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An analysis of target audiences and their responses to different kinds of educational videos.

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Publication date07/2008
Host publicationDIVERSE Conference Proceedings 2007 & 2008
EditorsMark Childs, L. Schneiders, P. van Oarreeren, J. Oomen
Place of PublicationHaarlem, The Netherlands
PublisherInHolland University
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Due to the popularisation of video sharing servers and their successful impact on the viewing audiences, the drop in prices of consumer video production equipment and the accessibility to editing software, the production of educational videos has become a considerable resource for educators. In Higher Education (HE) video is not only being produced as a means of conveying learning messages to distant students but to attempting to enrich the academic practice of enthusiast practitioners who decide to use video - either self-produced, commercially produced or custom produced and shared over the net - for an educational purpose. In an analysis of the target audiences of four different HE groups at Lancaster University, UK that used video during their courses – webcast environment for video lecturing, VLE with just-in-time video explanations, video interviews as discussion enhancer and video recording of the performance of dance students - it was observed that a target audience that is fostered to commit in critical thinking activities tends to benefit more from this kind of medium. It was learnt from the studies, that when it is about educational digital video, a user-centred approach for the development of the online environment where the videos are going to be delivered, and a full integration of the media with the course curriculum tend to be necessary but insufficient conditions to engage the students to watch the educational videos. It was observed that if no higher order skills are fostered by means of the video-rich activity – such as analysis, reflection, problem solving, or group discussion - the students tend to neglect the video. The implications of fostering critical thinking by means of video rich learning activities are explained by means of the analyses of thetwo case studies in which a 100% of the target audience was reached.