Over the next couple of days I will be focusing on “close reading” but with a twist.  Did you know that you can close read a video?  a sound file?  an image? If you did, then good on you.  If not, then you are in for a treat. (My idea of fun is rather…idiosyncratic?)

Close reading is an old buzzword.  The idea of slowing down and breaking open a text in order to explicate its meaning goes back to the the very earliest Biblical scholarship.  Like most ideas it bears a bit of skepticism.  In other words use it and don’t be used by it.  Given that caveat here is how I closely annotate a video–I use Vialogues.

Vialogues is a free, online, video annotation tool that allows you to upload YouTube, Vimeo, or self-loaded videos (up to one gigabyte) for sharing and comment.  It was created and is hosted by Columbia University’s EdLab at Teacher’s College. I have bee using it since 2012.

Here is one that I have created for us to “play” in.  It is Monty Python’s John Cleese telling us “How to Be Creative”.

 

It is a simple process to comment once you have an account with Vialogues (FREE).  Once you have practice with a few Vialogues then you can begin to see the power of the tool.  I use it for lots of different purposes:  personal, professional, and pedagogical

Personal

A discussion of dance moves.

RSA Short: Power to Create.

Pedagogical

‘First day of class’ discussion: This Is Water

Natalie Majors’ video response to a question in an online Intro to Lit course

Language use in Othello

Professional

John Seeley Brown:  becoming an entrepreneurial learner

Venkatesh Rao: orderly readers

 

How do you get started with Vialogues?

1. Sign up for a free account. You can’t comment unless you have a login.

2. Browse the “explore” section to get ideas on using Vialogues.

3. You can get help online.

 

And now for something completely different. Set yer bizarr-0-meter to ten and have fun.