One of the biggest "lessons learned" from teaching during the pandemic has been faculty interest in using video recordings to deliver some of their instructional content. Although the easiest way to create and deploy video contents is to capture regular class-length lectures, delivered very similarly to how one might lecture in a face-to-face class. However, while students will often sit through a 90 minute (or longer) in-person lecture, viewing data suggests they are far less likely to watch long recorded lectures. As the accompanying chart indicates, the average length of videos being recorded in or uploaded to Echo360 has steadily climbed in the past year. However, student viewing habits have remained largely unchanged. On average, students watch any specific video on UHCL's Echo360 system for fewer than 15 minutes.
What might we learn from this information? There are many possible interpretations. Students may watch the same video multiple times and simply start each viewing session in a different location. Students might also only be watching a brief portion of course videos. Students could also be viewing videos at a faster playback speed (I tend to watch most videos at 1.5x playback speed). However, it might be worthwhile in a midterm survey or brief class discussion to gather information from your specific students regarding how they use your class videos and how videos might be improved. Should you choose to reflect on video use in your own courses, the IDT team offers the following reminders about Echo360 and its less familiar tools and features:
- The video editor enables you to take a long video and separate it into smaller "bite sized" pieces.
- The Polling tool allows you to strategic place questions throughout your videos, designed to offset mindless viewing by making students reflect on short sections and respond to questions about information just presented.
- Instructors also have the ability to use Echo360 Analytics to review the video watching habits within their own classes.
