E-learning Through Videos
So you want to educate using video, typically called e-learning videos, learning videos or educational videos? Video has made distance learning the new kid of the block these past few years. Gen Ys demand technology provide them with ease, immediacy and visual connectivity.
Top reasons why video is a great educational tool:
- experts can lend advice
- vignettes can demonstrate challenges and possibilities
- demonstrations can show what is not easily read
- resources that may be too expensive or exclusive may be shared (ie – electron microscopes)
- dangerous locations, devices or equipment may be safely viewed
- remote, unusual and unlikely events or locations may be seen (ie – volcanos)
- progression can be quickly surveyed at each of many stages
- intricate workflow could be learned by preview
- role-playing or simulations could be shown.
And all of these make possible the transcending of time and place. The beauty of using e-learning videos, learning video or educational videos is you can take any audience to any time or place.
Educational Videos
The challenge in keeping people engaged while working from e-learning videos, learning video as a whole or educational videos is the interactivity level provided. Unless well-crafted, education videos juggling “talking heads” with mindnumbing quizzes will cause sever boredom. Video clips should be arranged into storylines with narration kept to a minimum. Use of re-enactments and demonstrations will sustain interest. Create stopping points where viewers may participate in decisions tailoring the video branches dependant on their choices. Quizzes, if necessary, may be framed in a “what if” scenario. This will maintain engagement wile using e-learning videos, learning video or educational videos as tools. The most important thing to consider when creating the video project is to:
- consider the video project as a series – don’t try to jam too much information into to little time to properly set-up, explain the info and bring each point to a resolution
- remember that the video is not shown in a vacuum – the video is always shown in the context of the web-page / live event / e-learning suite – use the context it is shown in as a wrapper that contains information for re-enforcement or more detail
- ensure the information is relevant to the audience – even a 2 hour presentation on the “Flow of Energy through a Star and Construction of Stellar Models” is interesting to astrophysicists – so if your giving the right information to the right audience, even if it lands on the side of “boring” to outsiders, the audience will find it interesting.
What to get inspired? Check out 23 of the Best Free Educational Video Sites to get some ideas...
5min.com, AcademicEarth.org, BigThink.com, BrightStorm.com, CosmoLearning.com, TheFuturesChannel.com, Howcast.com, iTunes U, Learner.org, mathtv.com , MIT OpenCourseWare, MIT World, Researchchannel.org, PBSScholarSpot.com, SchoolTube.com, Teachers.tv, TeacherTube.com, TED.com, Videojug.com, WatchKnow.org, WonderHowTo.com, Open Yale Courses, YouTube EDU
At Phanta Media, we have a process that helps take companies from start to finish. Through our simple and highly effective Communications Analysis, we can hone in on objectives, voice, targets and ultimately messaging – whether for sales, marketing or even educational and e-learning videos.
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