Professor YouTube and Their Interactive Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning

Abstract

Although, videos for teaching and learning have been established for many years, transferring of knowledge has changed tremendously within the past decade. Students increasingly consume learning content via videos. In this context, the triumph of YouTube in becoming a main source for learning is astonishing. In combination with an increasing use of online courses, videos however, also need to be focused from a didactical perspective. This fact is one out of a couple of interesting results from 2018's survey amongst first-year students of Graz University of Technology. This survey focuses on the student's IT preferences and competence; it has been executed annually since 2007. Based on more than 9500 datasets, this long-term survey records changes in ownership of students' IT equipment, IT driven communicative behavior, and use of apps as well as social media services over a period of twelve years. One further remarkable result is the very clear rejection of Facebook. Currently, even SMS is more frequently used than Facebook. Thus, it can be stated that Facebook is no longer a major platform for first-year students.

Full text

Draft, originally published in: Nagler, W., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2019). Professor YouTube and Their Interactive
Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of
EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 641-650). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210078/.
Professor YouTube and Their Interactive Colleagues
How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning
Walther Nagler
Educational Technology, Graz University of Technology, Austria
walther.nagler@tugraz.at
Maria Haas
Educational Technology, Graz University of Technology, Austria
maria.haas@tugraz.at
Martin Schön
Educational Technology, Graz University of Technology, Austria
martin.schoen@tugraz.at
Martin Ebner
Educational Technology, Graz University of Technology, Austria
martin.ebner@tugraz.at
Abstract: Although, videos for teaching and learning have been established for many years,
transferring of knowledge has changed tremendously within the past decade. Students
increasingly consume learning content via videos. In this context, the triumph of YouTube in
becoming a main source for learning is astonishing. In combination with an increasing use of
online courses, videos however, also need to be focused from a didactical perspective. This fact is
one out of a couple of interesting results from 2018’s survey amongst first-year students of Graz
University of Technology. This survey focuses on the student’s IT preferences and competence; it
has been executed annually since 2007. Based on more than 9500 datasets, this long-term survey
records changes in ownership of students' IT equipment, IT driven communicative behavior, and
use of apps as well as social media services over a period of twelve years. One further remarkable
result is the very clear rejection of Facebook. Currently, even SMS is more frequently used than
Facebook. Thus, it can be stated that Facebook is no longer a major platform for first-year
students.
Introduction
Digital literacy or digital competence for everyone are urgent demands of today’s society. Anyone should be
knowledgeable about these topics to be prepared for a digital future. Due to the necessity of these skills, we have
been conducting a yearly survey with our first semester students for the past 12 years. Beside the general facts, we
also try to focus the survey around a hot topic. This year we would like to focus on learning with videos. Videos can
nowadays be seen as one of the main teaching options when you consider Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
as one of the main teaching methods particularly in combination with didactical approaches such as flipped
classroom or inverse blended learning (Ebner & Schön, 2019). One of the main disadvantages of videos are the
missing interactivity for learners and learners’ short attention spans, because we know from literature that even the
passive attendance of classes leads to better grades compared to students who are only attending 50% of all units
(Devadoss and Foltz, 1996). A similar research finding is reported by (Romer 1993). It is stated that full class
attendance leads to the second best grade on average whereas students who only attend one quarter of the class are
scoring the third best grade. Furthermore it is stated that a key factor to avoid a negative grade is attending most of
the in-class sessions (Park and Kerr1990). In addition, it is revealed by (Bai & Chang 1996) that students are feeling
more supported by their teachers if occasional attendance checks are performed. Obviously, attention in lecture hall
is a key factor for better grades and therefore we should ensure a high watch-rate for the provided videos if we are
doing online classes. In literature, we have already found big mechanisms to monitor attendance in MOOCs by
using Learning Analytics measurements (Leitner et al., 2017) (Khalil & Ebner, 2013). In addition to that, there are

Draft, originally published in: Nagler, W., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2019). Professor YouTube and Their Interactive
Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of
EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 641-650). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210078/.
also some reports about using so called Audience Response Systems (ARS) to enhance the interactivity for students
both online as well as offline (Haintz, 2014).
