MIT researches online lectures: just “chunking” is not enough
These qualities improved online lectures for students:
- brevity (viewers tune out after six minutes)
- informality (professors seated at a desk, not standing behind a podium)
- lively visuals (rather than static PowerPoint slides)
- fast talkers (the most engaging professors spoke 254 words a minute)
- BUT more pauses (so viewers can soak in complex diagrams)
- web-optimized lessons (existing videos retroactively broken into shorter chunks are less effective than ones created with online audiences in mind)