Student Perceptions of Instructor-Made Videos

The rise in online education, coupled with research suggesting the influence of instructor-learner interaction and frequency of student engagement with course materials on academic outcomes, highlight the need for innovative ways to keep the online learner connected to the course. This article describes results from a study conducted to examine students’ perceptions about the use of instructor-made videos that provided explanations of course assignments, syllabus requirements, discussed weekly topics, reviewed for exams, and answered student questions in video format in both a 100% online course and in several face-to-face courses. Student perceptions of this instructional strategy were overwhelmingly positive, with all of the students surveyed expressing satisfaction with this method of instructor-learner interaction. Open-ended answers revealed that students felt more connected to the instructor when able to view instructor-made videos. Descriptive results are provided for both the 100% online course and the face-to-face courses on variables related to frequency of viewing videos, purpose of videos viewed, and perceptions about the videos in regard to their experience with the course. Recommendations are also provided for online instructors interested in employing this teaching technique.