Nevertheless, there are only few publications dealing with videos for teaching and learning (Ebner & Schön, 2017).
However, in this research publication we focus on the experience freshmen have made when it comes to learning
with. Furthermore, we deal with the question of what effect interactivity in videos has on student motivation and
what didactic approaches and methods interactive videos bring with them.
The Long-Time Survey among TU Graz First-Year University Students
For twelve years now, the department “Educational Technology” (ET) of University of Technology Graz (TU Graz)
has been conducting a paper-and-pencil survey among its freshmen at the beginning of the autumn semester (Nagler
& Ebner, 2009; Ebner & Nagler, 2010; Ebner et al, 2011; Ebner et al, 2012; Ebner et al, 2013; Ebner et al, 2014;
Nagler et al, 2015; Nagler et al, 2016; Nagler et al, 2017; Nagler et al, 2018). In 2018, the questionnaire contributed
a significant sample of 898 data sets to the long-time survey. Thus far, 9565 students have completed the poll in
total (n2007=578, n2008=821, n2009=757, n2010=702, n2011=632, n2012=715, n2013=789, n2014=968, n2015=889, n2016=944,
n2017=872, and n2018=898). In this long-term survey, progress and facts about the use of IT and the IT competence of
new students at TU Graz are examined. Which digital devices do they own, how much do they use them and for
what purpose? How has their behavior towards social media and communication changed through the years? Are
they aware of risks that come along with online systems, and which IT knowledge did they gain at secondary
school? The answers to these questions form the main part of the annual survey.
Another part concentrates on a specific topic that changes every year. 2018’s special focus is on the usage of videos
for learning purposes, especially the use of YouTube. In addition to this, the didactic potential of videos in general
and interactive videos in particular, are discussed at the end of the publication.
Results and Findings of the Survey in 2018
Which Trends Can be Seen Regarding IT Device Ownership?
A core question of the survey deals with the ownership of IT equipment. The results influence the e-learning
strategy of ET; the students’ trends are pointing the way. Figure 1 depicts the results of twelve years covering main
IT devices. Depending on technological developments, IT devices were added, merged, or removed from the survey
over the course of the twelve years. In order to see the full results, please compare to previous publications from this
long-term study, as referenced above.
As in the year before, some trends are still going on in 2018. The remarkable break of the declining trend of PC
ownership in correlation with the values for the selections “MAC”, “Linux”, “MacBook”, and different pads can be
noted again. Only the selection “Lap/Netbook” shows a slight, but not significant, decrease. If we take a look at the
distribution of mobile phones at the same time, an obvious trend towards a second phone can be seen for the first
time (selection “Mobile smart all” with 107%). Although the values for “iPhone” and “Android” systems nearly
remained the same, the one for “Windows” systems doubled to at least 5%; the highest value for Windows thus far.
This trend towards usage of mobile devices is also reinforced by the fact that PPPs (selection “Portable Power
Packs”) are experiencing a massive increase (40% in 2017 up to 55% in 2018), which indicates a significant
increasing energy consumption of mobile devices overall. Furthermore, IPTV enjoys a plus of 22% and still holds at
37%; so, this curve still goes consistently uphill. Whereas, there is only little growth with regards to “Smart
watches” and none for “Activity tracker”. The time for “Smart glasses” and “Other wearables” has certainly not
come.

Draft, originally published in: Nagler, W., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2019). Professor YouTube and Their Interactive
Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of
EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 641-650). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210078/.
Figure 1: Comparison of IT devices used by first-year students at TU Graz between 2007 and 2018
Selection “smart speaker” is new in 2018
Which Trends Can be Seen Regarding Communicative Behavior via Apps?
