MA DMM Report: Analysis of a Website and Explainer Video for Research

This report analyzes two digital communication formats: the EdX website and the Veritasium YouTube channel's explainer videos. It examines the development, features, and objectives of EdX, focusing on its role as a platform for online courses and educational resources, including its partnerships, course offerings, and brand identity. The report also discusses the effectiveness of explainer videos in conveying complex topics, using Veritasium as an example. The analysis considers the target audience, the website's features, and the overall impact of these digital tools in disseminating educational content. The report delves into the use of videos and website content for effective learning, offering insights into how these platforms cater to diverse learning needs and contribute to the evolving landscape of online education. The analysis is based on a student's research on the use of digital media in education.

Running head: RESEARCH IN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
RESEARCH IN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Introduction:
In the research report, the development and the use of the educational websites explainer
videos have been discussed about. The educational websites and the explainer videos have
become quite popular in today’s time. The development and the promotion of the Edu Tube, a
chain of You Tube have been developed considering the needs of the students. There are a
number of websites that have been developed in order to address the needs and the requirement
of the students. These websites have included all forms of information, for all the discourses,
available across the world. Most importantly, all the educational websites that are available, have
provided a very minute attention to all the discourses, and if these websites considered then it
can be seen, that the websites have included almost all the questions that can be arisen or asked
regarding a particular topic. For example, if we consider the relation between organizational
culture and communication within an organization, then it can be found that there are prolific
amount of materials available on the websites and at the same time, it can be observed that all the
questions that can crop up regarding this particular to have been enlisted on the websites. At the
same time, it is found, that there are a number of websites available for a single topic. Now, if we
consider the explanation videos that re available on the You Tube, or the Edu You Tube, or the
You Tube learning, then it can be found, there are a number of channels considering a particular
topic from a particular topic. However, the learning videos are more effective considering the
perspective of the students. The learning videos have included a detailed understanding and a
detailed analysis of the topic. Another exclusive aspect of the learning videos are that, in most of
the cases, it is found that many teachers of universities and colleges have made such videos. This
has been proved to be really helpful for the students, since, the information they get are authentic
in nature, and studies have proved that audio visual modes of learning are more effective and

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helpful for the students. This does not propose that the available websites are less helpful for the
students, rather it refers that, in order to understand about a concept the students prefer the
learning videos, and in order to produce a literature, to complete their assignments or their home
works the students like to rely upon the websites more.
Therefore, in the following report, one learning a video and the one educational website
will be discussed. The report is aiming to understand the literature or the discourses that have
been included by this website and by this channel. At the same time, the development of the
websites and the educational channel will be discussed. Therefore, as an educational website,
EdX has been chosen, and as a learning you tube channel, or learning educational channel,
Veritasium has been chosen.
Analysis of the Website:
EdX is a huge website which not only provides materials but also offers amazing courses.
It is also known as the Harvard Extension School. Therefore, it can be understood that the
courses offered by the website and the online materials that are available on the website are all
uploaded and updated and distributed by Harvard School and University. The student can avail
for university level courses, online, and they will also have the opportunity to get certificates
from the university itself.
Prime Objective of the Website:
The basic aim of the online website is to attract students from all over the world and to
educate the students all across the globe. The website had been developed by the university with
the basic aim of promoting education across the nation as well as the globe. The university had
developed a basic understanding that there are a number of working students, who cannot avail

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the courses available at the universities because of monetary issues, but they want to study and
know and learn more.
Targeted Audience:
At the same time, they have developed the understanding that there are many working
students who have completed a degree but at the same time, they want to expand their
knowledge. Therefore, these online courses can prove to be very helpful as well. Also, many of
the students want to develop their professional skills and their professional level of competency.
It is often observed, that while working for a reputed firm, many people want to develop their
competency in the market and want to update and boost their CV and therefore, they often
include certain online curses, in certain specific areas. For example, it is often seen, that working
people, while working for a company, sit for online courses, and learn about certain computer
languages, as there are plenty of them, this, therefore, increases their chances or getting hired in
another organizations, or in order to get a competitive edge in the job market. Another effective
example is, since the number of MBA students in the job market the organizations are looking
for people who do not only have the idea of the conventional courses, but along with that, who
have other understandings or who have the knowledge of more specified fields which can be
very useful for the organizations. For example, most of the students are completing their degrees
in the finance, marketing, sales or human resource. But, certain people, are aiming for
completion for digital marketing courses, or the accounts students are seen to be opting for cost
management or accounting in acquisitions and mergers. Therefore, certain specific courses are
proved to be very helpful for the students. Therefore, the accomplishment of certain courses,
increase the competitive edge of the employees in the market, and it is true for any industry, in

