Parental presence as a spectator and co-viewer facilitates children learning from instructional videos

Researchers have focused on instructional video design but overlooked the social environment, such as parental presence. This study explored four conditions: (1) parental presence as a spectator, (2) a co-viewer, (3) an irrelevant-viewer, and (4) viewing alone as a control condition. The authors recorded participants' eye movements while they watched the instructional videos. The results confirmed the benefits of parental presence as a spectator and co-viewer on primary school students' immediate and delayed learning performance. In addition, parental presence as a co-viewer also enhanced children's learning satisfaction. Eye movement data showed that parental presence as an irrelevant-viewer reduced students' attention towards instructional videos. The findings have practical implications for providing a social environment that facilitates children's learning from instructional videos: If you want your children to learn from instructional videos, oversee their video watching or watch with them, rather than multi-tasking nearby.