videos – techKNOWtools

Last month, with the #FemEdTech network, I was really excited to curate and amplify some of the voices that we know in the field of educational technology — who are feminists, who are proud women, scholars, educators, learners, and more. The purpose was to tweet, retweet, and amplify those in the community and others we should maybe hear about. The rest of this reflection (written; as you can hear it all above) can be found on the femedtech.net website here. Thanks for the encouragement and support Frances, Lorna, and members of the #femedtech network.

#femedtech Challenge: We need to HEAR and SEE more audio and video voices of women in ed tech. These lists are far too share. Let’s amplify women+ in our community, this includes those who identify as women and non-binary, to share our voices! As I was curating the podcasts, episodes, interviews, panels, talks, and presentations of women+, I realized there are few of us in ed tech, specifically in higher ed, sharing audio/video presentation about our work, practice, design, research, etc. If I’m wrong, then please let me know by ADDING to this open spreadsheet #FemEdTech VOICES:

http://bit.ly/femedtechvoices

Here are a few suggestions of what YOU can ADD to the #femedtech Voices curated lists:

Recommended Podcasts for the #FemEdTech Network: This tab of the spreadsheet is curating podcasts that #femedtech network might want to subscribe and listen to. Please include the podcast name, URL link where we can find or subscribe to it online, and the brief description of the pod. We would like to know about podcasts created for/and hosted by women+ involved in teaching, learning, ed tech, academia, or general issues impacting feminism. More ABOUT #femedtech network at: femedtech.net/about-femedtech/
Suggested Podcast Episodes & Interviews: This tab of the spreadsheet is sharing SPECIFIC podcast episodes that the #femedtech network might want to hear. This could be an interesting interview, with a member of the #femedtech network, or perhaps a conversation/topic relevant to this community. Please include the pod’s name, episode number and direct URL to the SPECIFIC episode. Thanks!
Amplifying Your Talks, Presentation, & Panels: This tab of the spreadsheet is linking us to the audio/video archives of #femedtech presentations. This might be a conference session, workshop, webinar, keynote, panel, etc. Please include the speakers names/Twitter handles, conference/event name, title of the presentation, and link to where this presentation can be viewed (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo, Google Slides recording, webinar archive, etc.) Feel free to share where we can hear/watch this presentation online.

I realized my “ASK” for podcasts and presentations might be a bit more complicated and challenging. I started wondering: “Are women+ creating, making, hosting, or producing audio and video representations of our work? If not why not?” Here’s my take on the barriers for women+ are not leading with our voices:

No Humble Brags Given: For women, often they are too modest about their accomplishments or remain silent about the amazing work they are doing. This downplay about our practices is serving no one and does not help anyone advance in our careers. Some may claim imposter syndrome; whereas, most just don’t speak up to highlight milestones and wins on campus or within their field/discipline. Women definitely need to make ourselves heard at work. Literally.
There Will be Epic Fails: You are trying new things, so there is a high chance that you will mess up, make mistakes, and will not get the results you want on the first try. You might be experimenting with new platforms, practices, and tools — but really, these failures will allow you to learn and it might even help you overcome imposter syndrome. Be prepared to not be perfectly polished, find editing audio of yourself awkward, and cringe at the physical ticks only you notice from your video presentations. We all have flaws — that’s what makes us human. Get over it and share!
Developing Skills Take Time: You will need practice and dedicate TIME to get through the above failures — to eventually share your audio/video presentations. Deliberate practice over time will improve your skills. Like any craft, editing and production of audio and video does take time. I suggest teaming up with a friend or even collaborator to learn and support your skill development, give honest feedback, and perhaps introduce you to a workflow or resource to enhance the podcasts or videos you are creating. You don’t have to do it alone! And, realize you will continue to learn and improve the art of planning, recording, and editing as you go.
Digital Tensions: Others have expressed concerns of “presenting” or being “seen/heard” digitally — as it increases their professional/personal anxieties and fears. It is scary to put things out there that you can’t edit (words) or augment (images/slides). Podcasts, videos, and more area digital records archived online that can be discovered, shared, and disseminated to a wider audience. By capturing moving images, verbal/non-verbal cues, and live expressions — you are open and vulnerable to others who stumble upon your work online. Audio and video has presentations not only capture your skills, knowledge, and practice — but these mediums also offer others an impression and digital trace of who you are, how you represent these ideas, and where you reside online (White & LeCornu, 2011).

