Why Video?

Because of the global COVID-19 pandemic, many instructors currently find themselves in the middle of a hands-on bootcamp in online teaching and learning. In the initial rush to get everything online, the easiest and quickest solution for many people has been to host classes almost exactly “as is” on a videoconferencing platform like Zoom or Google Hangouts. But as a return to the “normal” of in-person instruction grows more and more distant, and we find ourselves with more time to create better online learning experiences, it will be well worthwhile for instructors to consider replacing some live sessions with asynchronous forms of teaching and learning.

Asynchronous instruction offers students the flexibility of being able to complete coursework at their own pace and on their own time—something that can be incredibly valuable right now as students’ lives are being disrupted in a plethora of ways. Parents find themselves home with children that may require attention during regularly scheduled class time. Families are sharing devices among multiple people and must take turns. Internet bandwidth is being strained by multiple devices on the go at once. And we’re all suffering from Zoom and screen time overload. Asynchronous instruction allows students to show up to “class” whenever is best for them—mentally, physically, and logistically.

There are many different modalities for delivering asynchronous coursework, from text and graphics to discussion forums and questions to audio and video content and beyond. Video, when done well, can be an exceptionally powerful tool for online learning. It can help instructors build presence and connect with their students. It can portray dynamic demonstrations from multiple angles for watching and repeated rewatching. It can give students access to people and places they may not ordinarily have access to. And it can bring real-world scenarios to life in ways that text and images alone cannot.

More than being an effective and engaging form of learning, video is ubiquitous in our lives and learners expect it in online learning. The Manifest reports, “The majority of Generation Zers (89%), millennials (86%), Generation Xers (68%), and baby boomers (52%) use YouTube at least once a week to access video content.” (Cox, 2019) YouTube is the second most popular social media platform with 2.0 billion users (Hootsuite & We Are Social, 2020). In Kaltura’s 2019 State of Video in Education report based on responses from 1,400 education professionals, 82% reported that students are expecting more video as part of their educational experience (Kaltura, 2019). Clearly, video is worth considering.

But video is a complex medium, and there are definitely ways to get it wrong. It’s best to be intentional about video usage and not just record yourself teaching as you would do in the brick-and-mortar classroom. When including recorded video in your online course, it’s important to follow best practices for when to use it, how to format it, and how to design and deliver the best possible videos. Explore the sections of this site for more information on each topic, including citations from research in the learning sciences to support evidence-based best practices for video in online learning.