Benefits to Using Video in Education

There are many benefits to using video in education as shown in several decades of research. Salman Khan in 'Let's use video to reinvent education' (20 mins) describes the transformative way video can impact on teaching and learning and encourages teachers to consider the flipped classroom model where learners can digest lecture content at their pace and explore content more deeply during class time.

See The Art of Educational videos by Macquarie University for the breadth of approaches to making effective videos.

Facilitating thinking and problem solving

Shepard and Cooper (1982) and Mayer and Gallini (1990) made the connection between visual clues, the memory process, and the recall of new knowledge. Allam (2006) observes that the creative challenge of using moving images and sound to communicate a topic indeed engaging and insightful, but adds that it also enables students to acquire a range of transferable skills in addition to filmmaking itself. These include research skills, collaborative working,

problem-solving mastery learning

In some cases, video can be as good as an instructor in communicating facts or demonstrating procedures to assist in mastery learning where a student can view complex clinical or mechanical procedures as many times as they need to. Furthermore, the interactive features of modern web-based media players can be used to promote ‘active viewing’ approaches with students (Galbraith, 2004).

Inspiring and engaging students

More recently, Willmot et al (2012) show that there is strong evidence that digital video reporting can inspire and engage students when incorporated into student-centred learning activities through:

• increased student motivation
• enhanced learning experience
• higher marks
• development potential for deeper learning of the subject development potential for deeper learning of the subject development potential for deeper learning of the subject
• development of learner autonomy
• enhanced team working and communication skills
• a source of evidence relating to skills for interviews
• learning resources for future cohorts to use
• opportunities for staff development (CPD). (p.3)

Authentic learning opportunities

The work of Kearney and colleagues show the benefits of using video to produce authentic learning opportunities for students (Kearney and Campbell 2010; Kearney and Schuck, 2006), and how ‘ivideos’ encourage academic rigour from an advocacy, research based perspective.