[arrl-odv:27972] Competition to Proposed ARRL Lifelong Learning Site - 47, 000 Subscribers, 31, 000 Subscribers, Etc
At the recent Quartzfest ARRL Forum, I mentioned that the Board had approved a contract to build the framework for a "Lifelong Learning" web-site that is intended to educate newcomers to Amateur Radio and eventually result in a higher percentage of newly licensed hams becoming and continuing to be ARRL members. I commented that, at present, content for the site had not been specifically identified or produced. The first audience member responded positively, stating that that was a desirable step for the League to undertake. The second respondent sarcastically asked if I was aware of a site called YouTube. The third was more specific. He introduced himself as Dave Casler, KE0OG. He has *more than **400 free ham radio videos *on his YouTube site, with *over 47,000 subscribers*. I found his site at https://www.youtube.com/user/davecasler . Casler didn't seem impressed with the creation of a new ham radio framework for a web-site with no content, and seemed somewhat miffed that no attention was paid to existing web-sites and material that appeared to match ARRL's future goals. Casler even expressed possible interest in having his material accessed through the League. He also added that K7AGE, who was also at Quartzfest, also has a web-site with videos. I found that K7AGE's site has *over 31,000 subscribers.* K7AGE's site, https://www.youtube.com/user/K7AGE?feature=mhee , then lists another 10 ham radio related web-sites. W2AEW - 101,000 subscribers Steve WG0AT - 5,000 subscribers HamRadioNow - 11,000 subscribers KN4AQ - 1,700 subscribers EEVblog - 621,000 subscribers HamRadioConcepts - 43,000 subscribers Jim W6LG - 17,000 subscribers Kevin Loughlin - 15,000 subscribers Dave Tadlock - 20,000 subscribers DX Commander - 9,000 subscribers I would have hoped that all these 12 and any other competitive resources would have been researched, their capabilities and user statistics summarized, and potential impact on the proposed new web-site made clear, before we proceeded with funding. Apparently I was the only Board member with this view. Note that there are many other non-video ham-radio related web-sites with text and charts. I still don't understand how the League expects viewers to pay for most content, given the free competition. I still remember the sample initial page shown at the Thursday night presentation where there was a box at the top labeled something like "Free Trial." Possibly someone here can explain the rationale. Even at this stage, I still think it would be valuable for the staff to put together a compilation of competitive resources, and any planned approach to their presence. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA
Hi Dick, I can understand Dave's and the other YouTubers' position but the way I see this project it is more akin to sites like Pluralsight or LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) rather than YouTube. YouTube is good for killing time and learning in a non-structured manner. Pluralsight or LinkedIn are more structured like a class curriculum where you can set a goal and achieve a result such as passing a certification exam or do focused, step by step learning on a particular skill. I am a past and current user of these learning sites for my professional needs. Our company sponsors membership, and employees get to train for free on their own time. My previous employer used Lynda.com and my current one offers Pluralsight. What YouTube doesn't offer that these sites do: Structure and curriculum Ability to add learning exercises Skill assessments etc. In essence, YouTubers tend to produce single videos about specific subjects or may produce a series. A Pluralsight or LinkedIn Learning course will instead do videos and live, interactive demos in chapters that address one of the biggest barriers to learning - short (and growing shorter by the minute) attention spans. Not to knock Dave Cassler and the rest of great ham YouTube creators, but I've seen some of the content and sometimes it goes rather long and rambling. What would happen is someone may start, then lose interest and leave. Some people have the patience to sit through and watch a whole video. Many do not. This is a limitation of the YouTube system. YouTube was not really designed for learning. It was originally designed for sharing home videos and videos that proved something happened (it was exactly that in the early days pre-Google, and it was actually inspired in part by Janet Jackson's now famous Superb Owl wardrobe malfunction). Eventually it morphed into a place where people could learn and entertain themselves. A learning system on the other hand allows one to take a lesson, or two, or three then take a break and resume