Why Teachers Don't Videoblog

You'd think that today's educators would reach out more to the MTV youth. Instead of embracing videoblogging, however, teachers are shying away.

It's not that they're technophobes. Besides, the resident techies can easily handle video editing. No, it's not the technology. It's something much deeper.

Few people are willing to stand in front of a videocam because we tend to get too conscious. Will we look fat or haggard. What about my eyebags? How's my hair? Is my nose too big? Are you telegenic or just "gabigenic"?

Don't let all of those fears get to you. You don't have to show yourself in a multimedia presentation. If you like, you can just record your voice while a Powerpoint presentation automatically advances inside a movie file.

What if you don't like the way you sound? True, each unique voice does carry its own personality. And yes, maybe you're worrying too much.

But... what if you'd rather not record your voice?

Use photos.
Add cartoon speech bubbles.
Add some background music.

And there you have it -- your very own multimedia presentation without your face, and without your voice. It would be great to have your uniqueness stamped on your online presentation, but at least this is a start.

Do you know of any educators (such as those podcasducators in Peoria) who are videoblogging or podcasting for their students? Please let me know. Thanks!

Here... see how easy it is to record your voice and put it online. Just click on the "Leave A Message" button, and if your computer has a mic, you can start recording. If you prefer to listen to the other recordings, just click on any of the entries under the "Messages" heading.

If you have something similar to the box above on your site, you can easily leave voice announcements for your students and other site visitors. You can do a quick 2-minute podcast episode, if you wish. And if you prefer to speak for 30 minutes, there's always the MyChingo (MobaTalk) paid service.

That's just audio... Wait till you see Video Comments courtesy of MobaTalk. Coming soon...

(Hmmm... multimedia commenting? Free Wordpress plugin? Here's an example of how people can use MobaTalk to leave comments with photos in a Wordpress blog.)

[ First posted on 03/18/2007 by Manuel Viloria ]