The second crucial issue addresses the communicative behaviour using relevant applications (apps). Students had to
indicate on a list of apps how often they used them generally and for learning purposes. The results are outlined in
figure 2, figure 6, and figure 7. Figure 2 displays the changing situation over the given period of twelve years with
regard to their general communicational behaviour. Students could either select “use never”, “use rarely”, “use
often”, and “use daily”. In case an application is unknown, it was possible to check “unknown”. Note, that the bars
shown in figure 2 result from the addition of answers given for “often” and “daily” use.
Again, the selections chosen may vary from year to year depending on technological development and progress.
Thus, “Telegram” and “Facebook Messenger” have been added to the survey for the first time in 2018, whereas “E-
Mail” has been part of it from the beginning. The implied counting of “Instagram” caused 2016’s peak of “Other
Instant Messaging”. In 2017, “Instagram” had been added to the survey and the peak of “Other Instant Messaging”
dropped down to a very low level.
This year's results (2018) have a few surprises in store. Not as far as “E-Mail” is concerned, which seems completely
“established and untouchably” stuck at the 80% level. However, the downward trend of “SMS” stopped at 45%,
which occurred rather unexpectedly. In addition to this, the use of “SMS” is higher than the one of “Facebook” and
is comparable to the usage of “Snapchat” or “Instagram” now. “Facebook” itself lost 20% and is only used by 40%
of the students. Furthermore, the chat-app “Facebook Messenger” on its own is used by 23% only. Similar to
“SMS”, finally “Skype” has found its core audience levelling out at around 10%. Google+ will no longer be part of
the survey due to the fact that this service has been shut down in the meantime. Although “WhatsApp” is still the
most used communication channel, there is a small loss in 2018, which has been indicated by last year’s (2017)
stagnation. In addition, “SnapChat” can enter a similar loss of around 5%. It is hard to say, where these losses result

Draft, originally published in: Nagler, W., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2019). Professor YouTube and Their Interactive
Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of
EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 641-650). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210078/.
from and whether they signal a trend or not. Yet, “Telegram” entered the survey at a noticeable 15%, which is
straight away more than a couple of other apps and services (compare “Twitter”, “Google+”, “Skype”, and others).
It seems that the discussion about internet security and data misuse plays into the hands of alternative options at the
expense of big players and older services. Further survey will show whether this assumption is correct or not.
However, that is not all; the small gain for “Twitter” (10%) may not have much importance or impact, but it was not
predictable. This year we again see great agreement with the Austrian survey “Jugend-Internet-Monitor”1 with
regard to trends. This survey queries among youths (aged 11 to 17) and takes place in February each year.
Figure 2: General communicative behaviour of first-year students at TU Graz between 2007 and 2018
Values of selections display answers given for “often” and “daily use” summed up
Selections “Facebook Messenger” and “Telegram” are new in 2018
Which Trends Can be Seen Regarding the Usage of IT at Secondary School?
Due to the fact that most of the freshmen come from secondary school, it is worth to take a look at the IT usage they
had to deal with there. Are they used to working with a PC and a learning management system? What kind of
learning material did they use? Did their teachers prefer printed or digital material for teaching? What was the
significance of computer science and computer science teaching in their secondary school life? As well as, whether
or not they were allowed to use smartphones in class or if smartphones were even included as a media for teaching.
Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6 provide answers to these questions.
1 https://www.saferinternet.at/jugendinternetmonitor (last access 2019-04-03)

Draft, originally published in: Nagler, W., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2019). Professor YouTube and Their Interactive
Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of
EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 641-650). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210078/.
Figure 3 left: Comparison of usage of e-learning platforms and computers in general at secondary school level of
first-year students at TU Graz for 2017 (left bars) and 2018 (right bars)
Figure 4 right: Comparison of usage of analog and digital teaching materials provided by teachers, indicated by
first-year students at TU Graz for 2017 (left bars) and 2018 (right bars)
As was already apparent last year (2017), the maximum usage of e-learning at secondary school appears to have
been reached at the moment. Only “Online Courses” gained a noticeable growth; their “rarely” use increased from
11% to 27%, their “often” use from 3% to 5% (compare figure 3). “E-learning platforms” except Moodle increased
a little in “often” (9% to 11%) and “daily” (2% to 6%) use. Nonetheless, these are no significant changes at all. A
quite different result can be seen when comparing analogue and digital media as teaching materials. A trend towards
digital textbooks seems to have started. They have a slight increase in all areas, “rarely”, “often”, and “daily”.
