Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Using video to connect with my readers

A number of comments have been made over the last couple of days that has made me think about how I can get generate a sense of who I am online, especially when I am talking about things like my midwifery philosophy and how I practice as a midwife. I am very comfortable using text and photos, but this media only allows the reader to see one or two dimensions of who I am.

Initially, this came about from discussions I have been having with Michele Martin, particularly in connection with how I am creating my online identity in my ePortfolio and how I am trying to present more personal reflections about who I am and so on. In response to Michele's comments about connecting with the audience in a more effective way, I posted a slidecast (Powerpoint and audio) in my ePortfolio explaining how I practice as a midwife. The audio alongside the various images seems to work well, although I do tend to drone on at times.

Then I read a blog post by Sue Waters who also talks about how to develop your online identity and connect with readers. I have been communicating with Sue for some months via a number different communication modes such as Twitter, email and blogs. I have seen various photos of her and I have got a sense of who she is through her writing. But when I watched the video she made of herself talking, I caught a completely different glimpse of who she is and that has really reinforced the power of video to me. So I think I will use it a lot more in my ePortfolio and also in my online teaching. I guess the only thing I must be mindful of is the people whose Internet connections are not strong enough to download the videos, and reinforce what I say with some sort of text summary.

I do not have a digital video so I am going to experiment with my web cam (pretty basic) and camera to find out which makes the best quality video and is easiest to embed into my blog and ePortfolio. Here's my first attempt using my web cam.

6 comments:

Carolyn said...

Very brave of you, good idea.

Anonymous said...

I agree that using video can be a great way to connect with your readers. Your short clip has transmitted your body language and I have a better sense of your personality. And connecting with what Sue said in her post, your video transmits a younger looking you than your profile photo (which is a good pic!) Video can reveal so much more about us than our photos and text do. I'll definitely have to give this a go too!

Sarah Stewart said...

Happy to hear the 'younger' comment - I thought it made me look older!

Anonymous said...

Hi Sarah - I'm glad I inspired you to create a video. The digital camera definitely produced better quality image - the pinkish tinge of the web cams not so good.

However your humour shows through so much better in the web cam probably because you were more relaxed not having to hold the camera. Told you to grab your hubby.

BTW I laughed so much at your free gloves --- sorry been so busy. Congratulations for finishing 31 day project.

Sarah Stewart said...

I'm pretty sure I can get rid of the pink tinge if I film in a non-red room, Sue!

Anonymous said...

Not sure -- I think there is a bit of a tinge to the web cam.