Watching vs. Learning: How to Turn Video Viewing into a Dynamic Lesson

Friday, July 9th 2010 by Lynn Bell and Glen BullcloseAuthor: Lynn Bell and Glen Bull Name:
Email: lynnbell@virginia.edu
Site: http://gbull@virginia.edu
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Students may not be learning as much as you think from watching educational video and computer animations. That’s because watching and learning are not necessarily synonymous terms.

Without a doubt, some of the ubiquitous digital video on the Internet can be powerful in the classroom. Students can view human and natural events they may not otherwise ever see, including events reenacted from history. An abundant supply of sophisticated animations can simulate action that is too fast, too slow, too small, too large, too far away, or too abstract to see, as well as illustrating forces that are invisible or merely theoretical.

The problem with all this motion in dynamic presentations, however, is that students may consider watching it to be a passive activity. After all, that’s what they most often do with TV shows, movies, and YouTube videos.

A significant body of learning research indicates that passive watching—even of well-designed video and animation—can lead to disappointing levels of learning. Surprisingly, the difference is not found merely in one-to-one computing vs. whole class teaching with a computer projector. In either instructional setting, the action in a dynamic presentation can take place too quickly or can contain information too complex for students to comprehend in a single viewing. Without sufficient background knowledge, students may not know how to interpret the active elements or know which elements are worth paying attention to.

The key to better learning is interactivity and engagement, elements that can be incorporated in both instructional settings. The research recommends a number of strategies you can use to promote students’ active participation in learning with dynamic presentations, and we’ve summarized a few of them here.

Prioritize the most important footage.
If students will be viewing digital video, you can eliminate the temptation for them to mentally check out by presenting only the sections of video most salient to the targeted learning goal. Clips that are thirty seconds to three minutes long are most likely to keep students’ peak attention focused. Edit, edit, edit.

Prepare students for an active learning experience.
Before students view digital video or animation, they need to understand its purpose and possess adequate background knowledge. Show screenshots in advance and make sure students understand what underlying elements are represented by any illustrations, as well as their salient features and characteristics when appropriate. Encourage students to “observe,” rather than merely watch. You may even present a short list questions for students to answer based on their observations.

Pause for reflection at natural breaks in the action.
Students need opportunities to stop and absorb or make meaning of what they are seeing. They should describe and explain what they are observing, sometimes even make predictions about what will happen next and why. Student misinterpretations should be clarified up before resuming the presentation. Rewinding and repeating complex segments can help improve comprehension. To improve retention and demonstrate their understanding, students might print out screenshots and make annotations (or draw what they’ve seen if printing isn’t a viable option).

Polish off the lesson.
Never assume that because a video or animation was shown in the presence of students that learning has occurred. Even with a seconds-long dynamic presentation, students need to reflect on what they observed, explain it, critically analyze it, and discuss how the principles might apply to other situations.

Research shows that learning is never automatic even with today’s state-of-the-art dynamic technologies. To help students overcome the tendency to turn off their brains when watching a screen, facilitation by a skilled teacher is critical.

Lynn Bell & Glen Bull are authors of the recently release book: Teaching with Digital Video: Watch , Analyze, Create and Teaching with Digital Images: Acquire, Analyze, Create, Communicate

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