Simply adding a video component to an online course does not automatically improve its quality, but a recent study seems to show pretty conclusively that learners respond well to video lectures as a way of receiving course content.

The study was conducted by Debbie Morrison, an online course developer at The Master’s College near Los Angeles, and as she noted in her blog post, the pool of students surveyed was relatively small. However, 90 percent of the learners who took part in the study said their instructors’ videos were an “effective” means of delivering course concepts.

Morrison also writes that her research supports “the effectiveness of the video in creating a sense of presence, which further supports social and cognitive presence which are critical components to a successful learning experience.”

And an even more recent blog post lists a handful of interactive technologies and web resources that can help instructors more effectively engage their students and properly convey course material.