Live across the Universe ...

NZ Bridge unleashes its series of ten Lessons for Beginners as YouTube videos

Filmstars of CambridgeThe links to the YouTube videos are available on the NZB website but more readily accessible here to the right of the page. Each lesson is presented by Jane Stearns. In her own words:

The idea came from my husband. He works at the Uni and as I explained my frustration at trying to arrange catch up lessons for students he told me uni students no longer attended lectures ... they could watch all their lectures online as the tutors filmed them all and uploaded them to the web. Couldn't NZB do the same?

The big hope with the video lessons is that they will help beginners during their learning process and beyond as well as providing an aid to teachers. Learning bridge is overwhelming for some students and they leave lessons in a daze. The idea is they can revisit the lesson in between times during the course to reinforce the teachings and to double check things they were not clear on.

A review panel of 16 Mini Moos new to bridge this year provided feedback throughout the filming process and listening to their comments was an important part of the process. A significant bonus is to relieve teachers of the need to provide catch-up lessons to students who miss a lesson. They will now simply be able to catch-up online by watching the appropriate lesson. The lessons follow the excellent Powerpoint presentations created by Amanda Smith who has been an integral part of the project.

------------------------------------------------------------

Above is a photo of Cambridge members who helped in the filming of Lesson 1 to give the game a glamorous start and make it look attractive to new players. Jane did the work (a grueling 3-month filming schedule between September and December with 48 visits to the filming studio) free of charge on one condition only: that the end films would be available free to the world on YouTube so that anyone who wanted to learn the game of bridge would be able to view them.

A series of 7 short films on Playing Tips for Beginners is in the pipeline with Improvers' films also under consideration. A complete set of all the lessons is available on DVD at a cost of $25 - e-mail Jane at janelawrence50@hotmail.com. Clubs may like to purchase a copy for their libraries.