The “simple” view of learning from illustrated texts and videos is a new study (not behind a paywall) finding that fifth-and-sixth-graders learned more from watching science videos than reading illustrated texts.  The research found that was the case for everyone, though the effect was more pronounced with students who had reading challenges.

The results obviously don’t mean we shouldn’t have students read.  But it does suggest, at least to me, that teachers should consider taking advantage of the wide variety of useful videos out there, especially since it’s so easy to make them interactive with AI with Wayground (formerly Quizizz),  I know that EdPuzzle and Google theoretically have the same ability but, unless they’ve made huge improvements over the past four months (which was the last time I tried those last two), there’s not comparison with Wayground.

This study reminded me of a post I wrote a couple of years ago, When Teaching ELLs, Should They Read About Content First & Then Watch Related Content OR The Reverse?

I’m still not sure what the answer is to that question (and this study didn’t seem to consider that question, unless I missed it).  But, it does seem to me that the order means less than actually doing them both.

Another point this study didn’t seem to consider, though I think it’s important, that there is also value in often doing reading in partners.  You can see more about that at The Best Posts About Value Of Oral Reading In Partners For ELLs & Others.