later, tomorrow or next week. You do pace yourself but the system should remind you and guide you so that you set a good pace and that your recent lessons (which later lessons build on) is not lost, and is instead reinforced. Reprehensions about cost aside, I am actually quite happy that the league is choosing to do something like this. I feel that if we encourage hams to learn in a structured manner that they could gain a lot more. What I would like to see eventually as well is an entry level license course for techs, provided free of charge. This I feel will have a good effect of bringing in new amateurs and getting them in at the ground level with the league. They will hopefully view the league as having invested in them and they will then be more tempted to stick with us. And I would hope that the league is reaching out to creators such as Dave Cassler, Hoshnasi and others. If we can contract them to do a course curriculum and interactive learning, I feel that their "star power" would be a win. Let them help with designing curricula and also doing the videos. They have engagement as measured by subscribers and they already are doing ham learning videos. On a side note, I am also still hoping that the inclusivity and diversity question that I brought up at the M+H presentation is suitably addressed. I am really not happy about this at all. The excuse I got from the M+H person that they were studying current trends and targeting to that to me seems like a recipe for certain failure. We need to ensure that we are broad in our reach and welcoming to all, rather than just targeting who already naturally comes to join the league and amateur radio. The fact that there was not even one person of color or female in the presentation strikes me as alarming. Yes, we exist in Amateur radio and at greater numbers than many realize. There are even entire national organizations run by hams who are persons of color and/or female hams. While we may not have the numbers as white, male, older aged hams, we need to feel that we are welcomed as equals, or the league will most certainly lose us. 73 Ria, N2RJ On Tue, 5 Feb 2019 at 13:28, Richard J. Norton <richardjnorton@gmail.com> wrote:
At the recent Quartzfest ARRL Forum, I mentioned that the Board had approved a contract to build the framework for a "Lifelong Learning" web-site that is intended to educate newcomers to Amateur Radio and eventually result in a higher percentage of newly licensed hams becoming and continuing to be ARRL members. I commented that, at present, content for the site had not been specifically identified or produced.
The first audience member responded positively, stating that that was a desirable step for the League to undertake.
The second respondent sarcastically asked if I was aware of a site called YouTube.
The third was more specific. He introduced himself as Dave Casler, KE0OG. He has more than 400 free ham radio videos on his YouTube site, with over 47,000 subscribers. I found his site at https://www.youtube.com/user/davecasler .
Casler didn't seem impressed with the creation of a new ham radio framework for a web-site with no content, and seemed somewhat miffed that no attention was paid to existing web-sites and material that appeared to match ARRL's future goals. Casler even expressed possible interest in having his material accessed through the League.
He also added that K7AGE, who was also at Quartzfest, also has a web-site with videos. I found that K7AGE's site has over 31,000 subscribers. K7AGE's site, https://www.youtube.com/user/K7AGE?feature=mhee , then lists another 10 ham radio related web-sites.
W2AEW - 101,000 subscribers Steve WG0AT - 5,000 subscribers HamRadioNow - 11,000 subscribers KN4AQ - 1,700 subscribers EEVblog - 621,000 subscribers HamRadioConcepts - 43,000 subscribers Jim W6LG - 17,000 subscribers Kevin Loughlin - 15,000 subscribers Dave Tadlock - 20,000 subscribers DX Commander - 9,000 subscribers
I would have hoped that all these 12 and any other competitive resources would have been researched, their capabilities and user statistics summarized, and potential impact on the proposed new web-site made clear, before we proceeded with funding. Apparently I was the only Board member with this view.
Note that there are many other non-video ham-radio related web-sites with text and charts.
I still don't understand how the League expects viewers to pay for most content, given the free competition. I still remember the sample initial page shown at the Thursday night presentation where there was a box at the top labeled something like "Free Trial." Possibly someone here can explain the rationale.
Even at this stage, I still think it would be valuable for the staff to put together a compilation of competitive resources, and any planned approach to their presence.
