Erica Hargreave

Bringing Stories to Life as a Speaker, & Digital & Immersive Media Strategist & Storyteller

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Online Course Activity Break #5: Combining Mindfulness with a Lesson in Video SEO

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Here is the fifth instalment of my ongoing series on creating a healthy balance between screentime and time being present in the real world in the online courses I teach. In an attempt at encouraging offline breaks, I am putting reminders into each Unit of my BCIT Course, BCST 1073: Building Your Digital Media Presence, to take a break from the computer and get up to stretch, dance, meditate …etc. I will be sharing these Activity Breaks with all of you here, in case you are thinking of doing something similar. Feel free to copy and modify these for your own online courses, if so desired.

This activity break is designed to also provide students with an example of how they can get their YouTube Channels and YouTube Videos working with their websites to build audience and help with Search Engine Optimization, as we wrap up our Unit on Video SEO.

Activity Break #5: Mindfulness On the Go

As you’ve just submitted your first video as a part of this course, I thought I’d share an example of how Lori has included video she’s made into a blog post, while at the same time giving you a bit of a mindfulness break and a healthy reminder to unplug for a bit, giving yourself a brain break.

These first two mindfulness exercises, Lori created as a part of this blog post on Roamancing, On the Go Mindfulness Activities:

If you look at the descriptions on the videos, you will see that they both link to Lori’s Mindfulness On the Go post on Roamancing – leading new viewers to the site.  On Roamancing, having video in the blog post, makes the post more dynamic and keeps viewers on the site longer as they watch the videos. It also allows viewers to click on the link in the video to our YouTube Channel, if they wish to discover more of our videos.

If you have links to your own or other people’s activity breaks in online courses, I’d love to see and hear about them. Tell us about them in the comments below.

In case you missed it, here are Activity Break #1, #2, #3, and #4:

Online Course Activity Break #4 : Breath and Body Meditation

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Here is the fourth instalment of my ongoing series on creating a healthy balance between screentime and time being present in the real world in the online courses I teach. In an attempt at encouraging offline breaks, I am putting reminders into each Unit of my BCIT Course, BCST 1073: Building Your Digital Media Presence, to take a break from the computer and get up to stretch, dance, meditate …etc. I will be sharing these Activity Breaks with all of you here, in case you are thinking of doing something similar. Feel free to copy and modify these for your own online courses, if so desired.

Activity Break #4: Breath and Body Meditation

Cornelia and I meditating in a tree.

For this Unit’s Activity Break, as you begin to think about a video you’d like to share on YouTube as a part of your Video Creation Assignment, I thought I’d share a video screentime break from one of my past student’s Cornelia Krikke. When Cornelia was taking this course, it was to better build her story in the digital space, as a healing coach who helps people connect with their creativity and improve their well being in nature. One of the digital spaces that really resonates with her in this storytelling is the creation of online video.

Here is a video that she has created on her YouTube Channel to help people to take a break in their day to focus on breath and body:

Breath and Body Meditations like this one really help me with taking computer breaks in my day to keep my headaches and pain in check post my car accidents. They are also useful to calm down and relax the brain, so that when you return to work, you feel like a more relaxed and creative version of yourself.

You can checkout more videos on Cornelia’s Channel here: https://youtube.com/channel/UC7DhiE5zbEv0A2BbGPz2-tA

If you have links to your own or other people’s activity breaks in online courses, I’d love to see and hear about them. Tell us about them in the comments below.

In case you missed it, here are Activity Break #1, #2, and #3:

Online Course Activity Break #3 : Office Chair Dancing

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Here is the third instalment of my ongoing series on creating a healthy balance between screentime and time being present in the real world in the online courses I teach. In an attempt at encouraging offline breaks, I am putting reminders into each Unit this term of my BCIT Course, BCST 1073: Building Your Digital Media Presence, to take a break from the computer and get up to stretch, dance, meditate …etc. I will be sharing these Activity Breaks with all of you here, in case you are thinking of doing something similar. Feel free to copy and modify these for your own online courses, if so desired.

Activity Break #3: Office Chair Dancing

Uptown Funk Office Chair Dance
From 4 Funky Agents’ Uptown Funk Synchronized Chair Dance.

With this Unit being on search engine optimization, I thought I’d build this Unit’s Activity Break purely based on the top listings under the search term of ‘Office Chair Dance’ on Google and YouTube.

Fittingly with Halloween approaching, here is the top listed link on Google:

And as I entered ‘Office Chair Dance’ into a YouTube search, here are the top 4 listed videos.  Take a look at the titles, meta descriptions, and tags for a hint at what is helping to boost them to the top of the search engine rankings.

It wasn’t long before I started to clue into the fact that I’d stumbled upon the Office Chair Dance Olympics.

So get your bodies moving in those chairs of yours, as your trainers are here …

It would be wrong to have a dance party without some Uptown Funk …

And last but not least, my personal favourite, which reminds me of some parties from the early days of social tech in Vancouver …

Okay, now your turn, anyone who feels so inclined to share a video with us in this Discussion of you doing an Office Chair Dance, would totally make my day!

If you have links to your own or other people’s activity breaks in online courses, I’d love to see and hear about them. Tell us about them in the comments below.

In case you missed it, here are Activity Break #1 and #2:

Online Course Activity Break #2 : Full Body Shadow Puppetry

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Here is the second instalment of my ongoing series on creating a healthy balance between screentime and time being present in the real world in the online courses I teach. In an attempt at encouraging offline breaks, I am putting reminders into each Unit this term of my BCIT Course, BCST 1073: Building Your Digital Media Presence, to take a break from the computer and get up to stretch, dance, meditate …etc. I will be sharing these Activity Breaks with all of you here, in case you are thinking of doing something similar. Feel free to copy and modify these for your own online courses, if so desired.

