6 Reasons to Use Subtitles If You're in Education

Do you believe that one small action on your part could be the seed for a dramatic change in somebody’s life? Educators do.

Some of the people who come to mind are teachers, professors, lecturers, parents...the first people we learn from in the world.

However, creating monumental change in the lives of those who are still in education has seemingly become harder when you take education online...however, we’re here to argue that doesn't need to be the case…

You see, there is one thing that has been found to create better learning opportunities & boost memory, improve global accessibility, provide flexible viewing options, increase engagement and sharing opportunities. It’s subtitles.

Subtitles can improve students’ literacy skills, create more efficient communication chains between staff, and boost parent-teacher interactions...sounds too good to be true?

Here’s a few ways subtitles could create dramatic change in your life if you’re in education…

Update staff, parents and students by video and audio

Keeping teams connected can usually be quite tough, and keeping teams connected during a global pandemic makes the job very difficult. So staying in touch using video updates can be a great alternative to spending hours on end typing up individual email updates and newsletters for parents and teachers.

Simple hacks like filming videos and subtitling them to base an email around can save hours of your time. And, if you’re not a fan of cameras a simple hack is to voice record your message and transcribe it into an email template to use for updates for your team.

Make lessons accessible

Once content goes live, it embarks on a life of its own, and access can be given to pretty much anybody studying– and it’s important to make sure everybody feels welcome.

Making sure that your content is fully accessible is a quick and easy way to create an inclusive environment for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, non-native speakers, and anyone with sound-off.

The easiest way to start is by adding subtitles to educational materials, so no matter who clicks on a lecture or needs to watch a lesson, they know they will be able to view it.

FUN FACT: Research actually shows that turning on subtitles can also improve children’s reading and comprehension abilities. And, watching video content in another language with native to you subtitles can speed up learning another language.

Make notes using transcribed lecture and lesson videos and audio

Video subtitling and transcription tools are also a great way to offer students that extra bit of support. Studying from home can be difficult from home-study setups and different environments, and attention spans can be stretched too thin.

On top of that, sitting through long online lectures and lessons can be a huge health strain leading to eye strain, poor posture, and migraines. Adding subtitles and options to transcribe longer lectures and lessons helps students design their study methods in a way that works for them.

In fact, subtitled videos are 80% more likely to be watched in full, meaning that students are more likely to watch the lecture or lesson in full!

Repurpose transcribed lectures

For teachers and lecturers who spend hours on teaching materials like Powerpoints, a lot of time can be saved by simply transcribing recorded lecture or lesson audio and copy pasting it into a slide template.

It can also be a massive help if those same slides could be repurposed into further materials like catch-up notes, questionnaires, summary sheets and so on.

For students it can be an easy and quick way to compile accurate summaries and notes from their lessons and courses, and make revision, homework and essay writing less daunting!

Pre-record & subtitle lectures and lessons for all to access

Another thing many educators forget about is the shelf-life of video– which is pretty much forever.

Pre-recording and subtitling your content for access after lectures and lessons can be a great way to make content accessible and available to everybody regardless of their internet connection, and study or work from home setting.

Pre-recording and adding subtitles to lectures or lessons can also help students write better assignments as they are able to skim through for key materials, making studying from home easier.

Make your teaching and updates multilingual

We live in a highly interconnected and globalised world where English is many people’s second language, if not third, so shaping educational materials around this is crucial.

Making teaching materials, updates and communications possible in multilingual format is another form of accessibility that many schools and universities overlook but can make a massive difference to students of any age.

Subly will be introducing translation features for subtitles in the future simply because research has shown that students have reported improved pronunciation and comprehension of a second-language after viewing materials with subtitles. So why wouldn’t educators try and focus on making second-language comprehension as easy as they can for now with the tools, like Subly, available today?

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Whether you’re a student, teacher, lecturer or Dean, subtitles are an important factor to consider when thinking about creating accessible and truly global content. After all, if such a large part of the world has gone remote, is it not time to make moves to break every barrier between learning and teaching? This starts with helping those around you make this change.