Video

Last time we’ve talked about Podcast; let’s have a look at video this week.

Thanks to the blooming of YouTube - breaking news, hidden talents and captivating speeches are now more accessible than ever.  Besides uploading videos, many people also use it as a “search engine” to find new information, ideas and inspiration.  But you might be wondering: how can we make the best out of it for student participation?

Why using Video?

Video gives an alternative for people to get the information they need.  Not only is video more entertaining (of course only when the content and presentation are interesting!), it also helps us get a flavour of the events’ atmosphere and people’s emotions.  Similar to podcast, this nature can better keep your auidence’s attention and get your voice heard in a friendly and personal manner.  Not to mention: Making videos is now easier than ever!

What to capture?

As you can imagine, videos are in a much better position to capture actions, atmospehre and movements.  Therefore it is a popular tool for recording events, such as student music contest and football competition.  However, have you thought of…

• Presidental broadcast on students’ union updates?
• Promoting nomination and election?
• Induction information for new students?
• Students talking about their learning experience?
• Apprentices sharing their daily life at work place?
• Interview with principal or staff members?
• Campaign highlights?

As technology develops, students don’t necessarily be passive auidence.  So why not invite your students to make videos around a certain topic, and engage them in discussion and sharing?  An idea could be “One minute of your favourite time on campus”; another interesting one is currently carried out by University of Central Lancashire Students’ Union - 100 Voices from new students.  People love learning others’ stories, especially for those who are related to their own lives!

So use your creativity and tell the stories!

How to make video?

Capturing – Some people think nowadays the quality of videos is not so crucial as before.  That said, we still need equipments which can have a decent image quality, as well as audio support.  Small handheld tools such as (good quality) digitial camera and point-and-shoot camera (e.g. flip camera and busbi video) can help you produce video footage quickly and easily.  They are light and easy to carry; you can always bring them along and and capture interesting things when they happen.  If you need videos with more professional appearence and audio support, you would need a good camcorder.  Usually your Learning and Resource Centre or IT Department would have some for short loan.
 
Editing – No matter your video aims to be simple and friendly, or professional and funky, you’ve to edit it before release.  Tools such as iMovie, Window Movie Maker and VirtualDub can help you with the task.  Do bear in mind that video editing can be a time-consuming process: seeking support from your team or volunteers from media studies students can lighten your burden.

Hosting – While YouTube is seemingly an obvious choice, you can also consider other wesbites, such as blip.tv and Hulu, to suit your specific needs.

Need some advice and ideas? Check them out:
JISC Digital Media (With user-friendly explanation on media production)
Cornwall College Students’ Union Channel
Lancaster & Morecambe College
University of Central Lancashire Students’ Union Channel

Podcast

Have you ever got the feeling which you are tired of reading page after page?  I’m sure it happens to all of us – while having a homepage, publishing newsletter or sending our emails can be very efficient and informative, it might not be able to draw people’s attention all the time.  That’s where technology such as videos and podcast comes in and makes a difference!

What is Podcast?

Why Podcast?

• Keep people’s attention: Not everyone has the time/energy/patience to keep reading. Conveying messages or reporting updates into audio format allow your students catch up with you like they listen to news or music – a good alternative indeed! 
• Portable: They can listen to your “story”, anytime and anywhere, by downloading the podcasts to their mp3 or mobile
• Alternative “voice”: Depending on what content your podcast has, you can keep your students updated with narrative (e.g. monthly update from LGBT Officer) or interactive (e.g. chitchating with an international student about his experience on campus) approach, which makes it more interesting, lively and personal.

What to Podcast?

Ideas can be endless!  In principle, anything you can report by writing can be made into podcast.  The key is to be creative, concise and witty.  Some examples can be:

• Regular updates from officers
• News of / calling for campaigns
• Interviews with staff and students on different issues
• “Digest” of meetings and minutes (how the decision can influence students’ life)

How to Podcast?

One of the advantages of podcasting is its accessibility!  You don’t need to have expensive equipments – a reasonable audio recorder (or mp3 with recording function) can already do the job!  After recording, you can edit it with freeware such as Audacity before making it available online.   Remember to allow your students to subscribe your podcast by using RSS, so your new podcast will automatically go to their iTune or other audio players.

What some ideas?  Check them out:
Canterbury College Podcast
Sheffield University Students’ Union Podcast

Toolkit Series

It has been a long while - I’ve been out and about conducting workshop, writing reports and so on (and enjoying the rare warm sunny days too!).  Now it’s time to dust off this space and stay writing again!

In the coming weeks, I’m going to suggest a number of technological tools, which can help engage your student members.  While these tools are almost part of our daily life, deploying them to support your team/group is a different story!  We’ve to ask ourselves:

• Why should we use these tools (what kind of benefit can they bring?)
• What can these tools actually do (to support your operation and other activities)?
• How do we use it (implementation and other technical/resource concern)?

Different tools have different functionalities and nature, so no matter you’re a newbie, or an online guru who are at the “flying” stage, there are always something you can do to make your operation and communication better:

(Sources: http://www.slideshare.net/montelutz/social-pulpit-barack-obamas-social-media-toolkit)

So watch out this space!