Use of videos in the Information and Communication Technology Massive Open Online Course: Insights for learning and development of transformative digital agency with pre- and in-service teachers in Norway

Abstract

This study examines how videos may support participants’ learning in the Information and Communication Technology Massive Open Online Course (ICTMOOC) aimed to develop digital skills with pre- and in-service teachers in Norway and provides an insight into how teachers’ interactions with videos may contribute to enhancing their agentic capacity to learn and transformative digital agency. Analyses of participants’ interactions with the videos are located in the cultural-historical theory and draw on Galperin’s conceptualisation of learning processes. The data consisted of 501 participants’ responses to the questionnaire administered to all pre- and in-service teachers engaged in the ICTMOOC in 2014–2018. Mixed methods were applied to analyse the data by providing quantitative and qualitative evidence about the processes of video use. Findings reveal the patterns of participants’ interactions with videos: (a) seeking explicit information about how to engage in learning; (b) seeking assistance while engaged with the assigned tasks; (c) support to compare learning outcomes with the requirements outlined in the videos. In doing so, the videos provided orienting, executive and controlling support and might have contributed to enhancing participants’ capacity to learn in digital environments and their transformative digital agency. The majority of participants used videos for executive support and the learners preferred videos in the range of 5–10 min. By providing these types of support by the videos, a learning activity carries a new function as a tool for studying the essence of learning in digital environments. These findings have implications for the design of videos in online courses. They also emphasise the crucial importance of awareness about the type of support videos provide to enhance participants’ learning in digital environments.