All that being said, I really do want to HEAR and SEE what other women+ have to say online. I really appreciate and enjoy learning about what we are doing through podcasts, videos, and webcasts. By watching videos and hearing your voice, these mediums offer an intimate connection to you, your passions, your interests, and your ideas. These resonate and linger more for me in audio/video format — and these recorded archives allow a wider audience to stumble upon your work. Moving beyond text or flat visuals, I get some insight into your experiences and I feel a deeper connection to you!

Over the last few years, I’ve been thinking more about amplifying voices that don’t often get heard. This is why I co-host a podcast for/by women (#InVinoFab) and openly share resources for how to get started with podcasting. I hope to encourage others to think about how to “present” ourselves, skills, and knowledge digitally with more explainer blog posts, like multimodal approaches for teaching/learning, virtual teaming for collaborating, and strategies for conducting interviews. I think explaining our process (e.g. animated explainer video creation) of HOW we create this type of audio/video work might be helpful. So, expect more posts from me that pulls back the curtain to show my process. Finally, I know my 1:1 coaching and work with professionals for conference events (e.g. Pecha Kucha talks), pitch meetings, and keynotes have been helpful as I share resources from a “technical presentation skills” course I’ve taught at the university the last few years. I hope to do a bit more of this with other peers to give them the support they need.

Are you interested in developing your digital presentation skills? Looking for a way to amplify your voice through podcasting or video talks? Let me know — I’d be happy to support and welcome your voice to the conversation online.

Research

Visualizing Research and Work

December 6, 2016 Laura Pasquini

Do you ever doodle to figure out an idea? Do you sketch out a concept to make sense of it? Have you every created a Post-It Note wall montage on a wall to map out a project? Is there a whiteboard where you have a series of equations or problems you are working through? If so, then visualizing research and related works might be for you!

For the last workshop I facilitated, I opted to go low-tech to in order allow for reflection and discussion about our digital spaces and places. Sometimes analog processing with markers provides instigates creativity or creates an opportunity for deeper thinking. Drawing or concept mapping is a process I often use to plan programs/events, design websites, draft course curriculum, and more. I find these visualizations helpful for gathering thoughts, linking concepts ,and facilitating group/team processes.

Much to my surprise, my research role with The Digital Learning and Social Media Research Group has moved beyond your typical scholarly practice, such as literature review, data collection, data analysis, and academic writing, to include a visual design to share research. I thank/blame George for the opportunity to dig into valuable research to identify findings and implications by creating a short script and putting these audio narrations to animated format on the Research Shorts YouTube Channel [If you’re not subscribed, you should!].

In a recent Research Shorts video, we scripted and produced Hilton’s (2016) recent article review of OER and college textbooks choices (highlighted in George’s post). Although this is an open access publication, we hope this video visualization extends beyond the typical scholarly audience and reaches other campus stakeholders in higher education who are thinking about these learning resources. You can view this video here:

For the Research Shorts video creation process, I have been scripting and storyboarding academic articles (of mine and others) to explain the implications and applications of these studies in a few short minutes. This work has made me think more about how I include visuals in my own scholarly practice, specifically to identify the “so what” or key points for my own initiatives. I typically map out works-in-progress, lesson plans, course designs, and meetings I will be facilitating or hosting by using a visual map or plan. From my experiences, visualizations for research and work projects have helped myself and my research collaborators:

Ideate and brainstorm for developments/project planning
Filter and itemize relevant results for literature reviews
Map out concept for a research plan and work initiatives
Connect the dots between theories and relevant published research
Organize a research pipeline and project workflows for effective project management
Provide “in plain English” about your research findings
Highlight key implications based on research results
Develop better images or visuals for conference presentations and/or posters
Showcase information through a new communication method or medium
Can lead to new insights for yourself and your audience/stakeholders — offer access to publications or complex work designs
Capture the “what’s the point” for organizational leaders for published reports
Pitch research implications/findings as an executive summary in meetings

Beyond creating a video to share visual research on YouTube, I am also considering what images or graphs I put into my own academic publications. Our written text can tell the story of our research; however, diagrams, images, or graphs can create meaning to our academic manuscripts, reports, and planning documents. What does the aesthetics of science look for you? Have you put much thought into how you visualize traditional research publications, like conference proceedings or journal articles? What support your academic writing beyond the text? Do you give much consideration to these in your writing? If so, please share.

