I will be the first to admit, I see videos as relating more to art than to a serious academic project. I think that is why most of my classmates and I had trouble wrapping our heads around the idea of an "un-paper." I have become so accustomed to writing papers, that I am definitely biased towards the traditional paper as opposed to expressing those same thoughts that would have gone into the paper in the form of a YouTube video, Prezi, or Padlet. I tend to view any other mediums as less scholarly.
How many more ideas could be expressed in a brand new way if we viewed other mediums with the same weight as a well written paper? This video I found on language usage reminded me of the video made by that anthropology professor. While I don't think that I would consider this particular video to be scholarly, there was clearly a lot of thought and effort put into it.
As the internet continues to change and shape the world we live in, and more scholarly work is available in new formats, then I think that more of the general public will take an interest. For the most part, I hate reading scholarly journals, because I find the articles boring. Visual presentations hold the attention of many people for longer periods of time than written words. I sincerely hope that the academic world continues to become more accepting and appreciative of the power of stimulating, visual presentations.
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