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any country, given the age of globalization. Therefore, the organization is trying to aim to the
people of the society.
Features of the Website:
EdX is a non- profit organization, and it is regarded as one of the major corporate social
responsibilities activity of the Harvard Group. Therefore, there are a number of course offered by
the organization or the online group which are for free. Also, it is to be pointed out that this non-
profit organization runs on free and open EdX open source software platform.
However, another very quintessential aspect or feature of the open platform is that it is a
joint venture of the Massachusetts University and Harvard University, and both the organizations
have a similar understanding regarding the educational need across the people. The program was
launched in May, 2012, and considering today it has more than 18 million online students and
among them more than 2000 students are taking online curses with the organization.
The online websites offers weekly learning courses and opportunities. The learning
sequence refers to a number of videos related to the same topic. Therefore, what the organization
does, is that, it offers understanding about a number of courses, on certain particular discourses.
Now, these are communicated with the students through videos. Therefore, the website come
with videos each week, and talks about a particular aspects of a topic. For example, if we
consider a sociological video, and if the topic is considered to be Marxism, then the organization
will sequence the related concepts involved in the video. For example, the first week the
organization can come up with the historical development of the concept of Marxism. In the next
video, it may come across the significance of the name Marxism, and thus they can go further
with the videos. Therefore, the sequence of the videos refer to this. Now, a question can be
arisen, that EdX is a website then how come there are videos involved as well, and the answer to

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this is that, it is essentially a website, which is offering a number of online courses, but along
with the videos, the organization is also offering curse materials and contents over the website.
The organization believes that promoting a course or topic understanding cam be made best,
through the use and the promotion of the videos as well as through web contents. One of the best
feature of these videos are, that they are interactive videos, or interactive learning courses.
Therefore, the students can practice along with the video, if they want. Along with this, the
courses and the website is also offering text books which can prove to be helpful for the students.
These textbooks can be checked and read at any point of time in a day, and more importantly,
these online courses or the online platform also offers small online discussion groups. This is one
of the very promising and very appealing aspect for the students. The online discussion help the
students to understand that just like them a number of other students all around the world are also
taking the course, and therefore, they can share their viewpoints with them, and therefore,
enlarge their perspectives and ideas, and it is very effective as according to the students which
have been understood from a survey. One of the most promising deed that the organization had
taken a part was, the organization had planned for a practical test online. In their MOOC
discourse, which is a circuits and electronic course, students had to build virtual circuits in an
online lab. This was a very appealing practice for the students, especially for them who want to
learn while working or studying something else, simultaneously.
Offerings made by the Website:
The certifications that the organization offers, after the successful completion of the
courses, are very much valid and useful. The courses that are planned and offered by the
organization are all credit eligible. Since the organization or the courses planned by the
organization are basically planned by the Harvard school and the Massachusetts University,

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therefore, the certification are extremely valid, and since the practice of credit eligibility of the
courses are determined by the schools or the universities and since they are the two most famous
schools and universities of the country, therefore, the certification are quite valid, and eligible,
and are regarded as equivalent of the actual course or degree, which is completed from a the
school or the university itself following a regular course.
Brand Identity:
Further it is important to mention the partners of the organisation, it is already been
mentioned, it is an initiative by the Harvard University and the Massachusetts University, which
are the most appealing point or aspect for the organizations. Along with these two, the Berkley
University of California, The University of Texas System, the Boston University, The Hong
Kong Polytechnic University, The Curtin University, RWTH Aachen University, The University
of Queensland, University of Maryland, Sorbonne University, Georgetown University, TU Delft,
The University of Adelaide, Australian National University, The University of British Columbia,
Arizona State University, Berkley College of Music, Caltech, Brown University, Cornell
University, Dartmouth College, Davidson College, ETH Zurich, IIT Bombay, Imperial College
London, KU Leven University, Kyoto University, Princeton University, Seoul National
University, The Georgia Institute of Technology, Rice University, The Hong Kong University of
Science and Technology, The University of Edinburgh and the like, thus there are almost 140
colleges with which the organization is partnered with. Therefore, considering all these
universities one can observe that all these universities have a good image and good brand
position in the market. Therefore, this highlights that the brand position of this particular
organization is also effective. The partnered organizations provide a good name and position to
the organization. This brand identity of the organization, is, therefore, a huge contributor in the