Whereas alternative digital media such as “Wikipedia” and “YouTube” seem to “separate the wheat from the chaff”
bit by bit. Their “rarely” rates were divided between rates “never” and “often” respectively. Nevertheless, analogue
textbooks still hold the lead although their decrease in usage should not be underestimated. Note that figure 4 depicts
activities done by teachers in classroom.
As an aside, the implementation of the “General Data Protection Regulation” (GDPR) at the end of May 2018 in
Austria may have had an influence on the behaviour of teachers in terms of using digital media in classroom, but this
is out of range of this publication.
Figure 5 left: Recommendation of teaching IT obligatory at secondary school level by first-year students at TU
Graz in 2018
Figure 6 right: Assumed relevance of IT skills and basic coding skills for their study by first-year students at TU
Graz in 2018
As far as computer science is concerned, the students’ voice is pretty clear. Figure 5 and 6 speak for themselves. A
vast majority demands an obligatory schooling of computer science (IT) at secondary school compared to those who
do not: More than 83% are in favour of it; only less than 5% definitely do not want it, whereas 11,5% dislike the
idea of having compulsory IT education. The result is even clearer for the relevance of IT skills students assume

Draft, originally published in: Nagler, W., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2019). Professor YouTube and Their Interactive
Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of
EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 641-650). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210078/.
they will need during their first year of study. Over 94% think IT skills will be important (44%) or even very
important (50%). Coding skills were seen as nearly as important (42%), whereas only 15% think that they will
absolutely need them. This is quite interesting, because 24% of the new students have enrolled an informatics related
study (“Computer Science” 10,3%, “Information and Computer Engineering” 7,9%, and “Software Development
and Business Management” 6,5%). This leads to the assumption that a certain proportion of informatics students
assume that coding skills either will be taught at university anyhow or that these skills are not of high priority at all.
Furthermore, the number of students who have had programming lessons at secondary school is declining. Only
40% (48% in 2017) of students coming from a common grammar school (Academic Secondary School) had
programming lessons compared to 74% (80% in 2017) of students from Colleges for Higher Vocational Education
in the specialization engineering. Also declining is the availability of a LAN at secondary schools (60% in 2017 to
53% in 2018), whereas the one for WLAN stayed the same (44%). Anyway, the number of students that were
allowed to use a smartphone in class is rising slowly from 55% in 2017 to 60% in 2018. Thus, the correlation
between an existing internet access and a basic IT-awareness (programming lessons, use of smartphones, etc.) at
secondary schools is evident.
Which Trends Can Be Seen Regarding App-Activities in Terms of General and Learning Use?
A further focus of the annual survey addresses the usage of apps. Note that the term “app” stands for any internet-
serviced application (see selections in figures 7 and 8) that is queried in this context. This year’s (2018) poll includes
the app “Facebook Messenger” as its own option. Students were asked to indicate their extent of usage for each app
twice; once for a general (or private) use and secondly for learning purposes. They could choose between “daily”,
“often”, “rarely”, or “never” option. Figure 7 displays the results for the ratings “rarely”, “often”, and “daily” for
both purposes; figure 8 the results for “never”, “unknown”, or “skipped”, which was another possible option. Note
that Figure 7 as well as 8 show the shares for both purposes in one bar per selection. Therefore, a bar may
theoretically reach up to 200%.
Overall, we can see a relatively similar, slightly declining use for both purposes. The decline in highly established
services in favour of alternative offers is striking. This effects services such as “Wikipedia”, “YouTube” as well as
“Dropbox”, but also “WhatsApp” and “Facebook”. Even rather frequently used office software suffer from that loss
(selections “Text” and “Table”). Needless to say, all these applications still account for the bulk of "often" and
"daily" use, with the exception of "Facebook". However, most of the newer applications have caught up, such as
“Telegram”; “Pinterest”, “Instagram”, “Musical.ly”, and “Netflix”.

