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All posts for “video”
Schoolhouse Rock! Turns 40 - Let's Keep The Dream Alive
Posted by: leelefever on January 15, 2013- 10:20am
Categories: animation, Great Explanations, schoolhouse rock, tv, video
When I was a wee lad, I remember seeing these little animated tv shows that seemed to be mixed in with my Saturday morning cartoons. They were only a few minutes long and were focused on a single subject. But these little shows were unlike anything else on TV. I learned something real. I remembered. I knew, at a very young age, how a bill becomes a law. It was Schoolhouse Rock! and as of January 13th, it turned 40 years old.
Speider Schneider is a family friend of David McCall, the creator of... Continue Reading
Understand Music - An Experiment in Explanation
Posted by: leelefever on December 10, 2012- 10:59am
Categories: animation, Art of Explanation, Explanation, music, video
Boing Boing pointed me to this beautiful animated video by a German studio called "finally". From the description with the video:
Music is a good thing. But what we did not know until we started with the research for this piece: Music is also a pretty damn complex thing. This experimental animation is about the attempt to understand all the parts and bits of it. Have a look. You might agree with our conclusion!
Email or RSS readers can watch the video here.
I think this is a great example... Continue Reading
New Video: Online Citizenship
Posted by: leelefever on December 4, 2012- 8:55am
Categories: Explanation, net safety, New Video, online citizenship, trolls, video
Today we’re announcing a new video: Online Citizenship - Explained by Common Craft.
What it teaches:
Sometimes communicating via computers can feel anonymous and make people lose touch with the impact of what they say online. This video highlights the problems this causes and explains a basic idea: that our words matter, online and off. It teaches:
• Why citizenship matters in the real world
• How one person can behave differently online and off
• What happens when someone forgets that real... Continue Reading
Our Secrets Revealed: Behind the Scenes at Common Craft
Posted by: leelefever on November 7, 2012- 9:02am
Categories: about, buzz, Common Craft, documentary, interview, seattle, video
A team from the Seattle Channel recently spent a couple of days with us at Common Craft. They interviewed us and filmed every part of our work. This video captures the Common Craft process and philosophy unlike anything else. I think you'll love it. (Email readers can watch it here.)
Follow Common Craft or check out The Art of Explanation.
Our video "Zombies in Plain English" is surely responsible for saving millions of brains over the last few years. But it's time for an update. For this Halloween, we're debuting a REDUX - with a new ending. Be brain-safe this Halloween!
Our library of other videos are also helpful for brains, but for entirely different reasons. Check them out.
And if you're interested in becoming a better explainer, we wrote a book just for you.
Here's the original Zombies video.
Video: Explaining The US Election Process
Posted by: leelefever on October 10, 2012- 12:29pm
Categories: election, Explanation, Explanation, politics, video
This time of year, politics is everywhere, and so is confusion. Electing the US president is a complex subject with lots of moving parts.
That’s why we chose to explain it with a simple, non-biased video that uses visuals to make it understandable. It’s one of my favorite videos in our library and I hope it will be helpful to you and people you know. Please feel free to share it.
Looking for more videos like this? Check out our library of video explanations. Or build your own explanation... Continue Reading
New Video - Big Data Explained by Common Craft
Posted by: leelefever on September 19, 2012- 8:24am
Categories: big data, data, Explanation, New Video, technology, video
Today we’re announcing a new video explanation: Big Data - Explained by Common Craft
What it Teaches:
Incredible amounts of data are produced every day, so much that we can’t use it all. Big data is a term used to describe the tools and processes that seek to make this data useful and productive. This video uses the example of traffic data to teach:
Where big data comes from and how it’s collected
Why special tools are required to use it
The three big challenges: Volume, Variability and... Continue Reading
Music Makes Explanations Remarkable
Posted by: leelefever on September 13, 2012- 10:13am
Categories: education, Great Explanations, music, remarkable, video
Recently we saw Ira Glass, the host of the popular radio show and podcast This American Life, speak about "Reinventing Radio." One of his first points was about the seriousness of how news and events are usually covered. His show strives to be different - and look for ways to approach news from an original and remarkable perspective.
My first thought was to compare this to education and especially educational videos. So many of them are so very serious. I will teach you this...you are... Continue Reading
New Video: Crowdsourcing Explained by Common Craft
Posted by: leelefever on July 18, 2012- 11:22am
Categories: business, crowdsourcing, New Video, technology, video, workplace
Today we’re announcing a new video: Crowdsourcing - Explained by Common Craft
These days crowdsourcing is changing how we think about getting things done. This video follows the story of a person who discovers how a “crowd” of strangers can help him accomplish a goal. It teaches:
• Why crowdsourcing is needed
• How goals are accomplished using crowdsourcing
• How crowdsourcing helps with speed, quality and cost
• What motivates crowd members to contribute
• How crowdfunding helps turn... Continue Reading
When we opened the Common Craft membership service, we made every video in our library available for embedding on other websites. Our vision was to give organizations of all types a new resource for educating and informing their visitors.
Just recently we saw a great example of this idea at work. A small religious organization in Pennsylvania created a page that serves as their very own library of educational Common Craft videos. With this simple page, they can offer their fans and visitors an... Continue Reading