Educational Potential of YouTube

Educational Potential of YouTube

Social media seem to be slowly but steadily making their way into the university and academic environment. Heather Mansfield, a social media consultant, laid out the situation more dramatically: ‘The thing with higher ed and social media is that colleges really don’t understand that they have no choice whether they want to use social media’ (Gilroy, 2010). While platforms like Twitter and Facebook establish connection between a student and universities on a personal level, it is YouTube that has the most educational application potential which may not even be fully realised yet by both education professionals and content creators.

It is interesting to note that apart from language learning the field that has immersed most fully in YouTube, it appears, is medicine. On the first page of search for YouTube AND education on EBSCO four out of ten articles are medicine-related: ‘Identifying Measures Used for Assessing Quality of YouTube Videos with Patient Health Information: A Review of Current Literature’ (2013) by Gabarron, Fernandez-Luque, Armayones, and Lau, ‘YouTube: An emerging tool in anatomy education’ (2012) by Jaffar, ‘Effectiveness of YouTube as a Source of Medical Information on Heart Transplantation’ by He-Ming, Zhong-Kai, Xiao-Lin, Zhao-Shun, Zhao-Bin, Ling-Qing and Xiao-Bo, and ‘YouTube: An Effective Web 2.0 Informing Channel for Health Education to Prevent STDs’ by Prybutok. Medical articles continue to appear on the following pages of the search as well. Typically, these are high-quality videos and due to their specific subject they do not attract many general viewers. The reason for such a high level of engagement is the ease of sharing and storing a video online; YouTube is very user-friendly and does not delete videos unless they break their usage rules, such as copyright infringement and distribution of abusive content or pornography.

YouTube as an educational resource in many other areas seems to have been either overlooked or treated by teachers as a simple video-sharing and searching platform. How to Succeed in E-learning (2012) by Benson, Donnelly, and Kirk devotes only two sentences to YouTube in its terminology section that end with ‘has an increasing footprint of useful educational recourses’ (p.24). James Trier in ‘ ‘‘Cool’’ Engagements with YouTube: Part 2’ (2007) recommends teachers to show students videos during classes to support a point and to encourage students search for similar videos but does not go further than that. However, YouTube offers unique opportunities for formal and, more importantly, informal learning that teachers may want to encourage students to take advantage of.

Educational content on YouTube has been steadily growing for the past couple of years and two quite separate trends in educational videos are currently developing. YouTube Trends blog reports on significant growth of education-related content:

People on YouTube spent 15% more time watching educational videos in August 2013 than April. From outrageous science experiments and geographical anecdotes, to lessons on how to become British Royalty or stop an asteroid, people spent over 142 million hours watching educational content on YouTube this summer. (2013, Sep. 24)

It also adds that from 2011 to 2013 educational videos were watched 99 per cent more in the USA. These numbers clearly signify that a new niche is emerging in YouTube market, which in turn means that this niche will soon be occupied with new creative educational content.

So far, two main trends can be differentiated based on who is content provider or creator. What can be described as formal educational content is mostly provided by major universities such as Stanford or MIT. These channels often include recordings of lectures, short videos with scientific experiments or events directly related to the life of the university. Informal educational content, on the other hand, is in most cases created by or with the help of professional scientists and scholars who do not directly associate themselves with an educational institution or do not receive funding from an institution for the production of videos. The latter trend offers a variety of content but natural sciences seem to be prevalent. Among the largest in terms of audience currently are MinutePhysics (over 2 million subscribers), C.G.P. Grey (over 1 million subscribers), Veritasium (over 1 million subscribers), SciShow (over 1 million subscribers), CrashCourse (over 1 million subscribers), Numberphile (over 875 000 subscribers). Only one of these channels, CrashCourse, has ever dealt with Humanities, otherwise all of them are dedicated to natural sciences or Mathematics. What is particularly important about channels from the second group is that they do not fall behind well-established educational institutions and sometimes surpass them in production quality and in keeping the audience up-to-date on latest scientific or cultural news.

The educational opportunities of YouTube extend beyond sharing and storing videos. Firstly, it is a commentary section below the video that invites viewers to interact with creators and other viewers by participating in discussion and, therefore, reflecting on the content of the video, sharing opinions and possibly learning something new; for ESL learners it is also an opportunity to participate in a real-life discussion in their target language related to their area of interest. Creators can see these discussions and often tune in to clarify details from the video or to see what other topics the audience is interested in to tailor future videos accordingly. This last part is particularly important for learner’s experience because it creates a feeling that a learner has control over the material, which increases the motivation to engage in discussion and watch the next video. Secondly, on the right of the video there is a list of related videos. Students can click on these videos, watch or skip them and move further and further, possibly to a new topic, following their curiosity and learning at the same time. In this respect YouTube can be compared to a hyperlinked text, which is now an encouraged format of providing learning materials, with the advantage that students generally prefer video over text. It is, however, necessary to avoid videos unrelated to the field that also appear in related videos because one can easily get carried away. YouTube does that as a part of its marketing strategy, it includes currently trending videos or videos based on the previous searches to get the viewer to stay on the website as long as possible.

