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The brain is fascinating. It is a complex network of over 100 billion neurons linked together in an elaborate system (Herculano-Houzel, 2009). Scientists are constantly making new discoveries about how different parts of the brain interact. It is too complex a topic to cover in just a short section of this book, so I would highly encourage you to check out the articles referenced in the bibliography.

THEORY INTO PRACTICE

One of my favorite concepts to teach is internal and external conflicts in story. I introduce the concept using one of the first videos I ever created for the classroom. You can check out the video here: youtu.be/UKkVrMIJeiI

These were all things I had to consider as I was planning out the video:

1. Sensory Memory. Students have to focus in on the information being delivered in the video and tune out the extraneous information in the room.

2. Working Memory. Students then focus in on the two concepts presented in the video: internal conflict and external conflict.

3. Long Term Memory. Students can connect these concepts to characters they know well (Batman and Joker from Batman comic book lore and Elsa from Disney’s Frozen).

I could have included video clips from Batman and Frozen, sound effects blaring for each slide transition, and flashing animated text, but each of these elements would have diverted student brain power from the learning task.

Cynthia Brame (2015) identifies three elements that are vital for video design and implementation to be effective: cognitive load, noncognitive elements that impact engagement, and features that promote active learning. This means that as you develop video content, you need to be aware of the strain placed on memory-storing processes, outside forces that might affect a viewer’s understanding of the material, and elements you can add to make the video a more interactive experience.

Marcy P. Driscoll defines cognitive load as “the strain that is put on working memory by the processing requirements of a learning task” (2005). Have you ever tried to open up a YouTube video, download a large file from your e-mail, and work on a PowerPoint presentation while having ten or more tabs open on your internet browser? That’s when you get the spinning icon or error message that lets you know something’s not right. Your computer is trying to do too much and is overwhelmed by all of the processes it’s trying to accomplish at one time. Your brain is like a computer in a lot of ways: If you overload its memory by trying to have it do too many things at once, it’ll struggle to load new information. However, if information can be connected to prior schema, connections use less processing power and larger quantities of information can be processed at one time.

For new information to be stored indefinitely it needs to travel through three modes of memory.

1. First, the learner uses sensory memory to determine which sensory signals deserve attention. The learner is constantly bombarded with information. For example, when students sit down to watch a video, they are processing the sensation of the chair they’re sitting in, the people around them, the posters on the wall, the case around the iPad, the pressure of the earbuds in their ears, and so on. All of these inputs are hitting the student, whose brain has to determine what is the most important, relevant information to focus on while tuning out the rest.

2. Next, information filters through working memory, which has a limited capacity. Your brain can only process four to five items in working memory at a time, and these stay in your brain for only around thirty seconds unless you do something with them. When I plan my videos for students, I try to present only one or two items of substantial information so as not to overload students’ working memory.

3. Finally, the information gets locked into long-term memory (Brame, 2015). When you can connect new information to previous information, it goes into long-term memory. The more connections you can make to existing knowledge, the more likely it is that new information will stick.

Cognitive load theory analyzes how this network of systems interacts to create new learning. Three types of strain are placed on the brain in the process of learning: intrinsic load, which refers to the complexity of the learning task and the connections that are made between new learning and schema; germane load, which refers to the amount of working memory needed to support the intrinsic load; and extraneous load, which refers to any distractors that take away from the learning task (Brame, 2015).

Also important to consider when planning a video are the two channels of working memory: visual and auditory (Brame, 2015). When watching a video, students first process information with their sensory memory to determine what is relevant and important enough for working memory. They then have two channels to interpret information: auditory cues (sounds, voice-over, music) and visual cues (images, video, text on the screen). Too much text on the screen, voice-over without matching visuals, and music that overpowers the video can all overload the two channels, placing extraneous load on the learning task.

In their analysis of MOOC sessions, Guo, Kim, and Rubin (2014) found that the ideal video is less than six minutes long, includes periodic “talking head” scenes, and incorporates some of the techniques used in Khan Academy–style videos, especially the use of tablet drawings. Most important, the researchers found the quality of the video production did not have a direct impact on engagement.

Videos that rely too heavily on direct instruction and lecture can be ineffective because they lean too heavily on the audio channel of the brain and ignore the potential benefits of incorporating visual elements in the learning task (Thomson, Bridgstock & Willems, 2014). The most effective videos capitalize on both text and audio channels to demonstrate processes, tutorials, and other content by using visuals and music/narration (Thomson, Bridgstock & Willems, 2014).

John Hattie (2010) reviewed close to 1,200 meta-analyses to evaluate the effect size of over 250 instructional practices and the resulting learning outcomes. The higher the effect size, the greater the learning outcome: a practice that has an effect size of 0.4 will have an impact of one year’s worth of growth over a school year and is what would be expected in a typical classroom. He found that interactive video has an effect size of 0.54 and micro-teaching/video review of lessons has an effect size of 0.88—both considerably higher than the standard yearly classroom effect size of 0.4, indicating that students learning from this method would show more than a year’s worth of growth over the course of a year.

Ultimately, using videos successfully in the classroom comes down to balance:

1. including a balance of auditory and visual cues without overloading one side or the other;

2. maintaining a balance between new information and connections to old information; and

3. finding a balance between engaging and exciting content and content that overloads the learners.

Knowing how the brain is going to process your videos will help guide your video creations.