YouTube as a complementary learning tool in times of COVID-19: Self-reports from sports science students

Omar Trabelsi; Mohamed Abdelkader Souissi; Swantje Scharenberg; Maher Mrayeh; Adnene Gharbi

doi:10.1016/j.tine.2022.100186

YouTube as a complementary learning tool in times of COVID-19: Self-reports from sports science students

Trends Neurosci Educ. 2022 Dec:29:100186. doi: 10.1016/j.tine.2022.100186. Epub 2022 Sep 6.

Authors

Omar Trabelsi¹, Mohamed Abdelkader Souissi², Swantje Scharenberg³, Maher Mrayeh², Adnene Gharbi⁴

Affiliations

¹ Research Unit: Physical Activity, Sport and Health, UR18JS01, National Observatory of Sport, Tunis, Tunisia; The High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia. Electronic address: Trabelsi.omar@issepsf.u-sfax.tn.
² Research Unit: Physical Activity, Sport and Health, UR18JS01, National Observatory of Sport, Tunis, Tunisia.
³ The Research Center for Physical Education and Sports of Children and Young People, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany.
⁴ Research Unit: Physical Activity, Sport and Health, UR18JS01, National Observatory of Sport, Tunis, Tunisia; The High Institute of Sport and Physical Education, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.

Abstract

Objectives: This study reports on sports science students' educational experience in times of the COVID-19 pandemic and explores their interactions with online technologies, exclusively for learning purposes.

Methods: A total of 181 Tunisian final-year sports science students were surveyed using, a custom-designed questionnaire, following the end of the academic year 2020/2021. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for triangulation and validation of the findings.

Findings: Participants reported that COVID-19-induced educational disruptions had detrimental effects on their learning experiences. Even though they deemed emergency remote teaching to be less effective than classroom-based teaching, participants recognized the role technology had played in mitigating the impact of the pandemic on their graduation year. They reported using a wide range of online technologies to complement remote curriculum delivery. Ranking second after Google Meet, with a marked difference from the rest of the list, YouTube seemed to be sports science students' best "learning companion" in times of COVID-19. YouTube helped them better understand instructional content delivered remotely and compensate for the missed opportunities for knowledge and motor skill acquisition.

Conclusions: It is very likely that curriculum-based YouTube videos can smoothen emergency implementation of flipped classrooms during future crises that may force teachers and students into home confinement once again, but further empirical research is needed in this area.

Keywords: COVID-19; Higher education; Motor learning; Online technology; Social media.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Humans
Pandemics
Self Report
Social Media*
Students