For me, it's the length of individual videos that matter.
I prefer those with 4-7 minutes minutes per video. I've noticed that many long videos can be much shorter with minimal editing to remove unnecessary pauses, uhmms...
Definitely. Especially for courses in the 20+ hour range, long lectures [say, more than ten minutes] can be a real drain.
Though I think most of the online courses I've taken have delivered exceptional value, as you say, the "one-take-and-done" editing style is ubiquitous and leaves one to sit through a lot of ummmming, digression, and jabbering.
[Come to think of it, so did most of my courses at university!]
I'm the opposite. When searching for lectures on youtube, I filter to remove anything shorter than 20 minutes and then ignore anything that's still under an hour.
Not for me. I've taken and completed well over 50 courses by now (took health-related time off work for a few years but when I felt better wanted to do something), and the most frustrating courses where Udacity courses (and a few of the edX courses) where it felt like I had to click Next Next Next Next continuously, could not take my hand off the keyboard and lean back in my chair because there was the next silly easy question to answer and "Next" to click for the next short soundbite video. I definitely prefer well-made(!) longer videos.
The worst is when they start each and every 3.5 minute video with a ten second introduction, for those who already forgot what course they are in and what they just heard last only three minutes ago.
When I see things like this, or the doctor that I saw yesterday (who didn't know me) immediately switching to a "baby talk" style (for all conversations with her patients, I later observed) I wonder what kind of people (students, patients) they have to deal with in their jobs that they switch to by default assuming the worst.
I prefer those with 4-7 minutes minutes per video. I've noticed that many long videos can be much shorter with minimal editing to remove unnecessary pauses, uhmms...