73,
Dick Norton, N6AA _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv
Here’s my take on the Mintz & Hoke project: Yes, there are zillions of self-help instructional videos out there. Having sampled a number of them, from changing the mower belt on a John Deere garden tractor to seeing how others visualize the emission of EM waves from dipoles, I think I can safely say that 80-90% of them “fail” in one or more significant ways, Mr. Casler’s comments notwithstanding. To name a few sad characteristics: boring, missed the mark, inaudible, too much local dialect, amateurish camera techniques, inadequate visuals, and just plain wrong! What happens to many potential viewers is that after we’ve struggled through a sampling of others’ recorded attempts to explain how something works or how to do something, we look at the clock on the wall and realize, “Wow! I’ve just spent a lot of time, and I’m no closer to finding an answer to my problem than when I started! Enough of this nonsense!” Instead, if this project is to succeed, I think it will be critical for ARRL to have its own “brand” of instructional internet materials, and that brand should carry with it a cachet that its offerings have characteristics opposite those listed above — without exception! I visualize the library as along the lines of what Coursera, MITx, and some on-line colleges produce — although even those offerings are not always consistent or inspired. Every single element of the future ARRL library must be “vetted” before being made generally available; there will need to be teams of volunteers that include not just experts on the subject material but neophytes who can provide a reasonable representation of the target audience. Consequently, there will be non-trivial production costs associated with each item in the League’s future library, both for the creation of visuals and dialog used during the filming and for the production itself. Certainly selected offerings from Mr. Casler and others that meet the quality requirements could be used, but there are rebranding and licensing or royalty costs associated with that approach, too. I’m disappointed the million-dollar Mintz & Hoke motion passed by voice vote; I was too late in thinking to ask for a Roll Call vote, and the Chair did not ask for “Nays” or abstentions. The project may ultimately be wonderful, but something that is going to end up costing the League more than a million dollars by the time a first round of content is added should have far more in the way of proposal detail, project controls, and biographical information about the contractor’s principals than the single sheet of paper and an after-dinner PowerPoint presentation I’ve seen thus far. Bud, W2RU
Dick, Your recentemail regarding content for the ARRL Lifelong Learning program stirred myinterest. Thanks for calling some ofthese issues to our attention. First, as tocontent, it was good to see Ms. Jairam’s comments from an educational perspective. She mentioned “structure and curriculum, an ability to add learningexercises, skill assessments, etc.” as things that a good educational sitewould offer that You Tube would not. Shehas far more experience in that area than I do, but I agree wholeheartedly withher. As for video, well, that is my area of expertise. I spent years producing and directing news,documentaries, commercials, public service announcements, and even corporatevideos, before capping my career with 25 years supervising the production ofcommercials for the world’s biggest advertiser, Procter & Gamble. I think I know video and how it communicates. So I was intrigued with your offering of all those YouTubeproducers. I spent some time looking ateach of their offerings. While I did notlook extensively at each producer’s work, I got a good enough look at each ofthem to be able to offer a bit of an assessment of their quality, bothtechnically, and from a content standpoint. Interestingly, I found that your list, intentionally or not,reflected my assessment of the quality of the producers from top tobottom. I was enthused about DaveCasler, KE0OG. He is a good host, hisvideos are technically well-produced, and he is well-organized in what he saysand interesting in how he does it. As wego further down the list, quality deteriorates, in my opinion. Also, I would note that at least two of thesites listed are more “talk” sites, discussing issues, attitudes, and manyother things relevant to ham radio, but not “instructional” as most of us wouldunderstand that term. Many of the othersites offer poor quality, either in content, quality, or especially in“likeability.” And of note, at least oneof the sites is on such a high technical plane that on Howard’s “Spectrum ofHams” (February QST), it would be at the far end of the quadrant of“technologists.” Not bad, but not ofwidespread interest. How am I assessing these videos? I made a list of criteria, with four majorpoints, and some explanations about each. Content o Organization of ideas § Concise, not rambling § An objective for the video, and some keytake-aways for the viewer o Technical correctness of subject matter Quality o Video (good quality technically, steady shots, good lighting, etc.) o Audio (close-miked, not noisy or echo-y, no distracting background noises, cleardiction, etc.) Editing o Easy to follow o Demonstrations that are clear visually,with close-ups where necessary, and appropriately placed to follow the audiothat describes them. o Not allowing any distractionsencountered during shooting to intrude on the program Likeability o Visual Interest--meaning, for instance,appropriate cuts and close-ups, never staying too long on either the host or ona particular graphic or piece of equipment o Engaging host o Music and titles where appropriate o Appropriate length for the subjectmatter At this point, I’m not offering a detailed evaluation of eachsite. I’m not sure how helpful it wouldbe, or whether or not it would be worth the hours and