Why learn with DVDs versus the classroom or books?

Consider the following information.

The saying a picture is worth a thousand words is usually applied to the effectiveness of a picture in communicating an idea that would take many words to express, but it can also apply to the effectiveness of a picture in remembering what was communicated.  There was a study done with a group who were shown 2,560 different pictures over a period of several days.  They were later shown 280 pairs of pictures.  One of each pair was a picture the person had seen before and the other was not.  The people were asked to indicate which of the two pictures they had seen before.  In this recognition task they correctly identified about 90 percent of the pictures.  

In fact, a recent study by the U.S. Federal Government shows that 83% of human learning takes place visually and that information presented visually is retained at a rate six times greater than information communicated by spoken or written word alone.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but a demonstration through video is worth a million words!

 Chief Learning Officer Magazine, September 2005

The Research Institute of America has found that 33 minutes after completion of a course, students retain only 58 percent of the material covered in the class. By the second day, 33 percent is retained, and three weeks after the course, only 15 percent of the knowledge delivered is retained. (See Figure 1.) Separate studies conducted by Neil Rackam further support these findings, in which he has reported that 87 percent of the learning from any given classroom workshop is lost within 30 days if not followed up.

DVD Video versus audio CD instruction

Using video in classroom instruction has the advantage of presenting abstract ideas in a realistic context, which helps students grasp the abstract ideas more easily and to retain the material longer.

It has been found that videotaped lectures add the sense to sight to the learning experience.  As with audio CDs, sometimes video lectures are created specially for the distance program while other times institutions stick a video camera into a classroom and record a regular lecture.  Video lectures enable the instructor to use more charts, graphs, television clips, and other visual information precluded by audio lectures.  They also can feel a bit more personal to the student since they get to see the instructor as they teach.  Furthermore, like audio teaching, a video lecture can be stopped, rewound, and watched again until the student grasps the content.  

Learning from reading:

• To continue to improve and augment your knowledge.

• You need new facts and information on subjects that are constantly changing and where knowledge is being updated.

• Audio and visual learners are at a disadvantage.