Learners’ Need for Including Teachers’ Moving Images in Online Learning Video Materials

Abstract

Typical online learning video materials include teachers’ moving images along with their voices and visual slides. My past study from the perspective of cognitive science revealed that learners watch teachers’ moving images although they apparently distract learners’ attention from the essential contents of the slides. This study investigated learners’ subjective need for teachers’ moving images in online video materials. University students (N = 87) answered four questionnaire items on a five-point scale after taking online video lessons as course requirements. The results showed that about half the students (52%) felt positively about including teachers’ moving images. On the other hand, only 11% students negatively evaluated their inclusion; the remaining students (37%) held a neutral opinion. These results suggest that learners subjectively require teachers’ moving images when learning with online video materials. The result is interpreted, with my data from past studies and theories, to mean that human learning is intrinsically not information-to-learner communication but teacher-to-learner, or human-to-human, communication.