How To Create Engaging Microlearning Videos For Your Online Course
The rapid emergence of online learning has already changed and continues to improve how we learn things, often giving useful suggestions for other types of education as well. And, of course, it keeps on evolving on its own, further and further perfecting its formula. While earlier online courses and educational programs had a lot in common with more traditional approaches to teaching and learning, over the last few years, we’ve seen some significant changes that allow them to better make use of all the features that are characteristic for this medium.
One of this changes is microlearning, the trend that emphasizes learning new things in bite-sized chunks, using short-term learning activities and smaller units of new material and exercises, something that combines perfectly with eLearning format in general. Needless to say, these approaches go hand in hand perfectly with business training as it allows people to learn new things quickly and immediately put them into practice, increasing the overall retention rates. And of course, videos are an important part of that. But how do you create training videos tailored to the microlearning paradigm? In this article, we will cover a number of tips that will help you to do so.
1. One Step At A Time
It may seem obvious, but you would be amazed to learn how many less experienced training course creators make this mistake. A microlearning video is supposed to be a short, concise video dealing with a single subject and having a specific learning outcome. Don’t try to cram anything else into it: make sure you make your point, and do it in as obvious a manner as possible. Don’t spread yourself thin if you need to cover additional points, better create additional separate videos for them and connect them to the original one.
2. Use The Right Tools
There are plenty of training video authoring tools on the internet, many of which are available free of charge. There is nothing as the best or the optimal one; they are vastly different in terms of functionality and available features, and what is perfectly suited for the needs of one business may be completely useless for another one. Study online manuals to better understand what you need from your tools, look at what different platforms have to offer, and you will be able to make a choice based on your own requirements.
3. Use The Advantages Of Video As A Medium
A video is a primarily visual medium and should use this factor to a maximum. Of course, you will have to use words and written text in it, but make sure to express everything you can in visual form. Let your visuals tell the story, don’t spell it out for the viewers. Using all the visual aspects of your video allows you to compress a great deal of meaning into very short segments of playtime, something we all want from microlearning units, so don’t just use talking heads in your videos, as it is boring and unengaging.
4. Use A Script
If you are well-acquainted with a topic, you may be tempted just to hit "Record" and start talking, but don't be misled—all these videos you see on the Internet where people just naturally talk about their subject matter are carefully scripted and prepared beforehand. So don’t try to record anything off the cuff—prepare a script and practice reading it beforehand. For more difficult situations, it may even be a good idea to prepare a storyboard, i.e., carefully map out every scene, visual element, change of perspective and audio element you use. It may sound like a lot of hassle, but it will dramatically improve the quality of the product.
5. Cut The Flab
Avoid unnecessary and superficial details. After you write a script, go over it, and not once but multiple times, and eliminate everything that isn’t absolutely necessary to understand the gist of what you want to tell. Don’t let your focus stray for a single second even if you think it would be cool or interesting to mention something that isn’t immediately related to the subject of your video, ask yourself twice before leaving it as it is.
6. Provide Additional Info If Necessary
If you think some additional information would be beneficial for the general efficiency of your video, you may add links to it in the list of additional resources accompanying the video. Meanwhile, make sure that the core of this learning unit is a short, to the point, bite-sized video that doesn’t need clarifications. In other words, additional info should be useful to get extra data on the subject, but not necessary to understand the core of it.
7. Keep Your Visuals Exciting But Not Distracting
Videos by definition allow you to use some pretty hard-hitting effects (picturesque imagery, highly contrasting visuals, etc.), yet use them sparingly. While visually strong videos may look interesting, they often distract the viewers from what they’ve come here to do—learning. Make sure you maintain the balance between keeping your audience engaged and concentrated on the task at hand.
Creating a training video course in the context of business is a significant accomplishment that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Make sure you use all the tips listed here, and your chances of producing something of value will be much greater than if you just try to do it without any preparation.