Activity Break #2: Full Body Shadow Puppetry

A fun and playful reminder from my creative partner, Lori Yearwood, to take a break from your screentime, get up and stretch. What better way to do that this Halloween season, then by creating Shadow Monsters with some full body Shadow Puppetry!

If you feel so inspired to photograph or film a shadow monster or shadow puppetry of your own, then be sure to share it within this discussion, so the rest of us can enjoy it too!

If you have links to your own or other people’s activity breaks in online courses, I’d love to see and hear about them. Tell us about them in the comments below.

In case you missed it, here is my Online Learning Activity Break #1: Git Up Challenge.

Online Course Activity Break #1 : Git Up Challenge

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I love teaching my online courses, and I love the freedom that taking online courses affords me as a student. It means that I don’t have to give up other work or life matters to teach and to study, and I can accept opportunities in other parts of the world while teaching and studying.

Thanks to studying online, I was able to partake in the OER19 conference in Galway, Ireland this past Spring.

However, like with most things in life there are ups and downs to teaching and learning online. One area that I have been questioning for sometime now, is finding a healthy balance between screentime and time being present in the real world. Exploring that balance was the focus of my research in Master of Educational Technology Course ETEC 500. As a result, I have decided to start to put reminders into each of my Units this term in my BCIT Course, BCST 1073: Building Your Digital Media Presence, to take a break from the computer and get up to stretch, dance, meditate …etc. I plan to share many of these Activity Breaks with all of you here, in case you are thinking of doing something similar. Feel free to copy and modify these for your own online courses, if so desired.

Learning to disconnect and be present in the natural world from Cornelia Krikke.

Here is the first activity break that I’ve shared with my students:

Activity Break #1: Git Up Challenge

Time to get up, swing your arms and dance! (Photo by Paulette Wooten, via UnSplash.)

After dealing with a concussion in my own online studies, and spending some time researching healthy screen-time / real world balance in one of my Master’s courses, I’ve decided to add some reminders for activity breaks into our course.

I thought, I’d start with a little dance break and the Git Up Challenge, as it is also a fun example of an interactive media craze in action.

From a couple of Canadians that have taken up the challenge …

In case you need to learn the steps …

An example of the Git Up Challenge being used to educate, and for social good …

And a bit of social media thinking with examples of the craze spreading across Tik Tok …

I made this a discussion, just in case anyone feels so inspired to partake in the challenge, and wishes to share their video with us!

Oh, and if you have a suggestion for future Activity Breaks in the course, feel free to share your ideas in the discussion.

If you have links to your own or other people’s activity breaks in online courses, I’d love to see and hear about them. Tell us about them in the comments below.

Reconnecting with Nature, Like You Did As A Kid

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Recently I had the pleasure of spending some time on Salt Spring Island, as we shot the Pilot Episode for a new documentary series, Naturally Ours – on parks, and how and who they inspire.

Filming Naturally Ours at Ruckle Heritage Farm
Kelly Conlin filming Mike Lane and his Highland Cattle at Ruckle Heritage Farm.

Now for those of you that know me well, you will know that among my great pleasures in life are travel, spending time in nature, and storytelling.  So really I was in my element on Salt Spring.  However, and as should come as no shock to many of you, in order to get away to spend time telling tales, I had been doing too much before I left, and my mind was still reeling with all that needed doing, along with work calls coming in from the big smoke.

For all of these reasons and many more, I feel so fortunate to have met a wonderful woman, Cornelia J Krikke of Transformative Practice Studios, who ended up being one of the subjects of our documentary. In the course of filming, Cornelia introduced me to some of her practices in reconnecting people with nature – to ground, to bring peace, to open up your mind to the world around you, to awaken your creativity …

In the trees.

While in reality I was working at the time, by the end of the interview I felt like I’d just been to the spa. It was so much fun, I felt so present and connected, and it relaxed me.

I am not going to begin to attempt to explain the philosophy in what Cornelia did in reconnecting me with nature – I will leave that for the documentary. I do, however, want to show you a few of the simple things that we did in our short time together that relaxed me and made me feel like a kid again.  While some of it might give you a chuckle, I do recommend it as the best kind of anti-anxiety medication for all that is going on in the world at the moment, and a great pattern for taking a bit of ‘me time’ in the New Year.

Take off your shoes and visualize Earth’s energy flowing up through you, or your own roots growing deep into the Earth.

stocking feet in the snow

Lie back in a natural space, get comfortable, and enjoy a different perspective on  the world.

Erica Hargreave making snow angels

Introduce yourself to a tree.

(No really, introduce yourself to the tree first – especially if you want to give it a hug, as can you imagine someone you’ve never met, all of a sudden hugging you?  On this note: my apologies to all the trees I’ve hugged without introducing myself. Really I am not a tree hugging harlot. Again, my apologies.)

Touching a tree.

Climb to a safe branch on the tree, that you can lie back on, and simply be.lying on a tree

Now, if this isn’t safely possible to do, lean with your back to the tree instead, and let the energy flow between the two of you.

hug a treeNow that you’ve spent a little quality time together, it should be okay to hug the tree in thanks, before parting ways for the day.

Yes, you may be chuckling and pondering whether I fell out of the tree and hit my head, but think back – you’ve done such things before too, when you were a kid.  Do you remember how it felt?  Pretty gosh darn good, I bet.  So why did you stop doing it?

Ultimately for me, this is what my New Year’s Resolution is – taking the time to reconnect myself with nature, be a kid again and not care who is watching.