Make Your Own Video Guide Published - 02.16.2012

MAKE YOUR OWN VIDEO: A SIMPLE GUIDE TO COMMUNICATING YOUR RESEARCH EFFECTIVELY

Did you know…that you have the potential to reach thousands of school kids with a self-made video about you and your research? A video that will be engaging and accessible to non-scientific audiences? One that you can make by yourself in just a few days, with equipment you already own?

Today, improvements in consumer quality electronics – smart phones, tablets, and laptops, and their cameras and inexpensive media software - mean that producing high quality short videos are within the reach of everyone. At the same time, there is increased pressure on scientists to satisfy “Broader Impacts” requirements on grant proposals – the need to include some kind of outreach component, and hopefully one that will have high impact. These factors are combined with the increased need for high quality science education and outreach. Scientists need to engage students and citizens, whose lives are being affected directly by real problems - whether caused by climate change or resource depletion – feeding their increasing desire to understand
what is causing the changes they see around them.

Making short, engaging videos can be your answer! Even if you have never held a movie camera before, follow these simple steps and you can produce a short video that portrays you and your scientific research in a clear, engaging, inspiring format. Here’s the bottom line: If you produce an engaging, content-rich video about your research interests that’s under three minutes long and connects to Ocean Literacy principles and/or science standards, we will get it into the hands of thousands of teachers, to potentially be seen by thousands of students across the US. This is a low barrier, high value Broader Impact activity!

Download the guide here.

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