Hi guys,
I'm looking for some feedback on an idea for a new you tube channel i am working on.
Firstly a little about me, i am 40 years old, and in 2013 gained a degree in TV & FILM production at a very prestigious university here in the UK. I have a teenage son, who along with most teenagers is only interested in a couple of things, firstly is his computer, and secondly zombies. Anyone who has a teenager (especially male) will probably have the same experiences. I am no professional electronic engineer but an a hobbyist who has been into electronics since i was a teenager myself, when i built my first circuit, a simple home alarm system, after my grandmother suffered a burglary.
Anyway, onto the idea
One of the biggest issues i have with electronics, even though i am an intelligent individual with a high IQ, i found it hard to follow some of the online Electronic videos (regarding training) in fact it has taken me till last year to understand Micro controllers and FPGA's, and this is through a lot of my own investigation and understanding at my own pace. which in itself is quite quick.
i have watched hundreds of you tube videos regarding electronics, and they all fall into the same general difficulty. assuming people know what they are talking about. for example.. Lets take a simple led circuit.. try finding a video which explains which resistor to use.. yes they tell you all the basics, using ohms law, but ohms law needs 3 items to work, and not one explains where the third item is.. IE.. resistance (which is what we want) = is voltage divided by amps. now we know a 3.3v bulb needs 3.3v but what amps does it need, Not one video explains how to find that out.. (i eventually worked it out, but my son still doesn't know, even though i got him to watch several videos).
so i want to make videos that are basically "videos for dummies" with regard to learning electronics, and that is where the idea came from.. the second problem i wanted to overcome is the number of new electronic engineers that are learning, and as such the videos should be targeted at the younger generation, so the idea was aimed towards teenagers, then the question on how to keep a teenagers attention.
so the idea came to create a character ( a Zombie) of an old professor, who is locked inside his crypt, and to pass time he spends his days building electronic components. now teenagers cannot afford to pay for components, and equipment and as such the idea will include the stripping of circuits from old products to make items for a lot cheaper.. since this is for hobby instead of business, i thought this would be a great way to teach electronics. now i will be creating a small set, inside a room about the size of a garage, which will look like the crypt.
anyway, i spoke with Dave, and got his opinion, and would appreciate every one else opinion, or even ideas if you have any that may help, or what may be better. i doubt their are any teenagers on here, but if there is, what do you think?
thank you in advance
keith appleby
... then the question on how to keep a teenagers attention.
That's a big question - and the answer is far beyond my abilities.
The zombie approach could work - but I'd be thinking about making sure your zombie was credible - after all, zombie have so many well-known traits.
As for scavenging parts from old electronics - I'd suggest you do some research as to the types of sources that your audience will have access to and what components they can access. There are many products that have COB solutions which may not be usable outside of a very narrow use case. There is also a LOT of SMD stuff around - and beginners may not have the skills to utilise them, let alone the desoldering abilities to successfully harvest them in the first place.
Also, I would strongly suggest you be very careful about terminology. The specific example I would cite is your discussion above where you are talking about LEDs and then refer to the luminous component as a "bulb". While there are LED bulbs around, they are an assembly fitted to a particular enclosure. At the component level, the word "bulb" strongly identifies with a resistive element surrounded by glass.
Whatever you do though, be happy with what you produce. Stay enthusiastic. Don't rush. Even with suitable training, you will go through a refinement process - so expect things to not be perfect. You have to be able to handle that. When you get feedback, expect everything from praise to anger. Be prepared for the dark side of people to show through - and learn to have a thick skin. Try to find constructive criticism - and remember, that one person's opinion is exactly that ... one person's opinion. Look for corroborating evidence before you start changing things. If it's something you were already considering, then all well and good - but sometimes it might be a suggestion that is completely opposite to what you had in mind. These can be challenging to deal with - but make sure you keep perspective and - above all - don't change something that will take away any enthusiasm you have.
Perhaps you could make a pilot episode, showing the sort of thing you have in mind and present it here for comment.
As the parent of two teenagers the best way to keep their attention is violence and explosions.
The specific example I would cite is your discussion above where you are talking about LEDs and then refer to the luminous component as a "bulb".
I see now what i wrote, the bulb part was meant to read LED, not bulb.. .
Even with suitable training, you will go through a refinement process - so expect things to not be perfect.
Yes i am aware of that, i have already ran a couple of you tube channels, both have done OK for the period they were active, One gaining 200+ subscribers in around 6 months, and the second 400+ in the same amount of time.. Yes not perfect but a start, so i am used to comments of all nature..
