Introduction
Since the pandemic outbreak, the demand for distance learning has increased to the point where e-learning and traditional education have become synonymous with each other. More and more educational facilities adopted the instruments and tools that this approach offers, with videos being one of the main driving forces that made the e-learning phenomenon so popular.
In fact, the figures speak for themselves. According to the Bay View Analytics research (Cengage. “Amid Inflation Concerns and Enrollment Declines, College Administrators Offering More Flexible Learning Formats and Microcredentials to Reach New Students.” PR Newswire, 2022), about 92% of all colleges across the U.S. have redesigned their strategy to make sure they better fit the educational needs of new demographics. Presently, 78% of four-year colleges already offer e-learning courses as part of their educational programs.
This shows that the trend of integrating a video-based component into traditional education is only going to grow. So, if you’re looking to adopt e-learning in your educational institution or company, now is the right time to do it.
In this article, we’ll explore all the advantages of video-based learning and show some tips that will help to create effective video-based e-learning courses 🤩
Summary:
- What is Video-Based Learning?
- Benefits of Video-Based E-Learning for Higher Education and Universities
- Efficacy of Video-Based Learning
- Tips for Making Good E-Learning Videos
- Video-Based Learning Trends for 2024
- How Blue Carrot Can Empower Your E-Learning Project
- Final Thoughts
What is Video-Based Learning?
As the name suggests, video-based learning in education implies the use of videos to deliver educational content to the learners. These videos can be produced as standalone educational products or as a part of a larger e-learning course. They come in different formats, types, and styles, can include animation, come in the form of pre-recorded lectures enhanced with graphic overlays, screencasts, and so on. For more about different e-learning video types read our guide on how to launch a video-based learning course:
Why Video is the Best Method for E-Learning
Educational videos can be used in different settings from schools and universities, to corporate training courses, to onboarding programs. Such videos offer many benefits to both students and teachers.
Videos improve clarity of educational content, promote imagination, provide a higher level of engagement, and adjust to individual learning needs. Not only do they help to make education more convenient for learners in general, but also optimize teachers’ work. Videos allow teachers to focus more on delivery of the educational material rather than routine organization activities. Now, let’s talk about everything in more detail.
Benefits of Video-Based E-Learning for Higher Education and Universities
1. Works better for organization of educational material
Compared to other methods of knowledge delivery, video-based e-learning works better when it comes to the organization of educational material. Here, the entire course material can be broken down into smaller, more manageable sections (videos), making it easier for students to comprehend the topic. In addition, each section can provide learners with a brief summary at the end, helping them better grasp the subject.
Another important aspect is structure. When designing video-based learning video courses, educators can organize all the material in such a way that not only would make sense logically, but also be adjusted to the specific educational needs. Thus allowing learners to skip a particular module, for example, without feeling lost or overwhelmed, and easily go back to it later.
2. Promotes active learning
Another key benefit of video-based e-learning is that it stimulates active learning in students. Studies show (Brame C., “Effective Educational Videos: Principles and Guidelines for Maximizing Student Learning from Video Content”, CBE Life Sci Educ., 2016) that tools and techniques available for educators with video e-learning can help to promote cognitive activity and enhance the learning experience that students obtain.
Instead of just reading from a textbook, students can watch videos and engage with the material by answering questions, taking quizzes at the end of the modules, engaging in discussions, etc. This, in turn, promotes critical thinking, a deeper understanding of the subject, and helps students to retain the information better and longer.
3. Removes teacher-learner barrier
The teacher-learner barrier is often an issue for traditional education. According to the NCBI report (Saqr. M., National library of medicine, 2021), 77% of students feel uncomfortable asking questions during class. In practice, it means that the amount of ‘missed knowledge’ can increase and create additional pressure for an individual, leaving them behind in the learning material. In some instances, the amount of work and time needed to catch up starts to seem so humongous that it is just easier to drop the course.
On the other hand, with video-based e-learning students may learn at their own pace. They can pause, rewind and re-watch the content until they fully understand it. The questions can be sent directly to the teacher and addressed in a 1-on-1 manner. This way, students not only get more control of their learning but also receive a learning experience that may actually be enjoyable.
4. Deliver knowledge ‘on-the-go’
With e-learning, there’s no need to spend hours on commutes to schools or universities. Students can access the educational material ‘on-the-go’ from any device, whether it’s a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. No matter the location, bus, home, or coffee shop, with a good internet connection students can watch educational videos where it suits them best.
Such flexibility allows to greatly reduce the costs of education. Educational institutions don’t need to hire as many lecturers, rent space, pay for utilities, etc. Nor do students need to spend money to get there. It also allows for knowledge delivery to those students who live in rural areas or cannot physically be present in a classroom due to health issues.
👉 Example of e-learning animation:
5. Videos can be reused
The list of benefits of video-based learning would be incomplete without mentioning the high level of reusability that it provides. In spite of offline learning sessions, once a video is created, it can be used again and again for multiple classes and occasions. Not only does this saves the teacher’s time on preparing and carrying out the same lecture again and again, but also ensures that the educational content stays consistent across all future uses. Aside from that, it also makes it easier to reuse educational material for other courses in the form of short videos, each covering a smaller subject within a larger topic.
Efficacy of Video-Based Learning
The effectiveness of video-based learning can be best assessed if we compare this approach to more traditional methods of knowledge delivery, text-based content, for example. Our brain responds to visuals faster compared to any other type of information (reading included). According to studies (Scott D. J.,”The Effect of Context-Based Video Instruction on Learning and Motivation in Online Courses”, Taylor and Francis, 2010), video-based content is more memorable and offers more possibilities in retaining learner attention, boosting their motivation, and improving learning experiences as a whole.
