Now that we are in full swing of our critical inquiry in LRNT 526, I am going blog more to answer some of my smaller questions I have, and to summarize some of the ideas I found in my readings from the week. From my Individual learning plan that was due last week, I came up with my main question
“How can video-based learning create effective learning communities?”
For this inquiry, effective learning being described best by Anderson (2008) as being “community-centred, knowledge-centred, learner-centred, and assessment-centred” (p.47). Thinking about how I can improve the learning in my own environment, the community aspect is the piece that is missing the most. As discussed by Wendt and Rockinson-Szapkiw (2015), building community is easier to do through face to face collaboration, than it is with online collaboration. Their findings support my initial instincts that it takes more planning and facilitation to reach the same amount of community. It is my hope that through my inquiry, I will be able to find how to utilize video-based learning to bridge the gap. One of the ways I had thought would be helpful would be to make the videos more interactive. However, as shown by Reiss (2008) more traditional and less interactive videos were the more effective for learning and retaining information. This showed that sometimes less is more, and the interactive additions may seem like a good idea, but may just fall under the category of adding tech just because it is available. Reiss (2008) also discussed that when watching and learning from videos, you become more emotionally involved, as opposed to logically. This was an interesting concept for me, and sometime that I want to look further into. If videos are able to target the more emotional portion of our brain, would that be more effective, or less effective for learning?
As this is still very early into my inquiry, I still have lots of ideas to flush out. If you have any questions or ideas for me to consider I would love to hear from you.
Thanks,
Amanda
References
Anderson, T. (2008). Chapter 2: Towards a theory of online learning. In T. Anderson (Ed.), The theory and practice of online learning (2nd ed., pp. 45-74). Edmonton, AB: AU Press.
Wendt, J. L., & Rockinson-Szapkiw, A. J. (2015). The Effect of Online Collaboration on Adolescent Since of Community in Eighth-Grade Physical Science. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 24(5), 671-683. doi: 10.1007/s10956-015-9556-6
Reiss, D. (2008). Video-based multimedia designs: A research study testing learning effectiveness. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology / La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie, 33(3). doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.21432/T2FG64
Hi Amanda, I am researching in a similar vein, curated videos as effective tools for a flipped classroom (this may change!). I sense I am having a similar experience that the more I read the more I am curious about other aspects! The idea of getting more emotionally involved vs logically was an interesting statement. Without reading your article, I have assumed that by experiencing an emotion we then have connected with the video and therefore had a deeper sense of learning? I think that makes sense when we look at trying to have real-world experiences when teaching (project-based learning) as the students have a better connection to their learning and purpose for their learning.
I would really be curious as to why the videos are having an emotional connection and is that connection different than with humans? I am also curious about what type of videos these are that they are connecting with and if the connection is common for most students?
Interesting topic, Amanda. I look forward to hearing more about it.
Danielle
Hi Amanda,
I too would have thought that interactivity would improve the learning experience and assist with community building, so I’m interested to read Reiss’ (2008) study. I am wondering if you think the placement of the interactive content matters when thinking of its effectiveness. Mayer’s (2009) multimedia principle of Pre-Training suggests that people learn better if they are given background knowledge before viewing multimedia content. Thus, I am wondering whether deploying interactive activities before the video rather than during or after would be any more effective.
References
Mayer, R. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Reiss, D. (2008). Video-based multimedia designs: A research study testing learning effectiveness. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology / La revue canadienne de l’apprentissage et de la technologie, 33(3). doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.21432/T2FG64