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Comment by alatkins | Hacker News Reader

This is interesting because I find watching recorded lectures one of the most tedious and inefficient ways to learn about a given subject. I far prefer a good textbook for self-directed learning.

Is this just me or do others really find video superior?

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It depends on the instructor. I'm working through a Quantum Course by Prof. Binney at Oxford. His moment to moment teaching is not great, but he'll intermittently and regularly just drop gold nuggets.

It's those "aha" moments where someone with a deep knowledge of the material clears up some misconception I've had for decades with a few sentences, or an off the cuff remark.

I can only watch videos on 1.5 to 2x speed now. Thanks god youtube added this feature as well or I'd go crazy.

Wuzza-fuzza what now? Where? How? What keys?

Here's one way:

1) Join the HTML5 trial http://www.youtube.com/html5

2) Open Chrome inspector, select the <video> element

3) In the Chrome console, type $0.playbackRate = 2.0 ($0 refers to the element you've selected in the inspector)

This also works for other sites that use the HTML5 video element, and allows you to go faster than 2x if you prefer.

YouTube's HTML5 interface also has a menu option (gear icon) which has a speed control, but the Chrome inspector trick works with any HTML5 site.

Quite handy - thanks for the tip!

Another way... download with youtube-dl and play back with VLC. I believe the square bracket keys change the speed.

I do agree with you. Maybe it's something the Internet is "doing to my brain" [1], but everyday I feel less and less inclined to resort to video when I'm actively seeking information; I guess the "new" me can't stand watching something at its own pace (or, worst, focusing on one and only one thing at once). I got too used to reading, skimming and scanning at my own pace (and no - clicking randomly at a timeline or accelerating the playback is not the same).

I've noticed this before MOOCs, actually. Take web development tutorials, for instance. A few colleagues of mine loved video tutorials from (e.g) lynda.com; I found it utterly boring and inefficient.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/The-Shallows-Internet-Doing-Brains/dp/...

It's not just you, but I believe it's a subset of people. Though I'm not an educational researcher, I believe it has to do with your comprehension style -- people tend to gravitate to one style they like best.

The common one I've seen referenced is the VARK model: Visual, Auditory, Read/write, Kinetic[0]. Though as that wiki page states, there are several other theories.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles#Neil_Fleming.27...

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