Awareness of students towards YouTube educational videos

Introduction

In the digital age, YouTube educational videos have emerged as a potent learning resource, offering access to a wealth of knowledge across numerous areas and disciplines. These videos accommodate various learning styles and interests, ranging from quick tutorials and lectures to extensive courses. The platform makes education more flexible and inclusive by enabling experts, educators, and institutions to share knowledge that is accessible anywhere, at any time. YouTube offers a wide range of video on almost any subject you can think of, from practical skills like cooking, coding, and do-it-yourself projects to academic subjects like science, mathematics and history. YouTube instructional videos' ease of use and accessibility have democratized education by allowing individuals of all ages to pursue self-paced study and lifetime learning. These films continue to transform the way that knowledge is transmitted and consumed around the world, whether they are utilized as the main learning resource or as an adjunct to traditional schooling. After the Covid-19 epidemic, students transitioned from in-person education to digital instruction with the help of technology. A shift in teaching tactics is required as a result of the pandemic and the new normal in education. One such strategy is the use of media, which was formerly limited to online learning but is now required in blended and in-person training. Online education, sometimes known as remote learning, makes use of interactive communication platforms like Google Meet, Zoom, and Classroom. Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, three former PayPal workers, founded YouTube in February 2005, and it has completely changed how one watches and produces media. With approximately 2.70 billion monthly active users as of August 2024, YouTube is the largest videosharing network in the world and has become a cultural phenomenon. It was first intended to be a platform for sharing generated by users' videos, but because to its widespread content sharing capabilities and ease of use, it quickly acquired popularity. One of the firm's most important and calculated acquisitions, YouTube was purchased by Google in November of 2006 for 1.65 billion dollars in stock after the company saw its potential. YouTube began as a straightforward website for sharing videos but has since developed into a full-fledged platform for learning, entertainment, and even job chances. The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) allowed content creators to monetize their videos with advertising, opening up a new source of income for them. This was introduced in 2007. www.extensionjournal.com

The emergence of 'YouTubers', or those who create material as their full-time job, was made possible by this change. Anyone with a camera and internet connection can now create material thanks to YouTube, which has democratized the process. It has dismantled the restrictions imposed by traditional media, allowing niche groups to flourish and a diversity of perspectives to be heard. The network offers a wide range of content to suit almost any interest, such as documentaries, live broadcasts, vlogs, music videos and lessons. YouTube has been used by creators to launch their own businesses and personal brands; some have amassed millions of subscribers and made significant profits in this way. A major factor in content discovery is the platform's algorithm, which suggests films depending on user behaviour. Against this background, the present study has been taken with the following specific objectives: 1. To know the extent of awareness of students towards YouTube educational videos 2. To study the frequency of usage and educational YouTube channels preferred by students 3. To find out the association and extent of contribution of profile characteristics of students on the awareness level.

Methodology

The present study was carried out in Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra campus of College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore during 2024. A total of 480 students (135 undergraduate, 305 M.Sc. and 40 doctoral) were personally interviewed for the study using a pre-tested interview schedule. Awareness of students towards YouTube educational videos was selected as the dependent variable for the research study. The students were asked whether they were aware or not aware of the YouTube educational video. A score of two and one was given to students who were aware and not aware of YouTube educational vide0, respectively.

Based on the mean score (1.56) the respondents were categorized into Aware and Not Aware of YouTube educational video. Age, family type, family annual income, rural urban background, e-literacy, attitude towards online tools, knowledge regarding online tools, academic achievement, aspiration, internet access and Information and communication technology (ICT) environment were selected as independent variables for the study. Aspects such as use of library computer section for watching YouTube, time spent, preferred device, purpose of use of YouTube and top educational YouTube channels used by students were also studied in the research study.

The collected data was scored, tabulated and analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, chi square test and multiple regression analysis.

