Teaching Video Attributes

Many of us are teaching in various modalities, which can include face-to-face (F2F), blended/hybrid or online. In each of these learning environments, faculty have created and offered videos as supplements to the instruction. Perhaps now more than ever, more of us are using teaching videos to address various aspects of effective teaching. This week I would like to share a recent SoTL article entitled, “Characteristics of engaging teaching videos in higher ed” by Verma et al. (2023). The authors use previous research to identify five areas based on their relevance:

Online learning in higher education
Student engagement in online learning
Use of technology in online learning
Teacher presence and role in enhancing student engagement
Engaging teachers’ presence and role in enhancing student engagement

“Teachers’ non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions and body language afforded by video conferencing tools, promote high immediacy, social presence, and a sense of connectedness, facilitating learning and increasing learners’ engagement. Similarly, their motivating behaviors, such as asking questions, providing feedback, addressing student concerns, and establishing social and cognitive presence, can further enhance student engagement.”

The authors identified, categorized, and explained the characteristics and indicators of engaging teaching videos based on teachers’ behaviors and movements. They identified 11 characteristics and 47 associated indicators of the characteristics critical in enhancing student engagement. These characteristics can be grouped into three broad areas:

Chances are that each of you recognize many of these attributes as you have applied them in F2F settings. Recreating the dynamics of effective teaching via video certainly has its challenges, and I hope this research will assist in our on-going efforts to create meaningful learning experiences (and modalities) for all of our students.

References

Verma, N., Getenet, S., Dann, C., & Shaik, T. (2023). Characteristics of engaging teaching videos in higher education: A systematic literature review of teachers’ behaviours and movements in video conferencing. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 18, 040. https://doi.org/10.58459/rptel.2023.18040