Better Video-based Learning

Many courses and resources these days rely on video. Video-based learning is everywhere, and many independent course creators and small businesses start with recording an hour long monologue or presentation when they need to train or educate people on a topic.

Video-based learning can be very effective, but it needs to be done thoughtfully. Sending people an hour-long talking head (lecture) video is not the most helpful strategy. The issues with this are that:

1. It’s hard to filter out and remember what’s most important
2. The speaker can distract from the learning
3. Your audience doesn’t know what to pay attention to
4. It is boring, it’s hard for anyone to stay focused for an entire hour of passive consumption
5. The linear and unstructured format makes it difficult to return to later, reference or review
6. It is not accessible

Here are some tips for how to avoid these issues:

1. Organize the content by themes or central ideas, add title screens to help visually organize and emphasize key points.

2. Consider starting with the speaker as an engaging parasocial signal, then augment long sections with relevant denotative images and motion graphics to illustrate and reinforce concepts rather than just showing the speaker the entire time. To map this out, you can put your transcript into a two column table and break it down like a storyboard of slides showing what you want to appear in time with the spoken words.

3. Start each video with a prompt identifying what the learner should look for. Add visual cues like arrows or emphasis animations to reinforce what is being said or highlight specific aspects of the relevant images shown. Add a short knowledge check or reflection after the video so they can test if they “got it” or review important material again. Add a summary of key takeaways to review.

4. Break the video down into themed clips that concisely communicate the main points related to each central concept rather than an hour long continuous clip. Never disable the seekbar or take away the user’s ability to navigate through a video. Consider breaking down the most important or difficult takeaways further with additional generative learning activities or support resources (templates, checklists, cheatsheets, infographics etc).

5. Organize each themed clip into a logical sequence so they build on and flow into each other on your LMS or website and make discoverable with clear titles and descriptions. Make it easy to identify on the page where they are and where they go next. Add chapters to each clip if possible as further navigation support.

6. At a minimum, always include accurate (not just AI generated) captions and a transcript for each video clip. Consider creating described audio and ASL interpreter versions of your videos to further enhance usability and accessibility.

If you follow these recommendations, you will make your resources much more helpful and usable!