POLL : Talking Head or Full Power Point ?

[Teguh Diyanto]

All,

Which do you think will be best for technical  engineering course ?

Full power point ? or Power point with talking head at the corner ?

My concern is I look very young, and afraid that people may underestimate me due to how I look..

Thank you very much

[FrankKane]

What's best for technical courses is minimal use of Powerpoint but with lots of screencasts illustrating how to apply whatever technology you are teaching. A talking head in the corner is unnecessary, potentially distracting, and makes updating the course later very difficult.

Generally for technical courses, students want to focus on what you're showing them rather than watching you talk. It is usually a good idea to have at least some "talking head" videos - introducing each section of the course, for example - just to create a personal connection to the student which can help with your review scores. But if you're not comfortable doing that, it's not strictly necessary.

I often worry about looking too *old* and not too young!

[Teguh Diyanto]

Hi Frank,

Thanks a lot for your advice..

Just curious, what do you mean by "...Making updating video difficult...."

Thanks a lot..

[FrankKane]

If you're teaching a technology that changes frequently (like AWS) you will often need to update your lecture videos to reflect the changes. It is a lot easier to go back and edit in a modified slide and voiceover than to try and recreate the lighting, camera angles, and outfit you had when you recorded the original video.