Alex, that's exactly what we're talking about here and there's a whole world of reading and studying being done on the web; every time we open a thread, explore a new chemistry suggested in response to a question or access data from others experiments shared online, we're doing just as you suggest, however, the discipline of study is way more involved than just the written word, as I'm sure you know.
It's a fact that some people learn best from reading, some from hearing, some from seeing a task preformed and some can only learn well by a hands-on approach. As a Veteran, I am occasionally reminded of this when VA personnel want to instruct me how to use a new medicine or device, asking how I learn best is now part of their S.O.P. and there's a good reason for it; it's a more effective way to teach than assuming that all people will benefit from a one-size-fits all approach to "education". In the end, the only imperative is that usable information is shared in a way that benefits the student.
You know, I think a lot of people miss something important about the internet, which is, the potential of learning has been enabled in a way more profound and more importantly than even those revolutions which occurred with the the advent of printing presses and latter, the widespread creation of free libraries. People are adapting to and participating in these new ways of communicating ideas just as fast as they can be put into action and it matters not one whit if those ideas come in a bound volume, university lecture, socratic discussion under the oaks or in a PDF or video stored on usb drive after download from the web.
It's almost ironic; the first human learning was passed on by watching each other practice new skills, even before language had the words to share and here we are, millions of years latter, learning by watching each other online, by web cam and video.
As far as making videos, just as not every book published was well done or useful, the same continues to be true in this new medium. Videos both good and bad will abound and hopefully, those whom try their arm at producing their own, with whatever they have to hand, will quickly catch-on to the do's and don'ts of production. I, for one, can hardly wait to see what tomorrow brings.
It's a fact that some people learn best from reading, some from hearing, some from seeing a task preformed and some can only learn well by a hands-on approach. As a Veteran, I am occasionally reminded of this when VA personnel want to instruct me how to use a new medicine or device, asking how I learn best is now part of their S.O.P. and there's a good reason for it; it's a more effective way to teach than assuming that all people will benefit from a one-size-fits all approach to "education". In the end, the only imperative is that usable information is shared in a way that benefits the student.
You know, I think a lot of people miss something important about the internet, which is, the potential of learning has been enabled in a way more profound and more importantly than even those revolutions which occurred with the the advent of printing presses and latter, the widespread creation of free libraries. People are adapting to and participating in these new ways of communicating ideas just as fast as they can be put into action and it matters not one whit if those ideas come in a bound volume, university lecture, socratic discussion under the oaks or in a PDF or video stored on usb drive after download from the web.
It's almost ironic; the first human learning was passed on by watching each other practice new skills, even before language had the words to share and here we are, millions of years latter, learning by watching each other online, by web cam and video.
As far as making videos, just as not every book published was well done or useful, the same continues to be true in this new medium. Videos both good and bad will abound and hopefully, those whom try their arm at producing their own, with whatever they have to hand, will quickly catch-on to the do's and don'ts of production. I, for one, can hardly wait to see what tomorrow brings.