YouTube as a site for vocational learning: instructional video types for interactive service work in retail

Figures & data

Table 1. Examples of concepts for describing instructional videos in the literature.

References	Video vocabulary in the literature
(Bhatia 2018)	video; YouTube tutorials; open education videos; tutorial videos; beauty vlogs; make-up tutorials; ‘Get Ready With Me’ videos
(Boldrini and Cattaneo 2013)	video; video worked-out example; video representation; faulty example video; video of a correct worked-out example
(Callan and Johnston 2020)	video; short video; beginner quality videos; higher quality videos; VET student videos; short video around their demonstration of a skill at work; videos on social media; YouTube video
(Callan, Johnston, and Poulsen 2015)	video; video games; short video; video postings
(Cattaneo, Evi-Colombo, and Ruberto 2019)	video; online video; classroom videos; video-based digital storytelling; video feedback; hypervideo; raw video; interactive video; instructional video
(Cattaneo and Boldrini 2017)	video; hypervideo; workplace-based video-recorded professional practices in school-based VET
(Chorianopoulos 2018)	instructional video; online video lectures; online video educational videos; video styles; instructional video formats; screencasting videos; video tutorials
(Codreanu and Combe 2019)	video; vlogs; video blog; YouTube videos; personal video;
(Dobricki, Evi-Colombo, and Cattaneo 2020)	video; digital video on work situation; hypervideo
(Fidan and Debbağ 2018)	video; video blog
(Julian et al. 2020)
(Köster 2018)	instructional video; lecture video; explainer video; live content video; documentary style and narrative videos; videos integrating other media; user-generated content video; marketing videos; communication videos; research videos; edutainment and infotainment videos
(Topps, Helmer, and Ellaway 2013)	video; YouTube video; clinical skills educational videos
(Komal, Chen, and Henning 2020)	video; online video; online instructional video; educational video; YouTube videos
(Van der Meij and Van der Meij 2013)	instructional video; video tutorials; tutorial

Figure 1. The video story as a practice shaped by practice architectures.

Table 2. The data material.

Period	No.	Country
1917	1	US
1920–1929	1	SE
1930–1939	-
1940–1949	3	US
1950–1959	5	US, UK, SE
1960–1969	2	US
1970–1979	3	US
1980–1989	4	US
1990–1999	3	US
2000–2009	5	US, UK
2010–2020	133	US, UK, SE, NZ, DE, PH
Total	160

Figure 2. Professional instructional video types for cashier work produced between 1917 and 2020 and published on YouTube.

Figure 3. Two examples of screencast videos for service work.

Figure 4. Hidden camera perspective at the checkout (drawings by the author from screenshots of a workday vlog, 2020).

Figure 5. Gaming vlog, angry customer situation.

Figure 6. Lecture vlog: the service encounter.

Figure 7. A taxonomy of online instructional video types for VET and workplace learning in service work.

Table

Video types	Film site	Camera perspective	Audio & Visual	Instructional method	Narrative discourse & language	Knowledge	Story content
Training videos	on-the-job	actors’ interaction in work situations; narrator’s upper body	voice-over face-voice talking head	roleplay + demonstration; workplace environment, objects, equipment	persuasive + descriptive + expository: compare and contrast (do’s & don’ts) or examples; service language	organisation’s ‘knowing-sayings’ + ‘knowing-doings’ + ‘knowing-relatings’	work methods & routines; interpersonal communication, values, norms, roles and relationships in service encounters: service script
Lecture video	off-the-Job	instructor + whiteboard; actors in classroom; instructor’s upper body; illustrations (text, image, photo, chart, graph) of information	voice-over face-voice talking head machine-voice	lecture + illustration; whiteboard, slideshow, classroom setting	descriptive (e.g. storytelling) + argumentative + expository (definition); service language	organisation’s ‘knowing-sayings’	theory-based topics: customer service; service work; vocational requirements & responsibilities; numeracy
Tutorial video	on-the-job or at-the-job	narrator’s & actors’ interaction with objects and equipment, the interface of digital in-situ and communication technologies	voice-over face-voice	‘go-to’ instruction + demonstration; workplace settings, objects, equipment, digital in-situ and communication technologies	descriptive + expository (process); technical language (computer, digital, transactions, spatial)	organisation’s ‘knowing-doings’	work methods & routines for handling objects and equipment or operating digital in-situ and communication technologies in the work practice
Screencast video	off-the-job	narrator’s interaction with the interface of a digital device and communication technology	voice-over talking head	‘go-to’ instruction + demonstration; digital device & software program/application	descriptive + expository (process); technical language (computer, digital, spatial)	organisation’s ‘knowing-doings’	methods for operating digital communication technologies

