The Digital Media Design program has helped expose me to a lot of Web 2.0 tools with which I was previously unfamiliar. Each new DMD subject has been a unique challenge, and the Internet has been an invaluable resource for solving problems and finding answers. The search for this information has exposed me to blogs, forums, streaming media, instant messaging and other aspects of the Web that I had not yet explored.
Although I have used a variety of online resources, streaming video has been one of the most helpful to me. I like having a visual and audible explanation, but also the freedom to work through the material at my own pace. Video tutorials are especially useful in learning new software because you can actually watch the instructor navigate the interface. When I was learning to use the Adobe applications, I found lots of video tutorials online that really helped me. The Adobe Video Workshop is a great resource that I still use regularly.
I have also used video tutorials to help broaden my understanding of technology and the Web. RSS, social networking, podcasts, wikis, and Web 2.0 are all things that I was fairly unfamiliar with before I entered the program. In class, I would often hear terms that I didn’t really understand, so I would look them up later online. Sometimes the answer was simple; sometimes it took a more thorough explanation. Actually, one of the resources I used several times was commoncraft.com. To a digital native, the concepts explained in their technology tutorials might seem obvious, but they were helpful to someone like me.
Right now, I am watching a series of video tutorials called jQuery for Absolute Beginners. For me, any new type of coding is a little confusing at first, and it has been great to watch someone demonstrate using jQuery in a step-by-step process. While textbooks can be helpful and great references, I think video lectures and tutorials are useful in taking complex subjects and presenting them in a way that is straightforward and easy to understand.
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I agree that video tutorials can be very resourceful. My very first computer build was done after watching a video. I was extremely new to this and had no previous experience or training. With the help of the video, I have built several computers without much difficulty.
Video lectures and tutorials are great sources for learning, especially in our program. It fits a very wide variety of learning styles, and seems to be a new standard for learning in the digital age. In this class especially, the videos that Bill puts up have helped me understand these concepts immensely. I have a lot of respect for people who put the time and effort into this medium to make it successful.
One noteworthy video that helped me was a tutorial for building a flash website, which I thought was a much more daunting task than it actually was. Granted, this was a simple way to build it (using timelines as opposed to strictly coding). Nonetheless, it helped me understand an approach that I had overlooked before.
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