Draft, originally published in: Nagler, W., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2019). Professor YouTube and Their Interactive
Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of
EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 641-650). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210078/.
Figure 7: Usage of “apps” by first-year students at TU Graz in 2018, part 1
Usage qualities “rarely”, “often”, and “daily” for general and learning purpose
Selection “Facebook Messenger” is new in 2018
Figure 8: Usage of “apps” by first-year students at TU Graz in 2018, part 2
Usage qualities “never”, “unknown”, and “skipped” answers for general and learning purpose
Selection “Facebook Messenger” is new in 2018

Draft, originally published in: Nagler, W., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2019). Professor YouTube and Their Interactive
Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of
EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 641-650). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210078/.
In addition, alternative apps such as “Other instant messages”, “Internet video calling”, and “Other online
dictionary” have also seen an increase in use. At 9,5% plus, the growth of “Other online dictionary” in terms of
learning purposes is the highest of this year’s (2018) survey, followed by “Netflix” gaining 6,5% regarding general
usage. If you look at figure 7 and 8 from a different point of view, further interesting details can be seen There are
applications that differ a lot in terms of their purpose. Most of these applications are used more for general purposes
than for learning. The most distinct difference can be seen in “Instagram”, “SnapChat”, and “Netflix”. Between 45%
and 50% of the students use these services for general purposes (“often” and “daily” added up), but only
approximately 6% for learning purposes. “YouTube”, “WhatsApp”, “Facebook”, “SMS”, and “Gaming” also show
greater differences in use. Although there is a general decreasing trend, the difference to last year’s (2017) survey in
terms of “daily” use for learning efforts stays the same or even rises for the named selections above. The losses are
mainly caused in the “often”, general use section. However, there are also services that are more used for learning
purposes than for general use. Besides office software, “Other online dictionary” leads this group of services,
followed by “Wikipedia”. Although “Wikipedia” is still the first address for online research (around 70% for
learning purposes), nearly 40% of the students use “Other online dictionary” for learning purposes (“often” plus
“daily”), whereas 26% do so for general intentions. Focusing on applications that are less in use, “Pokemon” is in
lead with 80% “never” use generally and 72% “never” use for learning, although the application is well known (6%
“unknown”). The same can be said for “Twitter”; around 70% do not use it even though it is well known (4,4%
“unknown”). Similar things can be said about “Skype” by now; it is well known, but not in use (2,5% “unknown”,
52% no use generally, and 60% no use for learning). The most “unknown” distinct application is “Musical.ly” with
21%, followed by “Telegram” with 16%, and “Pinterest” with 12%. Further, not distinct services such as “Other
cloud systems”, or “Other instant messaging” and the like are also less well known (between 25% and 15%).
“Musical.ly” and “Google+” will be probably taken off the survey next year.
Will YouTube Replace the Teacher?
The use of videos in teaching and learning is not new. In this context, videos are often associated with a number of
prejudices: passive consumption, learning from a tin can, difficult and time-consuming to produce, as well as
replacement for in-class teaching, and some legal aspects. Additionally, teachers are afraid of being replaced by
videos. Actually, this topic often leads to a discussion about the pro and cons of using digital media in lessons not
only at university. But apart from these concerns, which are justified sometimes, teaching and learning with the help
of videos is often underestimated from a didactical point of view. Some obvious didactic advantages of videos are
quite well known. In principle, consumption is not limited in time or place. The learning pace can be individualized.
Search options provide basic assistance in finding specific content. Reproducibility of processes, workflows, and
complex interrelations are better comprehensible. Course records preserve the events in the lecture hall (e.g. board
picture, screencasts …) and are perfect for exam preparation. Short tutorials focus on specific, difficult but important
subjects. Finally, live streaming of a lecture enables students to attend and take part (via chat) from anywhere.
