YouTube videos are often regarded as passive learning activities, but teachers can transform these videos into active, student-centred activities. Students can share their opinions, make predictions and relate the topic to their own experiences. everyday every day
Moreover, videos familiarise learners with the culture of native English speakers. This can help learners develop intercultural empathy.
1. Watching videos is a passive activity.
Watching videos is a passive activity, but that doesn’t mean it’s not valuable for language learning. When students are exposed to a video that is aligned with their learning goals, they can experience the content in a way that best suits them. This gives them the opportunity to practice listening to their new language, as well as watching native speakers interact and communicate, without the need to physically be there.
For example, when a student wants to practice how to do something with their hands, watching a video is much more beneficial than reading a book that only describes the process in words and doesn’t provide visuals to go along with it. In addition, many studies have shown that vocabulary is learned more effectively when it’s matched with visuals or video rather than just written down as definitions and explanations. By incorporating interactive video tools like click forward pauses and prompts into videos, teachers can make them more engaging to help transform passive viewing into active learning.
Using videos to teach new vocabulary and grammar is also a very effective tool. When a video is paired with a quiz that allows students to test their knowledge of the topic, it can increase engagement and retention. By providing immediate feedback, it helps students stay focused and on task.
Videos can also be used to show examples of culture, allowing learners to see the people, customs, beliefs, sports, foods, and lifestyles of others who speak the target language in real-life situations. This type of exposure can foster intercultural empathy and understanding, which is a key component of global competence.
Incorporating real-world videos in lessons is also a great way to connect with students and get them involved in the learning process by tapping into their interests and concerns. When students are passionate about the topics, they’re more likely to take an interest in the lesson materials and will be motivated to learn.
With all these advantages, teachers should make sure to incorporate videos in their classes and use them as a supplement to other teaching methods when appropriate. The most important thing is that the teacher makes a conscious effort to use interactive video tools that allow them to add more engagement to a lesson, and ensure the students’ attention and interest is kept on track throughout the video.
2. Watching videos is an active activity.
Videos can offer a variety of interactive learning opportunities. They can showcase 3D images, animations, unique concepts and experiments that would be difficult to do in a classroom setting and engage students by drawing out their emotions, eliciting their opinions or causing them to question the information presented. Moreover, they can provide a more personal connection to the instructor as well.
This is especially true if the teacher uses an approachable tone in their voice that sounds like a conversation. This can help students feel more connected to the material and overcome some of the lack of presence they may experience when materials are moved online.
Additionally, teachers can make video watching a more active activity by encouraging students to take notes or answer questions during the video. This can improve long-term comprehension and retention of the material. In addition, if the questions are focused on important concepts and are not simply yes/no or Wh-questions, students will have to think about what they’re hearing and seeing and will be more likely to remain invested in the material.
Students can also participate in group sharing activities during or after a video lesson to reinforce their understanding of the material. This can be done through think-pair-share, whole-class discussions, or even short graded or self-assessed assessments embedded in the video itself. Studies such as those by Szpunar and Vural indicate that students who participate in these types of activities perform better on subsequent tests of the material than those who do not.
Finally, incorporating short quizzes into the video can also be a great way to keep students engaged. These can be either multiple-choice or true/false and can also be used to provide students with immediate feedback on their progress throughout the video.
Lastly, it is important that students understand why they are watching the video and how it connects to in class learning activities or assessment tasks. This will help them see the value of the video and will prevent them from viewing it as just “extra work.” A recent study by Zubair showed that when students watched videos embedded within homework assignments, they were more likely to engage with the material than those who did not.
3. Watching videos is a collaborative activity.
Watching a video requires the simultaneous activation of two sensory channels: listening and seeing. Language learners process information through both of these channels, which allows them to use their understanding of the target language as well as the contextual cues present in a video to 'fill in the gaps' of new language concepts that may be unclear. For example, if the teacher's voice in a video isn't clear, students can pause the video and read the subtitles to understand what they're hearing. This has been shown to increase the ability of students to retain new information (Mayer and Moreno, 2003).
In addition, using videos can provide an opportunity for group activities such as turn-and-talk or concept mapping. Moreover, many videos can be viewed at home, on a smartphone or tablet, which means that students have the flexibility to learn at their own pace and revisit concepts as needed, without having to schedule class time to do so. This self-regulation of learning has been linked to improved student comprehension and retention (see video below by Wistia).
Additionally, teachers can utilize videos as a way to present course information that would otherwise take up class time, allowing for more practice- and skill-related activities in the classroom. This is particularly helpful for English Language learners who enter classrooms with a wide range of abilities and needs, including differences in their native languages, cultures and educational backgrounds.
One way to make watching videos a more interactive activity is to utilize YouTube's feature "blacks out" the rest of the page, including comments and recommended videos. This way, you can focus on the video and avoid distractions. You can also change the playback speed of the video to accommodate the needs of individual learners. Another way to encourage collaboration while watching a video is to ask students to write down their thoughts on paper as they are listening to it and then discuss these ideas with their peers in small groups. This can be done before the video is watched, during or after the video. You can even encourage students to share their thoughts with the whole class, if you have time to allow for this.
4. Watching videos is a self-regulated activity.
We are surrounded by videos in our everyday lives – they are used for entertainment, information, advertising, and even language learning. The online, asynchronous nature of videos makes them accessible to students all over the world and at any time of day or night. This enables educators to provide learners with the opportunity to learn at their own pace, and even to watch the same video multiple times to better understand the content.
This individualized learning experience also gives teachers the ability to cater to their students’ individual needs, abilities, and cultures. For example, a teacher could record themselves explaining a homework assignment or providing a mini-lesson in a video that is then shared via a classroom platform, such as Google Classroom, and accessed by all students. This allows for the delivery of personalized instruction to an entire class or group of students, regardless of their location or English proficiency level.
Another way to make watching videos an active activity is by allowing students to pause the video to reflect, write, or answer questions. This pause may be helpful for ELLs who need more time to process the information. It can also help increase the percentage of the video that students watch, as well as the overall watch time.
A key factor in successful language learning is matching modality. In other words, if a new vocabulary word is introduced in an audio clip, it should be accompanied by a visual of the same word. This helps manage extraneous cognitive load and optimizes germane cognitive load by providing learners with the context they need to remember the new vocabulary word.
Additionally, it is important to use signaling to highlight the most important aspects of the video lesson. This can include on-screen text (Mayer and Johnson, 2008; Ibrahim et al., 2012), a change in color or contrast (deKoning et al., 2009), or a symbol that draws attention to a specific area of the screen (Mayer and Johnson, 2008). This technique helps learners focus their attention on the most relevant information in the video and can also help manage intrinsic cognitive lead.
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