Results and Discussion

Awareness of students towards YouTube educational videos

The results in [2] , Fani et al. (2022) [3] . Frequency and use of YouTube channels by the students A perusal of Table 2 reveals that a majority of students (64.2%) had used the library computer section for watching YouTube, while the other 35.8 percent of the students had not used the library computer section for watching YouTube. Larger number of students (44.2% of the student had spent time in library computer section from 4 to 8.30 pm for watching YouTube, whereas 25.8, 16.7 and 13.3 percent of the students had spent time in library computer section from 8.30 pm up to 12.00 midnight, 8.30 am to 12.30 pm and 12.30 to 4.00 pm for watching YouTube, respectively. The findings also showed that a majority of the students (55.0%) had used personal mobile for watching YouTube, while 29.2 and 4.2 percent of the students had used personal lap top and library section personal computer, respectively. On the other hand, 11.6 percent of the students had no preference in viewing YouTube.

In respect of frequency of using YouTube, a vast majority of the students (81.7%) were watching YouTube daily, while 15.0 and 1.7 percent of the students were watching YouTube 2-3 times a week and 3-4 times a week, respectively. An equal percentage of students (0.8% each) were watching YouTube once a week and rarely. A majority of students were watching YouTube between 1-3 hours daily, whereas a little more than one-fourth (27.5%), 9.2 and 4.1 percent of the students were watching YouTube less than a hour, between 3-5 hours and more than 5 hours daily, respectively. More than half of the students (60.8%) were watching YouTube for preparing to competitive exams, while 29.2, 5.8 and 4.2 percent of the students were watching for the purpose of academics, other purposes and entertainment, respectively. Majority of the students were watching Unacademy (60.8%) followed by Study IQ Education (37.5%), Byju's IAS (33.3%), other channels (26.9%), Wifistudy (8.3%) and Mahendras (4.2%) YouTube educational channels. A greater number of students had preferred videos which were of more than 30 minutes length, followed by 25.8, 25.8 and 16.7 percent of the students had preferred videos which were of more than 15 minutes, more than 20 minutes and less than 10 minutes length, respectively. www.extensionjournal.com

Benefits of watching YouTube educational videos and problems faced by students while watching them

The results in Table 3 shows the data pertaining to the benefits of watching YouTube educational videos and the problems faced by the students while watching them. Majority of the students (64.2%) expressed that the lessons in the educational videos were easy to understand, while less than half of the students expressed the benefits of watching YouTube education videos such as: Facilitates in learning quickly (49.2%), learning in one's own way (46.7%), easier to get expert opinion (45.8%), easy to get video contents (41.7%), no need to buy or other educational materials (37.5%), Can remember lessons for many days (37.5%), reduce dependency on teachers (35.0%) and creates my eagerness to learn more (28.3%).

The problems faced by the students while watching YouTube education videos were: too many advertisements (94.2%), unnecessary suggestions (37.5%), too many channels without in-depth information (30.0%), lack of subjects covered in videos (21.7%), irrelevant topics (17.5%) and poor-quality videos (13.3%). More or less similar findings were reported by Marsiah et al. (2021) [4] and Dahlan Abdullah et al. (2023) [1] . www.extensionjournal.com [5] and Trishu and Shruti (2021) [7] .

Conclusion

The findings revealed that a vast majority of students (95.0%) were aware of YouTube education videos, while the remaining five percent of the students were not aware of YouTube education videos. Majority of the students (81.7%) were watching YouTube educational videos daily for a period of 1-3 hours (59.2%). YouTube educational videos were watched by majority of the students (60.8%) for the purpose of the preparing for competitive exams and Unacademy was the most watched YouTube educational channel by 60. 8 percent of the students. Family annual income, academic achievement,e literacy, knowledge regrading online tools, attitude towards online tools, aspiration, internet access and ICT environment of students were significantly contributing in development awareness on YouTube educational videos. All the 11 profile

Acknowledgement

www.extensionjournal.com characteristics of the students together contributed to the tune of 79.9 percent in creating awareness on the YouTube educational videos.

References

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