Whilst working through some feedback on a recent video project, one of our suppliers brought up the idea of silent teaching, and how we might want to integrate it into our videos. This led to a wider discussion on the many other considerations we take when making content that is as accessible and useful to as many students as possible—which we’ll be exploring in this blog post. But what exactly is silent teaching?
Developed by Caleb Gattegno and popularised for mathematical teaching in part by Craig Barton (@mrbartonmaths), silent teaching is a form of instruction whereby the teacher communicates only by doing things, that the students then watch and join as they catch on.
The underlying principle is that removing the need to process aural information decreases a student’s cognitive load and allows them to focus fully on engaging with the content. There is some crossover here with the principles of teaching with Mastery, which we briefly touched upon last month.
So, should all educational videos be made silent?
While this theory can have a positive impact in a classroom environment, translating it to published resources might not be quite so simple.
This is primarily because the aim of many educational videos is to ensure that all students can access and understand the content. While omitting narration may push some students to think through the material more deeply, if a student is unable to spot the pattern in a silently taught resource, they risk missing out completely. This risk is reduced in the classroom, as teachers can monitor students directly, but videos are often designed for use in independent learning.
Adding narration therefore ensures that students who process auditory information more easily—or find following subtitles easier than following diagrams—have another pathway towards understanding the topics.
Although silent teaching may not be applicable across the board in educational publishing, there are still ways in which we can tailor video resources to decrease a student’s cognitive load, and thus improve their understanding and enjoyment of a resource.
How can we reduce student cognitive load in educational videos?
The objective when reducing student cognitive load in educational videos is to minimise student distraction away from the specific learning point(s).
This can be done in many ways, such as:
Having gaps in narration, to allow students to watch any animations without distraction
This most closely mirrors the idea of silent teaching, as the aural information is removed at key moments so that students can process important visual information. Similarly, only one part of the screen should show meaningful movement at any given time, such that students are not distracted from the key focus.
Use of bold / highlighted text
Drawing students’ focus to key information at the relevant time ensures that they are focusing on the appropriate visual information, at the right moment in the video, without overtly telling them to do so. It is similarly important to un-bold / highlight the information when it is no longer needed, to minimize distractions, and to prevent the screen becoming too crowded.
Splitting worked examples into question parts
In long worked examples, students’ mental load is increased, as they need to retain multiple ideas and pieces of information over the course of a question. By splitting questions into smaller parts, the steps become easier to follow, and it is clearer which pieces of information are relevant at each stage.
Using minimal distracting colours / animations / complex fonts
While colour, animation and different fonts can all be used as tools for drawing students’ attention, having too many things happening on screen can detract from the overall resource and split focus. There can be a temptation to go as flashy and fancy as possible with animations, but this can run the risk of having the unintended effect of actually reducing the learning value of the content.
Using the same, or similar, formatting / template across all videos in a series
Having a specific style guide or template can create consistency and reduce distraction when students watch multiple videos in a series. Keeping things consistent means students will not be left wondering why a variable is being shown differently, or the language used to describe a mathematical operator has changed.
Keeping narration concise
To aid accessibility and reduce cognitive load, narration must be clear, concise, and use appropriate (and consistent) language. It should also match what’s on-screen where possible, especially when text is shown on-screen.
Keeping each video short: under 5 minutes, or ideally even less
Depending on the content of the video, this may not always be possible. However, breaking larger topics into smaller short videos is usually beneficial, as studies typically show that student attention can drop off quickly after the first minutes of a video.
What should learners do?
For learners, there are many ways to engage with video resources.
The first, and most important, key to success is to try and watch video resources without any distractions. Being mindful about reducing cognitive load involves studying without background music, in a clear uncluttered space, and without any other devices. Publishers can only do so much to allow for a comfortable and distraction-free learning space—the rest is on the user!
Additionally, students should feel comfortable pausing a video when unsure, and going back to try and understand each step fully before moving on. Pausing allows a student to focus fully on the visual information displayed on screen, without any other input and can help with improving understanding—and considerations for this should therefore be made when designing the video, such as allowing pauses in narration, and including clear cut-off points between screens or sections of the video, where relevant information remains on-screen for a short period.
Ultimately, there’s never going to be a one-size-fits-all approach to creating the perfect visual learning resources, but the ideas covered in this blog are just some of the many principles we’re constantly discovering, discussing, and adapting when we work on creating resources for our clients. If you’ve any experience in this, or if you just want to share your thoughts, we’d love for you to join the discussion on our LinkedIn, and follow our page if you’re not already doing so.
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