Video Competition Earns Accounting Professors Innovation Award

The use of video has grown and taken on new shapes in the modern world of accounting. From CGA Alberta’s video resume contest, “Alberta’s Next Top Accountant,” to the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs (PICPA’s) video campaign, the CPA Players, to the AICPA’s annual accounting competition, the use of video as a learning and communication tool is finding its place in the accounting profession in a variety of innovative and creative ways.

Two accounting professors recently demonstrated the value of using videos as a learning tool and have been honored with one of the most prestigious innovation awards in academic accounting for their use of video in the classroom.

Mark Holtzblatt, the Frederick Addy Associate Professor of Accounting and Finance in the Walter E. Heller College of Business Administration at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Ill., and Norbert Tschakert, Associate Professor of Accounting at the Bertolon School of Business at Salem State University in Salem, Mass., were recently awarded the 2011 Innovation in Accounting Education Award from the American Accounting Assocation (AAA), the largest association of accounting professors in the United States.

Holtzblatt says that because accounting professionals are now dealing with clients and colleagues globally, students of accounting need to know how to use things like Skype and video conferencing.

“Traditionally, concept of literacy for students is reading and writing, but that concept is expanding to include social media – and video is a part of that. This is something that our students should be exposed to and become familiar with,” said Holtzblatt.

Holtzblatt had been using short, 1- to 3-minute video clips in his classroom for several years to help students understand issues affecting the accounting profession, specifically the International Financial Reporting Standards under consideration for adoption by the United States.

And while his students enjoyed watching them, Holtzblatt realized the video clips weren’t as interactive as he would have liked. There was no way for students to ask the experts in the clips questions or have a discussion. It wasn’t engaging enough.

The idea to take the use of videos to the next level came in 2009 after a meeting in New York with Norbert Tschakert, Holtzblatt’s friend and fellow accounting professor. The pair decided to add a video assignment component to their classes, requiring students to create their own videos, in addition to watching them.

But not only did the professors add a video assignment, they created a video competition between the students at Roosevelt and the students at Salem State.

The professors assigned topics to groups of three, and students were required to find experts who would be able to speak on their particular topic. Some students used Google to conduct their research, while others used social media platforms like LinkedIn to connect with experts in IFRS.

“The response rate for this project was very high,” notes Tschakert. “Experts were very willing to be involved.”

In total, 57 graduate students from both universities interviewed 46 recognized accounting firm partners, standard-setters and professors in 6 different countries using Skype, video teleconferencing and hand-held camcorders. The result was the creation of an entire series of educational videos on IFRS, which are available for viewing on Vimeo.

Holtzblatt says that the video projects not only allowed to students to become familiar with creating and editing videos, but it taught them project management, collaboration, networking and interviewing skills.

“Students had to reach out to experts, create a video script as well as a timeline, shoot the videos and use the video editing software to create a final product,” said Holtzblatt.

“The way they interacted with the experts allowed them to experience networking for possible future employment, as well as to meet very influencial people in the industry,” added Tschakert.

Holtzblatt says that because of this video project, students made connections they may not otherwise have been able to make.

“For example,” said Holtzblatt, “students were able to interview people like IFRS international accountant and expert Barry Epstein, Ph.D., CPA in Chicago, author of IFRS Policies and Procedures, and teleconference with Charlie Niemeier in Washington, D.C., former chairmain of the board of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).”

This year’s winning group were students at Roosevelt, whose topic was Valuation Under IFRS: Fair Value vs. Historical Cost. Both Holtzblatt and Tschakert say that they plan coninue the video competition assignment in the future.