Abstract:

Audio visual technology for learning purposes has had a big impact on teaching systems and methodologies as it stands at the base of online teaching and blended courses. In 2008, the birth of Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) where videos were largely used as learning objects marked a change in the higher education systems: society could now be defined as a “learning society”. The potential of MOOCs was grasped by some of the most important universities in the world which have constantly invested in this type of courses since 2011 as big online learning destination platforms and providers started to arrive on the scene. Scientific literature turned its eyes to this novelty as well, and began to welcome papers dealing with datas on the most used technology and approaches used in videos while active learning, cognitive load and student engagement became the focus of attention of that type of learning object. The aim of these investments and lucubrations was to enhance the learning objectives achievement through videos. Designing a course that will take place in a physical classroom is different from designing an online course as the subject pedagogy is no longer sufficient to mold the didactic path and elements: the online space requires other media to divulge the contents, some of which being videos whose very own language derives from cinema and movies and to know the theory behind their making is fundamental for their didactic turn and implementation. As a consequence, it seems safe to state that while both pedagogical and audio visual knowledge is the ultimate starting point, the design and production of appropriate videos as learning objects may be achieved through a blended formula of the two theoretical framings.

This analysis is based on a sample of 300 videos -excerpted from 100 MOOCs- of the federica.eu platform and other 300 videos belonging to MOOCs hosted on coursera.org which have been produced by the University of Illinois, Mac Quaire University, HEC Paris and Arizona State University. The study also breaks down the main trends highlighted in the existing literature and recomposes all the data into a 8 formats-list of videos from which to choose in the designing phase of a MOOC according to the didactic needs and objectives.

Keywords:

Mooc Audiovisual Production videlecture instructional design.