Scott's Stuff - Idea for a class.

[octaveorange]

Hey Scott. Just wondering what ever became of this idea?

[Pollyannappollyon]

Sounds great!

[pahool]

Scott, I am an MLIS student at San Jose State University in California (a member of the WISE consortium.) I am VERY interested in taking this course and I know that I could find other interested students in the program. I really like the idea of blending folks taking the class for credit with people who are interested in the topic but are not pursuing a degree. It really will open up the discussion a lot. If there is anything I can do to help, contact me through my youtube account.

[snicholson]

The class is moving ahead and will be offered as a WISE+ Class this June, so it's gonna happen!

[blueberrywine69]

very good idea

[pahool]

I love it! I'm in!

[HippolytosBirnbaum]

Hello Scott,

This is one of the most innovative ideas for teaching a class online I've heard of recently. I wholeheartedly encourage you to do this project and if you do so, I'll be following it closely here on Youtube.

[Serp1313]

Would the credit be transferable to another school? If you can find a way to make my school be able to take your class I would.

[Zidanix]

Mr. Scott: I've been watching your videos for a couple of months now and I am very impressed with your work. Your research is quite interesting and I hope to incorporate some of your findings in my job. I'm studying a masters degree in education online and am from Mexico. I would love to participate in your class. Best of luck (or should i say success!)

[mrboffo105]

I think that's a great idea. I just hope it's taken seriously. What types of topics would you be discussing? You say that it's going to be about games in libraries, does this mean the discussion will be alienating to anyone not studying library science? Just a few questions, it's still a great idea.

[snicholson]

The course will be for library students, but anyone can join in. The focus will be on how libraries are supporting all types of games - board, card, video, PC, etc. This has been my research for the last 2 years. Part of what I encourage is for library supporters ( like all of you who pay taxes) to go to libraries and volunteer to run games. This class will give you the context needed to talk with the librarians.

[mrboffo105]

That sounds fantastic. I would certainly be interested in participating. I just hope I can remember...

[bootlegtattoo]

that sounds great I'll help out if u do it. i've been a gamer my whole life so maybe i have something that could help....maybe not but i'll try

[JasonsinJapan]

I like the idea and would be very interested to see how it works out. As a non-student, but someone interested in the topic, I would like to participate as well.

Some of your actual students may be a bit shy, and not want to appear on camera - would it be ok for them to run a still image and just have their voice appear in the video responses?

Good luck!

[snicholson]

Given that my students are all training to be librarians, part of that they will get out of the course is confidence in producing videos and talking online. These skills will be very valuable in helping them when they take a job as a librarian. Librarians have to speak in public on a regular basis - so even if the student is shy, as a library professional, they will have to deal with those feelings and present as a professional. School is the place where they make the transition.

[pollyalida]

Terrific idea! Really interesting to see how something like this works out. Wonderful to get the content out beyond the classroom for others who want to learn and follow along. And participating students will hone so many other skills - video tech, presentation skills, dealing with content in the public eye, etc. Hope you decide to go ahead with it.

[Evilnitsuj]

It's an interesting idea to open it up to community discussion. I recall that in my college career, classes seemed insulated and cut off from reality in a way. Breaching the walls of academia in this way will better prepare your students to interact both with the public and with this sort of bridge building technology, which it seems is the thrust of library and information science to begin with.

[daumpda]

This would be a great way to capture the information for future classes to build on, for the participants to refer back to for reminders/refreshers, or just as a (semi-)permanent public record for others learn the material (and at there own pace).

[daumpda]

The 500 character limit is hugely annoying for any serious or deep conversation. Anyways, to finish my thoughts...

Something to consider, in a forum (or even in these text responses) the order of comments is linear but with video responses you could end up with a tree structure and a participant could easily miss a major tangent of the conversation. Of course this is not a problem if no one responds to the responses directly and just continue to tack on to your main lecture video.

[nutherefurlong]

Will video responses be required for all participation? I think it's a great idea. There's a lot of... casual participants? here on youtube who might not put in the time necessary to understand the discussion's context, will there be limitations set on participation? Will only friends of the class be allowed full access to the comment structure? It's a class I'd like to watch, even if I wasn't enrolled (though I was tempted to enroll just for that :))

[snicholson]

My idea is that everyone could be engaged with the comments. Students are required to participate, but anyone could chat along with the students.

