Digital Video - Sample 3

Digial Video - Sample 3 This document contains one sample section from Chapter 9 of Digital Video. There are 16 more sections like this in that chapter and each one deals with a different tool and includes an embedded video tutorial. The complete book deals with a wide range of video related areas as well as containing more than 40 step by step lesson plans guiding you through video based classroom activities.

For more information or to buy the complete book go to: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/digital-video/id1025275485

These sample materials are the copyright property of Nik Peachey and permission is hereby granted to print, store, share and redistribute them freely.

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MAILVUWhat’s it for?

Mailvu http://mailvu.com/ is a tool that enables asynchronous video communication.

It enables users to send and receive video messages via email without forcing users to upload and download video clips.

It does this by recording the message onto the MailVu server and then sending the recipient a link to the message.

The files MailVu creates are relatively small and so the service is quite fast and more accessible for users with lower bandwidth.

It can be great for setting speaking homework assignments and to add an element of blended learning to a face-to-face course.

Platform

MailVu works in the web-browser without any downloads as long as the Flash plugin is installed. There are also app versions for mobile platforms including iOS and Android.

To use MailVu on your computer, you will need a webcam and a microphone and some headphones or speakers.

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Use video email to communicate with your students and set speaking homework activities

How to

Go to: http://mailvu.com/ and click on ‘Allow’ when the Adobe Flash player prompt appears. This gives MailVu access to your computer’s camera and microphone.

Click on the ‘Record’ button and start speaking.

While you are speaking you should be able to see the ‘Mic Level’ moving.

If the sound isn’t recording or video isn’t showing, click on the small microphone icon and make sure you have the correct microphone and camera selected.

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When you have finished speaking click on the ‘Stop’ button.

Click on the ‘Play’ button to watch and listen to your recording.

To record your clip again click on ‘Record’ and repeat the process.

When you have recorded your message, click on ‘Send’.

Enter your name, email address and the email address of the recipient.

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You can also add a subject and a short text-based message.

Click on ‘Submit’ to send your message.

The recipient will receive an email with a link to the video message.

Students can click on the link to view the message in their browser.

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They can then click the link ‘here to reply’ to use MailVu to reply to the message.

Click on ‘Share’ to copy a direct link to the video clip.

Then click on ‘Copy to Clipboard’. You can then paste the link into your browser or share it with students.

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Video tutorial

Activities

You can use MailVu for almost any kind of speaking assignment, but it’s best used by students outside of the classroom. Using it in class can be frustrating for students as the microphone tends to pick up background noise.

Video learning diary Get students to create an interactive learning diary, they could email you their video summary of what they feel they have learned after each lesson and you can then respond and encourage them. The videos would form a good learning record and students will be able to look back at them later and see how they have improved - quite literally - and also hear the

improvements in their speaking ability. This is also a great way to give your students one-to-one-time which can often be a problem in a crowded classroom.

Video whispers Use the video email feature to record a short text. Send it to the first of your students. Ask your student to write down the message and then record it themselves and send it to the next student. Each student should rerecord and send the message on to another, until the last student sends it back to you. You will then see how accurately the message matches to your original text. Your students will need to know in advance who they should send the message too, so you will need to organize this in class before you do the activity. Make sure students have each other’s email address or can post the message to each other online.

Class survey - Action researchSend a video message to your students with a class survey question that they can respond to. This is a good way to carry out classroom research, decide on learning goals and make sure that all students have a means to feedback to you individually in private. They can also create their own questions and send them to each other, then feedback in class or use the information for a presentation.

The witness Send your students a link to a video clip that includes a number of people (Scenes from films with bank robberies, where a number of people are involved are quite useful for this). Then ask the students to imagine they are one of the people in the film. Ask them to record a video statement giving their account of what happened.

Favorite poems or haikuStudents can record themselves reading their favorite poem or

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Interactive 1.1 Sending video messages with MailVu

Watch the video and find out how to send video email messages and make them into learning activities.

haiku, you can then link the videos into a web page or blog as a class poetry collection.

Text and video error correction Record yourself reading a text. Then add some errors to the text. Send your students the video and the text and ask them to watch and listen and try to find and correct the errors in the text.

Create a collaborative storySend students a video with the first line of a story and ask them to record your line of the story and add their own, then send it back to you. When you receive the clip, record what the student has said, add your own line and send it back to the student again. The students then repeats the recording process and again adds another sentence. Keep repeating the process until you have built up a short story.

Tip of the week/day Send your students a learning tip each week/day by video email. These could be exam tips, study tips, recommended website etc.(The URL for the website would appear in the text part of the message below the video.) You students can respond with their feedback on the tip or website.

Video dictation Send a video of yourself dictating a text and ask your students to watch, listen and write down the text. Once they have finished they can record the text themselves and send it back to you.

Word of the day Create a short video introducing a word and giving some dictionary type information about it. Send your students a new word everyday. Once they understand how the video entries work, they can also start to share new words they have learned and you can save and build these into a video dictionary.

News Reports Ask students to read the news, in English or their own first language, and then produce a video news report on one of the main stories that interests them. They could also create their own local or school video news channel for other students to watch.

Present continuous Record video mimes to demonstrate present continuous sentences, such as ‘I’m eating a banana’. Get the students to reply to you and record themselves saying the sentence and miming the action. You can also get students to do the same and mime their own present continuous actions or sentences for each other to guess.

Guess the object Record a description of and object and viewers have to listen and guess what the object is. Getting students to create these clips will help them to be concise and really identify the key concepts behind describing objects and they can also use gestures and hand movements to help convey what they mean.

Sales pitch Ask students to produce a video trying to convince users to buy a particular object. Give the students some fictional money and ask them to watch the videos and bid for the objects they would like to buy.

Emotions You can create video clips of yourself or your students expressing different emotions. This can help them to learn the vocabulary of the emotions, but you could also use it to get students to predict the cause of the mood ( and practice present perfect; "He's angry because he has just been made redundant." etc.)

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Anecdotes and short stories Ask your students to record anecdotes or short stories and send them to you. You should give them a subject each time so they know what to talk about.

Getting started

Try to use MailVu to send a message to a friend or family member.

Think about how to look your best on the camera and try different lighting and camera positioning.

Practice exchanging messages with another teacher.

Create your own examples of some of the activities with another teacher to see what the potential problems are.

Try some of the activities with your students.

Show other teachers how you use MailVu with your students.

Run a teacher development session to show other teachers how they can use this tool.

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