On the final note, concerns about the quality and credibility of educational content provided by independent creators do not any longer have ground. With growing competition for subscribers and views on the channel, creators are highly motivated to make professionally-directed and edited videos and to monitor trustworthiness of their sources. Even when mistakes occur, viewers are usually eager to provide feedback in the commentary section. In most cases, these videos are a collaborative effort of a team that resembles that of a TV channel with anchors, set designers, script writers, researchers, professional cameramen, editors and make-up artists, although more than one task is usually performed by one person. Some do it as a side job but many are professional YouTubers whose livelihood depends on the success of their videos, which, therefore, ensures the ever-rising quality and credibility. However, it is important to make it clear to students that blind faith in any single source, no matter how visually inviting, should be avoided. Moreover, encouraging students to verify sources and search for different points of view is a crucial part of learning as it promotes critical thinking and autonomy in students.

6. 
   Description of Moodle-based BA Academic English Practice Course
   

1. 
   Analysis of course aims
   
   1. 
      Student profile
      

2. 
   Relevance of the course
   

1. 
   Course objectives
   

• 
  Revise and learn vocabulary and concepts from the areas of linguistics and academic English.
  
• 
  Revise and learn vocabulary and skills necessary for the production of meaningful contributions in a seminar.
  
• 
  Develop and improve skills necessary for initiation and participation in a discussion in academic environment.
  
• 
  Improve and deepen listening skills in a context simulating that of a lecture.
  
• 
  Recognize and predict types of lecture organization and lecture content.
  
• 
  Recognize speaker’s or writer’s stance and level of confidence.
  
• 
  Improve and deepen understanding of the principles of organization of an academic text and of argument building.
  
• 
  Revise grammatical and syntactical concepts.
  
• 
  Develop and improve basic corpus search skills.
  
• 
  Develop and improve skills of efficient note taking.
  
• 
  Deepen the understanding of the concept of plagiarism.
  
• 
  Develop and improve skills of citation and paraphrasing.
  
• 
  Develop and improve the recognition of different types and structures of essays.
  
• 
  Improve and deepen skills of essay plan writing and essay composition.
  
• 
  Develop and improve skills of compiling a list of sources according to MLA and APA formats.
  

4. 
   Course outcomes
   

• 
  will improve their knowledge of linguistic and academic vocabulary and concepts,
  
• 
  will be able to confidently contribute to seminar discussions, start and hold a meaningful conversation in academic environment,
  
• 
  will improve their listening comprehension of texts on field-specific topics,
  
• 
  will be able to apply several note taking strategies,
  
• 
  will be able to perform basic search tasks in a language corpus,
  
• 
  will improve their reading comprehension of texts on field-specific topics,
  
• 
  will be able to build an argument according to academic English principles,
  
• 
  will know the difference between different types of academic essays,
  
• 
  will be able to devise an essay plan according to the proposed research question and essay type,
  
• 
  will be able to compile a reference list in both MLA and APA formats.
  

5. 
   Supervision of the course
   

2. 
   Course contents
   

2.1 Course layout

The course is divided into 12 units with an additional one, thirteenth, for the final assessment. Each unit consists of vocabulary practice, reading (even unit numbers) or listening (odd unit numbers) tasks and extending skills exercises. These exercises are mainly based on those in the English for Language and Linguistics course book with additional original language, grammar and corpus search practice tasks. Additionally, units 5, 8 and 10 have writing peer-review exercises in which students are asked to submit a 200 – 250 word piece of writing on a given topic and to review two of their peers’ texts. Units 7 and 9 have speaking practice exercises where students are, in one case, offered a picture to comment on for approximately one minute and, in another case, discuss a given topic for the same length of time. Unit 11 is allocated for a synchronous online session of approximately twenty minutes long, which is intended as an imitation of a seminar discussion. Pictures and topics used are selected from the English for Language and Linguistics course book. At the end of each unit students are expected to complete a short questionnaire; this should provide consistent feedback from students and stimulate improvements to the course design.

2.2 Learning materials

The reference materials section is compiled from most of the Vocabulary Bank and Skills Bank sections in the English for Language and Linguistics course book. In order to complete the given tasks, students are systematically referred to relevant pages in this section. The Academic Writing in English textbook materials are used as introductory information for students before they start working on a unit or on individual tasks; and, where needed, they are also added for clarification in the feedback.

