Evaluating the Efficacy of Automated Video Editing in Educational Content Production: A Time Efficiency and Learner Perspective Study

Automated editing technology offers notable efficiencies in educational video production. This study contrasts the time-saving benefits of automated editing against manual professional editing. Raw learning video footage was recorded in a professional studio with a green screen and presented in a frontal lecture style. The raw footage underwent editing by both an automated tool and professional editors. Time comparison results revealed significant savings with the use of automated tools. The paper further investigates the impact of automated editing on the learning video quality from the learners' viewpoint. An online survey with 129 participants evaluated their perceptions of potential learning outcomes after viewing automatically and manually edited versions of two videos. The survey found a statistically significant difference in perceived learning potential from one of the videos, although not for both. Additionally, the study considers how differences in study group characteristics might influence these results. In summary, while automated editing presents a compelling case for production time reduction, its impact on the perceived quality of educational videos remains uncertain, necessitating additional research to understand the subtleties of learner interaction with video content.