ENHANCEMENT OF STUDENTS’ LEARNING OUTCOMES BY USING INTERACTIVE VIDEOS IN AN ONLINE ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Unprecedented trend of blending information and communication technology (ICT) in every domain of life is playing a decisive role in creating a difference amongst countries’ economic growth and development. Education is no exception to this trend, where ICT has changed the ways of imparting education. The use of ICT in education has a long term impact through human capital formation, development of creativity and innovation. However, the use of ICT in education remained limited in the case of Pakistan but the outbreak of Covid-19 changed the situation altogether. The ICT is now being used widely but the question remains: if it is being used in the most effective way or not? This calls for a careful assessment of various alternatives of imparting education. In this context, this study explores two methods of teaching with reference to their effectiveness for students’ attention span, interest and performance in an online environment. Conventionally, students are passive learners. In a classroom, this does not excite them, as outside the boundaries of school, the ICT is a part of their daily routine. The Covid-19 pandemic impacted education for school-going children, Pakistan is no exception to this. Shifting of teaching to an online environment affected students' learning process. In order to improve students’ learning in an online environment, a lead was found by data collection through questionnaires for the improvement in students’ learning while watching a video, if a quiz is embedded in videos. The learning analytics provide feedback to further improve students learning performance. This study implements the presentation method and interactive videos’ method to two groups of 60 students to take online classes. The intervention continued for 20 days on zoom and Edpuzzle. Data collection using surveys, interviews and walkthrough checklists are the key resources involving teachers, students and parents. Datasets were created for statistical analysis using SPSS software. The value of mean for presentation-based and interactive video-based are 15.02 and 30.8, respectively. The significant value was less than 0.05, which portrayed a significant difference between both the methodologies. Regression model was applied for presentation–based and interactive video-based, where the value of R2is 0.978 and 0.996, respectively. This verifies that interactive videos have a significant positive impact on students’ interest, engagement and attention span. The study presents policy recommendations for all the relevant stakeholders, which include teachers, students, school administrators and policymakers.