Should an online teacher’s face appear in their videos? Sal Khan from Khan Academy believes the answer is always “no,” but other members in the online teaching community hold a wide range of views.

We were fortunate enough to speak with Tyler DeWitt, a popular chemistry teacher on YouTube, about the role of interaction in teaching and video. Tyler’s approach is the opposite of Khan Academy: he uses a unique dual-camera setup so that students can see his hands, face, and body language.

Here are his main points from the video:

Hands are an important pedagogical tool for conveying information

To make material more accessible, Tyler tries to approximate the experience of a teacher sitting next to a student and working through a problem together

Facial expressions and body language help provide a sense of personal interaction, which Tyler hopes conveys his own passion for science to his viewers

Majority of students respond well to Tyler’s dual-camera setup, mentioning that seeing his face makes the lesson more engaging

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