Table

Vlog sub-types	Film site	Camera perspective	Audio & Visual	Instructional methods & tools	Narrative discourse & language	Knowledge	Story content
Experience vlog	off-the-Job	vlogger’s face and upper body.	talking head	logbook + reflection; private settings	descriptive + reflective + conversational; everyday language	individual’s: ‘knowing-relatings’	feelings, emotions, values & relationships experienced as a novice in a work practice and workplace; vocational learning process
Lecture vlog	off-the-Job	vlogger’s face and upper body with virtual background	talking head	logbook + lecture; virtual background	descriptive + conversational; everyday language	individual’s: ‘knowing-sayings’	practice-based topics: work routines and processes; job requirements; training and employment process
Workday vlog	on-the-job+at-the-job + off-the-Job	work environment; vlogger’s whole body and upper body; interaction with objects and equipment	talking head face-voice	logbook + demonstration; work settings, objects, equipment	descriptive + documentary + conversational; everyday language	individual’s: ‘knowing-sayings’+‘knowing-doings’+  ‘knowing-relatings’	workplace orientation; work routines, tasks & responsibilities; relationships; employment
Tutorial vlog	at-the-job	interface of digital in-situ and communication technologies; vlogger’s hand interacting with interface.	voice-over	logbook + demonstration; in-situ technologies	descriptive + conversational + expository (process); everyday language	individual’s: ‘knowing-doings’	how to navigate the interface of digital in-situ and communication technologies (mPOS)
Gaming vlog	off-the-job	computer screen interface – vlogger’s hand or cursor interacting with mPOS game	voice-over talking head	logbook + online gaming;	descriptive + commentary; everyday language	individual’s: ‘knowing-sayings’+  ‘knowing-doings’+  ‘knowing-relatings’	how to operate the mPOS system and produce customer service (customer interaction) simultaneously in the service encounter at the checkout.

Bhatia, Aditi. 2018. “Interdiscursive Performance in Digital Professions: The Case of YouTube Tutorials.” Journal of Pragmatics 124: 106–120. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2017.11.001.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Boldrini, Elena, and Cattaneo Alberto. 2013. Written Identification of Errors to Learn Professional Procedures in VET Journal of Vocational Education & Training 65 4 doi:10.1080/13636820.2013.853684

 Google Scholar

Callan, V J, and M A. Johnston. 2020. “Influences Upon Social Media Adoption and Changes to Training Delivery in Vocational Education Institutions.” Journal of Vocational Education & Training 74 (4): 1–26. doi:10.1080/13636820.2020.1821754.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Callan, V J, M A. Johnston, and A L. Poulsen. 2015. “How Organisations are Using Blended E-Learning to Deliver More Flexible Approaches to Trade Training.” Journal of Vocational Education & Training 67 (3): 294–309. doi:10.1080/13636820.2015.1050445.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Cattaneo, Alberto, Alessia Evi-Colombo, and Maria Ruberto. 2019. Video pedagogy for vocational education: An overview of video-based teaching and learning. European Training Foundation. Acessed 5 Mars 2021. https://www.etf.europa.eu/en/publications-and-resources/publications/video-pedagogy-vocational-education-overview-video-based.

 Google Scholar

Cattaneo Alberto AP, and Elena Boldrini. 2017. Learning from errors in dual vocational education: video-enhanced instructional strategies. JWL 29 (5) :357–373. doi:10.1108/JWL-01-2017-0006.

 Google Scholar

Chorianopoulos, Konstantinos. 2018. “A Taxonomy of Asynchronous Instructional Video Styles.“ International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning 19 (1). doi:10.19173/irrodl.v19i1.2920.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Codreanu, Tatiana, and Christelle Combe. 2019. “Vlogs, Video Publishing, and Informal Language Learning.“ In The Handbook of Informal Language Learning, edited by Dressman Mark, and Sadler Randall William, 153–168. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. doi:10.1002/9781119472384.ch10.

 Google Scholar

Dobricki, Martin, Alessia Evi-Colombo, and Alberto Cattaneo. 2020. “Situating Vocational Learning and Teaching Using Digital Technologies - a Mapping Review of Current Research Literature.” International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training 7 (3): 344–360. doi:10.13152/IJRVET.7.3.5.

 Google Scholar

Fidan, Mustafa, and Murat Debbağ. 2018. “The Usage of Video Blog (Vlog) in the “School Experience” Course: The Opinions of the Pre-Service Teachers.” Journal of Education and Future 13:161–177.

 Google Scholar

Julian, A. K., Z. S. Farley, A. Beach, and F. M. Perna. 2020. “Do-It-Yourself Sunscreen Tutorials on YouTube.” Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention 29 (3): 693. doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-20-0059.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Köster, Jonas. 2018. Video in the Age of Digital Learning. Cham: Springer International Publishing doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93937-7.

 Google Scholar

Topps, David, Joyce Helmer, and Rachel Ellaway. 2013. “YouTube as a Platform for Publishing Clinical Skills Training Videos.” Academic Medicine 88 (2): 192–197. doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e31827c5352.

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Komal, Srinivasa, Yan Chen, and Marcus A. Henning. 2020. “The Role of Online Videos in Teaching Procedural Skills to Post-Graduate Medical Learners: A Systematic Narrative Review.” Medical Teacher 42 (6): 689–697. doi:10.1080/0142159X.2020.1733507.

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Van der Meij, H., and J. Van der Meij. 2013. “Eight Guidelines for the Design of Instructional Videos for Software Training.” Technical Communication 60 (3): 205–228.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar