education video Archives

2021 – A Review of Video Content in Numbers

It’s almost impossible today to open our social media pages, or view a newspaper article, read a report, or take a course without encountering short-form video content. It is an ideal medium for passing a lot of information quickly and succinctly and it allows us to decide whether we want to deep-dive a particular post, an article, or a subject area in more detail.Read More

Does Animation Enhance Learning?

Is animation more than just an engagement tool, and can it enhance learning? In my first podcast, Can Instructional Videos Make Your Smarter? I looked at whether we can design videos to be more cognitively efficient. In this episode I look at some of the research around animation, and whether it can be used to enhance learning.Read More

More than a Time-Filler: 3 Creative Uses of Videos to Enhance Learning

Remember the time when your teacher would show a video at the end of a lesson? Probably because you were well behaved as a class or you had just finished a test early. As they insert a VHS cassette into a 15-inch square TV set, we thought it was time to relax and switch off. That was the pre-internet age though and we have well and truly moved on from then. Watching videos in class should no longer be just a time-filler or reward for good behaviour. It is time to unleash the power of videos to truly enhance learning.

Can Instructional Videos Make You Smarter?

Can Instructional Videos Make you Smarter? is the title of episode 1 of my new podcast. It’s a series that makes educational research practical and accessible. Video is such a powerful learning tool. It has the power to motivate, engage and aid learning and retention. But most educators don’t use it to its full potential. I want to help them do so.Read More

Is Your Child At The Centre of Their Education – Part Four

My previous blogs in this series have examined the impact child-centred education has had in education since its beginning with John Dewey in the 19th Century. Since then, it has rapidly progressed as a central pillar in any good education system. Moves in the UK and USA in the mid-late 20th century ensured that children were treated as individuals in schools. The introduction and then widespread adoption of educational technology in the latter 20th and early 21st century meant that child-centred education has now been fully enabled and we’ve reached a point where sophisticated AI-enabled platforms, such as Squirrel, plan learning pathways exactly suited for every student as an individual. Check out part 1, part 2, and part 3 of this series. Read More

Is Your Child at the Centre of Their Education? – Part Three

In previous blogs, I’ve examined the birth of student-centred education. John Dewey the father of all freethinkers in education influenced several generations of other similarly minded educationalists such as Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Maria Montessori. Check out the previous blogs: part 1 & part 2.Read More

EdTech News – April 2021

During the last year, we’ve all found our own ways to adapt and this is also the case for how and where we learn. Some students have had the luxury of their own room, a desk, whereas others have had to share the kitchen table or sit on the bed. What’s the connection between student engagement and learning environments?Read More

image of woman putting her phone down on a bench

Try Putting Down Your Device For A Day

In 1946 Edgar Dale who was an American educator, developed the Cone of Experience also known as the Learning Pyramid. It has become a staple of the education sector. It examines how learners retain knowledge after interaction with different types of media.Read More

Image of woman sitting with her phone out with the text on the right hand side saying Learning on Tiktok

Learning on TikTok: Makematic Behind-The-Scenes Vlog

In this vlog, we’re learning about TikTok. We know the platform; some love it, some hate it, and some refused to download the platform at the start of lockdown last year because it was a platform “for kids”. Guilty. But now, I love the platform and learn so much from it.Read More

EdTech News – March 2021

Zooms this week have often included the words ‘there’s light at the end of the tunnel’ and it is starting to feel like that with schools re-opening in the UK and more and more people getting the vaccine. I’m also aware that in the rest of Europe it may not feel like that at all yet with cases on the rise and new lockdowns being announced. I really wish I didn’t have to write about developments in Education in light of Covid-19, but here we are for another month.Read More

Image of two young people playing an online game

What Game Are They Playing?

If you surveyed our household today, you’d find that alongside watching short-form video content, games play an important part in my two boys’ education. There is nothing different from any other 21st-century household there!Read More

How We Made A 60-Second Gaming Video

During my placement with Makematic, I was tasked to produce a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) video on the benefits of gaming and the life skills it provides.Read More