The average child’s attention span is decreasing each year. According to CNLD, 2-year-olds have an attention span of 4–6 minutes. This increases to 6–8 minutes among 3-year-olds and 8–12 minutes among 4-year-olds.
The gist of the study is that it’s becoming increasingly difficult for teachers, educators, tutors, and parents to capture and consistently hold children’s attention. Whether a child is sitting in a physical classroom, attending an online class, or doing their homework, they have dozens of distractions around them. Even without tangible distractions, students can easily zone out and let their imagination take the reins.
Video-assisted learning (VAL) is being lauded as a robust solution to low student attentiveness. When video technology is introduced to learning, student engagement and stimulation levels increase.
Video content appeals to students more. Whether it’s educational or conceptual in nature, children pay closer attention to it for a longer duration. VAL plays a big role in improving children’s comprehension, cognitive, motor, and critical thinking skills.
In 2023, many education specialists are calling VAL the future of education. Is this a premature and misguided assumption? Or is there truth to it? In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at video-assisted learning, its benefits, and how it’s shaping the future of education. Let’s begin.
1. The Rise of VAL
Video content stimulates two senses: vision and hearing. The more senses that are stimulated, the better. Children are more likely to pay attention till the very end.
At its core, VAL is the integration of video content into academic lessons. By breaking complex topics down into small, bite-sized, and digestible pieces, educators use VAL to improve classroom engagement, knowledge absorption and retention, and learning outcomes.
Video content isn’t new. Videos, movies, TV shows, and other forms of moving media have been around for decades. However, video hasn’t always been incorporated into formal learning. Yes, educational videos aren’t new. However, teachers and tutors have mostly relied on traditional means of teaching that exclude multimedia.
In 2023, things are changing. According to a study, 94% of teachers effectively used video content during the academic year and achieved excellent results. They deemed VAL a significantly more effective approach than traditional learning via textbooks.
This isn’t to say that textbooks are obsolete and ineffective. They’re not. However, they must be combined with media like images, videos, infographics, visual textbooks, animations, podcasts, and other types of audiovisual content.
2. Why is VAL So Effective?
Now that we have a better understanding of VAL, let’s understand why it’s so effective. The majority of the human brain processes visual information. It responds to visual content much faster than text or any other type of content.
As a result, children are more likely to remember visual content than text-based content. They also understand visual content better owing to its ease. Dense concepts cannot always be properly explained through textual and oral teaching. No matter how great a teacher is with their words or how well-written a textbook may be, certain teaching modalities simply do not translate well to children.
Video, in comparison, holds the power of demonstration. Educators can break academic concepts down into visual, demonstrative, and animated stories that resonate with children and carry a high level of comprehensibility.
Since VAL is so easy to grasp, it can also be leveraged independently. A teacher’s presence isn’t always necessary to disseminate video content. In fact, students can easily self-study.
3. VAL vs. Traditional Learning
Traditional learning methods are still in use and will be for a long time. However, we’re now seeing more modern modalities enter the picture, including VAL. In fact, many institutions have completely switched to video-based teaching in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the pandemic threat has disappeared, online schools are still extremely popular and effective. This is because of the power of audiovisual technology. Of course, the faculty’s qualifications and experience, the quality of the curriculum, the provision of academic resources, and a wide range of other factors also play a big role in determining learning outcomes in virtual institutions.
However, video lessons are a stellar standout feature. Students respond exceptionally well to video-assisted learning and develop the ability to self-learn, self-reflect, and self-improve from a young age.
Video content strengthens children’s independent learning skills and helps them understand that it’s possible to develop strong academic skills outside the classroom as well. Since video content can be replayed, students can revisit lessons for better understanding wherever they want, whenever they want.
Recommended Read: Fostering Independence in Kids: How Entrepreneurship-Focused After-School Programs Help
4. How Can I Implement VAL?
Video-assisted learning can be easily implemented by educators. You don’t need much; a simple display or projector will do. Over time, you can branch out into more advanced tools and methods.
Start by surveying your students to understand their response to VAL. In some cases, videos aren’t ideal for certain students. Once you develop a better grasp of what your students think, you’ll be able to take the right action accordingly.
Ideally, VAL should be gradually introduced to students. Make sure you don’t replace it with hands-on learning. While video content is effective, students cannot be practically engaged with it. VAL should always be combined with hands-on exercises and activities to help students enjoy the best of both worlds.
Make sure the video content is age-appropriate, culturally sensitive, and informative. Once you check all the right boxes off the list, you’ll be able to make the most of video-assisted learning in 2023.
5. Who Are We?
COMPUCHILD is a STEAM-focused children’s education franchise. Our team is committed to helping students develop strong entrepreneurial, financial, technological, and critical thinking skills. By equipping each student with the tools they need to succeed, we help them become multi-talented learners.
If you want to improve the future of children’s education, become a COMPUCHILD franchise owner today. We leverage the power of video-assisted learning to help students learn better and become independent thinkers.
Take a closer look at our programs and locations. If you have additional questions about video-assisted learning or our STEAM after school franchise, feel free to reach out to us. Our doors are always open. Let’s work together to build a better future for our children.
