Review of 3 Videos From NextVista.org

Video Title: Oceanographic Scientist
Author: Rushton Hurley
http://www.nextvista.org/oceanographic-scientist/

Clearly this video was put together by someone with experience in video and film production. It had the right blend of still and live-action shots with various perspectives, so as not to bore the viewer. Also, this video would really get me excited about going on one of these voyages. It gives a great sense of what to expect on a trip and would help someone determine if something like this might meet their expectations.

Video Title:President Riddle 1
Author: Dennis Grice
http://www.nextvista.org/president-riddle-1/

Creating a video like this would be a quick way to come up with an alternative assessment for a class. Perhaps it could be used as a bonus question on the test or as part of a review game. I enjoyed its simplicity and I think it's something students would enjoy creating and showing the class. It would work well if students were assigned to create something like this in hopes of trying to stump fellow classmates. The audio and the music seemed to sync up perfectly and created a feeling of suspense as the video was coming to an end.

Video Title: Continental Drift
Author: Jonathan Muller
http://www.nextvista.org/continental-drift/

I enjoyed the way the music and the text "continental drift and the breakup of pangea" went together. The music was somber and the choice of the word "breakup" created a feeling of sadness. This is the only thing I appreciated about the video. I am an Earth Science teacher and I even found it difficult identifying which piece of clay meant what part of the crust. For example "How volcanoes form at a subduction zone" is not explaining how volcanoes form at a subduction zone. What is a subduction zone? I think the pieces of clay need to be clearly labeled and more text needs to be added to the animations to help students determine what is what and why these plates are moving in the ways they do.