Video in eLearning has long been a key element in eLearning and mLearning courses, but in 2015, it’s nearly crucial. Without it, learners miss out on a highly impactful form of teaching and learning.
And the use of video in eLearning isn’t going away or slowing down. In fact, some research shows that by 2016, 98% of organizations are projected to use video as part of their digital training strategy.
So how can you incorporate videos into your eLearning courses more effectively? Here are a few simple ideas.
Use Relevant Scenarios
Once a core lesson has been taught, video can illustrate the concept in a relevant scenario the learner might actually experience while at work.
Demonstrating how different scenarios can play out via video in eLearning helps learners observe situations from an outside perspective, making for a more meaningful learning experience.
Build Video into Your Course Setting
Depending on how you’re leveraging video in your course, making it appear as part of an authentic environment—like a TV screen, a computer screen, etc. can be a fun way to integrate it with the rest of the course presentation.
Incorporating video into eLearning in a more playful way helps add a bit of interest to the material and can help keep the learner engaged.
Keep it Short
Your eLearning videos don’t need to be lengthy—short and concise material works best as it employs the “chunking” strategy. Keep each video to less than five minutes so that you hold the learner’s attention and share only the most important, relevant information.
This is also crucial from a bandwidth standpoint when it comes to your mobile users. You can never be sure to the bandwidth your mobile users have access to, so keeping video assets as small and easy to download will ensure they get the best experience as well.
Engage Your SMEs
If you’re using a SME for your eLearning course, having him or her appear in a video clip helps add a human element and builds trust with the learner. It’s one thing to simply hear audio from a SME, but being able to see the expert and feel like you’re getting one-on-one training can improve the experience dramatically.
Summarize Your Main Points
After your short video concludes, be sure to summarize the main points in text or interactive elements to help reinforce key concepts. If there’s anything a learner didn’t catch or remember on the first go-around, this follow-up can bring him or her up to speed.
Add Variety
Finally, a best practice for video in eLearning is to mix things up so that your different course videos don’t blend together into a pile of forgettable mush.
Use different voices, music, backgrounds, and presentation formats to add dimension to your various videos. Everything should adhere to certain branding standards so they all feel right together, but add enough variety so they don’t all feel like the same video every time.
Video in eLearning: An Important Feature for Your Course
Leveraging video in your eLearning course not only provides variety for learners, but it can be a great tool for illustrating concepts and processes or even complex procedures.
The secret: Take the time to do your video right the first time around. Sloppy video can be a distraction for learners, so really think about how it will play into your eLearning course as a whole.