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positioning of the organization in the industry, and the brand identity or image also adds the
credit for eligibility to the certifications which help the students to a good position in other
universities and in case of their professional field.
Courses and Significance of the Website:
However, along with these it is important to explore the courses offered by the
organization. It offers a number of recently developed and very appealing courses to the students.
One of the important aspect is that, the organization offers courses for all of the discourses and
all of the areas. For example, the organization offers tailor made courses for students interested
in science and scientific applications, business industries, in social and cultural studies and along
with this, the organization offers courses for the music industry as well. At the same time, the
organization produces prolific literature and analysis for all the discourses of all there areas
including, science para science, economics geography, social sciences and the like. More
importantly, the literature produced by the organization also include the areas which are being
researched and which are recently developed. Therefore, these are the aspects which have given
rise to the involvement of the students with this organization, if the timeline of the organization
is considered, then it can be observed that the organization has gained success and a position in
the market within a very short period of time. The organization includes huge number of course
options for Data Science, and since the information technology industry is the future of the
global market, therefore, the student strength in the group is the highest. The organization offers
courses for language as well. It provides good learning sessions for English, French and
Mandarin. Courses regarding these three are the most popular courses, and students will be
assigned with different universities for availing different course. The universities which have
specializations in a particular discourse, are likely to provide the classes and the materials for the

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same. For example, the theoretical science related courses and understandings are provided by
the MIT or Massachusetts University, whereas, the curses related to language are usually
provided by the Tsinghua University. The organization also provides exquisite courses regarding
the cultural studies and the studies regarding the aboriginals and islanders, which are essentially
a part of the social studies or the humanities.
Analysis of the Explainer Video:
For the explainer video, the report will be focusing on the You Tube channel of Study
UK. This particular you tube channel has a huge followers and a huge number of viewers. The
best part of this You Tube channel is that, it is developed by the administrative departments of
certain universities, who thought it is important to develop a certain channel which will be
helpful and impactful for all the student who are aiming to come to pursue their educational
career in the country. This particular organisation is in the business for a very long time, and the
main motto of the organization is to appeal to the immigrant students who are aiming to come to
the country in order to pursue their higher studies in the country, though it is a London based
organization it has other local offices at various other places like in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco,
and Oman. The offices of the organization have been posited strategically in this countries from
where most of the students come along. The organization has two different channels, one is to
promote the education in UK, and the other is a core educational website, from which the
students can avail materials for the purpose of education. Therefore, the videos that they usually
put up, are essentially regarding the descriptions of the processes and the essential information
that the students must know and understand before moving to the country for educational
purposes.

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Organizational and Functional Objectives of the Channel:
The sole purpose of the organization is to put up videos which will help the students or
the patents of the students to understand about the procedures of the applications at the colleges
in the country, and the videos also include contents like the descriptions of the courses that are
available or are offered by the universities of the country.
Two most exceptional things that the organization offers are, scholarships for the
universities at the country and educational consultancy to the students through the medium of
videos. First, considering the educational consultancy, it can be sad that, the organization put up
many interactive or question answer videos whereby the students can come across their queries
and the educational counsellor will help the students with their queries. The students can ask and
know about anything they would like to, from the educational counsellors.
The organization therefore, upload videos regarding the exams or the tests that the
students can and must get, before taking up courses at the universities of the country. The
organization uploads videos with the contents which will guide them through exams like the
TOEFL, GRE, IELTS, MCAT, SAT, GMAT, LSAT, and the like. They upload sequenced
videos which can guide them through such exams. At the same time, the organization also puts
up videos like the best courses available in the country, and the best universities for a particular
discourse in the country, and videos about the recent incidents which the students must know
before moving to the country or before taking up the decision to moving to the country. The
videos also put up the session timings of the universities. Along with these the organization also
offers online courses to the students. These courses include almost all the topics and the areas
that are available at the universities of the country, one of the most important understanding
regarding the organization is that, it includes the understanding that many of the students from

