Week 1

Having watched a number of these student videos on topics ranging from the Cuban Revolution in the 1960s to the meeting of two worlds: the Spanish and the Aztecs I can say that I’ve learnt much from some and very little from others but more importantly I’ve learnt what makes one of these videos so engaging and informative. 

 

The videos that impressed me the most out of the ones I watched were ‘The Legacy of US Interventionism in Latin America’ by Joe, Felipe and Olga as well as ‘The Meeting of Two Worlds: Aztec Edition’ by Sophie, Michelle, Elena and Christiana. The first of the two began with a clear introduction outlining the cases that would be examined in order to illustrate the legacy of US interventionism in the region as well as stating how they would use the historical context of the intervention, the rhetoric and tactics used by the US government to justify the intervention and the political, economic and social consequences on the region to explain their view. The graphics and images shown were all highly relevant to what they were discussing which along with the slower pace at which they spoke made the video very easy to follow along. Overall I found the video very informative and easy to watch.

 

Another video that I enjoyed was ‘The Meeting of Two Worlds: Aztec Edition’ by Sophie, Michelle, Elena and Christiana. The video was filled with funny animations with annotated speech bubbles describing the content being explained in a much simpler fashion which made the video very (funny and) easy to watch and understand. Furthermore, the narration was at a good speed so you didn’t feel that you had to give it your undivided concentration or you’d miss everything. Overall it gave a very clear comparison of life before and after the Spanish Conquest and was very enjoyable to watch!

 

I also watched ‘Independence Narratives, Past and Present’ by Anna and Nisa and whilst it was very funny the loud background noise, fast pace and funny country faces did distract you from what they were actually saying and made it quite difficult to follow the content of what they were saying but it was certainly fun to watch! Finally, when watching ‘A Revolutionary Process: The Cuban Revolution in the 1960s’ by Florence, Kelsey and Laura whilst I found the text on the side very helpful and the images interesting to look at I did not feel they were all completely relevant to what was being said and a little distracting especially when the narration was so fast!