Finally, after 3 tries, I finished the Deconstructing Unschooling video I started on Sunday.  The first set of videos I tossed because I hated the somber, preachy demeanor I had somehow affected in them.   The second set was great, and then I accidentally deleted the main clip from my camera before importing it into the computer!   Today I re-shot the segment and imported it – using my own computer instead of my daughter’s, and basically tearing out my hair while trying to edit and upload on a slightly different system than she uses and to which I’d gotten accustomed over the past three weeks of making these videos.

I titled the new video “How do you know they’re learning?” and then got to thinking about that question in relation to this new project of making, editing and uploading videos.  How do I know how to do it?  I don’t – not completely – but I’m learning.   My daughter Maya can do this type of thing with her eyes closed.  Her fingers fly across the keys as she edits and she does in 10 minutes what still takes me an hour.  No matter.  I’ll get there.

Just for a minute, let’s pretend that making and editing videos is a subject in school and has always been a subject in school. Let’s also pretend that when I was 13 and in video class, I had no real interest in it and simply went through the motions to do well on the test.  Which let’s say I did!  All A’s!   Fast forward 30+ years to me struggling to re-learn this skill while my daughter, who loves all things video related and has never been in a video class, picks it up on her own…

It’s the same with any subject, really.  In school you are forced to “learn” certain things to do well on tests, get decent grades and move on to the next set of facts, equations or stories.   That doesn’t mean they will be with you 30 years later.

As it happens, I’m enjoying learning the process of making videos, and hope their content and quality will continue to improve.  Once today’s video was uploaded, I saw that some of the quality had been lost in the transfer (didn’t use Quicktime, which Maya thinks is the reason).   Also, because I re-filmed it 3 times and don’t use a script, I am not happy with my conclusion. (It sounds a little too…earnest.)  But honestly I just couldn’t face another round of filming and editing.  It’s as good as this one is going to get.

My point?  True learning is not found in a set of pre-determined facts doled out at specific ages and regurgitated upon demand.   True learning happens at different times in a variety of ways and rarely comes in a neat package.

It is always a work in progress.