entry. So, is it worth the effort? And what about podcasting, i.e., audio explanations?

Research suggests that video is has a greater effect on learning and feeling about news information than text, but no greater than audio. So there is some utility in making audio or video for this reason. But might video draw an audience that wouldn't otherwise be drawn to the material? My sense is that many people still feel like watching a short video is more entertaining and less of a burden than reading the same amount of information. By creating a video, you are reaching a different (bigger) audience. Sure, somethings lend themselves to visual depictions more than others, but its interesting to consider the appeal of short videos over text essays for any and every topic, now that its possible.