Video-based instruction in distance learning environments

Education - Distance Learning

DISTANCE LEARNING: ARTICLE SUMMARY According to the article, distance learning is an effective alternate means of educational instruction that considerably broadens the spectrum of useful methods of academic instruction as well as task-oriented vocational training. While distance learning does not necessarily require the use of a video component, the advantages of video-based instructional programs include the receptivity and enthusiasm of students for instruction through a visual medium. In that regard, the author suggests that even completely informal "instruction" such as in the form of passive learning from watching commercial television is also associated with information retention, or learning as well.

Optimal learning results combine auditory components with information presented through the visual medium, but in that regard, the specific format of the auditory component is comparatively less important. Comparable learning is achieved whether the auditory component is presented simultaneously or after the fact. Likewise, whereas early incarnations of video-based instructional programs tended to feature a human instructor on the screen, contemporary research has demonstrated that the inclusion of an instructor is not directly related to the effectiveness of distance learning programs.

In principle, this is thought a function of the dual mechanisms of cognitive learning through visual and auditory information in general. More particularly, the author also suggests that, if anything, the auditory component of successful distance learning experiments may be underappreciated by virtue of assumptions that successful video-based learning experiences are incorrectly attributed to the value of video specifically. The author suggests that empirical information is comparatively lacking in the area of distinguishing the degree to which the auditory aspect of video-based instruction is responsible for learning in and of itself.

In various trials in which learners were presented with different formats of video- only, auditory-only, combinations of both, and formats combining each with note-taking by students, researchers have determined that results are comparable, although more so for superior students than for average students. In that regard, average students learn better from repeated viewing in conjunction with audio-based information while superior students benefited equally regardless of the precise combination of those variables.

The author presents the results of research documenting the extent to which developers of computer-based video instruction may be overemphasizing the value of technical sophistication and suggests that the relative value of video-based lessons is substantially the same without the inclusion of all the bells and whistles available by virtue of the latest computer-based information formats. On the other hand, the author reports that vocational task-specific training effectiveness is somewhat more dependent on more sophisticated interactive information formats.