Interactive videos

Interactive videos make it possible to add supplementary information in the video while it is being viewed using time-stamped multimedia elements (digital texts, graphic diagrams, images, audio and video files, links, references etc). In this sense they offer an active and social exchange platform for the students and facilitate the following aspects of the learning process:

  • social interaction and exchange
  • retrieving and remembering information
  • revising and analysing contents
  • active participation in discussions
  • obtaining feedback
  • generating new contents
  • shared creation of documents

Why deploy interactive videos?

Merely viewing videos facilitates the students in understanding and remembering the teaching content relayed. Yet, the forms of analytical thinking (applying, analysing, assessing and arranging) are not facilitated in this way since passive relaying of teaching content does not allow for two-way communication and interaction. Interactive videos allow for active processing of information while the video is being viewed. This process supports more intensive involvement with the contents. In this way students can more easily find the information. Annotations help the students to highlight important contents, develop ideas, skip irrelevant contents, personalise information and describe contents in their own words. In this way, their understanding and powers of recall are activated.

How do I deploy interactive videos?

You can deploy interactive videos with the aid of the interactive video plug-in ILIAS and ensure active, shared involvement of the students with the predefined teaching videos. The plug-in converts videos in ILIAS to interactive learning objects and allows for the use of comments, questions, ad hoc feedback and skip marks.

While viewing, the students can write all annotations in the form of a commentary, set time stamps, answer questions on the contents of the marked locations and receive immediate feedback about correct or incorrect answers. The questions types currently used are single and multiple choice and free text questions.

Skip marks offer students various kinds of options for repeating and can be linked to external resources or internet learning modules. These depend on how the questions are answered.

Interactive videos are suitable for...

...analysis of lectures and presentations (e.g. tutor training courses), films, study strategies, groupwork processes, job interviews, writing processes, the use of formative assessments, private study units, supervision of Bachelor and Master theses and dissertations or simply to enrich the discussions between students about lectures by embedding the lecture recordings in the ILIAS interactive Plug-In.

What are the stumbling blocks?

When using interactive videos, there is a risk that the commentary can become confusing when there is a larger number of students. Another challenge is satisfying the students’ expectation regarding teacher feedback. Therefore, the framework conditions must be communicated as specifically as possible to avoid potential misunderstandings.

How do I set up interactive videos? / Where can I get help?

The ILIAS interactive video plug-in is used to make interactive videos available to students at the University of Göttingen. A video on creating interactive video tutorials can be found below. Additional instructions for this topic can be found in the column on the right. We will be happy to offer you training. Our contact details can be found in the column on the right.

Explanatory video: ILIAS interactive video plug-in