Recently, I have been reminded on how useful video with audio can be in documentation and information transfer.
While embarking on learning a new language (Ruby) and web framework (Ruby on Rails) I was guided through the process with Great documentation.
The written documentation (Wiki and other pages) is cleanly presented, with a nice looking interface that is easy to read. However, for someone new to a framework (and in my case the language) a video showing an expert demonstrate the functionality just helps transer that information.
The documentation is good anyway .. the videos just enhance it. A fifteen minute demo of how to create a weblog application is an amazing way of demonstrating use. Showing how to effectively use a tool in real time capturing both the explicit (keystrokes, commands etc) and the tacit (thoughts, why, best practice) knowledge.
One of the big problems with learning new products, technology and concepts is the knowledge gap. Sometimes the “how to do something” is not easily understood, just from a manual or book. There is a effectiveness gap between the documentation (theory) versus the Pragmatic Application (practice).
Some tacit knowledge such as configuration or use can be more easily transferred using such a medium. Video aids the learning process when someone is describing why things are being done, when the actual mechanical tasks are occuring.
Also, the serendipitous learning through observering behavoiur provides secondary information supporting or related to the primary message. Considering we speak at over 120 words per minute, this adds more information and inflection that is not possible with written text alone.
It is arguable that video provides a better mechanism for memory as more than one sensory input (i.e. Vision and Sound) is used.
A lecturer at Melbourne University, Alison Parkes, said that tacit information is arguably best captured using Video. This seems true in activities like cooking or home improvement when unfamiliarity of a task can be more effectively communicated through video than a static diagram in a book.
Having broadband at home (or at work for that matter) means that better documentation using video can be obtained easily. Hopefully reducing the time taken to comprehend the new information.
