Tuesday, April 12, 2011

"Good Enough" Video for Learning

I love it when a plan comes together! Elliott Masie writing in Learning TRENDS yesterday suggests that “Good Enough” Video for Learning May Be Better. This makes me feel a lot better about publishing "good enough" videos to my YouTube channel - when Masie speaks, others (including me) listen. No need for professional studios to make expensive recordings, when a "good enough" video will do the job just as good.  He describes "good enough" videos as "often short, to the point and almost in home video mode" and that our acceptance of such videos "has risen dramatically".

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Image of YouTube iPhone
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page.
Here are some of the points Masie makes about "good enough" video:
  • These videos "are fresh and often reflect very recent changes"
  • They often have "a sense of authenticity, reflecting the voice of the field vs. HQ"
  • The videos tend to be "to the point and are more likely 3 to 7 minutes long"
  • They are resulting in "a wide range of video to choose from" as a result of  lower costs
In summary they are fresh, authentic, to the point, and varied. Masie warns us to make sure that some basics such as audio, focus, and lighting are is still "key". But the message is that with the upsurge in the likes of How To videos on YouTube and the ease at which almost anyone can make a "good enough" video with some basic skills - our expectations of video quality have changed.

This is fantastic encouragement for me, and I'm sure many others, who create (what we hope are) "good enough" videos. When I set up my YouTube channel I had no expectations of the (modest) success that it is enjoying - 300,000 views hopefully by the end of this week! It's nice to think that videos created with basic (mostly free) software with a laptop in my office fall into the "good enough" video category, and that the quality is acceptable to the majority of viewers.


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