Video Tutorials in Teacher Education

Tomczyk, Ł.; Mascia, M.L.; Guillen-Gamez, F.D.: Video Tutorials in Teacher Education: Benefits, Difficulties, and Key Knowledge and Skills. Educ. Sci. 2023, 13, 951. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13090951

What this research was about and why it is important

Based on their experience of online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers focused on a role of video tutorials in learning. They also discussed implementation of digital competences required for creating videos into study programmes at pedagogical faculties. The aim of this research was:

• to emphasize the still undervalued role of video tutorials in education in Poland;
• to describe the benefits and difficulties of their use;
• to identify key knowledge and skills required of teachers for creating videos.

Their presumption is that if “future teachers have adequate cognitive, digital, and communication skills, this will allow future students at any educational stage to learn at their own pace and in their own time, and, consequently, this will foster autonomy and self-regulation of learning.”

 What the researchers did

The qualitative study is based on a student assignment to create and present a video tutorial and a structured interview aimed to answer three questions:

1. What are the benefits of using video tutorials in education?
2. What difficulties do future teachers face when creating educational tutorials?
3. What key knowledge and skills are required of teachers who wish to create video tutorials?

The results were drawn from answers of 16 student teachers who attended a course about using information technology in education.

 What the researchers found

The researchers summarized students´ answers and presented them in three categories. The findings included the following statements:

• Benefits: 24/7/365 availability; possibility to run multiple times; editable content as opposed to synchronous forms; development of teacher digital competence.
• Difficulties: gaps in basic digital competences; problems with the use of software; ability to select and plan content in a tutorial; need to record learning material several times.
• Key knowledge and skills: language skills; ability to create, edit and share tutorials; knowledge of the functioning of video on demand (VoD); having expertise in the area being presented.

Things to consider

The research has several limitations:

• the research sample size;
• mediating variables that influence perceptions of using tutorial videos in teaching, such as the level of digital competence, attitudes towards new media and previous experience with the use of new media in education;
• freedom of expression – participation in research was a part of an academic course.

Read the fulltext here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9907203/