Reference:

Hilton, J. (2016). Open educational resources and college textbook choices: a review of research on efficacy and perceptions. Educational Technology Research and Development, 1-18.

Consulting

Research Shorts In Plain English: Time, Tone, and Value

November 2, 2016August 12, 2019 Laura Pasquini

I have always been a fan of the Common Craft “In Plain English” series of videos that explain concepts like Social Media (circa 2008) or Wikis. Often these videos demonstrate, outline, or explain a complex/novel idea. The concept of explaining ideas or video “how to’s” is not a novel idea, and these are perpetuated today as we see explainer videos on Personalized Learning and Augmented Reality for education.

In thinking about the research and scholarship we do, how often do we share our ideas openly and “in plain English” for others to digest? I have always been a fan of the lol my thesis; however, I am more impressed by those who can meet the Three Minute Thesis challenge or have contributed to the Research in Plain English blog posts in the #phdchat community. One reason I am a fan of all of the above is pure and simple – knowledge sharing. These acts/events require scholars to summarize the “so what” of their research and it requires scholars to engage with an unfamiliar audience, who might not read it in an academic publication. The sharing of research goes beyond the SPARC and open access rights (self/ paid publications) and open dissertations from our early career scholars (Thanks for the post, Bon). We also need to think about others beyond our discipline, research area, and ask — what are the practical applications of our research we need to outline from our journal articles or conference proceedings?

A couple of months ago George Veletsianos shared a Profhacker blog post about how we are Using Video and Audio to Share Our Scholarship with The Social Media and Digital Research Group. I think we are trying to provide access, share information, and put the word out about our findings and implications. How else can some of these evidence-based ideas get put into practice? Right? The issue is — some of this “beyond the academic publication” does take a bit of work.

As I have been tasked with developing a these “Research Shorts” on our YouTube channel, I thought I would share my experiences in what I have learned from scripting and visualizing publications. Also, I promised Ian a response to his comment [so sorry for the delay — it’s been a busy semester for me]:

Awesome post. Really a lot to think about! I have nothing to add in terms of interesting ideas on how to share the research – yours are really interesting and inspiring! However, I did start to wonder about time and tone.
In terms of time – how much does all this take you? And is it valued by your institution? For those of us more junior and precarious than yourself, it’s really hard to strike the balance between getting our research heard, and getting permanent jobs.
In terms of tone – your research fits animation wonderfully. I wonder how different type of research might manage to use video or audio styles, e.g. sociology that deals with sensitive issues. Then you’d need to be a master animator – or be able to pay someone who was – not to come across as crass.

Time: It does take some time. I am the dedicated person to put together most of the scripts for the videos you see on the YouTube Channel. This has been my task since June 2016. Forget the time put in for data collection, coding/analysis, and academic writing for the journal publication, showcasing your work in this way does take a bit of effort. I do have a full-time faculty appointment and projects of my own beyond this task, so I did my best to fit in these 8 videos and another 4 “in editing” where I could. There are other things to consider — review of the script and edits, visualizations to collect (images, edits, and then some), waiting for audio narration by an author, and the final edits and uploads. Once in the groove of developing the scripts, getting the audio narration, and visualizing in the Audioscribe tool we use, the average time equation goes like this for one single video:

1-2 hour for scripting (key points and findings for the article) +
30-60 minutes for narration and setting up CC licensed music +
5-6 hours putting the animations/drawings to the narration (this may vary) +
1-2hour reviewing/editing +
1-2hour rendering to YouTube & adding the closed captions from the script
= 12-15 hours total per article [May vary per article, i.e. if I helped to research/author]

Tone: Thanks for the compliments for the animation to audio — I appreciate it! (This is why this part takes the most time). This step varies by article topic. I used to draw storyboards at the beginning of this process, but once I became familiar with the VideoScribe platform functionality and repository of visuals — I just designed animations via the script. There are animations and images for different disciplines, including business, political science, journalism, natural sciences, etc. That being said, the free images are limited and you might have to search for other Creative Commons resources to add to the video. There are a number of drawings or animations available for free — no hiring of artist needed! It will require some solid search skills and a dash of creativity for “HOW” you want your audio narrative to be visualized.

