{"id":395,"date":"2025-05-17T15:37:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T22:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0260\/?p=395"},"modified":"2025-05-17T18:57:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T01:57:25","slug":"play-pause-sort-viewing-youtube-through-a-binary-framework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/malat-webspace.royalroads.ca\/rru0260\/play-pause-sort-viewing-youtube-through-a-binary-framework\/","title":{"rendered":"Play, Pause,… Sort? Viewing YouTube Through a Binary Framework"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve been mulling over structure quite a bit of late, not the one we put in lesson plans, but that kind we sense in a learning space. This all started during a conversation with Leon, a friend of mine, who shared with me a visual table that encapsulated symbolic binaries like order vs chaos, pencil vs paintbrush, science vs myth. They had even voted on where to place each item, and the results showed very homogenously in yellow cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018Pencil,\u2019 \u2018uniform,\u2019 and \u2018research\u2019 corresponded in our minds to Order, while \u2018paintbrush,\u2019 \u2018fashion,\u2019 and \u2018communal\u2019 were automatically associated with Chaos. For me, the most interesting part was contemplating these concepts in terms of platforms where learning happens like Youtube, for instance.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma\u2019s channel Engish with Emma<\/em> was one of the primary sources for our LRNT 526 project. Emma\u2019s videos are clear and accessible which makes them highly liked, but after working through Leon\u2019s framework, a question popped in my head: what\u2019s the order\/chaos spectrum of the learning happening in the videos?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I discovered that learning, in this case, sits mostly in the Order side. I decided to adapt Leon\u2019s table to map the dimensions of Emma\u2019s content. Everything from the visual tone and pacing to feedback and cultural framing are mostly congruent to institutional design norms: the cool-toned set design, one-font captions, a single instructor voice, and grammar lesson recitation in structured, rule-driven sentences. While professional and polished, it remains highly linear, rigidly controlled, and rather individualistic.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the Chaos column allowed me to see is that most of Emma\u2019s design choices are fairly polished and easy to digest, but they are quite rigid and mostly not inclusive. Aesthetic, participatory, or culturally diverse elements seemed limited. Even slight changes such as creating jump-links for learner choice or inviting viewer-contributed idioms would loosen the grip of control and introduce just enough ‘chaos’ to make room for co-creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dimension<\/strong><\/small><\/th>Order (dominant in Emma\u2019s current design)<\/strong><\/small><\/th>Chaos (largely absent or implied)<\/strong><\/small><\/th>Equity prompt (after Ahn, 2020)<\/strong><\/small><\/th><\/tr>
Visual tone<\/small><\/td>Cool blue\/grey set-design
Static, centre-framed talking head
Consistent lower-third text in one font
White-board grammar rules<\/small><\/td>		Warmer or varied colour grades
Occasional scene changes\u2026 street interviews, learner cameos
Mixed fonts, hand-drawn overlays, doodles
Visual metaphors, storyboards, props from multiple cultures<\/small><\/td>		Invite viewers to submit short clip \u201ccameos\u201d or visuals that Emma can splice in; credit contributors on screen<\/em><\/small><\/td><\/tr>
Narrative style<\/small><\/td>Linear
Rule-first grammar demo
Teacher as sole authority<\/small><\/td>		Personal stories
Learner example
Improvisation
Jokes<\/small><\/td>		Add \u201cstory interludes\u201d where Emma retells a viewer\u2019s language anecdote<\/em><\/small><\/td><\/tr>
Pacing & control<\/small><\/td>Fixed video length
Autoplay
Recommendations decide next step<\/small><\/td>		Flexible chapters
Pause-and-choose pathways, for example: Pause here. If you want more practice with prepositions, skip to 4:12. If you\u2019re ready for a quiz, jump to 7:05.<\/em><\/small><\/td>		Embed on-screen choices (\u201cjump to pronunciation practice\u2026 or vocabulary game\u201d)<\/em><\/small><\/td><\/tr>
Interaction channel<\/small><\/td>Comments section only:
Text
Asynchronous<\/small><\/td>		Live Q&A
Live chat
Peer duet video
Co-creation boards<\/small><\/td>		Schedule a monthly livestream where viewers teach Emma a phrase from their language<\/em><\/small><\/td><\/tr>
Assessment & feedback<\/small><\/td>Self-policed replay
No built-in checks<\/small><\/td>		Polls
Quick reflective prompts
Peer feedback loops<\/small><\/td>		Insert one-click polls (\u201cDid you practice aloud?\u201d) and show results on screen next lesson<\/em>
I discovered that creators with the \u201cCommunity\u201d tab (usually available after 500+ subscribers) can post multiple-choice polls.
These are separate from the video; they live in the Community feed, not inside the video itself.
Viewers must navigate to the channel\u2019s Community page to see or respond.<\/small><\/td><\/tr>
Cultural framing<\/small><\/td>\u201cStandard\u201d English examples
Western references<\/small><\/td>		Multilingual subtitles
Idioms from viewers\u2019 regions, for example, to compare\/contrast<\/small><\/td>		Crowd-source subtitles (shut down in 2020), but while YouTube no longer supports built-in community captions, creators can still crowd-source subtitles by sharing scripts and inviting volunteers to contribute translations. This opens up participation to learners worldwide and helps foster a sense of inclusion and shared ownership over the learning environment.<\/em><\/small><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ahn (2020) suggests that designing learning experiences equitably begins with considering who comes in the door: who is present, whose voice is represented, and what types of learning are deemed worthwhile. Viewing through that lens, a tightly-crafted, uniform instructional video disguised as accessible content still lacks inclusion.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What could change? Within the scope of my chart introducing small concepts, they ranged from jump-links or chapters enabling \u201cchoose-your-own-path\u201d moments to culturally inviting viewers to submit idioms, or even using polls and community-submitted video clips. These are small changes which don\u2019t displace the frame but have potential to invite shared participation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fawns (2022) informs us that learning is not just content delivery\u2026 it\u2019s a choreography of technology, context, and humanity. Currently, most EdTech providers, including YouTube, operate within a paradigm that prioritizes a high return on investment which values consistency, clickability, and charisma instead of collaboration, care, or creative risk.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as I am concerned, it is not about table flipping; it is more about table balancing. Rewarding only structure means silence for countless individuals who dwell and thrive in the liminal spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahn, J. (2020). Designing for learning equity: The role of agency and power in learning experience design. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68<\/em>(5), 2713\u20132731. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s11423-020-09785-0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fawns, T. (2022). An entangled pedagogy: Looking beyond the pedagogy…technology dichotomy. Postdigital Science and Education, 4<\/em>, 711\u2013728. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s42438-022-00302-7<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selwyn, N. (2010). Looking beyond learning: Notes towards the critical study of educational technology. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26<\/em>(1), 65\u201373. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/j.1365-2729.2009.00338.x<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unit 3 Activity 1 – <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Play, Pause,\u2026 Sort? Viewing YouTube Through a Binary Framework<\/a><\/blockquote>