Thanks very much to Teresa MacKinnon who gave a really stimulating webinar yesterday, with some valuable insights into her work on using video OERs with,
for and by language students.
Teresa MacKinnon is Principal Teaching Fellow at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Warwick. Teresa and her colleagues have
developed a blended learning platform Languages@Warwick using Moodle 2 hosted by Moodlerooms , with particular emphasis on tools for interaction. They host a platform supporting some 4,000 language learners and around 50 teachers. Video is integrated within
this platform. Examination of video usage showed that all tutors value video, in various ways (e.g. Youtube embeds, or home-made video) in their language teaching. This raises the question: Are institutions behind the times, given that learners expect to
use video as a normal part of their experience?
The Languages@Warwick implementation has a research component and this has led to participation in a wider European project, Video for All. Our experience
with video has contributed to addressing the challenges of using and sharing video internationally. The Video for All project is now one year into a two year programme. Some interesting questions are emerging, e.g. ‘How aware are teachers of copyright, how
well do they understand technical issues raised by using and creating digital video, etc ?’.
A journal article created collaboratively with Monash University identified key issues affecting language learning and use of video including the difference
between open (public) publishing, and making resources available via a VLE (e.g. Moodle), in relation to IPR. There was also mention of Mozilla Popcorn, which enables users to modify existing video material (with implications for ownership and copyright).
There is scope for more application of Creative Commons licences in order to clarify some of the grey areas.
The barriers to using an open approach to sharing video can include:
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IP & Copyright, and policies relating to these
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Managing shared resources (e.g. ownership of platforms)
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The psychology of sharing
Some questions which arose:
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Who decides what is meant by good quality? (A: Perhaps we worry too much, as everything is a work in progress from a teaching perspective? (Other views possible, of course!).
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How do you manage Open Educational Practice, especially in relation to peer video production? (A: the VFA project is coming up with some specific approaches to this issue, e.g. the use of
Kaltura to manage the workflow:
http://corp.kaltura.com/Video-Solutions/Education
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How do you ensure access for all learners? This is complex, and learner requirements must be taken into account. Accessibility can be enhanced e.g. by the use of captioning.