Engaging the Net Generation via YouTube: An Academic approach for undergraduate teaching

This research paper addresses how academics can engage the Net Generation using YouTube in Higher Education to enhance learning. This explanatory research focuses on user behavior of both Academics and students via interviews and questionnaires. An interpretive constructivism approach examines how academics use YouTube to engage students in the classroom, as well as understanding the learning needs of undergraduate students as relating to video-based interventions. The data collection and analysis employs online questionnaires and semi-formal interview tools in a cross sectional time frame. Results show that students engage emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally when academics deploy YouTube into the classroom. A possible limitation of the research is that all participants in the questionnaires are second year Accounting undergraduate students in the Commerce faculty at the University of Cape Town.