I’ve probably learned more from YouTube than from half my university courses. And I don’t think that’s a hot take anymore — a lot of people my age would say the same thing. But there’s a difference between watching a video and actually learning from it. And that difference comes down to interaction.
Think about the last time you watched a lecture recording or a tutorial video and felt like you understood it — then blanked on it the next day. That’s happened to me more times than I can count. You’re consuming content but you’re not really engaging with it. No back and forth, no moment where you have to prove you understood something.
Why passive video doesn’t really work
Anderson (2003) talks about three types of interaction that matter in online learning — learner to content, learner to instructor, and learner to learner. Most videos only hit one of those at best. You’re consuming content but there’s no back and forth, no moment where you have to actually prove you understood something. That’s the gap.
The fix isn’t to get rid of video — video is genuinely one of the best ways to explain complex things visually. The fix is to design around it so that watching the video is just the start, not the whole thing.
What actually makes video interactive
A few things that actually work — pausing the video at a key moment and asking learners to predict what happens next before they see the answer. Short reflection questions after a video clip before moving on. Or even just breaking a longer video into smaller chunks with a quick check-in between each one so learners can’t just zone out for 20 minutes straight.
Another thing that gets overlooked is video as an output, not just an input. Asking learners to record a short explanation of something they just learned — even just 60 seconds on their phone — forces them to actually process the material instead of passively receiving it. That’s learner to content interaction at a completely different level.
How we’re using this in our ILR
For our password security resource, we embedded a Computerphile video on how hashing works — but we didn’t just leave it there. There’s a question right after asking learners to explain in their own words what a hash function does before they move on. That one small addition turns a passive watch into an actual learning moment. It’s a small design choice but based on what Anderson (2003) describes, that learner-content interaction is what makes the difference between information that sticks and information that doesn’t.
References
Anderson, T. (2003). Getting the mix right again: An updated and theoretical rationale for interaction. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v4i2.149
Bates, A. W. (2019). Teaching in a digital age (2nd ed.). BCcampus. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/