Blending technology with literature: Leveraging YouTube to teach poetry to secondary school students in Malaysia

Technology offers a multitude of choices to spur students’ interest in learning. This study explored the use of an online video sharing platform known as YouTube for the purpose of teaching and learning of literature in the secondary education context. The specific aims of this study were to: determine the impact of YouTube on Form 4 students’ motivation in learning poems, analyse their perception towards the use of YouTube in learning poems, and describe the YouTube features that affect their motivation. The study adopted a mixed methods research design, whereby quantitative data was collected using the Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction (ARCS) model survey, and open-ended responses were analysed qualitatively. The findings suggested that there was no significant difference in motivation between male and female participants; both groups identified YouTube as being instrumental in education because of its awareness factor. The perceived advantages included access and ease of use of visual aids which helped in enhanced understanding. However, there were limitations that were discovered in the study such as absence of instructions and interference due to advertisement breaks. The study proposed that educators may consider integrating YouTube into their instructional approaches while acknowledging its constraints in order to optimise student involvement.