Video is a truly effective learning tool

A couple of years ago I wrote this about "how-to" videos being a powerful learning force in the Web 2.0 armoury.

Now thanks to David Gurteen's knowledge letter, I have some scientific proof that they can have a real impact on the changing behaviours.

Paul Van Mele of the Africa Rice Center in Cotonou, Benin has undertaken a study where farmers were shown how to parboil rice using video and using traditional training sessions.

According to the New Scientist article:

"The team found that uptake of the parboiling technique by women who watched the video was 72 per cent, compared with just 19 per cent by those who attended a conventional workshop with a scientist or non-governmental organisation worker (International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability (DOI: 10.3763/ijas.2009.0438)".

An interesting study which I believe indicates that the success of the videos was due to their being shown in the evening, when most people were able to watch. The video also uses real farmers, enabling the viewer to connect with "like" people. It demonstrates that a story can be far more effective for encouraging new behaviours than and expert led training session.

You can read the original New Scientist article here and the full paper here.

Blogs in plain english - another CommonCraft offering

I'm a real fan of these CommonCraft videos, so here's the latest on blogs...

Look, listen and learn - video how to's get media attention, again

So it's not just me, even Metro have got in on the video for learning debate- not that I'm knocking Metro, in my opinion it's the best newspaper in the UK and it's free.

Metro's article Look, listen and learn on Wednesday said

'How to' videos are gaining pace as a form of learning without having to pick up a textbook or phone a parent. VideoJug – dubbed 'the thinking person's YouTube' – launched last September with step-by- step guides on everything from 'how to check for testicular cancer' to 'how to make a delicious mango chutney'.

Dan Thompson, VideoJug's CEO makes an important point in terms of the value of video for knowledge management

According to Dan Thompson, VideoJug's CEO: 'So much knowledge is lost when people fail to pass it on to future generations. We hope to stop this. VideoJug is a visual encyclopedia of life.'

A plethora of sites hosting video style guides have appeared - videojug, ehow, how to.tv and a host of other sites. As Streaming Media Magazine says

...these do-it-yourself sites bear witness to the power that video content can have in daily life

Only last week, Videojug launched their Ask The Expert service, which offers professional advice for free on areas like health, technology, money and property.

I can only see this getting bigger and bigger, with really practical as well as entertainment application. If we really are at the beginning of the web 2.0 explosion, who knows what we're going to see in the future. With so much power in the hands of the people, it's going to be an exciting ride.

Links to previous posts on video
Little Videos That Educate - Making Learning Viral
More on video for learning
Viral Learning Centre - spoof video

More on video for learning

Having merely been pontificating whilst on the train about the value of video demonstration for learning, which prompted me to post yesterdays acclamation , I noticed that there’s a buzz about video and learning going on in the learning/e-learning/KM arena...

Dan's post on his blog Learning Rocks talks about TV and video as learning tools…citing Donald Clarks blog in Feb 07, who says of YouTube, GoogleVideo etc:

“Why does videocasting matter in learning? Education and training, by and large, delivers second-rate content using second-rate techniques at top-dollar rates. But why settle for second best when you can have the best content using great teachers for free? “

Must be something in the water :-)

Little Videos That Educate - Making Learning Viral

Whilst indulging in a rare moment of relaxation, I was reading The Guide, the wee culture mag, one of many many many magazines and suppliments that come with The Guardian on a Saturday and I came across a reference to Derren Brown in the Internet section. As I’m almost as keen on Derren Brown as I am on the Hamster (see yesterdays post), I checked it out. It’s a very interesting little site, and probably quite useful if you’re the suspicious type, on how to tell is someone’s lying.

This sort of thing has been popping up all over the web for quite some time, check out VideoJug with it's strapline "Life explained, on film" It’s usefulness is, I think, worth noting (being able to fold a t-shirt in 2 seconds isn't necessarily that useful unless you're after a job in The Gap.

For instance, should I wish to learn how to get out of a car without showing my drawers (as my Granny used to call them), then I’d check out this video

If I wanted to learn how to put on a sarong however, I could watch this.

Observation is nothing new, it's the basis of social learning theory – we are all great people watchers. Just look at the popularity of TV soaps, reality TV (just realised that Big Brother is back again, sigh... ). Apart from the obvious exception of animal based programming, the majority of what we watch includes people. We are social beings, and part of this means we like to watch people.

In terms of Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic learning styles, videos really hit our collective spot. The interactive element of being able to view videos online engages our need for visual stimuli, kinesthetic tendencies, whilst neglected by TV (except changing channel or shouting at it) are catered to some extent by the ability to interact with the video - we have control over what we watch, when we watch, whether we start or stop or pause the video, and most videos have sound, so those of us with auditory preferences are happy too.

Blogging may be giving value back to the written word, which is great, but the accessibility of video and v-logs on the net is helping us learn essential (and not so essential) skills that we might struggle to acquire without being able to observe them in real life.

I'd love to see more of this sort of thing - Haynes could produce online videos to supplement their car manuals, B&Q could actually SHOW us how to build a shower cubicle. It's something TV does really well with DIY and practical skills, why not online?

Or maybe it’s just me and I watched the 70’s childrens programme HOW and the “This is one I made earlier” sections of Blue Peter too much as a child (not mentioning of course how the standards of the programme have obviously dropped since then with the recent competition foror :-)

But it does seem to me that actually watching and listening and copying it is how we learn, it's how we learnt to walk, talk, communicate....

Bring on Viral Learning Videos I say...