Value: You asked about institutional value. Good question. The above does take some additional time and effort. I believe this dissemination of visualized research was actually written into a grant and/or our research project (George can verify). This premise is to widely share these research findings and evidence-based strategies to the scholarly community and practitioners in education. Sharing on YouTube offers additional optimization for reach, SEO, and tracking for views/shares + embedding into websites and blog posts. Also, the visual and narrated audio contextualizes the research, outlines the research questions, shares the study findings, and provides implications in a rich, multi-media format beyond the traditional text.

In drafting a short narrative for each academic journal article, I have put some thought into what goes into my script writing. Condensing a long-form publication into a 2-4 minute script is a fun and challenging task. It has forced me to think about my own research questions, identifying specific goals for implications, and to consider how I present “academic speak” or work to a broader audience. I want to make sure my research is understood, accessible and applied. This video/audio/scripting practice has made me think about my how I disseminate research while I’m in the thick of data collection, drafting articles, and sharing final products/findings. I have used this summary format within my own research teams and I continue to support other early career scholars (in class or on a dissertation committee) about finding “the point” for empirical literature.

What would it take for you to offer a “research short” video, image, or snapshot of your scholarly work? If you are interested in animating your research, your project, or highlighting your work, please feel free to reach out to me to inquire. I have continued to support clients for the Research Shorts YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/researchshorts) and other colleagues. Thanks!

#OLCInnovate, Conference, Higher Education, K-12, Learning, Learning Technologies, OLC, Online Learning

Feedback Wanted: #OLCInnovate Solution Design Summit Video Trailers

March 25, 2016April 11, 2016 Laura Pasquini

You may have read my previous CFP post looking for learning challenges & solutions – that was for the NEW program feature of #OLCInnovate, The Solution Design Summit (SDS). Nine SDS teams, who proposed a learning issue with a potential solution, have been selected by a blind, peer-review panel to be our finalists who will participate in our 1st Summit at the 2016 OLC Innovate conference in NOLA. This pre-conference event will be an opportunity to network with peers from other SDS Teams, specifically to solicit feedback from potential learning stakeholders.

VIEW THE SDS TEAM VIDEO TRAILERS

Learn More About the Solution Design Summit

Now the SDS Teams need YOUR feedback!

Please WATCH the Solution Design Summit trailers on the #OLCInnovate Sandbox (a Canvas LMS site) for the conference. To join this Canvas site, click the “Enroll” button at the top of the page or enroll HERE https://canvas.instructure.com/enroll/MGEHMW

To effectively COMMENT and provide FEEDBACK, our SDS Planning Team has developed Guidelines for Solution Design Summit: Giving Feedback to Teams Please find all 9 videos and SDS Team pages HERE to do such things. You can READ the full proposal and learn more about these learning solutions by clicking on the “Read more at the Team page” links below.

If You Build It, Will They Come?

Read more at the Team page

Preserving Core Experiences in the Online Learning Environment

Read more at the Team page

Bridging the Engagement Gap for Distance Students Through Telerobotics

Read more at the Team page

Supporting Adjunct Faculty to Maximize Student Learning in the Online Classroom

Read more at the Team page

Expanding college classrooms into high schools via distance learning network

Read more at the Team page

Using Student Data as a Map, Not a Target

Read more at the Team page

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Cultural Relevance in the Curriculum

Read more at the Team page

Creating Pathways to Digital Peer Leadership in the Liberal Arts

Read more at the Team page

Cohort-specific Online Discussion Experiences

Read more at the Team page

Are you coming to #OLCInnovate? You should also plan to come to SDS Pitch Sessions during the Conference all hosted in Rhythms II Room of the New Orleans Sheraton Hotel. Three SDS Teams will pitch their learning challenge and solution during ONE (1) concurrent session in just 10-minutes. Audience members will be given 5 minutes for Q & A and then encouraged to cast their vote for the best solution design.

Thursday,

April 21, 2016

11:15 am-12:00 pm

1. Cohort-specific Online Discussion Experiences

2. Expanding College Classrooms into High Schools via Distance Learning Networks

3. Bridging the Engagement Gap for Distance Students Through Telerobotics

Friday,

April 22, 2016

9:45 am -10:30 am

1. If You Build It, Will They Come?

2. Supporting Adjunct Faculty to Maximize Student Learning in the Online Classroom

3. An Interdisciplinary Approach to Cultural Relevance in the Curriculum