Tips for Making Good E-Learning Videos
☑️ Use navigational and signaling aids
When working with complex subjects (which is often the case for e-learning videos) our goal is to make sure that no matter the intricacy of presented information, learners can grasp it with ease. For this to happen, navigational and signaling aids are recommended for use in your video.
Aids include adding on-screen text to support the voiceover, adding characters that guide the viewer through the course, changing the color/contrast/shape of a specific object or text phrase to highlight its importance, introducing visual cues like arrows, lines, dots, etc. that will guide user attention in a specific direction.
These aids will help learners to navigate through the learning content more effectively and will also allow them to easily find specific ideas, definitions, etc. whenever they decide to revisit a particular video module.
☑️ Keep your videos brief
Another important aspect is video length. When it comes to e-learning videos, breaking up large chunks of information into smaller, more digestible ones is often the way to go. It is recommended (Saqr. M., National library of medicine, 2021) to keep each video about 5-6 minutes long to help learners keep focus, and not overwhelm them with large amounts of information. So, each video should be relatively short, and to the point. Also, as mentioned earlier, each video should focus on one single subject in order to help learners organize information in their minds more effectively and not to divide their attention.
Manage cognitive load
Cognitive load refers to the amount of information that our memory is capable of processing at any given point in time. The cognitive load itself, in turn, consists of three components: intrinsic, extraneous, and germane load.
The intrinsic load is the difficulty of the information or the amount of mental effort that is required to understand the subject. The extraneous load refers to the unnecessary information and the effort needed to process it. Last but not least, the germane load is the new information and the mental effort that is required to integrate it into long-term memory.
So, if you want to create an effective e-learning video, it’s important to work with all three components. You want to manage the intrinsic load while minimizing the extraneous and maximizing germane components.
☑️ Encourage interaction
Going back once again to the importance of active learning in education, the learning process is not about playing a game at one gate but building an environment that invites a learner to interact with the content. The only way to make sure that the learner grasps the knowledge is to make it actually pass through them, so they can experience and acquire it.
The way to do that is by using quizzes, assessments, tests, guiding questions, incorporating a gamification component in your course, and so on. By cleverly placing such accents throughout a video you can significantly improve the learning outcomes.
Video-Based Learning Trends for 2024
As of the time of writing this article, there are two major trends that influence the production of video-based e-learning projects. One is the use of ChatGPT for script scenarios and the other AI tools for graphics.
ChatGPT
One of the main buzzwords of the year, ChatGPT allows one to significantly speed up and simplify the process of creating draft scenarios for e-learning videos. Obviously, the results generated via this tool have to be significantly edited by subject matter experts, but ChatGPT still helps producers to get rid of some mundane, routine tasks and shorten the project delivery timeframe.
AI tools
With software like D-ID or Synthesia, you can create a digital avatar of the teacher and generate a video with the voice of this teacher. Even though there’s still a need for the production team to be involved in the process, such tools allow us to significantly lower the production expenses by 4-5 times based on our experience.
You also no longer need to force your professors to talk on camera for hours, especially if they’re not fans of acting on camera. Plus, the speed at which such videos get created really skyrockets, i.e. tens, and hundreds of hours of content can be produced within just a month.
Aside from that, the localization process can be optimized really well here too. For example, in order to produce a video in a different language, all you need to do is simply feed the AI tool with a script in another language, and it will optimize the footage for you.
However, there are some cons to such an approach. The major downside is that the AI generators haven’t reached the human-like level yet. As a result, the video footage in particular will look synthetic. But, judging from our experience, in the case of e-learning projects, such content can still perform effectively.
To sum up, the use of AI assistants can reduce video production costs by 5 times and speed up the production process by 10-20 times. Of course, the quality of an image will be subject to a different discussion. But if we’re dealing with an e-learning video and not a promotional or marketing one, the quality of an on-screen image can be secondary to achieving your learning goals.
How Blue Carrot Can Empower Your E-Learning Project
If you’re looking for a reliable video production team to help you create engaging and effective educational videos, look no further than Blue Carrot. Since 2014 we’ve been helping educational institutions of all sizes create animated content for their online courses and training programs.
Our clientele spans e-learning organizations in Europe to top universities in the United States. We constantly update our portfolio and encourage you to check our showreel that summarizes the most recent interactive video-based learning examples of projects completed by our team.
👉 Our services include everything from concept creating and script writing, to animation production, live shooting, and post-production. We can also produce a professional voiceover for your project in the language of your choice. So, if you’re looking for a trusted partner to help you come up with engaging video content, we’re here to help!
Final Thoughts
So what main conclusions regarding video-based e-learning advantages should be taken from this article? First, when used in online courses, videos help to increase engagement and improve students’ focus. They also encourage learners to participate in the educational process, shifting from a ‘one-way street’ traditional model of knowledge delivery to a collaborative environment where each student can choose which style and speed of learning works best for them.
Video-based e-learning also comes with a level of flexibility often unavailable in traditional classrooms. Students can watch video modules from anywhere and anytime, which makes education in general more accessible to the public from different countries, areas, and time zones.
Last but not least, video-based e-learning is basically more cost-effective. There’s no need to hire additional instructors, print expensive handout materials, pay for utilities, spend money on commutes, and so on.
These are some of the main pros of video-based learning.
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