Video Activity in MindTap (Speech Video Library)
- Due Mar 6, 2024 by 11:59pm
- Points 100
- Submitting a discussion post
Hi, Everyone!
Today I spoke with Cengage Tech Support, and it seems that about 30 of the videos from the Video Library have been placed into the Learning Path already, in MindTap/Speaker's Handbook, and are available to you as "Video Activity." I conclude that MindTap has been updated and changed since the last time I used it. The Cengage tech support person affirmed that students cannot see the Video Library app, which I can see from my side. That's what the confusion was. So, sorry about that. You should have access to a lot of these videos, spaced throughout the chapters.
And here is a wonderfully helpful observation by our classmate:
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(1) "View Speech Video Library." That is an icon, near the bottom right of your screen, in MindTap. When you click on that, you access the actual videos of the speeches.
There are 4 tools for each speech: (1) Questions, (2) Transcript, (3) Outline, and (4) Notecards. The questions are cool. There is a question, with an open template for you to respond. After you type your response and click Submit, MindTap gives you more explanations. the other sections are straightfoward (transcript, outline, and notecards).
Play around with these. Maybe listen to a couple of speeches of different types (narrative, persuasive, informative, etc.), maybe spend some time responding to questions and reading the detailed feedback from MindTap after you submit, maybe follow along with the transcript, and see how the speaker used Note Cards to set up the speech.
Think about what you can learn by consciously studying the speeches of others, with all of these helpful, preparatory tools.
(2) Find some word which appears to be a technical term associated with this subject of Speech Communication. for example, in the first set of questions on the speech about Hurricanes, the terms "attention," "credibility," "logic(al)" and "visuals" appear.
The top icon on the right hand side is the search tool. I searched "creibility," and that brings me to various places in the text which use this term. This is a word which we can use in common language, as we can also use words such as "attention." However, building up your knowledge of speech communication involves learning what that knowledge consists of, and this is expressed in words which are used in special ways within this established body of knowledge. You should be able to find most of the terms in the "Glossary" icon (A-Z) at the lower right hand corner.
I would prefer for you to develop your understanding of the established body of knowledge of speech communication as we go along. Let's balance and toggle between learning from others and learning from ourselves, as we discuss, prepare, perform, and analyze our own speeches.
In fact, i would like you to keep a little journal of what you are doing with MindTap, just as I am reporting to you what I am doing.
(3) In the textbook, which you access from the 5th icon down (the book icon), you have 2 views. You can switch views in the upper right hand corner (the blue bar) within the textbook. The unit view is simpler. After Unit 7 (Sample Speeches), you will see "Your Informative Speech" and "Your Persuasive Speech." Each of these has 3 sections: (1) Preparing, (2) Practicing, and (3) Presenting your speech. In Preparing, you are given questions in templates which you fill in, and so on. In Presenting, you have the opportunity to video record your speech. However, I don't see "Your Narrative Speech." That's what I'd like us to start with, but until we find it, you can go ahead maybe and start trying out the "Your Informative Speech," to get familiar with how MindTap can help you.
So, basically, we are trying to create a cycle--learning from others, trying out things ourselves, learning from ourselves, going back to the text (and to outside sources such as famous people, films, etc.), as we progress through the various types of speeches (narrative, informative, persuasive, creative).
Everything is connected and overlaps to a certain extent, so don't worry about categorizing things or whether one thing is "correct" or "incorrect." Let's just become more comfortable with the tools, the subject, with ourselves, and let's start preparing and making speeches, maybe first at home, with recording, maybe sharing in class in small groups, then speaking to the whole class, and so on.
I do encourage you to use video and audio recording as a learning aid, and also to memorialize our performance and activities. Sometimes we will do something that only later becomes useful. I used to use my smartphone to record myself and students, but it got too difficult with the memory, transfer of files, and so on. What I suggest is that students reserve some data space on your own smartphones, and when you are practicing or rehearsing your speeches in small groups or at home, you ask someone else to video record you (or audio). There are places to upload these to MindTap, and I believe we can control who sees them, so you could first allow only the instructor or a peer (or small peer group to see them), and then later, open them up to a wider audience if you feel more comfortable. The purpose is to learn, and also to preserve. The speeches I have seen in my classes are usually more exciting and interesting than many of the speeches in MindTap, and it's nice to be able to keep them for the future! We can discuss this...
Finally, after those sections on "Your Informative Speech" and "Your Persuasive Speech" in the textbook, you will see two sections, marked: PRPSA and PRCA-24 (Personal Report of Communication Apprehension). These are two survey instruments dealing with speaker anxiety. The second one asks you for some basic personal data (sex, state of residence) but this is just to collect data in the aggregate. You can look up statistics yourself. For example, do more males who reside in New York have more or less speech anxiety than females who reside in Alabama, or something random like that. it's pretty interesting, and by taking these surveys, you will learn more about yourself as well as about others, and the factors that go into speech anxiety.
Do you know the Jerry Seinfeld joke about public speaking being the No. 1 fear of Americans? so, he says, that means that you'd rather be in the coffin that speaking about the person who is in the coffin? That's kind of morbid, but there is a lot of talk about public speaking being something to be scared of. Let's explore if that's really true, and what it means for us in the class, and how we can help ourselves and one another to become more confident and capable public speakers.
Let's plunge into MindTap and get to know all its features.
The USeeU function (you will see the icon) is an important one which we will be using a lot.
I have to do more preparation and to clean up some of the vestiges that appear to remain from the last time I used MindTap.
I hope you like it!
Leor