3 Interactive Video Strategies For Your Custom Training Projects

3 Interactive Video Strategies For Your Custom Training Projects
Summary: Today's learners are primed for a learning experience that effectively uses video. As training professionals, finding the right method of including interactive video strategies can reap major benefits for your learning program. Here are 3 ways of using this approach in your next training course.

Using Interactive Video Strategies For Your Custom Training Projects

“Everything old is new again” is a cliché that accurately fits the use of interactive video strategies in custom training projects. The use of video in training has been around for a long time. Its origins go back to VHS, Betamax, and Laser Disc players used in classroom settings and custom computer-based training (CBT) platforms.

In the early days of web-based training (WBT), however, incorporating video strategies into custom training projects largely fell out of favor because of technological constraints. Browsers, HTML, and network environments (bandwidth) could not effectively or reliably deliver large video files to learners. Video did make a comeback as WBT technologies improved, only to suffer another setback with the rise of mobile devices and wireless network environments in mobile training solutions.

Breaking News! With the maturity of mobile platforms, mobile network environments, and video compression algorithms, video is now back with a vengeance. In fact, with video and video screens ubiquitous with everyday life, learners now expect to find video strategies in your custom training solution to compete for their limited attention.

3 Benefits Of Using Video In Custom Training 

This is great news for training professionals. Pound for pound, video is one of the most effective strategies that we can use in our custom training solutions. Here are a few benefits that video provides:

1. Video is engaging.

Think of the short thirty-second commercials shown during the Super Bowl. When used effectively, video can quickly capture your audience’s attention and convey a message that has a lasting impact on the learner.

2. Video can communicate so much more information to the learner than text and graphics on a page.

Body language, tone, emotion, motivation, personal connection, etc. If a single picture is worth a thousand words, how much more is video worth in your custom training solution? Yes, video might be more expensive to produce, but used effectively it actually might be the cheaper option.

3. Video can be immersive and interactive.

This can turn your end user from a passive participant into an active learner.

Incorporating Interactive Video In Custom Training Projects

So how do we as training professionals effectively incorporate interactive video strategies into our custom training solutions? For your next custom training project, consider these 3 interactive video strategies:

1. “Show And Ask” (Variation On “Show And Tell”)

Use video to place the learner in a real life situation. At the end of the video clip ask the learner to evaluate and respond to what they just saw. You can use a series of multiple choice questions to focus the learner’s attention to specific:

  • Attributes like emotion, tone, and body language.
  • Objects like safety hazards and tool identification.
  • Processes like lifting, leadership, or soft skills.

You can also use a reflection activity at the end of the video that allows the learner to respond to an open ended question in a text entry box. When the user finishes typing, invite them to compare their response to an expert’s response or compare it to the responses of their peers that have been pre-collected, or collected dynamically.

2. “Ask And Show”

Before showing a video clip to the learner, ask them to pause the video when they see “_________”.

For example: “In this next video clip, pause the video when you see a safety hazard”.

This allows the user to interact with the video file. When the video is paused, evaluate the video timecode and see if it falls within the expected or acceptable range and provide appropriate feedback.

This can also be done with multiple ranges within the video clip. Instead of having the user pause the video, you can direct them to interact with a button “every time they see a safety hazard”. At the end of the video you can then evaluate their interaction events and provide a summary of how well they did.

3. Interactive Video Branching Scenario

Incorporating video into a branching scenario activity is a highly effective training strategy. Do you remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books that you read as a kid? Imagine how engaging and effective your custom training could be if the learner’s choices play out in front of them through a series of short video sequences.

There are multiple benefits to this type of training strategy. Branching scenarios allow the learner to direct and personalize their own training experience. Learners are able to make mistakes and practice their skills in a risk-free environment.

The key to this type of training strategy for cost-conscious training professionals, is to use scripting techniques that don’t allow the learner to branch too far from the main narrative arc. This will increase the amount of times you are able to reuse a video clip and reduce the overall amount of video shots that need to be produced.

Final Word 

Regardless of whether or not you use these interactive video strategies in your next custom training course, seriously consider incorporating video. Today’s learners are primed for this type of video learning experience.