COLLEGE STATION – Bill McKinley wants the students in his classes at Texas A&M University to see things his way.

But it’s not so they will mimic him; it’s to enhance their creativity, he said.

That’s why McKinley adapted “eye cam” glasses over his own spectacles to video instructional processes at the university’s Benz School of Floral Design.

“I am using them for us to give the designer’s perspective of how a design gets built or how a process happens,” said McKinley, the school’s director. “So instead of being a studio shot where the camera is away from me and shooting as I do something, it is from my eyes that you see the design.”

In one instructional episode, McKinley begins in a walk-in cooler by selecting flowers and greenery for a contemporary arrangement. After choosing the materials, he explains how and why to place the pieces. Then he demonstrates some design techniques before ending the video by showing the finished piece.

“All you see are my hands as I am doing the designing,” he noted. “It gives the potential designer or a student, or even a customer for that matter, an idea of what it’s like to be behind a design, then to see what the creativity process is all about as opposed to being on the opposite side seeing the finished product.”

McKinley said the affordability – hunting or sporting goods stores typically sell them for about $100 —  and ease of use makes these glasses a good tool for classrooms.

“The glasses have a built-in microphone, and the mini-camera is right in the middle of the glasses. The nice thing about these glasses is that you just download through the USB cord which plugs the glasses into your computer, “ he said. “A screen opens up on your computer, and you can copy to your computer files and then edit as needed. It’s easy.”

McKinley said the process of making hands-on instructional videos for his classes also helps him improve as a teacher.

“It makes me more aware of what I’m saying and trying to communicate, so that hopefully students will understand step-by-step maybe a little more precisely what is happening in the design,” he said. “So it is kind of a two-way street: It helps the student and it helps the instructor at the same time.”

McKinley, a proponent of using a variety of technology in the classroom and industry, believes the eye cam could also be useful for growers, for example, who want to show potential buyers the harvesting or packing process.

“The application of these is not just from the educational standpoint,” he said. “I think there are a lot of applications of eye cams to the general floral industry as well.”

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