Abstract:

Teaching Digital Natives students is a big challenge nowadays. Around the world, members of Gen Z are spending more time on electronic devices and less time reading books. Students are not coming to lectures as they were used to, specifically after COVID19 pandemic. They prefer remote lectures but they are usually distracted doing something else while the class is in session. Student attention span has decreased over the years. The average attention span during a presentation or lecture is about 10-20 minutes.

In our research we are addressing these challenges by using short effective videos using Augmented reality (AR). AR is an interactive experience that enhances the real world with computer-generated perceptual information and overlays digital content onto real-life environments and objects. The professor creates 10-15 minutes videos with the main topic (usually complex concepts). The videos are available for the students before the lecture. The students watch the video before class, then they take a quiz. If the result of the quiz is not a passing grade, the student can re-watch the video and take the quiz more than once. A passing grade is required before the lecture. During the lecture students do practical exercises using pair programming. The professor reviews the material and answers any questions the students may have. The students watch videos voluntary after the class to reinforce the learning process.

In our experience as professors, we have been using traditional video-recordings since 2012 to reinforce topics from previous courses, however, only 50% of students watched the videos. During COVID19, we recorded all live lectures. Only 30% of students re-watched to study. Recorded sessions were 90 minutes long, which made them long and boring for students. Based on this experience, last year we changed our approach by integrating new technologies such as Augmented Reality and best teaching practices such as Microlearning. Microlearning is a way of teaching and delivering content to learners in bite-sized (3-5 minutes) bursts at the point of need, with a focused and specific learning outcome. The results were surprising, 90% of Gen Z students re-watched the videos more than once. Average grade on midterm improved on 10%. Based on these results, we are generating more videos on difficult topics for databases and analytics. Augmented Reality Videos were produced using Jalinga Cloud and the Advanced Video Studio (AdViS) available to professors at Tecnológico de Monterrey. Videos created with these tools do not require further edition so the professor can generate his/her own videos without additional help.

The paper addresses our methodology, experiences, student evaluation and improving grades for students. Also, student surveys indicate that videos are excellent resource for the learning process.

Keywords:

Videos for learning, microlearning, computer science, emerging technologies.