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In a video-led world we all need to be creators

Andrew | 13 Nov 2009, 11:21

C&binet partner comment: by Sarah Platt, UK Director of Kinura Web Video

With copyright debates abounding at last week’s c&binet Forum, there was also, unsurprisingly, much talk of online video content. The conference itself was streamed live (view the archived footage), and the virtual audience could feed comments and questions to the panel on stage through twitter (#cabinetforum), allowing them not only to ‘follow’ but to participate, opening up global access to anyone unable to attend. This is just one example of organisations and brands using digital media to keep their audiences engaged. Through the evolution of social networking and video sharing sites, more and more consumers expect to be able to access content in real time to inform the online debate, creating new business opportunities for those specialising in delivering events via the web.

Creative consumers have now become producers, sharing comments, images and snippets of film: creating their own discussions. In this instantaneous environment where rich media just gets richer, there is an immense opportunity to educate and to learn online.

The amount of video based educational content out there already is vast. You may already know of Teacher’s TV, Discovery Education, TED and Open Learn from the Open University. And then there are all the education channels on YouTube, plus online courses being offered by arts organisations like Tate and the British Museum.

But we need to remember that the rise of video communications demands that individuals become skilled creators. Younger people may be less camera-shy than their predecessors, but there is still a need for investment in training adults and children alike to communicate effectively using software, recording equipment and webTV applications so they can tell their stories and make an impact in a world where immediacy, ‘findability’ and attention grabbing is everything.

Some of you may remember the days when ‘video based learning’ meant gathering around a bulky TV that had just been wheeled into the classroom so you could get your weekly fix of a BBC schools programme. Now imagine the TV wheeled into your classroom showed a programme that listened, talked back and had more than one possible ending depending on what you wanted to know. Oh – and then you could shrink it, put it in your pocket and watch it whenever suited you. You might have paid more attention in class. 

There’s a lot of research out there which suggests that computer based learning is very effective in terms of increasing people’s ability to retain information. But what really excites me about this area is the potential use of interactive feedback, live video links between tutors and their students, online collaboration through applications like scribblar and beyond that into potential applications for linking up real-time medical monitoring devices or biometric information. Imagine the latest research in life saving treatments being delivered instantaneously to a doctor working in a remote village where she or he may previously have had to travel miles to gain such essential information.

We have a great opportunity in the UK to tap into the wealth of information online, to build on the talent we already have and find talent in new places through digital inclusion. We should make our ‘creative industries’ a part of every day life so that we all have the chance to be creators.
Interactive video based learning, and the flexibility and access to instant education that it offers, makes for a better-informed life. Just as investment in creativity makes for a more interesting one.