I'd sure like to know what Dave's advice was.
In a nutshell daves advice was as follows.. (i hope he doesnt mind)
the idea of the zombie, may not work, and he felt it was a gimmick to attract attention (which is is) also that he was not a teenager so he couldnt say either way, but then suggested posting in the forum for your guys comments.
The specific example I would cite is your discussion above where you are talking about LEDs and then refer to the luminous component as a "bulb".
I see now what i wrote, the bulb part was meant to read LED, not bulb.. .
I worked that out, because that's the only thing that really made sense - but it is one of those silly little slip-ups that can easily derail someone's thinking. Just something to be aware of.
...to pass time he spends his days building electronic components. now teenagers cannot afford to pay for components, and equipment and as such the idea will include the stripping of circuits from old products to make items for a lot cheaper.. since this is for hobby instead of business, i thought this would be a great way to teach electronics.
Just my 2p worth...
Sorry but it doesn't work for me and I'm pretty sure it won't work for the zombie lovers in our family. IMHO a channel needs to meet a need otherwise it just fades into the background and people gravitate elsewhere.
However, If you make it so they can play along (i.e. don't tear down but use parts they can get e.g. Arduino, RPi, MicroBit whatever) and make the projects teenager centric... room burgular alarm, electronic lock, guitar effect whatever then perhaps you have a chance.
It is however going to be very niche.
I don't see much longterm appeal in the zombie idea either, but it would be fun for a while, say, half a dozen episodes? Then you could switch to another character.
And of course, the projects should be appropriately zombie-themed. Some Ideas that come to mind:
- A BRAAAIIINS detector (say, a simple simon says game, where a higher score presumably equates a more juicy BRAAAIIIN.)
- An electronic voice box for those zombies among us whose voice cords have rotted away already (press a button, and it says BRAAAIIINS. Press a second button and it says "One pizza Quattro Staggioni please."
- A human trap: a PIR module that turns the light *off* when it detects motion, instead of on, to confuse your prey.
IMHO a channel needs to meet a need otherwise it just fades into the background
Yes i wholeheartedly agree, my aim is to teach electronics in an easy, simplified way. As i said in my first message, electronics is difficult to learn but it can be explained in a much simpler and easier way and that is the main aim.
If you make it so they can play along
Yes this was the plan, to complete projects in a way that others can join in and create the projects themselves, the idea with tearing down, was a way to provide parts that those who cannot afford to purchase all the stuff.. I have been doing this for several years, and still don't have a oscilloscope, because i cannot afford one, but with the arduino i can build one.. All be it a rubbish one, but its still a scope.
Then you could switch to another character.
This could be a possibility, however how many characters could one possibly create.. eventually you would run out of ideas.
it appears that the zombie idea may not then be the best way about doing this, so i will have to think of somehting else..
thanks for all your comments..
keith
So, to be honest, using a term like "bulb" in reference to an LED is a pretty big misnomer, and as someone said, will derail the entire point of the training. It sounds like you have reached a very low level of understanding of electronics that you would make such a mis-speek as that. Engineering, and especially electronic engineering, uses a precise, concise language. There is not much room for error in what you convey regarding the concepts of circuits and all of their counterparts. Please forgive my blunt explanation, but, welcome to engineering.
In regards to your idea to teach teenagers, IMHO (I had 2 teenagers), you will only get the teenagers that are already interested in learning electronics, so therefore, you WILL have a captive audience (if any). Using something such as a Zombie gimmick will be a no-gainer, and also IMHO, a waste of time and an annoyance for the interested teenager. The only strategy that I can see is to make sure that you are not delving into any single concept for more than 15 to 25 seconds before you break into another direction. Teenagers' attention span is very short.
Also, as someone else said, teenage boys (which I don't mean to leave the girls out, but honestly, boys are your primary audience because girls rarely have an interest in science or engineering, again, IMHO) will want to see or make explosions and fire, so you want to avoid that entirely due to liability and safety concerns. I am sure you wouldn't want to hear that one of your teenage viewers burned his house down by taking one of your experiments in your video to an extreme where something exploded or caught fire.
Finally, if you feel very confident in your technical ability to understand and teach electronics, then kudos to you. However, if you feel that you are not there yet, you might consider teaming up with an EE or solid practitioner/hobbiest to work through your class script and experiments with you.
Just my 2 cents, hope this helps...