I really do think that the videos offer a very nice way of giving students another way to understand something; regardless of the difficulty. This is as close as [the students] will get to a real classroom, with a real instructor lecturing and showing examples.

Wow... I clicked on the link expecting about 7-8 videos and saw a lot more. If it's possible to make them at this rate, I don't feel that it's a waste of time.

Does it take a long time to edit out mistakes?

The videos are just awesome!
yes, they're slightly below an average AoPser (i'm still approaching that level by ordering vol 2 and geo revisited!) but its still something (not just something, a big something) and basic probability would be appreciated (by me , i am ok at advanced c and p though )


Totally off subject: I LOVE GEOMETRY!!!

These are great videos.
They have great useful content.
I, being a not quite AoPSer, found that they were very helpful.

"How good-looking can you be if you do not know math?"
Great line.

Richard, you've done a superb job with these videos. The content, presentation style, and technical quality are, unsurprisingly, all excellent. Congratulations on all that you've built and are building, and for developing processes that allow you to identify opportunities for new content and to optimize content quickly based on visitor feedback. Keep up the great work.

Richard,

The videos look great visually and the audio comes through very clear. I think the microphone is key for instances where you are writing on the board and talking at the same time. This has always been a problem for teachers who need to do math without the aid of technology.

I haven't had a chance to look through all of the videos, and I probably won't, but there was one thing I noticed in the video on Venn diagrams. You point out that one couldn't compute the number of houses by just adding up all the numbers, which I think is a very important point that got glossed over a bit. I didn't have any trouble following, but for a student unfamiliar with venn diagrams, the logic went by fairly quickly. Also, you said "these people are counted here and here" with some pointing motions, and I feel this point should be stated more explicitly along the lines of:

1) the number of houses with dogs includes houses that have dogs AND cats, so if house X has a dog and a cat, it will be counted once in both groups

2) so if all the numbers were to be added up, house X would be counted multiple times, and the tally would be incorrect.

I think it would be a good idea to pilot these videos among non-AoPSers to figure out these common tripping points that can then be addressed in future revisions. Are there currently any plans for math teachers to have access to these videos and use them for instructional purposes, or are they primarily for use by current and future AoPSers?

We do expect to make them available to teachers, but I don't have much optimism about getting teachers to see or use them. As you probably know, we have few teachers on AoPS, and very few avenues to reach teachers. I think to the extent this will get to schools, it will be through teachers who want to give their top kids something to do.

It's tough to tell which little points to stress --- sometimes it feels like I'm beating very small points to death, and other times, like the one you mention, I could probably spend another 30 seconds (or couple minutes) reiterating a specific point. That's another thing that's tough to deal with making these videos. In the online classes, it's obvious when something isn't working, and I fix it for the next time I teach the class. Harder to do on the fly in the videos. What I'll probably do is make them public and count on user comments to highlight which ones need to be reshot to make certain points more clear.

Just watched that video again, hao, and you're definitely right. I can even tell why I glossed over that -- I didn't want to give the game away (second solution). But I thought of a way to hit the point and get around that. I need to reshoot this one anyway -- it's one of my earliest ones, and the lighting isn't as good as the later ones. (I'm also on a wireless mic, which causes a lot more buzzing than the wired one I use now.)

if you really want feedback...
the scroll bar is kinda hard to manage...
and i havent checked but are you the only speaker?
it might be helpful to introduce variety in the speakers-- that is if any other admin would like to demonstrate some of the ideas
i am wondering how easy it would be to add a quality control (as in graphics) to the videos
sometimes its more that the concept is more important that the graphics, and i have a sort of slow computer (maybe cause its a vista )
so a range of quality should be added

These videos are truly excellent. I hope there will be many more!

I see this type of video explanation as a major part of the future of education. Somehow a lot of understanding is conveyed in a video that just doesn't come through when you're reading a book. Like the way you can shudder at an ugly expression, or pause and say, "uh oh, it looks like this isn't going to work--let's try something else." It's great in a video, but doesn't work as well in a book.

I would like to see a wiki component to this, with a whole community of people creating their own video explanations. Google has a new product, Gaudi, that searches online videos and finds the specific locations in the video that match what you searched for. Hopefully in the not too distant future it will be possible to Google for any math topic, and find a high quality video explanation.

The easier and more fun it becomes to learn things, the more society as a whole will be enlightened.

These videos are definitely worth the effort---I think my sister (rising 8th grader) actually understands the concepts. (When I try to teach, she gets confused two minutes into the.. rant.)

I just watched the one on counting by factorials. It's cool how you can select sections within the video (as far as I know, that's a unique feature). It's also nice how you put in little jokes to keep things lively.

As for getting these to teachers and students, couldn't we AoPSers show them to our teachers? They're undeniably great videos, and once people get a taste, I don't see why they wouldn't want more..

I'd be very happy for you to show them to your teachers, MATHCOUNTS coaches, classmates, etc.