However, with regard to videos there is more to discover that is worth discussing. At present, new technological and
didactic approaches are being introduced hand in hand into higher education in order to become achievements of
modern teaching. Before we look at this, the detailed results for YouTube are described. This long-term study
provides a good insight into the increasing importance of YouTube for young people. Figure 9 and 10 give an
overview of the changes in YouTube usage.

Draft, originally published in: Nagler, W., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2019). Professor YouTube and Their Interactive
Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of
EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 641-650). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210078/.
Figure 9 left: Use of YouTube depicted in steps of five years between 2007 and 2016 (Nagler et al, 2017)
Usage qualities “often”, and “daily” for general and learning purpose
Figure 10 right: Use of YouTube between 2011 and 2018 including trend lines;
Comparing “often” and “daily” use for both general and learning purposes
Figure 9 clearly shows the increase of YouTube as a learning source (compare Nagler et al, 2017). Since 2007, the
learning use (“often” plus “daily”) has increased by a factor of 22; which is the highest growth of all applications
over the whole period of the survey. Additionally, in 2016 YouTube was outperformed only by “Wikipedia” and
office software. In terms of general use, “YouTube” even led the field together with “WhatsApp” in 2016 (94%).
Figure 10 goes into more details. The usage qualities "often" and "daily" for both, general as well as learning
purpose can be compared separately for the years 2011 to 2018. Trend lines support the assertion of YouTube
steadily becoming a main media for learning. It also seems that secondary school teachers are increasingly turning to
YouTube as a teaching tool (see figure 4). A third has already jumped on this train. Although the “often”, general
use shows a decreasing trend line, the “daily” is increasing. This loss is likely to be facilitated by the more intense
use of streaming and video-on-demand services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. The JIM study 20182 (a basic
study on the media use of 12 to 19-year-olds in Germany) reports a nearly doubling of Netflix users among the
youth (47%) since 2017. This trend also contributes to the strengthening of videos in general.
However, with regard to videos as teaching and learning materials, one might assume that passive video playback is
sufficient to understand and process the discussed material; this is not the case. Therefore, it is important to have
learners actively involved in the material and avoid the “illusion of knowing” effect (Salomon, 1984). This is where
interactive videos come into play. Interactive videos allow users to engage with the video context. This can be done
in a variety of ways, one of which is segmenting videos into various sections by implementing jump labels and
thereby allowing viewers to control the flow of information. This helps to focus on key details within the video
(Brame, 2016). Additionally, self-assessment questions can be implemented directly into the videos in order to help
students evaluate their understanding of a subject matter and to reflect on their own learning ability, reviewing their
learning progress/outcome (Brame, 2016) (Cummins et al, 2015). If students have to fulfil a particular task while
watching a video, they are more likely to engage with the video in an active manner (Szpunar, 2013). It is also
possible to use the question feature with conditional jumps. This allows for branching and directs the student to
either a different part of the video or even relevant content outside of the video based on their submitted answer(s).
Therefore, the material will be more personalized for the students as they will be guided through the video according
to their preferences and needs. This targeting additionally motivates students (Brame, 2016). Additionally, teachers
are also able to monitor and evaluate their students’ performance, which in turn allows them to get a better insight
into how to improve their own material in order to better suit their students’ needs. As of writing, interactive videos
are being used on the Austrian MOOC platform iMooX3 as well as on the LIVE4 (Live Interaction in Virtual
learning Environment) system, both of which are hosted by ET of TU Graz (Wachtler et al, 2018). Further research
2 https://www.mpfs.de/fileadmin/files/Studien/JIM/2018/Studie/JIM_2018_Gesamt.pdf (last access 2019-04-10)
3 https://imoox.at/mooc/ (last access 2019-04-11)
4 https://live.learninglab.tugraz.at (last access 2019-04-11)

Draft, originally published in: Nagler, W., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2019). Professor YouTube and Their Interactive
Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of
EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 641-650). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210078/.
