Abstract:

Videos have been used in university teaching for years before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they were often of relatively little significance – particularly at brick-and-mortar universities, which most universities in continental Europe are. When the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic made face-to-face teaching impossible, there was a surge in the popularity of learning videos. For example, just under 18,000 new videos were added to the video platform of the University of Innsbruck between March 2020 and September 2021.

Before the pandemic, videos were already used in various ways. On the one hand, HEIs allowed for the videotaping of courses and other live settings, on the other hand, videos were produced in studios to enrich face-to-face events. The primary purpose of video recordings was to give students the opportunity to revise course content. The idea was to offer students additional support, not to replace face-to-face teaching. When all teaching had to be moved online in the wake of the pandemic, videos were suddenly no longer used as an additional offer, but rather as a replacement for face-to-face courses. Videos, both live-streamed and pre-recorded, were now the primary medium of teaching content.

This abrupt change caught many HEIs off-guard and they were faced with various challenges regarding the production and distribution of videos. From a pedagogical perspective, the way content was taught had to be adapted to this new medium. This was an issue particularly in the beginning of the pandemic, when many students complained about teachers not taking the necessary pedagogical measures to make their videos worthwhile. In many cases, course content was hardly adapted, multimedia forms of teaching were hardly implemented, and lectures were hardly re-structured to fit the video format and the students’ subsequent shorter attention spans. On a technical level, HEIs had to provide the appropriate equipment for faculty to produce videos in their offices or at home. Also, the equipment in lecture halls and seminar rooms had to be upgraded to allow for course recordings there. Additionally, server, network, and streaming infrastructure had to be prepared for drastically increased amounts of data. Last but not least, HEIs had to provide faculty and students with the best possible support and instructions for their transition to online teaching and learning.

Most HEIs were able to address these challenges well during the pandemic. While the conditions for producing and distributing learning videos have improved considerably since March 2020, the question remains whether videos will maintain their current significance upon the return to face-to-face teaching. Therefore, this article addresses the research question: "What is the future potential of learning videos at brick-and-mortar universities?" To answer this question, the results of empirical surveys as well as practical experience from the universities of Graz and Innsbruck are presented and supported with international examples of the use of instructional videos. To provide a full picture, the three stakeholder groups students, faculty, and service centers are factored in. The analysis of the results is followed by a discussion of potentials and challenges. The paper is concluded with recommendations for the sustainable integration of videos at HEIs with predominantly face-to-face teaching.

Keywords:

Video, learning video, COVID-19.