hours of viewing that itwould take me. I would hope that wecould interest the staff in taking a look at a few of these, in particular ifDave Casel is interested in working with ARRL. YouTube is useful, but one has to be wary of the content andthe producers. Some “how to…” videos arejust the thing for repairing that obscure piece of equipment, and others canmislead. Within ham radio, just thesampling of what you listed, let alone the hundreds of thousands of other videos,can be anything from really good to frighteningly awful. ARRL has a lot of excellent content. We need to find ways to pull it intoscreen-friendly applications, and we will need a lot of help doing that. So let the dialog continue. Tom W8WTD On Tuesday, February 5, 2019, 1:28:31 PM EST, Richard J. Norton <richardjnorton@gmail.com> wrote: At the recent Quartzfest ARRL Forum, I mentioned that the Board had approved a contract to build the framework for a "Lifelong Learning" web-site that is intended to educate newcomers to Amateur Radio and eventually result in a higher percentage of newly licensed hams becoming and continuing to be ARRL members. I commented that, at present, content for the site had not been specifically identified or produced. The first audience member responded positively, stating that that was a desirable step for the League to undertake. The second respondent sarcastically asked if I was aware of a site called YouTube. The third was more specific. He introduced himself as Dave Casler, KE0OG. He has more than 400 free ham radio videos on his YouTube site, with over 47,000 subscribers. I found his site at https://www.youtube.com/user/davecasler . Casler didn't seem impressed with the creation of a new ham radio framework for a web-site with no content, and seemed somewhat miffed that no attention was paid to existing web-sites and material that appeared to match ARRL's future goals. Casler even expressed possible interest in having his material accessed through the League. He also added that K7AGE, who was also at Quartzfest, also has a web-site with videos. I found that K7AGE's site has over 31,000 subscribers. K7AGE's site, https://www.youtube.com/user/K7AGE?feature=mhee , then lists another 10 ham radio related web-sites. W2AEW - 101,000 subscribersSteve WG0AT - 5,000 subscribersHamRadioNow - 11,000 subscribersKN4AQ - 1,700 subscribersEEVblog - 621,000 subscribers HamRadioConcepts - 43,000 subscribers Jim W6LG - 17,000 subscribersKevin Loughlin - 15,000 subscribersDave Tadlock - 20,000 subscribers DX Commander - 9,000 subscribers I would have hoped that all these 12 and any other competitive resources would have been researched, their capabilities and user statistics summarized, and potential impact on the proposed new web-site made clear, before we proceeded with funding. Apparently I was the only Board member with this view. Note that there are many other non-video ham-radio related web-sites with text and charts. I still don't understand how the League expects viewers to pay for most content, given the free competition. I still remember the sample initial page shown at the Thursday night presentation where there was a box at the top labeled something like "Free Trial." Possibly someone here can explain the rationale. Even at this stage, I still think it would be valuable for the staff to put together a compilation of competitive resources, and any planned approach to their presence. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA_______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv
Thanks Ria, Bud, Tom for your comments, Your perspective on the development of our Lifelong Learning program aligns closely with our vision. Rather than simply being a curator of existing content which may or may not align properly, the Lifelong Learning initiative will allow us to build appropriate curriculum or pathways to meet the specific needs of various amateur radio interests. The ultimate goal is to make ARRL a learning "hub" for the entire amateur radio community. We are in the early stages of developing a content plan, using both our in-house expertise and the research we've already done leading up to this point. In addition we will use the vast amount of existing web content as a point of reference to help us map out this plan, and we are also very open to using some of this existing content within our program and/or utilizing the services of the content creators to assist us in our efforts. As we move further along we'll provide updates and solicit feedback to ensure we develop an effective learning program for all. 73, Howard, WB2ITX On 2/7/2019 12:07 PM, arrl-odv wrote: Dick, Your recent email regarding content for the ARRL Lifelong Learning program stirred my interest. Thanks for calling some of these issues to our attention. First, as to content, it was good to see Ms. Jairam’s comments from an educational perspective. She mentioned “structure and curriculum, an ability to add learning exercises, skill assessments, etc.” as things that a good educational site would offer that You Tube would not. She has far more experience in that area than I do, but I agree wholeheartedly with her. As for video, well, that is my area of expertise. I spent years producing and directing news, documentaries, commercials, public service announcements, and even corporate videos, before capping my career with 25 years supervising the production of commercials for the world’s biggest advertiser, Procter & Gamble. I think I know video and how it communicates. So I was intrigued with your offering of all those YouTube producers. I spent some time looking at each of their offerings. While I did not look extensively at each producer’s work, I got a good enough look at each of them to be able to offer a bit of an assessment of their quality, both technically, and from a content standpoint. Interestingly, I found that your list, intentionally or not, reflected my assessment of the quality of the producers from top