How watching Twitch video game streamers changed the way I think about online learning
Moving something that is ‘obvious’ in one context into a new context is a form of innovation. Often the things that work outside of education can revolutionise the way we think about teaching and learning.
I had one of these moments when an old colleague of mine, Jordan Anderson – founder of Teaching with Technology - showed me a software called OBS (Open Broadcaster Software). OBS is a popular tool for video game streamers competing in the billion-dollar industry of live streaming (through platforms like Twitch 🎮). It provides you with a way to run a professional production studio at home.
It inspired a new way of thinking and engaging with students online.
What is Twitch Streaming
In this post, I’ll largely be talking about Twitch Streaming but consider it to be synonymous with all video game streaming (this would include Google’s competitor Youtube Gaming). Twitch is a platform that allows people to live broadcast themselves (or stream) playing games and other activities. Founded in 2011, and acquired by tech giant Amazon in 2014 for $940 million, it has become a haven for online gaming enthusiasts. As of 2019, it has 3.9 million monthly unique streamers and an average concurrent streamer count of 1.274 million.
Simply put, it is huge.
Streamers set up their desktops and physical environment to be able to broadcast their webcam(s), screen, sponsors, chat, and other features of their streaming experience. Streamers like Doublelift and Nickmercs specialise in particular games 🕹️, drawing in thousands of viewers who often pay to get premium content. Amazon even bundles up Twitch Prime with their overall Amazon Prime package to offer additional incentive to use their platform. In the images below, you can see the variability in how Streamers set out their online experience.
The goal of streamers is ultimately the same, to keep viewers engaged and entertained.
Which translates to more viewership 👀 and revenue 💰.
Professional gamer Doublelift playing League of Legends and connecting with fans on Twitch
Nickmercs chatting with his viewers after a match.
Note the use of varied emotes (right) that viewers of his channel are using to show their connection with the community.
How does this translate to online learning
It seems silly to look at the way gamers (and now really a whole expansion into all forms of live stream) set up their space to engage a live audience but this is exactly what we do in the online learning environment. There is plenty to learn from the interaction, set-up, and execution of live streamers.
They do it for a living and so do we.
It’s even made it’s way into the higher ed context, with UNF professor Josh Melko, live streaming his office hours. His rationale is that he was ‘…having trouble getting students to come to my office hours in person, so I started streaming on Twitch as a way to offer some of my office hours in a more accessible (and perhaps less intimidating) format to my students’.
Professor Melko using Twitch to connect with his students. - https://www.chronicle.com/article/streaming-live-on-twitch-your-professor/
There are also a number of educational streams, that focus in on teaching and learning (what we are trying to do!). HealthygamersGG is a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist that teaches gamers how to have a better relationship with video games. He uses the language of video games to help young people radically shift their mentality to be more productive.
In the screencapture below, you can see him using a whiteboard and interacting with his viewers in chat.
Healthygamer teaching viewers how to study by understanding what is happening in their brain.
three elements that highlight the translatability of video game streaming to online learning
Casual and social nature of streaming is about connection, so is online learning
Connecting with an online viewership of people you can’t see is tough, but streamers do it on a regular basis. There is a common subject matter that binds them together and the hosts are often there to facilitate the community interaction. In the video game context, it’s largely about sharing stories and tips about a particular game. All of this is done with a casual, social-first atmosphere.
There are plenty of parallels here to the online learning environment. Students are there to learn about a topic, you generally don’t see them on webcam, and you are the host that initiates and enables interaction in the space. We also need to spend more time creating moments for social interaction to help students build trust with their peers. This is generally in sharp contrast to a stuffier academic approach.
Spending that additional time setting up a more social space helps your students connect with you and others in the online class. Connectivity can be a challenge online, especially if we don’t spend time nurturing it.
👉 Tip #1: Spend time in your lessons on social activities to promote connection
Interactivity and rituals play a big part in how people engage with streamers
Interactions with online streamers rely on rituals. As an example, when donations appear on screen, we see the same sounds/notification pop-up on screen. We can expect the streamer to read it out, thank the donor, and welcome them to the stream.
There are also unique emotes that are associated with particular streamers. This can often be linked to old community driven jokes and memes that add to the overall culture of the stream.
We can also tap into these powerful ritualistic elements for online learning. The classroom is a club, with its own rituals and ways of behaving. Formalising these elements with students can help you build an authentic connection and engage them further into the learning environment. The more they feel part of the tribe, the less likely they’ll miss live meetings.
👉 Tip #2: Build rituals with your class over time to form a tribe
Technology, like OBS, allows you finer control of what your students see
The technical components offer new ways of presenting yourself online. Streamers sometimes use multiple webcams, a microphone, lighting, and other key elements that make the experience unique to them. I’ve seen streamers switch from one webcam to another in the same way that a live TV show host will have multiple camera angles. This contributes to a more refined viewer experience.
Online learning can emulate these technologies to set the stage. In my practice as an online teacher, we’ve ran labs where we had a presenter view and a lab station view. This enables multiple angles for students to engage with science in real time. The choice to swap angles made it easier for students at home to follow along with the physical science components, engaging at key steps in the experiment.
Additionally, there are many ways to show your physical space based on your level of mastery with these technologies. The luxury of the online environment is that you can treat your physical environment like a studio, and this allows for the reimagination of how things are presented to students. This pulls together constructs we have about talk shows, Youtubers, informercials, and many other ways to set up the space to maximise and hone in on particular parts of interest.
Start slow and what you are comfortable with. Having multiple webcams may be too intimidating. You can start by working with your physical set-up. Look for at controlling this stage by improving the lighting, the set (with books or other artifacts that make your class unique), and quiet space.
👉 Tip #3: Treat your space and set-up like a studio, don’t be afraid to test out new angles
Video game streamers are innovators. Taking what has made them successful and placing it into the online learning environment is transformative. It opens new possibilities for interactivity and experience.
If anything, it puts you in an experimenter’s mindset and that’s what innovation is all about.
Bill Simmalavong