According to Forbes, approximately 10 million college students took at least one online class in 2022 and roughly 26% of all college students exclusively enroll in distance education courses. The recent trend towards online learning does not appear to be slowing down any time soon and will likely only explode further over the coming decades.
While distance learning programs and online coursework have made higher education more manageable for millions of students around the world, online courses present their own unique challenges when it comes to providing equitable and accessible learning experiences to individuals with disabilities. Subsequently, assistive technology solutions like closed captioning have become invaluable tools for supporting students of all backgrounds and abilities.
Let’s take a closer look at the evolving role of captioning technology in modern learning environments and explore how proactively offering captioning support to remote learners can improve student outcomes across the board.
A little background on captions in the classroom
Many of us are already familiar with the role captions play in media viewing experiences thanks to the ever-present CC buttons on our remote controls, computer screens and video applications. Closed captions were originally developed to provide more equitable content experiences to individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing by providing real-time, readable versions of auditory information within a video viewing window.
In recent years, however, more and more consumers have been turning to closed captions to help them comprehend and enjoy media content more fully and consistently. This has been increasingly true in educational environments that are overwhelmingly populated by young people because, as research shows, members of the younger generations are far more dependent upon caption and subtitles than any of their peers have been before them.
Case in point: in a recent survey, about 70% of Gen Z respondents reported regularly using subtitles, compared to only 53% of millennials. These findings supported those from a similar study conducted by Oregon State University in which 52% of students reported using captions to help them maintain focus. This generational shift in perception reflects a growing understanding of captioning technology’s ever-growing potential as a tool for helping individuals with and without disabilities engage more fully within their academic environments.
Incorporating captions in remote learning
Online and distance education classes often rely on a variety of mediums to deliver information to students. Asynchronous courses, for example, may require students to view educational videos on their own time or watch previously recorded lectures or seminars on a pertinent subject. Other online class structures may involve students tuning in live for virtual communications via popular platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. In each of these situations, students are expected to absorb crucial information via audio/video.
While many find these remote class structures engaging and even entertaining, not all students prefer or are able to absorb information in the same way. That’s why it is essential for academic institutions to offer accurate captions of all educational media to deliver truly accessible and effective learning experiences.
To enhance the accessibility and overall efficacy of remote learning approaches, educators can add live and post-production captions to their content and communications. For example, if distance learners are being asked to watch a recording of a recent lecture or guest seminar, it is advisable for the course instructor to provide a captioned version of the recording to all members of the class. Offering captioned content proactively ensures all students are free to engage equitably with educational content without necessarily relying on disability disclosure or formal accommodation requests.
Benefits of captions in remote learning
Here are just a few of the ways captioning course content can help educators more effectively support the needs of distance learners:
- Captions boost accessibility: In addition to offering well-documented support for remote learners who are Deaf or hard of hearing, accurate captions have also been recognized as a valuable accommodation for individuals with auditory processing disorders, neurodivergent conditions and specific learning needs.
- Captions improve comprehension: Captions significantly aid in comprehension for learners of all backgrounds and abilities – not just those with reported disabilities or specific learning needs. Providing information in multiple formats has long been recognized as an effective educational strategy for helping students improve their overall comprehension of learning materials and increase their information retention capabilities. Captions also make it easier for students to absorb information at times when they may be tuning in remotely for class from noisy or otherwise distracting environments.
- Captions support legal standards: Modern accessibility requirements like the ADA and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act establish the need for accurate captions within public settings, including educational environments. By offering accurate captions of live and pre-recorded content and communications, academic institutions can remain one step ahead of evolving accessibility legislation while delivering critical support to their diverse student bodies.
- Captions boost engagement: Online learning can, at times, become a bit monotonous for students from all walks of life. By adding captions to audio and visual content, educators can add an additional, engaging element to their course materials and make it easier for students to stay “tuned in” even during long remote learning days. Several studies have identified that videos that include closed captions tend to enjoy longer overall watch times than their non-captioned counterparts. Subsequently, teachers and administrators can get more mileage out of their course materials by adding accurate captions to their new and existing files.
- Captions support searches and study tools: Some captioning services – like Verbit – offer clients the opportunity to convert their audio and video captions into written transcripts. Transcripts can be used by students of all backgrounds and learning preferences as valuable study aids because they provide an easy-to-scan readout of information originally shared in a different format. Verbit’s transcripts are fully searchable and offer additional interactive enhancements that allow students to more easily isolate the content they wish to study and engage more fully with the information that they find.
Verbit’s captions are tailored to the education sector
Verbit is one of the leading providers of captioning and transcription technology solutions for academic institutions around the world. Verbit offers industry-leading accuracy rates and turnaround times, and our customer support team has extensive experience supporting the needs of educators who teach both in-person and online.
Verbit utilizes state-of-the-art artificial intelligence technology to generate perfectly synced captions for both live and pre-recorded video content, and our suite of solutions integrates seamlessly with popular LMS, media hosting and communication platforms including Canvas, Kaltura, YouTube and Zoom.
Verbit’s newest solution, Captivate™, was developed specifically to support the evolving needs of modern educators and utilizes advanced, education-specific learning models to deliver more accurate and reliable live captions for a wide range of educational communications. In addition to learning from industry-specific language models, Captivate is constantly updated based on customer data and input to ensure its captioning capabilities remain up to the task of supporting educators and students alike.
Verbit’s platform also boasts an AI-powered feature set that can be used to generate summaries, keywords, quizzes and more from academic transcripts. This advanced solution, known as Gen.V, enables students of all backgrounds and abilities to interact more effectively with their course materials and to learn in a way that works for them.
All Verbit’s solutions work in conjunction with one another to deliver more equitable and engaging remote learning experiences to students around the world. Verbit’s platform is user-friendly, scalable and affordable, and its captioning and transcription solutions achieve accuracy rates capable of supporting today’s most stringent accessibility requirements.
Access for all
Captioning technology has evolved beyond its original purpose to become a versatile tool that benefits all learners – whether they’re attending class in person or online. In addition to delivering more equitable learning experiences to students with disabilities, captioning technology can provide more interactive and effective content experiences to students with a variety of learning needs and styles.
Verbit’s platform was meticulously crafted to build upon the inherent value of captioning and transcription technology and deliver more tailored, reliable support to those tasked with educating future generations. If you’re interested in learning more about Verbit’s captioning solutions or want more in-depth information about how captions make learning more accessible and engaging, reach out today to speak to a member of our team.