Video

Originally, the concept of video was synonymous with that of broadcast television, but the concept has expanded dramatically in recent years. In this text we use the term video to refer to the electronic storage of moving images (videotapes, videodiscs, DVD, etc.) Television is the transmission of live moving images electronically, either through the air or through wires or cables. New technologies connected to television sets have proliferated, such as home computers, videocassette recorders, video games, and specialized cable TV services. Other hybrids are still emerging. These new services con tinue to multiply because it tends to be cheaper and more efficient to transmit information electronically than to transport information, goods, and people physically.

The Latin word video means "I see." Any electronic media format that employs "motion pictures" to present a message can be referred to as video. Thus, we have videocassettes, videodiscs, DVD, interactive video, video games, and so on.

VIDEO FORMATS

Video versions of the moving image are recorded on tape or disc, each packaged in forms that vary in size, shape, speed, recording method, and playback mechanism.

Videotape

The VHS -inch format is a preferred medium for com mercial distribution of moving images. Virtually all of us have rented a VHS version of a movie, and most of us have recorded a TV program on VHS for later or re peated viewing. Time-shifting the TV schedule has be come a major sport in many homes. VHS is also the current preferred format for amateur and nonstudio production of recorded moving images in education.

DVD

DVD (digital videodisc) is a medium offering digital storage and playback of full-motion video. Just as audio can be digitized (as described on page 178), video images can be converted into a digital format. Digital video images can be manipulated (e.g., content, size, and color can be changed), stored, duplicated, and re played without loss of quality. Because videodiscs are in analog format, you cannot change the material on them; but with digital video stored on CDs or in a com puter, you and your students can edit the content and sequence of the moving images.

Videodisc

Laser disc images are sharper than those from videotape. Videodisc images have a horizontal resolution of 350 lines, compared with 240 lines for a videocassette. Also, the audio quality of videodisc is significantly better than that of videotape.

Several educationally valuable features of videodisc are not available with videotape. Videodisc images can be "stepped through" frame-by-frame, can be "scanned" (fast forward), or played at various speeds in both for ward and reverse. In addition, videodiscs have two audio tracks, for either separate narrations or stereo sound. For example, two different languages can narrate the moving images; the narrations can be at two different levels of dif ficulty, or one narration can be for the learners and the other for the instructor.

One drawback, however, is that currently it is diffi cult and expensive to record your own videodiscs. The playback equipment for videodiscs is nowhere near as common as videotape player/recorders. One reason for this is that videodise equipment can only play back; videodiscs cannot be recorded on. Additionally, DVD is rapidly supplanting videodisc as the format of choice.

Internet Video

Video also can be delivered via the Internet, usually using streaming video. The same technique can also be used with sound alone. Streaming means that the file doesn't have to be completely downloaded before it starts playing Instead, as soon as the user clicks on a link that contains streaming video (or audio), the content begins to play. The video content is actually downloading to the user's computer in a series of small information packets that ar rive shortly before the viewer sees (or hears) the material. Any video (or audio) materials can be delivered over the Internet using the streaming technique. The content is not stored in your computer. It "flows" into your active memory, is displayed (or played), and is then erased.

Understanding Video Conventions

The devices and techniques used in video to manipulate time and space employ what are for most of us readily accepted conventions. We understand that the athlete whose jump is stopped in midair is not actually frozen in space, that the flashback is not an actual reversal of our normal time continuum, that the light bulb does not really disintegrate slowly enough for us to see that it implodes rather than explodes. Teachers, however, must keep in mind that the ability to make sense out of video conventions is an acquired skill. When do chil dren learn to handle flashbacks, dissolves, jump cuts, and so on? Unfortunately, we know very little about. when and how children learn to make sense of manipulation of reality, and much research on the matter re mains to be done.

Video is not alone in its reliance on accepted conventions for interpretation and appreciation. Flashback techniques are regularly used in literature and usually accepted by readers. The theatrical convention of the aside is read ily accepted by playgoers. The following anecdote about Picasso illustrates how a new artistic convention may seem to the uninitiated as merely a distortion of reality rather than, as intended, a particular and valid view of reality. It also illustrates how a convention (in this case a convention of photography) can become so readily accepted and commonplace that we are amusingly surprised at being reminded it exists.

Educational Applications

• Cognitive Skills.

• Demonstrations.

• Virtual Field Trip.

• Documentary.

• Dramatization.

• Discussion Basis.

• Attitude Development.

• Report and Portofolios.

• Training.

• Classroom Access.

SELECTING VIDEO

Locating Materials

Program guides and directories can help keep you abreast of available materials in your areas of interest and guide you toward selection of materials best suited to your par ticular teaching needs. Librarians, media specialists, and teachers working as partners should communicate con stantly concerning the resources needed for instruction. A basic resource for you, then, is a collection of catalogs of rental agencies you are most likely to use. To be more thorough in your search you will want The Educational Film/Video Locator, a comprehensive list of the videotapes available in various college and university rental collec tions. The most comprehensive list of current educational video is "AV Online," which is in CD-ROM format. Other broad listings are Bowker's Complete Video Direc tery and Viden Source Book. (These and other more spe cialized catalogs are described in Appendix C; additional information may be found on the Companion Website [http://www.peenhall.com/heinich].)

Appraising Videos

After you have located some potentially useful videos, you will want to preview and appraise them. Some schools and organizations have standard appraisal forms ready to use. Some of these are meticulously detailed, covering every possible factor; others are much more. perfunctory. A good appraisal form will be brief enough not to be intimidating but complete enough to help in dividuals choose materials that may be useful for current and future applications. It should also stand as a public record that you can use to justify the purchase or rental of specific titles. The "Appraisal Checklist: Video" in cludes the most commonly used criteria, particularly those that research indicates really do make a difference, See page 205.

Sponsored Videos

Private companies, associations, and government agencies sponsor videos for a variety of reasons. Private companies may make them to promote their products or to enhance their public image. Associations and government agencies sponsor videos to promote causes, such as better health habits, conservation of natural resources, and proper use of park and recreation areas. Many of these sponsored videos make worthwhile instructional materials. They also have the considerable advantage of being free.

PRODUCING VIDEO

In-house video refers to videos produced within one's own classroom or company. With in-house video produc tion, students and instructors are not limited to off-the shelf materials but can with reasonable case prepare custom materials (see Clendenin, 1998). This feature sets video apart from some of the other media. Do-it-yourself video has become commonplace since the popularization of the battery-operated portable video recording systems. The development of the camcorder (camera and recorder built into a single book-size unit) has increased the ease and portability of %-inch recording. It allows video production to be taken into the field, wherever that might be: the science laboratory, the classroom, the counseling office, the athletic field, the factory assembly line, the hospital, the neighborhood, and even the home. Equally important, the simplicity of the system has made it feasible for nonprofessionals, instructors, and students alike to create their own video materials.

Other applications that emphasize the local aspect of video production include the following:

• Dramatization of student stories, songs, and poems.

• Student documentaries of school or neighborhood issues .

• Preservation of local folklore.

• Demonstrations of science experiments and safety drills.

• Replays of field trips for in-class followup. 

• Career information on local businesses.

Analog Video Production

Video production requires a camera, a recorder, a mi crophone, and perhaps editing equipment. Most cam- eras are of the viewfinder type. The viewfinder camera is so named because it has built into it a small TV set that allows the operator to monitor the image being received by the pickup tube. Even small hand-held cameras typ ically contain built-in viewfinders with one-inch screens.

Digital Video Editing

Recent developments in chip technology make it possi ble to edit videotape, and even create special effects, by simply installing a special circuit board called a "card" in a personal computer. Some cards allow you to add spe cial effects such as dissolves, wipes, and fades to live or recorded video. The card also makes it possible to su perimpose images from different video sources, includ ing its own character generator for titles and captions. Some camcorders have this feature built in. Even color characteristics can be manipulated by the card of a videotape. With these cards you can select specific parts of various tapes, store them, and then rearrange them in the desired sequence. If the new arrangement is not effective, you can just re-edit.

UTILIZING VIDEO

The next step after selecting your materials is to put them into actual use in the classroom. Be sure to follow the guidelines in "AV Showmanship: Video" (page 209).

Preview the Materials

Provide the Learning Experience

REQUIRE LEARNER

PARTICIPATION

If active participation was not explicitly built into the video program, it is all the more important to stimulate response after the presentation. The ability to generalize new knowledge and transfer it to real-life situations de pends on learner practice under a variety of conditions. The possibilities for followup activities are virtually limitless. Common techniques include the following:

• Discussion Question-and-answer sessions, buzz groups, panel discussions, debates.

• Dramatisation-Role playing, skits, oral presentations .

• Projects-Experiments, reports, exhibits, models, demonstrations, drawings, story writing, bulletin boards, media productions.

EVALUATE AND REVISE

You can informally assess student learning by observing performance during followup activities. Individual proj ects can be good indicators of successful learning. In many cases, though, more formal testing serves a valu able purpose. First, tests that are followed by feedback of correct answers can provide an efficient review and summary of the main points of the lesson. Second, ob jective tests can help pinpoint gaps that need to be fol lowed up in the classroom, and can identify individuals who need remedial help. In this way, you can comple ment the media component by catering to individual differences in ways the media cannot.