PERCEIVED IMPACT OF YOUTUBE VIDEOS AS AN ACADEMIC ONLINE LEARNING TOOL FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT NOUN, RIVERS STATE.

Abstract

The advent of digital technology has revolutionized the landscape of education, offering
diverse opportunities for innovative pedagogical approaches that have the capacity to
enhance students’ learning and improve academic performance. This study investigated
the perceived impact of YouTube videos as an academic online learning tool for
undergraduate students at National Open University Nigeria (NOUN), Rivers State. The
study adopted a descriptive survey research design with a population of 1153 300-Levels
undergraduate students. Simple random sampling technique was adopted to draw a
sample size of 346 students representing 30% of the total population. The instrument for
data collection was a researcher-structured questionnaire titled “Impact of YouTube
Videos as an Academic Online Learning Tool Questionnaire (IYVAOLTQ)” which was
properly validated by three experts and tested for reliability using the Cronbach Alpha
method and yielded a coefficient of 0.88 which was high enough for the study. The
findings of this study highlighted the multifaceted role of YouTube videos in the academic
journeys of undergraduate students. It also revealed that the majority of students
frequently used YouTube videos as supplementary learning resources and considered
them valuable for improving their understanding of course materials. The study
concluded that YouTube videos play a significant role in the academic experiences of
undergraduate students at NOUN, Rivers State, serving as a valuable supplement to
traditional course materials. Hence, it was concluded amongst others that educators
should promote the use of open educational resources (OER) such as YouTube videos
and other licensed educational content to maintain academic rigor and standards.