on the outcome of both platforms will be the focus of future publications in the field of learning analytics. Alongside
interactive videos, a learning analytics tool called LA cockpit is currently being evaluated on iMoox. This means
that in addition to students' self-assessment test results, video metrics such as when a video was stopped or started
etc. can be tracked. This in turn allows teachers to quickly find out those sections within the videos that are often
viewed by students and they may be struggling with. Thus, it gives teachers the opportunity to focus on the topics
discussed in these sections in future lessons and/or provide students with additional material. Thus, videos enhanced
with interactivity become valuable elements of university teaching. Their use extends the spectrum of teaching
methods. Teaching scenarios such as “blended learning”, “inverted classroom”, and “flipped classroom” enjoy a
fresh boost and are thus able to fully exploit their actual power. Although MOOCs are not intended to be part of
university curricula in Austria, they are increasingly being used in these new didactic models. All combinations of
online elements and classroom teaching are conceivable and already in use at TU Graz. They are the focus of
ongoing evaluations.
Conclusion
This publication is a continuation of a series of publications presenting the annual results of a long-term study
among first-semester students at TU Graz since 2007. Besides consistent (general) parts of the survey that reflect the
students’ ownership of digital devices and their habits towards (web-based) apps usage, the survey addresses a
specific topic each year. In terms of the general parts of the survey, we can state a trend away from highly
established services (“Wikipedia”, “YouTube”, “Dropbox”, “WhatsApp”, and “Facebook”) and towards alternative
or newer ones (“Telegram”; “Pinterest”, “Instagram”, “Netflix”, “Other instant messages”, “Internet video calling”,
and “Other online dictionary”). Furthermore, we can observe a general decrease compared to last year’s (2017)
survey in terms of “often” use, but the “daily” use for learning efforts often stays the same or even rises for a couple
of selections (“YouTube”, “WhatsApp”, “Facebook”, “SMS”, and “Gaming”). Nevertheless, the trend towards more
mobile devices is continuing, primarily driven by more smartphones and portable power supplies (see Figure 1).
This year's special section highlights the use of videos for teaching and learning purposes. The possibilities of using
videos in teaching have increased due to technological advancements such as implementing interactivity in the front
and learning analytics methods in the back. This also results in new application scenarios and teaching models. The
keywords “flipped classroom” and “inverted classroom” are on the threshold to the university curricula. At
secondary school, the use of online courses (MOOCs), which offer most of their content as videos, is on the rise as
well (see figure 3). Looking back, the growth of the YouTube usage, as a main source for video consumption for
learning purposes, is exemplifying (see figures 9 and 10). Teachers are now encouraged to offer high quality videos
to meet the demands of the future or to include already existing videos in lessons online and in classroom. Videos
with interactions have a didactic added value and thus are likely to increase the learning success. Furthermore, the
didactic possibilities of 360° videos, drone recordings, and interactive virtual reality environments are currently still
in their infancy, but will have a decisive influence on the future of videos in teaching.
References
Bai, Y., & Chang, T. S. (2016). Effects of class size and attendance policy on university classroom interaction in Taiwan.
Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 53(3), 316-328.
Brame, C.J. (2016). Effective Educational Videos: Principles and Guidelines for Maximizing Student Learning from Video
Content. Cell Biology, 15(4)
Cummins, S. & Beresford, A. & Rice, A. (2015). Investigating Engagement with In-Video Quiz Questions in a Programming
Course. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies. 9. 1-1. 10.1109/TLT.2015.2444374.
Devadoss, S., & Foltz, J. (1996). Evaluation of factors influencing student class attendance and performance. American Journal
of Agricultural Economics, 78(3), 499-507.
Ebner, M. & Nagler, W. (2010). Has Web2.0 Reached the Educated Top? In: World Conference on Educational Multimedia,
Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2010, pp. 4001-4010. Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Ebner, M., Nagler, W. & Schön, M. (2011). The Facebook Generation Boon or Bane for E-Learning at Universities? In: World
Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2011, pp. 3549-3557. Chesapeake, VA:
AACE.

Draft, originally published in: Nagler, W., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2019). Professor YouTube and Their Interactive
Colleagues How Enhanced Videos and Online Courses Change the Way of Learning. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of
EdMedia + Innovate Learning (pp. 641-650). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved June 26, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210078/.
