Video Reviews

Smart Homes Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdd41G0q7Nw&feature=youtu.be

 

I found this a very engaging video mainly for the visual design aspect of the approach.  Firstly the video does a good job simply ticking off the required boxes of the assignment, making sure everyone contributes to the presentation and overall conveying information about smart homes in a succinct and easily understood way.  More than that though what I really liked about it was the approach of having the various group members sketch out pertinent images on a white board while the narration played over it.  There’s something about that particular action that really engenders a blended sense between classical education tactics like white board sessions and the digital new frontier of education through media learning.  It reminded me most of the Khan Academy videos that also utilize a more hands-on visual aesthetic to their complimentary imagery.  If I was to raise a critique however it would be that some of the narration felt a little shakey at times and could’ve been a bit more polished but that's a small gripe all things considered. 

Amazon Web Services Video 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muotZg0wCuI&feature=youtu.be

The Amazon Web Service video definitely came off as seriously ambitious and to a certain degree managed to achieve the lofty goals it set for itself.  I very much enjoyed the amount of audio work that went into this video, a good degree of sound mixing and music work helped make this video infinitely more memorable.  Alternatively the visual portion of the video was more mixed especially given the narration that wet with it.  While some of the video sections were very well done and informative as the presentation went on the information became a little more cluttered and unclear, especially when the narrator entered into an analogy about tools and birdhouses that was ultimately more confusing than helpful.  It also felt very much like there was going to be more after the initial spurt of narration and I would’ve liked to have heard from all the group members not just the one, still I understand Amazon Web Service infinitely better now than I did before watching this video.