The production of videos is a crucial part of the viewers’ understanding and focus, especially when it comes to learning new skills or subjects. Poorly made videos can negatively affect the learner’s attention span. Learners watching videos that are not polished or poorly made can make the content more confusing than it has to be. Thus, taking the student away from the material they are being taught. The viewer’s focus is unintentionally removed from the concepts they are being taught and shifted towards the distracting images or editing produced in the video.
With this in mind, it is essential for teachers to have adequate knowledge and training to produce instructional videos that are polished and well-made. As the world becomes vastly digitalized, teachers should have the tools necessary to create a learning environment that coincides with digital and media-based teaching methods. Polished instructional videos have proven to have positive outcomes on students learning, so it is beneficial to implement this technique in the classroom. However, with that being said, poorly made or unpolished videos have the opposite effect and can negatively impact students learning. Thus, making polished and well-produced instructional videos is essential for the teacher to consider when sharing with viewers.
Thanks for sharing this Emily! I have found with a lot of my teachers and professors over the years think that students like watching videos so much in class that they can kind of just show anything. I then often find that the videos are so disconnected from the material that i have completely mentally checked out of the class. I think its so important to ensure that videos being used are helping to explain a difficult concept or to enhance ones understanding of a topic, and not to act as an extra source of confusion!