Importance of Closed Captioning in Education

Not all can hear out to a video, that’s why the role of closed captions came into play. Here, caption means subtitles. And they are called closed because they are hidden until the viewer turns them on by going to the setting. But the point we are gleaned here to discuss is whether closed captioning or CC is great for educational videos or not.

Certainly, it is. Simply because not every student is privileged enough to be able to hear. They need some aid like subtitles to be able to study without needing to overhear it. Still not sure if CC is great in education? We’ve got you the top ten benefits of closed subtitles, making them an exceptional start for education right away.

Law Mandates It

To all the video makers, it is now imperative to add on this feature as per the Disabilities and Rehabilitation laws. The aim is to ensure effective communication for people with hearing disabilities.

Video Legibility for All Students                                                 

Apart from preventing disability discrimination, closed captions offer several more benefits. The first and foremost is that it helps all students better understand what the visual is trying to impart. Moreover, subtitles clarify dialogues when the accent and technical terms are not clear, the audio is too quiet, and the environment is too noisy.

Aids ESL and Foreign Language Students

Students, who have studied English as a Second Language (ESL) or speak some foreign language, need closed-captioning the most. Captions are a powerful way to impart education despite language disparities and help non-native English speakers to understand every concept explicitly.

Aids Students with Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities hinder students’ success in higher education adversely. But with correct closed subtitles, they can process the speech and auditory components in media in a much better way.

Improves Literacy & Reading Comprehension

When CC is used in the media, the reading comprehension scores of students climb up dramatically. Furthermore, it also burgeons the literacy rate of children by doubling or tripling the number of functional early-age readers.

Enhances Retention & Focus

You retain what you see better than what you hear. That’s why a combination of audio and video is used to improve the retention power of students. Using both oral and visual media leaves an everlasting impact on the viewers, ultimately, accentuating their focus in studies.

Improves Test Scores

Studies show that one who takes a test after watching oral-only video scores comparatively lesser than those who take the test after watching CC along with the visual media. Closed captions allow the students to take notes and learn better.

Enables Search across Video Platforms

No doubt, many schools, and educational institutions rely on video platforms for establishing powerful libraries. With captions and transcripts, they allow tutees to open up the videos to a full media library search via the textual data. They can now search for keywords, concepts, speakers, and more to reach all the relevant videos without having to scroll through endless videos.

Crafts New Study Aids

As this method allows search for keywords, concepts, speakers, and more, students can directly jump to concepts and terms they need an explanation for, without spending endless time on the entire video repeatedly. Besides, transcripts play along with the video and can also be printed.

Boosts Recruitment Efforts

Many universities can now improve their recruitment process without breaking the bank. As they already have campus tour videos uploaded on several social media platforms, with just one tweak akin to CC, they can ease the job of students who seek to get admission to one of these universities.

Simply put, closed captioning not only helps people with hearing disabilities but also breaks the language barriers in the education system.