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various parts of the world want to move to the country to pursue higher studies, but there can be
a number of barriers to this accomplishment, and the prime barrier to this is the financial
deficiency among the students of the country. Therefore, the organization aims towards
providing the students with lucrative scholarships and online courses through which the students
can fulfil their dreams. Also, there are many working individuals and working parents who also
want to pursue and conduct their studies, therefore the online courses are essentially directed for
them. With this intention they have partnered with a number of organizations, and universities
like The University of York, Newcastle University, Queen Mary University of Southampton,
University of Sussex, Bournemouth University, The University of Buckingham and the like.
Patterning of the Video Clips:
Another important feature to mention about the explainer videos that are put up by them
is the way of explanation made in the videos. The way of explanation made in the videos are
much analysed and direct. The videos are strategically made and the information that are
conveyed mare very direct in nature. Also, the videos are made in a very vibrant and appealing
way, to attract the attention of the students or those who are interested. Also, the videos are
available in a number of languages so that it can be accessible by anyone, from any part of the
world. As it has been already mentioned that most of the strength of the students are usually from
the countries in the Middle East and the countries of south Asia, therefore the videos are made in
the languages, practiced in these areas, apart from English. The languages that are used in the
videos are usually kept very simple and lucid, so that it can be cognizable by anyone. Another
important factor is the organization of the entire videos. The videos are so sequentially made,
that all the information that are desired to be conveyed, follow a pattern, therefore, it can be said
that the information are organized in a very patterned and organized way. Lastly, another

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important thing to mention, is that since they plan the videos in a very strategic way, therefore,
the videos that are uploaded are very short- timed. They put up videos with a span of time of
thirty seconds till five minutes. This attracts the students or the viewer more, since the get only
the desired information. A longer video with unrelated and unimportant information are often
make the viewer lose their interest in the videos. Therefore, they keep the videos very short with
related and important information which will be helpful for the viewer. Therefore, a video made
by the organization is discussed in the following, in order to explain the videos in a better way.
Example of a Video:
One of the most impactful video that they had made in the very recent time is the people
who had studied in the country. Before the explanation of the video, it is needed to be understood
that the prime objective of the videos, that are put up by the organization are to promote studying
in the country. Therefore, in a recent video, which is timed only about forty seconds entirely, the
organization have provided the information the celebrated people who have studied in United
Kingdom, in various universities. From Tony Abbott to Adama Barrow, the name of every
celebrated and most popular people, both politically and culturally have been mentioned in the
video. If one views the video, then it can be find that the You Tube channel has very strategically
planned, as it can be found that the channel has tried to incorporate all the information within
that forty seconds. Not only the name of the personalities have been mentioned, about at the
same time, who are they, in which universities have they studied and what are the positions are
they holding, all have been incorporated in the video. Even in certain cases, what they used to
do, while pursuing their studies in the country has also been mentioned. For example, the
recently elected prime minister of Gambia, Adama Barrow, used to be a security guard while
being continued with his studies. Therefore, this will provide the students with the information

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that they can take up side occupations in order to pay for all the expenses that they may need to
pay while staying and continuing with their studies, in the country. Along with this they have
kept the tagline of the video as the students studying in the universities of the country are making
differences at a great level in various part of the world, ion various ways. Further, in the end of
the video they have shown students keeping their speech at seminars and the like which
determine that, apart from being world leaders, the students studying at the universities of the
country are becoming leaders at whatever profession they are involved with. Thus, the video has
acknowledged and maintained their tagline and their sole motto, first being “find you”, and the
second being the promotion of the universities of the country. The considered video has
conveyed almost all the information one may need to understand the significance and the
effectiveness of the universities and the market positions of the same. Also, the video
purposefully holds the opportunities and the avenues that are presented and held up by the
universities of the country.
Conclusion:
The educational videos and the educational websites are becoming popular day by day.
The large propensity of the contents that are available at and offered by the websites and the
videos are helpful for all kinds of students, belonging to any form or stream of studies. Each of
the websites and the explainer videos have a very specific approach and they usually focus one
particular type of stream more, and it is been proved by a survey on the contents offered by the
websites and the videos. However at the same time, they all produce and offer contents on all the
other streams as well. Therefore, they can cater to all the students belonging to all the streams.
Also, the available content are for all levels of students, this belonging to under graduation and
the ones continuing with their PhDs, both the sections of the students will find these contents

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useful. Also, the associated information and service that are provided by these websites and the
videos, like the scholarship programs and the online courses and the educational counselling, are
all very helpful for the students. Thereupon, it can be concluded with the fact that, in the age of
globalization and with the heightened use of technology and the internet, these educational
websites and the videos and courses, are one of the best and most effective outcomes.

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