Tuesday, September 11, 2007

I haven't spent much time examining vlogs before, despite the constant news about incorporating new technology into the classroom. Examining vlogs really exposes you to the "inside lives" of people around the world. Some, inspiring and influential - some, oddly disturbing.
One of the more interesting uses I found was by a university to help students experience life on campus through current students:
http://admission.fandm.edu/vlogging/CategoryView,category,Kojo.aspx
What a great way to expose students to actual student life! This is clearly targeted for an audience, with a feel of excitement, comraderie, etc.
Another useful idea was in summarizing conferences, etc. What a great way to give your organization/program/etc. some exposure (if you are able to get exposure for your vlog). An example of this was the YearlyKOS summary video. The took an entire conference and edited it down to a few minutes of information that truly seemed to sum up the entirety of the conference.
One thing I particularly like about vlogs is the feel they are made for the world, to provide information. So many productions for news, etc., are made with manipulative wording, flashy graphics, and targeted audience. Vlogs seem to cut all of the crap, providing raw emotion and insight. Here is one example:
http://karmagrrrl.org/videos/karmagrrrl20050908.mov