Exploring Video Literacy and the Practice of Educators: Videos, Vlogs, Videoconferencing and Holographic Teleportation Julie-Ann Sime and Chryssa Themelis, Centre for Technology-Enhanced Learning, Educational Research Department, Lancaster University, United Kingdom. j.sime@lancaster.ac.uk c.themelis1@lancaster.ac.uk Abstract: Video permeates everywhere online and is a key element for social media, marketing strategies, business communication, information dissemination and community building. We interviewed 21 educators from various disciplines within higher education and vocational trainers then analysed the data within the framework of informed grounded theory (IGT). IGT embraces data, categorises and correlates them with a literature review to critically reflect on and develop a theory of praxis – of how educators use visuals in teaching with technologies. The findings provide guidelines for educators, derived from practice, on how to use visuals (from a pragmatic perspective, including: static, dynamic and interactive tools). This paper focuses only on video literacy from the educators’ perspective. Video literacy includes videos, vlogs, video conferencing and holographic teleportation (holoportation) which is the next big step in learning technologies for transformational change. This paper is the outcome of research into the visual literacy and teaching practice of educators who are experienced in using technology enhanced learning tools and technologies. The findings can be used to improve teaching practice, inform policy makers and promote further research. The results are being disseminated via a MOOC entitled “Visual Literacy: Exploring educational practices and technologies”, if you want to learn more, join our MOOC: https://mooc.viliproject.eu Introduction Hillary Grigonis (2017, para.3) writes that video is a key component of social media and quotes Zuckerberg’s statement: “Over the next three years, the biggest trend in our products will be the growth of video. When done well, video brings us closer together. We’ve found that communities formed around video like TV shows or sports create a greater sense of belonging than many other kinds of communities. We’ve found that Live videos generate 10 times the number of interactions and comments as other videos. But too often right now, watching video is just a passive consumption experience. Time spent is not a goal by itself. We want the time people spent on Facebook to encourage meaningful social interactions. So, we’re going to focus our products on all the ways to build community around the video that people share and watch’’. However, the communication of complex ideas or even emotions in video is not the same. The grammar of video has, until recently, resided within a few people – those who worked in TV stations or production houses - and that grammar was very much the product of a process that was both complex and expensive. As a result, the clear majority of people in the world are video illiterate. So, “It’s vitally important we teach people how to communicate their ideas in video, so they might speak the media language we are all increasingly using” (Rosenblum, 2012, para. 1). To realise the importance of video today, a few statistics can help convey its usage and influence online: YouTube has over a billion users, almost one-third of all people on the internet ( YouTube ), nearly two-thirds of consumers prefer video under 60 seconds ( Animoto ), 500 million people are watching videos on Facebook every day (TubularInsights ), 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week EdMedia + Innovate Learning 2018 - Amsterdam, Netherlands, June 25-29, 2018 Preview version of this paper. Content and pagination may change prior to final publication.