Utopian is creating an Open Source economy
in which contributors to Open Source projects are rewarded for their valuable work.
This work can come in a variety of forms.
So to keep things organized Utopian has identified several categories
into which contributors can submit their work.
One of these categories is Video Tutorials.
Education is at the heart of innovation,
and to foster learning in the Open Source community, Utopian
is supporting the development of high quality learning resources.
The Video Tutorial category is part of this initiative.
It is crucial that contributions to the Video Tutorial category be educationally sound.
Contributions must contain highly engaging, educational and original video content
along with supportive text and images.
Creating an educationally sound video tutorial contribution is not difficult,
but it does require some careful consideration.
Let’s have a closer look at what makes an excellent video tutorial contribution.
Utopian wishes to maintain consistency of format and quality in all video tutorial contributions.
To achieve this, Utopian has provided you with some tools to help in the creation of consistent content.
First, Utopian has developed a thorough set of general rules and guidelines
which apply to all contribution categories.
These must be followed by all contributors.
Utopian has also created a set of guidelines specific to video tutorials
to help contributors create educationally sound content
and to aid Utopian Moderators in the evaluation of this content.
Let’s have a closer look at a few of the guidelines for the Video Tutorials category.
Video Tutorials teaching simplistic concepts which are found in other applications
or tutorials which focus on how to create content are not appropriate for Utopian.
Utopian supports only content of the highest quality.
Therefore, it is wise to research the internet for existing learning resources
before you begin creating your own contributions.
Before you begin creating your video tutorial
create an outline which you can refer to as you record.
Do some practice runs of your video to identify any issues before you record your final version.
Background noise can be distracting for learners.
Close all windows and doors before you begin recording
to insure that there will be no unwanted noises on your recording.
Be sure to get close to your microphone when you record.
10 cm is a good distance from your mouth to the microphone.
Along with adhering to the general and category guidelines,
Utopian has provided a video tutorial template to guide you in formatting your submission.
Let’s have a closer look at the template.
As you have seen in the guidelines,
it is critical that you associate your Video Tutorial contribution with an appropriate Github repository.
In this section of your contribution you will itemize each of the concepts you will be addressing in your tutorial.
These concepts must be substantial and not things an average user can figure out themselves.
While it is important to cover multiple concepts in your tutorial,
covering too many substantial concepts in one tutorial can be overwhelming for learners.
In this section of your submission you must list all the software and hardware requirements
for learners to complete your tutorial.
Indicate the level of skill and knowledge a learner must possess in order to complete your video tutorial.
Here you will provide highly detailed supportive text and images for your video tutorial.
You need to address each of the substantial concepts and provide supporting information to aid the learners.
Your video can either be uploaded to YouTube or DTube
then embedded into your submission.
As mentioned in the guidelines,
your video must not be older than 14 days to be considered by Utopian.
Utopian encourages the development of sequential video tutorials
to thoroughly cover the concepts of an Open Source project.
As you create your series of tutorials focused on a specific project
you need to list your contributions so learners can select the materials they require for their studies.
There are two subcategories of the video tutorial category:
Code writing contributions
and end-user focused contributions.
Code writing contributions must provide clear sequential instruction on programming concepts.
As you introduce concepts and techniques you must clearly explain how and why you are using them.
Code writing can be complex so it is important to be thorough in your instruction
and maintain a pace which will allow learners to easily follow your work.
End-user focused video tutorial are focused on complex functions of Open Source applications.
As with code writing contributions, these submissions must be sequential and thorough.
Contributors must avoid simple functions such as print, open, and install.
Concepts must be too complex for an average user to figure out themselves.
As stated in the guidelines, tutorials providing simple onscreen instruction,
gameplay and content creation are not appropriate for Utopian.
When selecting a topic for your video tutorial contribution,
you must insure that your content provides educational value to the community.
Research existing learning resources related to your topic
and avoid submitting content which is already addressed sufficiently elsewhere.
Choose topics which you are both knowledgeable in and passionate about.
Consider your audience and create content which is suited to their learning needs.
Once you have researched and chosen a topic for your video tutorial,
it is time to create your contribution with your favourite Steem interface.
First choose an appropriate title for your contribution.
Using the video tutorials template, create the body of your contribution.
Be sure to include all the required information outlined in the template.
After recording and editing your video, upload it to either YouTube or DTube.
Paste the embed code for your video
into the correct area of your post according to the template.
Tagging your contribution is very important.
Your first tag must be utopian-io
and your second tag must be video-tutorials.
Before you publish your contribution proof read everything to insure that there are no mistakes.
Once you’re happy with your contribution it’s time to post.
Education is at the heart of the Open Source community.
Your contributions to the Video Tutorial category
will empower learners to use and develop new Open Source applications
and in turn strengthen the community around us.