Potentials and Limitations of Educational Videos on YouTube for Science Communication

Abstract

YouTube has become a complement learning platform which fosters learning on demand with educational videos. Educational videos are understood as a fruitful strategy to enhance the user’s knowledge and are applied in schools, as well as in science communication, e.g., to inform about climate change. This paper discusses two perspectives which become visible in the current research literature on educational videos on YouTube. First, studies assume that watching educational videos changes the attitude or behavior of the recipients. Second, studies question whether educational videos have a higher impact than other information materials such as texts. We frame both perspectives with regard to theories from media effect studies and learning concepts from education science and discuss their conclusions for educational videos on YouTube. We will first focus on students as a target group for educational videos, but in the further course, we will discuss the results for the public as targeted group of science communication as well. In the final section we will summarize which potentials and limitations educational videos have for educational purposes in science communication.

Investigatation of YouTube as an online platform used during remote learning forced by COVID-19

“…Using YouTube as a learning and teaching platform has the potential to enable users to communicate and collaborate to develop material [8,[12][13][14][15]. Teachers can create their channels, record class lessons, and upload them online for students to view to better grasp what they have learned [16].…”

Using TikTok, memes, and YouTube in the geography classroom

“…These views on the challenges associated with using YouTube in the classroom, as identified by this study, suggest that creativity in the classroom should be supported by the availability of resources. Kohler and Dietrich (2021) observe that sometimes "lay people function as self-declared experts in educational videos, which means that not all videos might meet high didactic standards or are even based on school curricula" (p. 3). Not all YouTube videos are produced by experts, so the teacher must exercise https://doi.org/10.46622/jogea.v5i1.3977 discretion when integrating the material into the geography classroom.…”

The Use of YouTube Videos in English Language Teaching: A Perspective of Indonesian Undergraduate Students Majoring in English Language Education

“…The quality of the videos also affects students' interest and understanding. So, teachers should give attention to the presentation, content, efficiency, voice, and interestingness of the video (Kohler & Dietrich, 2021).…”