The Value of Short Instructional Videos
Dear Faculty,
Integrating instructional video into online or face-to-face courses can be a powerful tool to
After exploring the literature and best practices on recommendations for video length, faculty have discovered that using instructional videos of ten minutes or less will ensure that students will not only watch the video, but also better retain, process, and apply the information discovered there.
Please consider these top five reasons why instructional videos should be less than 10 minutes:
Best,
Alex Rockey
Managing Editor, The Wheel
Integrating instructional video into online or face-to-face courses can be a powerful tool to
- offer additional explanations about course concepts that students typically struggle with;
- replace parts of face-to-face lectures to allow more in-class time for students to apply concepts;
- establish connections between course content and the real world.
After exploring the literature and best practices on recommendations for video length, faculty have discovered that using instructional videos of ten minutes or less will ensure that students will not only watch the video, but also better retain, process, and apply the information discovered there.
Please consider these top five reasons why instructional videos should be less than 10 minutes:
- Shorter videos are more engaging (Guo, Kim, & Rubin, 2014).
- Students may rewatch shorter videos more often (Cooper & Higgins, 2014).
- Shorter videos increase student learning (Ibrahim, Antonenko, Greenwood, & Wheeler, 2012)
- Breaking a lesson into shorter, “learner-paced segments” helps students process complex information (Mayer, 2008).
- The longer a video, the more a student mind wanders, such that their retention of material decreases (Risko, Anderson, Sarwal, Engelhardt, Kingstone, 2011).
Best,
Alex Rockey
Managing Editor, The Wheel