Look at me and pay attention! A study on the relation between visibility and attention in weblectures

Online educational content is becoming increasingly popular in higher education. In prior studies it has been reported that students prefer weblectures with a visible lecturer over weblectures consisting of audio and slides only. Anticipated was that the amount of attention students pay to a weblecture is relevant for this preference. A study was conducted to see whether lecturer-visibility was related to reported attention for a weblecture. Lecturer's appeal was expected to be a moderator in this relation. Eighty-eight participants viewed two different clips of weblectures in one of three visibility-modes where the lecturer was visible in a large or a small frame, and where the slides were large or small. After watching the lecture their opinion was asked about their attention and, after the second lecture, to compare their attention to the first lecture. The two weblectures were analysed separately. Weblectures of six different lecturers were used, integrated in a web-application so participants could participate from home. Nine other variables, that could influence attention, were used as control variables in analysis. For the first weblecture no differences on reported attention were found between the visibility-modes. For the second weblecture participants reported significantly more attention for the condition in which a large image of the lecturer was shown than for the condition in which a small image of the lecturer was shown. Lecturer's appeal was found not to moderate the relation between the visibility of the lecturer and reported attention. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.