Students are expected to complete one unit per week within the estimated time of two to three hours. Each unit starts with a vocabulary exercise, followed by reading or listening, then extra skills tasks; in the second half of the course writing and speaking exercises are added after the extra skills ones. The system in Elf is set in such way that students can only proceed in this order because the tasks often complement each other and any other order would only confuse students. For revision, students are advised to complete vocabulary exercises in Quizlet and return to the extending skills task in the previous weeks; this reminder is added in the weeks 3, 9 and 12, weeks 6 and 13 being reserved for mid-term and final tests respectively.

Prior to starting work, students are not expected to do any reading other than that in the introduction to a unit or to an exercise. Instead, a hands-on strategy is implemented due to the mostly practical nature of the information presented in the course; however, where deemed necessary, additional explanations and links to further resources are added.

3.2 Feedback and communication with the teacher

Specific feedback is provided continuously throughout the course in the form of comments pre-entered into the system. Special attention is given to immediate feedback, which can be quite beneficial for students in e-learning. In tasks that could require further explanations for some students, a comment of a varying length is automatically displayed after the answer is submitted that clarifies the answer, supplies other answers and explains why they are possible or uses the task as an example of a principle that can be applied to similar questions. General feedback, in addition to specific one, is provided after tasks that require submission, i.e. speaking and writing. Students can contact the teacher via email or in a specially set-up forum on the course main page with other questions regarding unclear tasks, administration and personal concerns.

Students are assessed continuously throughout the course by the system that counts and stores results of all completed exercises. In order for a student to proceed to the next one, he or she has to correctly complete at least 75 per cent of the exercise. Overall, students are allowed to obtain less than 75 per cent in three exercises that do not require submission. However, the course is set up in such a way as to permit any number of attempts without penalty, this is done in order to lessen students’ fear of making a mistake and to encourage their coming back to the exercise even after the unit is completed. If a student fulfils all requirements of continuous assessment, then they can qualify for the credit assessment. The credit assessment consists of four parts: mid-term test, final test, final speaking task and final writing task. A student has to achieve at least 70 per cent in each individual assessment component in order to obtain the credits. The course will be offered for two ECTS credits.

Conclusion

This thesis analyses the concept of e-learning from the historical perspective and in relation to the concepts of distance learning and blended learning. Chronologically, distance learning was the first out of the three concepts to occur and at first, during the correspondence instruction stage, it involved no sophisticated technology at all. Starting from the first half of the 19^th century, increasingly bigger amounts of computer technology are introduced to formal education, finally resulting in the creation of the first e-learning courses. E-learning itself can be summarized as an educational approach, whose primary means of delivery is technology, with the focus on learners and their needs. The term of distance learning was not replaced by e-learning; rather, both terms exist in parallel with distance learning as an umbrella term for all education-related activities happening over the distance, thus including administration, marketing and e-learning. Blended learning also stands in parallel relationship with e-learning (but not with distance learning). It is argued by some scholars that e-learning is merely a supportive mode and that blended approach is the best solution whenever it is available. However, e-learning can be a completely self-sufficient approach if its limitations and advantages are recognized.

E-learning is an efficient approach to knowledge delivery that meets the 21^st century requirements of spatial and temporal freedom, it satisfies the newly-created need of the digital natives generation of constantly being in contact with computer or mobile technology, preferably, with the Internet access. It can also facilitate the development of the highly valued transversal and autonomy skills by presenting the learners with tasks that require critical thinking and analysis instead of straightforward answers. However, the implementation of the e-learning approach in higher education entails a range challenges.

From the teacher’s perspective, incorporation of ICT into education requires additional training, either at the initial training stage at university or later in professional life, through workshops and individual discovery. In this respect, age is often considered as a factor that influences teachers’ relationship with technology; according to reports, teachers over 55 years old tend to be more hesitant to incorporate technology into the teaching process or to rely on it as a primary mode of delivery. It should be emphasized here that this group of teachers can bring in their invaluable experience of working with students and together with younger colleagues work towards more balanced teaching practices that are not overreliant on technology and, at the same time, allow for learner independence. E-teaching also involves certain changes to the course design, management and student support. Extensive and detained preparation is needed at the design stage of an online learning course because it is the layout that gives the students structure throughout the course and allows them to adjust learning strategies. Online course administration requires regular presence online to deal with immediate and technical issues; when possible, these tasks can be delegated to tutors and e-technicians, thus allowing the teacher to concentrate on students support. Provision of student support online includes levelling of student-teacher relationship, feedback and motivation. Students should be elevated in their status to the active participants in the learning process through various synchronous and asynchronous communication tools; this can contribute to higher motivation and to the sense of belonging to the community, which emphasizes the social side of learning. The nature of feedback in e-learning should be continuous and structured with the teacher input of varying length (depending on student’s needs and course objectives) occurring at the predetermined moments in the course and in the blame-free environment. Elevating and maintaining a high level of students’ motivation is another kind of support that the teacher can provide, again, by inviting students to a conversation about their course-related concerns, by celebrating their achievement and by providing engaging resources.

