Video: The common link in today’s ed-tech trends

Michal Tsur

Dr. Michal Tsur is co-founder and president of Kaltura, a leading tech company that has created the world’s first open source video platform, transforming the way people work, learn and entertain with video.

Follow @michts

Website: corp.kaltura.com/Video-Solutions/Education Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Technology is transforming the world of education. What many do not realise, however, is that the common denominator behind some of today’s biggest ed-tech trends is something we’ve been familiar with for many years: video.

Video has been penetrating the education market like no other technology and is becoming one of the most popular activities on the Web. In 2012 alone, Internet users watched four billion videos per day. Between 2012 and 2017, mobile video will grow 75 percent per year, the highest growth rate predicted among any mobile app, including Facebook and Twitter.

When we consider these projections, it’s unsurprising that educational technology is also taking advantage of video in the classroom. Below are a few ed-tech trends that boast video as the central tenet:

The flipped classroom

The flipped classroom aims to turn the traditional educational model on its head – it inverts teaching methods by allowing students to access lectures and instruction online, outside of class, leaving time for discussion and hands-on learning in the classroom.

At Clintondale High School in the US, teachers enlisted the flipped classroom model and boosted pass rates significantly. Before the flip, 50 per cent of first-year students failed English and 44 per cent failed Maths. After allowing students to work at their own pace and access videos online first, just 19 per cent of students failed English and only 13 per cent failed Maths.

As more and more classrooms embrace this non-traditional model, online video is emerging as a key factor in freeing up class time for more meaningful face-to-face and hands-on learning interactions during class hours.

The rise of MOOCs

Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) are being embraced by leading universities across the country and internationally. Startups like Coursera (started by Stanford professors), edX (a partnership between Harvard and MIT) have paved the way for this phenomenon. In the UK, 21 universities – including Bristol, Leeds and Southampton – are planning to join the ranks of educational institutions offering video-based courses to students by launching their own MOOCs in partnership with the Open University this autumn.

MOOCs are completely free, opening up learning to students of all income levels. They use Web-based learning environments to deliver educational materials in a paradigm free of geographic boundaries and time zones, allowing tens of thousands of students the opportunity to learn. MOOCs themselves employ the flipped classroom model to enhance learning, using video as a key tool for delivering educational content.

While it remains to be seen whether or not MOOCs will improve graduation rates, education is a $1 trillion market, leaving plenty of funding available for testing and creating sustainable business models.

BYODs: Putting computer suites out of use

Today, 65 per cent of teachers say technology helps them demonstrate things they couldn’t show any other way. But not all schools are equipped with the devices they need to deliver – just 35 per cent have tablets or e-readers and six in 10 have access to an interactive whiteboard.

Instead, students themselves are increasingly gaining access to the devices their schools lack. In 2012, 75 per cent of ten year olds in the UK owned a mobile device, with the global average approaching 50 per cent. Many schools are responding with Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs, which makes it easier to leverage devices students already have.

Research shows that students who are exposed to the integration of media-rich content outperform non-exposed peers on tests, are more active in class discussions, and apply more varied approaches to problem solving, among other benefits. By 2017, streaming video will represent the majority of all mobile traffic – and if BYOD programs continue to be successful, much of this traffic could come from the classroom. BYOD programs are uniquely positioned to provide the boost classrooms need to help students access new media and engage them on devices they’re already familiar with.

Personalised and social learning

Online video is also a driving force behind the personalised and social learning paradigms being championed by many educational institutions today. According to the US Department of Education, personalised learning allows instructors to adjust the pace (individualisation) and the approach (differentiation) of learning to tailor to a student’s individual interests. Students can choose what they wish to learn, as well as when and how they learn it. Online video is a central tenet of personalised learning, as it affords students access to educational materials anytime and anywhere. In fact, one in four students has already reported using online videos to help with homework questions.

Social learning is another trend aided by technologies like mobile devices, online video, and social media. In the 1970s, psychologist Albert Bandura established the theory of social learning, which holds that people can learn in a social context. While social media and social learning exist separately, social media – and videos viewed on these platforms – can be used to support the latter. Online social tools facilitate the exploration and discussion needed for education – in fact, 79 per cent of teachers say digital tools encourage greater collaboration among students, and 50 per cent already use social media for collaboration.

Within the next few years, we can expect to see continued experimentation in the realm of educational technology. As the use of Web-based, personalised learning and open courses heat up, video will continue to be the glue that ties our new learning methods together and facilitates them in the first place.

Photo credit: Travis Hornung

Read More

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the best of Innovate My School, straight to your inbox.

What are you interested in?

By signing up you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

1,300+ guest writers.
2,500+
ideas & stories. 
Share yours.

In order to make our website better for you, we use cookies!

Some firefox users may experience missing content, to fix this, click the shield in the top left and "disable tracking protection"