A Network Connecting School Leaders From Around The Globe
Instructional Videos Should Be (Really) ShortEdutopia |
Student attention starts to wane after about 6 minutes, research suggests, and by 12 minutes it’s a ghost town. |
If you’ve read our feature on the research behind video-based learning, here’s a simple rule of thumb: Keep videos short if you want to keep students watching. In 2014, researchers analyzed online lectures at MIT, Harvard, and Berkeley—constituting a whopping total of 6.9 million viewing sessions—to determine which factors improve student engagement. With a veritable mountain of evidence behind them, they concluded that the “median [student] engagement time is at most 6 minutes,” and that video length was “by far the most significant indicator of engagement,” easily beating out characteristics like production quality and instructor presence. For the longest videos—think 30-minute online lectures—students only stuck around for about 20% of the instruction time. The researchers suggest several tips for optimizing your videos: • Chunk lessons into smaller parts, using the 6-minute benchmark as a maximum duration. • Show your face, even if only for a moment. It provides a more “intimate and personal feel,” and helps to break up what can quickly become a monotonous presentation. • Opt for Khan-style tutorials—a more informal, step-by-step sketch of a problem and possible solutions—over prepared slides. • Speak normally and with enthusiasm. “There is no need to artificially slow down,” the researchers say. Students may pick up on your energy and pay more attention. |
Tags:
SUBSCRIBE TO
SCHOOL LEADERSHIP 2.0
School Leadership 2.0 is the premier virtual learning community for school leaders from around the globe. Our community is a subscription based paid service ($19.95/year or only $1.99 per month for a trial membership) which will provide school leaders with outstanding resources. Learn more about membership to this service by clicking one our links below.
Click HERE to subscribe as an individual.
Click HERE to learn about group membership (i.e. association, leadership teams)
__________________
CREATE AN EMPLOYER PROFILE AND GET JOB ALERTS AT
SCHOOLLEADERSHIPJOBS.COM