EMOOCs 2017 (by Estefanía Crespo)

My opinion about EMOOCs

As the saying goes, “El saber no ocupa lugar” (the Spanish version) or “You can never know too much” (the English version). Although in the particular case of the EMOOCs, maybe the knowledge may take a few hundred megabytes on a server, but that is not relevant 😉 .

More seriously, in my opinion, the important thing here is that the knowledge acquired through an EMOOC can be later transferred to the classroom. Moreover, the best EMOOCs are backed by prestigious institutions and professors that transmit their knowledge so that anyone can learn from them.

On the other hand, thanks to the pill format (videos that are 4 to 12 minutes long) lessons are concentrated within a short time and come straight to the point. This allows teachers to change the approach of their classes, applying the EMOOCs and spending the rest of the time discussing or carrying out any other participatory activity that may help to the assimilation of the theoretical concepts.

Finally, I wish to emphasise that during the congress I have realized that as a future professor (if I am lucky), I must keep in mind that students should be educated to think about the future and not about the present. And in this case, I really believe that MOOCs are the future. Hence, this does not mean that they will replace "traditional" education, but they will complement it. I am convinced that transferring this idea to students will be key for their future.

 

Workshop number 4: Green Keen?

The main topic of the workshop revolved around the "Green Screen" technique (also known as chroma key) very well known by all of us in the cinema area. This is a technique in which a video is shot with a single colored background (usually green as it is not a very common clothing color) that can be made transparent and replaced with a still image. Thanks to a special software presented during the workshop, it was not necessary to wait until the editing process to see the results. In fact, two monitors situated on the right and left side of the person showed in real time a composite of the person on background slide.

Green screen made it simple to superimpose a person onto any chosen background. In the following figure you can see me trying this amazing technique.

In this case I was superimposed onto a PowerPoint presentation. At the same time, I could manually advance the slides of the presentation. Of course, all this process was recorded. Additionally, one important thing I could learn in this workshop is that the way in which you look at the camera it is very important to reach the person situated behind it.

To sum up, I conclude this section encouraging teachers to test this technique.

 

What did I expect from my experience as a volunteer?

Previously to my participation as a volunteer in "EMOOCs 2017", I thought that it would be a great opportunity being part of a conference's organization, "being in the backstage" and thus completing my previous experience attending to conferences where I have showed my research progress as an oral presenter.

Finally, what has been my experience as a volunteer?

At professional level

As the days went by, I learnt that attending a conference, even though it is not directly related with my research line, it is far from sitting in a classroom and listening to an unalterable speech over time. In fact, the main characteristic of this conference was that it was linked to a current issue which will have a great impact on our society in the short term.

At personal level

It has been a unique experience of teamwork, in a completely new way for me, with a flexible structure where all volunteers not only have had time to participate in the organization of the conference, but also they have attended as listeners to the different sessions, always with the clear aim of enjoying the moment.

Finally, I can only say thank you for letting me join EMOOCs 2017.

 Estefanía Crespo Bardera