Over 1600 students around the world participated in research conducted by SAGE to explore how students are using videos to enhance their learning experiences. The research also set out to discover whether students were aware of - and likely to watch - videos created by libraries. Key findings
- 68% of respondents were shown videos in most or some of their classes
- 20% in a few of their classes
- 7% never
- 8% in all their classes
(The majority of students who reported videos were used in all of their classes were either distance learners or were studying media/communications.)
As well as videos being shown in classes, 79% of respondents were voluntarily sourcing video material outside of class as they sought to better understand material or topics.
How are students sourcing educational video material?
The rather depressing news for academic libraries is that students are largely unaware of resources that their libraries are providing access to. They are searching via YouTube or Google or going straight to sources recommended by teachers. If students are not pointed to the library via course material or academic staff, they may never think of using the library for video resources.
Only 32% of students report searching for videos in the library or on the library’s website.
Lessons for librarians
- Collaboration between the library and academic staff to improve visibility - e.g. listing library resources on course pages
- Targeted, not generalised, marketing of the library to students
The SAGE White Paper (Great Expectations: students and video in higher education) is available to download here.