to bottom. I was enthused about Dave Casler, KE0OG. He is a good host, his videos are technically well-produced, and he is well-organized in what he says and interesting in how he does it. As we go further down the list, quality deteriorates, in my opinion. Also, I would note that at least two of the sites listed are more “talk” sites, discussing issues, attitudes, and many other things relevant to ham radio, but not “instructional” as most of us would understand that term. Many of the other sites offer poor quality, either in content, quality, or especially in “likeability.” And of note, at least one of the sites is on such a high technical plane that on Howard’s “Spectrum of Hams” (February QST), it would be at the far end of the quadrant of “technologists.” Not bad, but not of widespread interest. How am I assessing these videos? I made a list of criteria, with four major points, and some explanations about each. Content o Organization of ideas • Concise, not rambling • An objective for the video, and some key take-aways for the viewer o Technical correctness of subject matter Quality o Video (good quality technically, steady shots, good lighting, etc.) o Audio (close-miked, not noisy or echo-y, no distracting background noises, clear diction, etc.) Editing o Easy to follow o Demonstrations that are clear visually, with close-ups where necessary, and appropriately placed to follow the audio that describes them. o Not allowing any distractions encountered during shooting to intrude on the program Likeability o Visual Interest--meaning, for instance, appropriate cuts and close-ups, never staying too long on either the host or on a particular graphic or piece of equipment o Engaging host o Music and titles where appropriate o Appropriate length for the subject matter At this point, I’m not offering a detailed evaluation of each site. I’m not sure how helpful it would be, or whether or not it would be worth the hours and hours of viewing that it would take me. I would hope that we could interest the staff in taking a look at a few of these, in particular if Dave Casel is interested in working with ARRL. YouTube is useful, but one has to be wary of the content and the producers. Some “how to…” videos are just the thing for repairing that obscure piece of equipment, and others can mislead. Within ham radio, just the sampling of what you listed, let alone the hundreds of thousands of other videos, can be anything from really good to frighteningly awful. ARRL has a lot of excellent content. We need to find ways to pull it into screen-friendly applications, and we will need a lot of help doing that. So let the dialog continue. Tom W8WTD On Tuesday, February 5, 2019, 1:28:31 PM EST, Richard J. Norton <richardjnorton@gmail.com><mailto:richardjnorton@gmail.com> wrote: At the recent Quartzfest ARRL Forum, I mentioned that the Board had approved a contract to build the framework for a "Lifelong Learning" web-site that is intended to educate newcomers to Amateur Radio and eventually result in a higher percentage of newly licensed hams becoming and continuing to be ARRL members. I commented that, at present, content for the site had not been specifically identified or produced. The first audience member responded positively, stating that that was a desirable step for the League to undertake. The second respondent sarcastically asked if I was aware of a site called YouTube. The third was more specific. He introduced himself as Dave Casler, KE0OG. He has more than 400 free ham radio videos on his YouTube site, with over 47,000 subscribers. I found his site at https://www.youtube.com/user/davecasler . Casler didn't seem impressed with the creation of a new ham radio framework for a web-site with no content, and seemed somewhat miffed that no attention was paid to existing web-sites and material that appeared to match ARRL's future goals. Casler even expressed possible interest in having his material accessed through the League. He also added that K7AGE, who was also at Quartzfest, also has a web-site with videos. I found that K7AGE's site has over 31,000 subscribers. K7AGE's site, https://www.youtube.com/user/K7AGE?feature=mhee , then lists another 10 ham radio related web-sites. W2AEW - 101,000 subscribers Steve WG0AT - 5,000 subscribers HamRadioNow - 11,000 subscribers KN4AQ - 1,700 subscribers EEVblog - 621,000 subscribers HamRadioConcepts - 43,000 subscribers Jim W6LG - 17,000 subscribers Kevin Loughlin - 15,000 subscribers Dave Tadlock - 20,000 subscribers DX Commander - 9,000 subscribers I would have hoped that all these 12 and any other competitive resources would have been researched, their capabilities and user statistics summarized, and potential impact on the proposed new web-site made clear, before we proceeded with funding. Apparently I was the only Board member with this view. Note that there are many other non-video ham-radio related web-sites with text and charts. I still don't understand how the League expects viewers to pay for most content, given the free competition. I still remember the sample initial page shown at the Thursday night presentation where there was a box at the top labeled something like "Free Trial." Possibly someone here can explain the rationale. Even at this stage, I still think it would be valuable for the staff to put together a compilation of competitive resources, and any planned approach to their presence. 73, Dick Norton, N6AA _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org<mailto:arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org> https://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv -- Howard E. Michel, WB2ITX Chief Executive Officer ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio™ 225 Main Street, Newington, CT 06111-1494 USA Telephone: +1 860-594-0404 email: hmichel@arrl.org<mailto:hmichel@arrl.org>
participants (5)
-
Michel, Howard, WB2ITX (CEO) -
Richard J. Norton -
rjairam＠gmail.com -
Tom Delaney -
W2RU - ARRL