We'll see how that goes. If that doesn't go well, we might have to limit it...

[nutherefurlong]

The other thought I had was on the preparation time that video comments take vs. the relatively instant text comments. Would video comments be formalized, like a student's participation would be based upon his or her video submission, and then just extrapolated upon with text comments, or were you thinking more full discussions with videos?

[snicholson]

The problem is that comments here are limited to 500 words. A video can have much more than that.

When I teach online, I tell students that their discussions of course content should be written in a scholarly fashion. So, typical text discussion in my class isn't created as quickly as you might think - many students compose messages carefully. They only have to participate 2-3 times a week, but it's high-quality participation. I would expect the same in this class.

[snicholson]

(oops, I mean 500 characters, not 500 words! I should have proofread my own post!)

[nutherefurlong]

*laughs* Point proven :) Good point, I've been through enough classes where comments were thrown out and later regretted. It might prove to be an interesting mix, with text filling the gaps. I just hope that the students don't get lost in the din. Will video posts only be allowed by students?

[Ibaimendi]

I love this idea, especially the idea that student work (as well as the lectures) does not need to be locked away somewhere but is actually part of the public discourse, especially in grad classes where students are becoming professionals. So I think this is pretty cool from a pedagogical point of view (as well as the selfish, I'd-like-to-see-these-lectures point of view). And getting Web 2.0 experience is good too, right?

But what will students post that video will particularly help express?

[snicholson]

I don't know. But part of it is a learning process for the students - I'm trying to produce librarians who will use tools like YouTube to get what's awesome in libraries out to the public.

The advantage of video responses is that they aren't capped at 500 words like these text responses!

[vikingjarl]

I'd love to participate in one of your online classes. I think it would be a great learning experience. I'm going to be taking summer classes at my school already but having something interesting to watch and comment on every night would be grand.

[SwimmingInMtDew]

i love the idea

[DukeLeisure]

Hi Scott

About the course format (as opposed to the content): I think this is a nice next step from Itunes U. Here are some thoughts (within the youtube limit)

1) If anyone can respond, then you'll get inappropriate responses from people that have nothing to do with the class.

2) Why push for video responses? Why can't text responses work just as well? (Shy students spring to mind)

3) What's the difference between running a class and a forum? Is youtube better suited for one and not the other?

[snicholson]

Thanks for your ideas.

1 - I know I'll get inappropriate stuff. But, this is in a program for future librarians, and they need to be aware of the issues in being in a public space. So, it's going to teach lessons there, too.

2 - I want to turn shy students into non-shy librarians! Librarians have a lot of offer, but they've been too shy to tell the world about it.

3 - We've been doing online classes via forums for years. This is an experiment to try something new.

[lilyflan]

Please try it! I'd be interested in what you have to offer. I'd very much like to start gaming at our library. Please keep me informed.

[begone88]

Love the idea, its a step into the future.

[Brisse76]

I think its a great idea. Im a swedish game-designer and enthusiast, and Ill definitely follow the class and might even participate.

The only problem I can think about is that students will need the equipment to record their responses, but thats a minor problem. Also, if youll put up a video every or every other day, theres no need for a schedule, otherwise that might be a good idea. You could just have it in your channel.

Good luck, and feel free to contact me.

[snicholson]

You know, I do have some funding for this. Perhaps what I'll fund is for all students to get a good Webcam so that everyone has the equipment they need.

[Brisse76]

That´s not a bad idea. Although some proably already have equipment, it´s still a good idea to get GOOD equipment.

A mandatory part of the class should also be your own "basic lighting" video. :)

[snicholson]

Well, I don't know that we can afford GOOD equipment for everyone. This will be part of the planning - could I afford something like this, or is there a list of things that are required purchases for each student? Is that grant money better spent to pay a stipend for some big-name speakers to make a video for the class instead? All part of the planning phase...

[Brisse76]

Of course, you always have to weigh things like that against eachother. Theese days (making me sound like and old fart) many, maybe even most, laptops have a camera built into the screen. So it may not be necessary at all.

In any case, I really like the idea. Do you have full controll or do you have to get the idea approved from somewhere?