For students, learning online entails exposure to large amounts of information both course-related and not, which has to be sorted out in order to conduct research and later properly acknowledge the sources. These tasks may seem overwhelming for some students when taken in earnest because there is a tendency among digitally native generations of students to blindly trust information on the Internet and to have a low awareness of the concept of plagiarism. What is more, today a very common habit of multitasking has a negative influence on the attention span; hence students can experience difficulties working with longer texts. In addition, students’ performance is affected by a number of personal and contextual variables. The age of university students, their social background and learning style can influence their preconceptions about the role and use of technology in education and its influence over an individual’s life both positively and negatively. A tendency can be observed that younger students from more privileged backgrounds have a positive outlook on the role of technology in their education and lives and can have more flexible learning strategies. Student’s motivation in e-learning is another important factor that can determine success or failure. For the motivation to remain sufficiently high throughout the course, it needs to be a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic elements; if only one kind of motivation is present, it is, then, quite likely to decrease and the student will require the teacher’s and fellow students’ support to proceed with the course.

Learner autonomy, identified as one of the major educational objectives for the digital age, is a complex notion that consists of seven skills: control, choice, independence, responsibility, critical thinking, self-reflection and self-correction. These skills are interdependent, which means that they cannot be acquired in isolation; students should be encouraged through informed discussion to adopt a comprehensive approach to learning that concentrates on the process and not on the answer in order to become efficient autonomous learners.

The prospects of technology in education seem to be positive, especially with the endorsement of online degree programmes. Their number has been growing rapidly over the past few years due to the increase in demand for higher education qualifications, lower overall cost of most of them, compared to on campus education fees, and spatial and temporal flexibility, particularly appealing for those working full-time. A large majority of educators and students perceive online degrees as equally or even more effective than traditional ones, therefore, this new area may continue to grow in the future.

Another trend is for highly acclaimed universities to share their individual courses online for free, this model appeared in 2012 and is called MOOC. However, it is feared that MOOCs may stop receiving support in the foreseeable future due to the unsustainability of the model. A potentially successful model, however, may be in the development on the YouTube platform. In response to the rising demand for quality educational content, several initiatives were started that have developed a multimillion viewership base and continue to grow. HIEs and research centres also established themselves on YouTube but, because their marketing strategies on the platform are relaxed to non-existent, their viewership also tends to be lower. The significance of YouTube for education lies in its high interactivity and simplicity to use. It is unclear whether the platform will be able to develop into something that will be recognized by formal education institutions as more than just a free video storage space; however, it appears to have the potential for it.

With regards to the BA Academic English Practice course, only the design stage has been executed so far. Its main goal was to meet the aforementioned standards of material presentation and student support in order to promote the development of autonomy skills and to accommodate for various learners needs and preferences. Whether the approach and strategies used are successful in fulfilment of the course objectives can be determined after the course pilot run. It is hoped that the course is opened for enrolment to allow for further observations at the stage of its management.

The purpose of this thesis was to define the concept of e-learning and its place within the wider educational framework, to present, analyse and suggest solutions to various practical challenges connected with e-learning courses participation, creation and management. Further, this thesis set out to provide comprehensive definition of the concept of autonomy and discuss the role student support has in the development of learner autonomy and to observe current and future trends for technology in education. Finally, the course development task was undertaken to supply theoretical knowledge about the principles of online course design with their practical exploration.

Despite its mostly exploratory nature, this thesis offers some insight into the practical challenges of implementation of technology in education. It reviews recent surveys about education practices and technology use in Europe along with raw Internet usage statistics in order to present a comprehensive profile of teachers and university students today in terms of their relationship to technology. It also attempts to compile a list of features that contribute the development of learner autonomy from a number of the definitions of the term and explain their relevance for the concept and learners along with a description of the kind of relationship that holds between the features. Most importantly, as a part of this thesis an online course was created that offers space and potential for further exploration of the methods of online course management and student support. In the future research, it could be particularly interesting to look into the issues related to the provision of feedback, to the means of elevation of student motivation and to the construction of students-teacher relationship though an online dialogue, i.e. what constitutes student support in the learner-centred approach. Additionally, the written and oral assignments that students submit within the course could be collected and analysed in order to identify the nature of mistakes that students tend to make in academic environment. The findings could contribute to more precise targeting of students’ needs in this and other similarly oriented courses.

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