Voice Thread....

This week I have spent time planning the set up of my voice thread. I am examining the use of ipad video analysis apps for coaches. The 20-second limit on the voice over per slide forced me to examine voice my communication skills, particularly my ability to be succinct when communicating verbally. I think it is something that I could improve on and this has been highlighted to me by using the coach’s eye app to provide effective feedback to my athlete. 

Another interesting thought about the use of video feedback was whether or not I should comment first or show the athlete the raw footage prior to commenting. One example occured last last Saturday when I allowed the athlete to look at the footage first. She glared at if and stated – “I hate my elbows they stick out too far much" (something I had attempted to address many time before). I then provided my feedback and her performance notably improved. I asked her what she had been thinking about to make such a dramatic improvement – she said “my elbows”, (which was nothing to do with the feedback I had provided). 

Today I saw her again and her technique was better. I commented and she said – “ I have just focused on my elbows all week,”  (of course I had completely forgotten about how important this was to her the previous week.). This event highlighted the improvements that the athlete is able to make when they are motivated to improve and how video feedback is able to provide such motivation.

Review of Journal Article

Today while trying to find a relevant Journal article for my  review, I came across the article Learning with Multimedia – Concepts and Experiences by Joset Wiemeyer.

Wiemeyer (2000) recognized that research indicated, “Students prefer variable, flexible educational methods being applied by highly motivated and motivating teachers.” This point was of interest to me as I do recognize that at times my coaching can become a little like my Mum’ meal selection when we were kids – she would find a meal everyone said they liked and then served it to us everyday for two weeks!! I am going to strive to ensure that I use multimedia as just other tool, rather than a sole means for enhancing performance. 

This article also acknowledges “only subjects with previous knowledge could profit by control over the system”.  This supports my observations from last week.  I was coaching an amateur adult who looked at me blankly when asked to review his performance.  At that point I acknowledged that I had not considered whether or not video feedback was appropriate in all contexts and thought more about integrating its use in appropriate situations.

The author stated that he supported Haggerty’s (2000) “cautious optimism” when using multi media as an educational tool and raised the point that it did require an understanding of many disciplines in order to be used effectively, including “computer technology, psychology and pedagogy. We need to know the hardware and software constraints of multimedia implications for perceptions, learning and memory and influence on culture and education,” Wiemeyer, 2000.

Although this article raised several interesting points and answered some of my questions, I did not understand some aspects of the design and development sections so opted for another article as the one to evaluate in more detail as part of the compulsory requirements of my blog.