For several years, educators have attempted to boost their students’ engagement with activities assisted by videos. However, in the past, the video was more often seen as a supplemental ‘treat’ for the class rather than a core part of the educational experience. 

Thanks to video content availability, modern internet speeds, and updated educational technologies, teacher attitudes toward videos have changed for the better. In this article, we will discuss the value of video-assisted learning and how it can boost student engagement. 

Finding Content

Like most things, there are some challenges that educators must face when implementing video-assisted learning, and chief amongst these is finding content. This is especially true for teachers who use platforms such as YouTube, as they are using a platform that is packed with user-created content. 

This means that much of the content on YouTube will be poorly-researched, feature advertisements, or be inappropriate. Thankfully, there are several websites dedicated to providing free educational videos for educators to use. 

The increase in popularity of videos in the classroom also helps teachers find content for learners with special educational needs. For instance, it is relatively easy to find videos with subtitles for learners with hearing problems, while other videos come with detailed audio descriptions for learners that experience eyesight trouble. 

Dynamic Lessons

While some still continue to believe that videos only provide a passive learning experience, the truth is that teachers can use educational technologies, like whiteboards, to make their lessons quite varied, dynamic, and interactive. It is now easier than ever to find, start, stop, pause, and control videos. 

This allows educators to use video clips or short videos to bring up a new discussion point in their lessons or use videos to ask their class a critical question. Thus, student engagement from video-assisted learning does not happen by playing long videos, and leaving learners to watch them.

Videos are a way to make a lesson varied so that student attention span can be held for longer. 

Repeat Viewing

Lastly, one of the main benefits that video-assisted learning provides is that videos can be watched repeatedly. Most of the time, videos can be accessed freely and quickly via the internet, whether the user is at home or school. 

This allows students to re-watch a video explaining a concept that they are unsure about. This proves invaluable for increasing student engagement since students tend to become disinterested when they feel that a lesson has left them behind. If this happens, they can return to a video and catch up with the rest of the class. 

Concluding Thoughts

Improvements in digital technology, and modern internet connections, have helped make videos a core part of many learning settings. Plenty of teachers can improve the engagement of their learners using video-assisted learning. 

Particularly, finding appropriate content easily, making lessons more engaging, and making videos available to be watched repeatedly can improve student outcomes.