Howo important do you think this stuff really is? It seemsm like a LOT of work and so I'm wonderign the reward.

Hi Samantha, This is Matt Ulmer, from EducationDynamics. You ask a great question. Creating this content is a lot of hard work, and could cost a great deal of money, but in order to reach today's current crop of students, it's pretty much a necessity. As it says in the description, students expect choices. They may want to read your information while surfing your site, or they may want to listen to it while mowing the lawn or doing homework. In many cases, they'd be much more likely to sit and absorb your information in a 30 second video as opposed to reading three paragraphs of text. The old adage was that people are coming to your website in search of information, so they'll be willing to read it, and this is still true, but it is shifting. They still want your information, but they want to sit there and read it if they so choose, or sit there and watch it if they'd prefer, or listen to it while checking out other pages, etc. Fortunately, while it certainly can be expensive, it doesn't have to be, as you don't need to professional companies. In this age of YouTube and cell phone videos, students don't need (and in many cases don't want) polished videos. They want stuff that looks like they could have created it, and that means you can use Web cams for video or your computer's pre-installed microphone for podcasts. You can simply talk continuously about your message if you choose, or if you want to make something more dynamic you can try your hand at editing: free editing programs like Apple's iMovie make it surprisingly easy. The bottom line is that it can be done, and it should be done. Even if it costs you time and money, it should be done. Otherwise, students could completely ignore your institution. And that will end up costing a lot more than the creation of a video.

I agree completely with Matt's sentiments. It's not so much what the rewards will be for doing it as it is what negatives will arise from not doing it.

thanks