Abstract:

For some years now, adult education and working while studying have had an important role in the modern society. Working while studying is also common for the students of tertiary educational institutes, especially towards the end of their studies. An adult working student does not always have the opportunity to study in the way that is typical or natural for him/her. Some of the common reasons include the different work and life situations of adult students which may make it impossible for them to participate in face to face teaching. Studying can be supported, for example, by diversifying face to face teaching with the help of an education technology such as web videos.
The focus of this article is on examining, with the help of the information obtained from the results of a student questionnaire, factors related to the use of video lectures by students. Results of the questionnaire are combined with the results obtained from the log file of a media server thus we aim to give a picture about the effects of time restrictions and place on the use of lecture videos by students. In this paper we also examine how the current practice is suited for diversification of adult education. Our study deals with the Master Studies in Mathematical Information Technology at Kokkola University Consortium. These studies are directed for working adults. In Master Studies, for some years now, all teaching has been available both as contact teaching as well as real time and on-demand lecture videos. As far as distances are concerned, some of the students of the Masters Studies are able to choose either face to face teaching or video lectures; however, some of them live far away from the campus area, in which case they can primarily make use of real time or recorded lecture videos.
On-demand recordings are without a doubt the most common way to use video lectures, but more than half of the students regard the provision of real time lecture videos also important. According to the results the most common motivation for the use of the videos is clearly to compensate for the absences from contact teaching. This was the case both for those living nearby as well as for those living further away, although this was felt more pronounced by those living far away. On the other hand the students are willing to participate in face to face teaching. Almost all of the students living nearby would participate in face to face teaching if it is possible timewise to do so. Another motivation for the use of the videos that emerged in a clear manner was exam revision, which was the second important reason for those living nearby. According to the results it’s, however, fair to say that the opportunities offered by video lectures are not fully utilized.
In the opinion of those students who live near the campus the current practice, where lectures are being arranged as contact teaching and offered as real time and on-demand videos, suits for nearly anyone. Also of those living further away, 3/4 thought that the current practice suits them fairly well at least. In addition, more than half of the students thought that lecture videos together with other course material support their learning at least as well or even better than contact teaching.

Keywords:

Video lectures, video on-demand, video usage, blended learning.