Using Multilayer Videos for Remote Learning: Videos of Session Guidance, Content Instruction, and Activity

Abstract

Teachers have faced various challenges during the coronavirus pandemic, including lack of skills and knowledge to teach remotely, unstable or no internet access for students in rural areas, and increasing needs to stimulate student motivation. In this article, we introduce the design, development, and implementation of a stand-alone package of multilayer videos that can be delivered to learners with or without internet access. The multilayer videos simulate real classroom environments and learning experiences to facilitate remote learning, and consist of three layers: session guidance videos (Layer 1), content instructional videos (Layer 2), and activity videos (Layer 3). The session guidance videos provide students with a road map of the class session. The content instructional videos are designed to introduce the course content. The activity videos are developed to enhance hands-on learning activities. A case study was conducted in which we used such multilayer videos to teach right triangle trigonometry. Preliminary results from the case study showed that most students gained knowledge from watching the videos. In addition, students gave positive written feedback on the multilayer videos. However, they still preferred the conventional in-person learning approach to the multilayer video learning approach. We provide our suggestions on designing multilayer videos to enhance remote learning.