Serving elementary students' instructional needs with video tutorials

In grade 4-7 computer skills classes, screencasts were used to study how learner needs for assistance were served by video-tutorials in which learners could control the pacing and sequence of instruction. This study measured and compared the number of student requests for assistance during video-tutorial and teacher-led lessons, their performance on posttests following both methods of lesson delivery, and their attitudes and perceptions of their experiences of learning with video tutorials. When they were using video tutorials, controlling the pace and sequence of instruction in accordance with their own preferences, learners worked more independently and requested less support from the teacher or peers than they did during teacher-led lessons. Video-led groups outperformed teacher-led groups on posttests in this study. Student survey responses indicated that most students utilized the ability to pause and replay segments of the lesson preferred video-led lessons over teacher-led lessons and reported that video-led lessons made learning easier than it was during teacher-led lessons. --P. ii.