V-Learning: The Way Forward??????

Alot of interest has fallen on V-Learning or Video Learning. In my opinion, it has a very broad range of capabilities for learning and teaching.

Not just is the resultant file very interesting but it is also very simple to create; There are a very few number of procedures that need to be memorised in order to create a video. Imagine teaching Geography, where your teaching the students about Drainage Basins and Corrie Lakes etc. Wouldn't it be wonderful to show them real world footage of these particular formations and then get the students to bring in some footage of their own to show the class, is that more interesting that writing about them? Of Course it is.

However, V-Learning has it's disadvantages. For one, it isn't at all interactive, so additional methods would need to be employed in order for the child to feel a part of the lesson, secondly, it takes time to acquire the footage, and if your downloading have some copyright infringements to look out for.

Where I think the interest should currently lie is in interactivity. Software like Adobe Captivate and Flash are leading the way with interactivity. What if we take the Geography Example I mentioned above, wouldn't it be better for the students if the video automatically paused for a moment to allow them to annotate certain sections of the freeze-framed image, wouldn't it be better if a quiz magically appeared at the end of each section, testing what each of the students knew about each item? Yes, it would be better.

V-Learning is the way forward, but not directly straight forward, maybe of on a 45degree tangent to forward. It's useful don't get me wrong, but combining it with another type of Mutlimedia (interaction) can bring a whole new dimension to learning. I understand, also, that Interaction Multimedia can be quite difficult, and if showing teachers how to video edit first, at least gets their foot in the door of Multimedia. I am willing to support the notion of V-Learning and all it stands for, but maybe I'll introduce the interaction side of things slowly, as a transition not a jump, after all most of the teachers are taking one hell of a leap for mankind in including video. So anything I can do to support them, they have my full attention.