Video

My video appeals to multiple intelligences. For example, the video appeals to the Musical intelligence by using a soundtrack that is captivating, emotional, and in sync with the content of the video. People that have a sensitivity to rhythm and sound as well as a love for music will be drawn into the story of the video through the soundtrack. The song begins with a short narration from the composer who captures the exact feelings and emotions I myself experienced during this time in my life. It was quite a rare find and song choice for a rare video and illness.  The content of the story line appeals to a person with Intrapersonal intelligence. These people are in tune with their inner feelings and can empathize and connect with an emotional story. These people have wisdom, intuition and motivation, as well as a strong will, which were all ingredients in the story that was told in the video.

If people don't spend the time to watch a video they won't learn anything from the video. The first way my video aligns with a suggestion from the readings this week was that I kept it short. Research suggests that the median engagement time for videos less than six minutes long was close to 100% in that students tended to watch the whole video (Brame, 2015).  The second way my video aligns with a suggestion from the reading is that the video uses a conversational style, called the personalization principle by Richard Mayer.  The idea is that by using a conversational tone rather than technical jargon, the viewers will retain more of the content which leads to greater engagement (Mayer, 2008). The text in the video as well as the song and general tone of the video was conversational as though I was re-telling it to someone over a cup of coffee. 

Cognitive load theory informs us that short term memory is limited in the number of elements it can contain simultaneously (Brame, 2015). I addressed this principle in my video by keeping the text on screen very short and to the point.  Rather then using long sentences and large words, I tried to decrease the cognitive load on the viewer by keeping the elements to only what was necessary to tell the story.  Cognitive theory is most useful in instructional design for cognitively complex or technically challenging material (Sweller, 1998). Fortunately, my video is not complicated, however, my video could be used as part of a larger unit on the topic of Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), which is the rare autoimmune disease I was battling and is marked by a sudden, widespread attack of inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. The video could be used to show some of the rehabilitation techniques in the recovery process and by connecting the disease to a real personal story it could improve the long term memory of the viewer (Sweller, 1988).

Brame, C.J. (2015). Effective educational videos. Retrieved [10/09/2018] from 

     http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/effective-educational-videos/. (Using Video for Student 

     Engagement and Active Learning).

Mayer, R. E. (2008). Applying the science of learning: Evidence-based principles for the design of  

     multimedia instruction. American psychologist, 63(8), 760.

Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive science, 

     12(2), 257-285.