Looking for different ways to create video content? Try out a new app called mmhmm. It allows for some really creative ways to participate in Zoom or Google Meets as well as presenting slides and making videos in your courses. As an educator, you are able to get a free years subscription (can use all the tools for free for up to 60 minutes/day) to the Mac version or sign up to test the Windows Beta version.
mmhmm – Video primary
4 responses to “mmhmm – Video primary”
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Hi DeeDee,
Thanks for sharing this app. I can see the potential on the student presentation end of things as well as teacher-created content. We have so many students with anxiety that requiring students to present a project in front of the class has become very problematic. My solution to that in recent years has been to have students problem-solve their way around direct presentation, so some students are opting for video presentations. Mmhmm looks friendly enough for students to learn to use while still staying in their PowerPoint comfort zones.
Hi DeeDee,
This is a really neat way to change up the typical online meeting! I wonder how well this would work for the last-minute presenter.
I was imagining myself in front of the camera, presenting my slides while moving my mini-me around as I transitioned along my presentation.
This could take some extra work to get going, and some extra practice to be able to interact in mirror with your background (weather person training would be helpful here) before being able to pull off a seamless show as seen in the videos.
I also noticed that with the toggles on the bottom or the side, the presentator’s eyes are not focused at the camera, so the eye contact may be missing as the presenter tries to interact with the screen controls.
I see the potential with keeping the audience’s attention with a slicker view, but with a steep learning curve of bumpy presentations between newbie and slide mastery.
I would be curious if there could be a moderator to help the presenter. Imagine if the moderator could change the slides and move the presenter, who then could focus on presenting the content. Again, last-minute people would not be successful! The two people would need to practice their online choreography before the presentation.
Thank you for sharing, and I may try to join as a beta Windows tester to add in my comments!
Evelyne,
I am sure the program has a learning curve just like using any other new program. I have a colleague that has used it and he loves it. He think it is very well designed and easy to use. You can find a few videos on their website of teachers that have been using it in their classes and it looks quite easy to manipulate the screen and there are different short cut keys to control changes.
With any presentation you are completing with multiple people you would want to prepare and plan before hand so I am not sure this would be much different. The ability for two people to have control is interesting as I am not aware of other online tools that allow some one else to control a slideshow while you are presenting.
I am waiting for a response on my request to be a beta tester but I am going to download on my mac and try to make a few videos there.
Hi DeeDee,
Thanks for pointing out the success stories for using Mmhmm. I find it interesting how the YouTube searches I found were not as polished as on their website! I did not know about the shortcuts, which would definitely improve the presentation aspect.
I think that the way a presenter works – whether the person interacts with the slide content, or just uses them as visual aids for the audience – may have a large effect on the learning curve.
Given the people I know, the latter use – slides as visual aids – would be very quickly incorporated as a permanent attribute to their lessons.