assignment 7:: eyejot

I know I skipped assignment 6... I'm still working on it:)

Every now and then, technology will afford instructors with very novel tools. Eyejot is one of those tools. This can be a great thing and not so great.

The brain craves a few things in learning sessions. It craves state changes and novelty, as well as some other things. Novelty is a great resource for instructors to utilize to their advantage in any learning situation. This can be done through new technology, new ways of thinking, etc. It is this idea of "newness" that allows for the item in question to be novel.

When a novelty item is overused it loses its value and becomes tiresome. This can happen with simple items and complex items. This is very often the case for website introductions and flash content on the web. I love this stuff, but when a person is looking for content and has to continuously suffer through intrusive advertising or multimedia presentations, it becomes old... quick.

I feel that eyejot's use as an instructional tool is limited, but it can be a great novelty item in an online course. The instructor is limited to a view of his/her office unless he/she has access to a broadband card or a different location around a wireless internet connection with a laptop. With a limitation to a minute, there's not much that can be done, but I'm glad we were introduced to this tool so that we can be familiar with the type of technologies that are available.

Eyejot videos are what I've heard called "talking-heads" videos. These can be great resources or extremely boring monologues. I've seen these used for introductory videos, edited and combined with photos, text, and music behind, and the site said they can be used for correspondence. This can be extremely motivating for learners because the mind craves novelty. This can be a novel experience that will serve to help motivate and perk the interest of the learners.

Talking heads videos should not be used for instructional "how-to" videos or for long, drawn out explanations. This will get old very quickly because someone is just talking at you. There is no interaction, no real reaction to or from the audience...

Remember to make talking head videos:
~ quick and to the point
~ fun and inviting
~ feel as personal as possible

My Eyejot video is below or you can click here

don't panic