Lights, camera, action! Everybody likes watching good movies and videos in general. Whether it’s a video tutorial on the fanciest features of your new smartphone or a funny clip of your friend’s child playing guitar, videos can be engaging and catchy and leave a long-term memory.
Video is an excellent addition and an important element of an eLearning course. Adding a video to a module, however, should not be an end in itself. The video must add value and maintain the same high quality as the entire course.
Discover why the video is so important for a successful eLearning course and a few tips on how to do it properly below.
When to use video in eLearning modules
There are several reasons why you should use a video in your eLearning lessons. The main ones include:
- To explain complex ideas – about 80% of learners are visual learners, so visualization and animation are suitable tools to convey a message. The video allows you to give a practical example of how a concept can be implemented in real-life situations;
- To make the course more entertaining – an animated module or a video with a famous speaker will definitely make the course more attractive and preferred by a bigger number of learners;
- To maintain high retention levels – since people get attracted by visualization, the video will keep the retention levels higher compared to the same content presented ordinarily;
- To deliver a message to a leader – in the context of company training, choosing one of the leaders to deliver part of the training is surely a success story. You have to find the right person, though. Someone charismatic, loved by the employees, and who knows how to behave in front of a camera;
- To present scenarios and simulations – if you want to use role-play as a model, then the video is your best option. You can make it interactive by giving several possible scenarios and asking the learners to choose one or another, depending on the situation.
Which videos are effective for eLearning
Remember that not all videos are equally useful when including them in an eLearning course. There are a few features of the right video:
- Short – longer videos tend to get boring and lose the attention of the learners;
- Interactive – include a quiz or multiple scenarios to opt from to make the video even more attractive;
- Creative – strive for both creative content and presentation style. You can mix video with animation, turn it into a game or use a famous actor to present the concepts;
- Professionally made – both in terms of the tools and voice-over talents used;
- The right size – if possible, the video should be compressed so that it is easy to download the eLearning module and is compatible with different devices and internet speed
- Include a transcript and/or subtitles – this is very important since it gives the learner a better chance to understand the video. It also makes the entire eLearning course suitable for people with hearing challenges. Yet another benefit is that it makes the video easier to translate and localize in other languages.
How to produce a good video
As eLearning professionals, you are aware of how important quality is. No doubt, you have created top-notch content complemented by excellent design features, and therefore, the video that you are going to add should live up to these high standards as well. Here are the three things to consider when you are planning the budget:
- Professional equipment – get a good recording system and a mike, don’t rely on the camera microphone. If possible, use a soundproof booth for the recording. Use professional tools to edit the video afterward.
- Professional actors/voice-over talents – if possible, hire a professional to do the recording. The main benefits of using voice-over talents are that you get a professional end product, the recording is done faster, and it is cost-efficient in the longer term.
- Studio – if possible, use a studio for the recording to reduce the ambient noise that is hard to remove afterward.
The best advice here is that if you cannot produce a quality video, then don’t bother adding a video at all. It will just diminish the rest of the great work, and instead of adding value, it will cost you your profit and/or good reputation. Try entertaining the learners with other interactive elements like games, quizzes, etc.
Tip: make use of YouTube
YouTube is the largest video platform used by both individuals and businesses to share and watch videos. Similar to other social media platforms, YouTube can be a very powerful channel for eLearning professionals to promote and improve their eLearning courses without much effort or cash investment. Some of the best YouTube features that are quite useful for eLearning are:
- The possibility to create playlists on a certain topic and then share it with the learners and/or peers;
- There are privacy settings that allow sharing specific content only with a specific group of people;
- You can use links and annotations to direct the learners to other useful sites or give additional information.
At the end of the day, a high-quality video is an excellent asset of a great eLearning module. It helps engage the learner at a different level. Make sure that the content is fresh and current and that the video is properly localized along with the entire eLearning course so that it can reach a broader audience.
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