A tale of thousand and one frames: How media design can help the educator to communicate: Framing the ‘Talking Head’
Jeanine Reutemann (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Basel, FHNW, Switzerland)Workshop objective
- Facilitate an active, engaging and ‘hands-on’ group work about‘Talking Heads’ in educational MOOC videos.
- Implementing very short ‘Talking Head’ (TH) video tests to visualize different media design strategies.
- Raise educators and production teams awareness on production styles and media design strategies relevant for framing a ‘Talking Head’
Topic
Last year, when we analyzed 448 MOOC videos, the ‘Talking Head’ was outstanding with 74% as the most used video format for the communication of educational content (please see: Reutemann J: “Differences and Commonalities”, EMOOC16 or the accompanying research video: https://youtu.be/5VEHBuuRKXI).
Despite this questionable uniformity of presentation, there are multiple possibilities to frame a ‘Talking Head’ in a surrounding space. Using a standardized video format might not be the optimal solution for every head as each educator has an unique way of teaching, performing and transferring their specific scientific content into narra- tives of speeches, gestures and images. One speaker might be shyer than another, a different one slightly hyperactive, with the corresponding increased use of gestures. It’s also a question about managing the empty spaces, choosing corresponding sur- rounding spaces, or using the right camera lenses. Knowledge created in what now amounts to almost a century of applied film studies and media sciences can be used as a fundament for supporting educators on their individual presentation style.In this workshop, I will first give some deeper insights into these issues (part of our ongoing MOOC research study). Second, we’ll work in small groups on case study examples (preferable: bring your own example and challenges) and will do some hands-on work.