Ebner, M.; Nagler, W.; Schön, M. (2012). Have They Changed? Five Years of Survey on Academic Net-Generation. In: World
Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2012, pp. 343 – 353. Chesapeake, VA: AACE
Ebner, M., Nagler, W. & Schön, M. (2013). Architecture Students Hate Twitter and Love Dropbox” or Does the Field of Study
Correlates with Web 2.0 Behavior?. In: World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications
2013, pp. 43-53. Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Ebner, M., Nagler, W. & Schön, M. (2014). Do You Mind NSA Affair?Does the Global Surveillance Disclosure Impact Our
Students?. In: World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2014, pp. 2307-2312.
Chesapeake, VA: AACE
Ebner, M., Schön, S. (2017) Lern- und Lehrvideos: Gestaltung, Produktion, Einsatz. Handbuch E-Learning. 71. Erg. Lieferung
(Oktober 2017). 4.61. S. 1-14
Ebner, M., Schön, S. (2019) Inverse Blended Learning – a didactical concept for MOOCs and ist positive effects on dropout-
rates. In: The Impact of MOOCs on Distance Education in Malaysia and Beyond. Ally, M., Amin Embi, M., Norman, H.
(eds.). Routledge. ISBN 9780367026615
Haintz, C., Pichler, K., & Ebner, M. (2014). Developing a Web-Based Question-Driven Audience Response System Supporting
BYOD. J. UCS, 20(1), 39-56.
Khalil, H., & Ebner, M. (2013). Interaction Possibilities in MOOCs–How Do They Actually Happen. In International Conference
on Higher Education Development (pp. 1-24).
Leitner, P., Khalil, M., Ebner, M (2017) Learning Analytics in Higher Education – A Literature Review. In: Learning Analytics:
Fundaments, Applications, and Trends. Peña-Ayala, A. (Ed.). Springer International Publishing. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-
52977-6_1. pp. 1-23
Nagler, W. & Ebner, M. (2009). Is Your University Ready For the Ne(x)t-Generation? In: World Conference on Educational
Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2009, pp. 4344 – 4351. Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Nagler, W., Ebner, M., Schön, M. (2015). Why Facebook Swallowed WhatsApp! In: World Conference on Educational
Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2015, pp. 1383-1392. Chesapeake, VA: AACE
Nagler, W., Ebner, M. & Schön, M. (2016). R.I.P. E-Mail * 1965 -  2015. In: World Conference on Educational Media and
Technology 2016, pp. 464-473. Chesapeake, VA: AACE
Nagler, W., Ebner, M., Schön, M. (2017). Mobile, Social, Smart, and Media Driven The Way Academic Net-Generation Has
Changed Within Ten Years. In: World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2017,
pp. 826-835. J. P. (Hrsg.). Washington, DC: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
Nagler, W., Grandl, M., Haas, M., Schön, M. & Ebner, M. (2018). Should You Go for Smartphones at School? How the Use of
Modern Media in Class Influences IT-Competences. In Proceedings of EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media
and Technology (pp. 735-743). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
(AACE)
Park, K. H., & Kerr, P. M. (1990). Determinants of academic performance: A multinomial logit approach. The Journal of
Economic Education, 21(2), 101-111.
Romer, D. (1993). Do students go to class? Should they?. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7(3), 167-174.
Salomon, G. (1984). Television is “easy” and print is “tough”: The differential investment of mental effort in learning as a
function of perceptions and attributions. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76(4), 647-658.
Szupunar, K.K., Khan, N.Y., & Schacter, D.L. (2013). Interpolated memory tests reduce mind wandering and improve learning
of online lectures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(16), 6313-6317.
Wachtler, J., Scherz, M. & Ebner, M. (2018). Increasing Learning Efficiency and Quality of Students´ Homework by Attendance
Monitoring and Polls at Interactive Learning Videos. In Proceedings of EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media
and Technology (pp. 1337-1347). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education
(AACE).