“Videotelling” crowdfunding campaign gets off to a flying start

Award-winning author and educator Jamie Keddie recently kicked off a crowdfunding campaign for his latest book, a self-published effort entitled “Videotelling: Storytelling for Screenagers” which marries traditional storytelling with popular YouTube videos.
 
Keddie launched his campaign on Indiegogo (http://igg.me/at/videotelling/) on 13 November 2015 and has hit 60% of his crowdfunding goal in less than a week. “Videotelling: Storytelling for Screenagers” is a resource book which explores folklore of the YouTube era. It provides teachers with a bank of interactive storytelling activities, each of which is based on the narrative of a viral video.
 
“I am a complete YouTube potato. I am fascinated by the stories that come out of video-sharing,” says Keddie. “For almost a decade now, I have been trawling the depths of YouTube, curating videos and creating stories to use in my classroom. I never cease to be amazed at what I find.”
 
Keddie, who is also a teacher, teacher trainer, and presenter, regularly shares his ideas with educators all over the world, in classrooms, conferences, webinars and symposiums. His previous publications, “Images” and “Bringing Online Video into the Classroom,” were published under Oxford University Press.
 
One of the stories in the upcoming book describes a skydiver who, while preparing for a jump, accidentally lets go of his Go-pro camera. Last seen falling out of the door of the plane, the camera is discovered eight months later by a farmer. Incredibly, the 25-second fall followed by bumpy landing is caught on camera – by the Go-pro camera itself. The farmer uploads the footage onto YouTube and the world is introduced to his greedy pig who, having never seen a Go-pro camera before, naturally tries to eat it!
 
What makes the activities in “Videotelling: Storytelling for Screenagers” unique is that after taking part in them, students can actually watch the videos. This ‘discussion first, video second’ approach creates engaging, impactful and memorable learning experiences, many of which develop communication, critical thinking, and media literacy skills.
 
“I am very happy the way the campaign is going,” Keddie says. “I would love to exceed the target. That would allow me to create an online Videotelling course for teachers all over the world. I know that there are plenty of other YouTube potatoes out there who would love to learn my storytelling approaches and techniques.”

About Jamie Keddie
Keddie is an established Oxford University Press author and the winner of a British Council ELTon award (Sponsored by Cambridge English, the ELTons are the only international awards to recognise and celebrate innovation in English language teaching.) “Videotelling: Storytelling for Screenagers” is his first self-published book.

 

Contact Information

Jamie Keddie

author of Videotelling: Storytelling for Screenagers

Beverley Hon at Xcess Communication

(60) 19 313 6011

beverley@xcesscommunication.com