Video iPod Comes to Your Glasses

Let’s continue the iPod discussion. While schools are banning iPods as fast as they can (see Hire that Kid!), several companies I work with have placed Standard Work Instructions onto iPods. Actually onto video iPods.

The idea is that a worker, away from his or her computer, can quickly look up a specific work task and view a 30 second video of how to perform that task. The Just-In-Time learning allows the worker to see what he or she needs to do and then perform the task.

If you have ever tried to interpert written instructions, you know just how valuable a short video can be for helping to understand exactly what you are supposed to do. A video can show how parts work together or the correct way to move an item from point A to point B.

In fact, my son’s Karate instructor uses that exact same technique to refresh his memory of Katas. A Kata is a sequence of moves, kicking, punching, dodging. So, my son’s Karate instructor has 100s of Katas loaded onto a hand held video player which he keeps in his pocket. When he want to remember the exact sequence of the Kata, he pulls it out and reviews it. He then teaches the moves to the students.

In this case, he uses the video player to refresh his memory and to enhance his instruction.

In Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning, I write about the use of Visual Job Aids on a portable video player created by a company called EduNeering. Here is some of the passage.

In a recent study at a client organization, one hundred workers in a pharamceutical manufacturing facility needed to learn a new procedure. Fifty of them were given the typcial paper version of the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), and fifty were given the Visual Job Aid version. In a writen test of SOP knowledge, only 42% of those who received the paper SOP passed the test, while 82 percent of those who learened using the Visual Job Aid passed.

Now take that video iPod to the next level and create glasses that allow you to view the video heads-up. This is what a company called MyVu has done.

They have created glasses that you hook up to a video iPod and then can see a “large screen” version right in front of you. Imagine a few modifications to create a heads-up display of a piece of machinary and then provide video-based instructions on how to repair the equipment or make adjustments. Think of the learning implications of the use of a heads up video display powered by a pocket sized iPod…schools will go nuts.
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