8 Ways To Optimize Your Video Player To Enhance Your Course
Videos are an incredible tool for learners and, when used correctly, can enhance engagement, increase completion rates, and keep learners coming back for more content, particularly when combined with microlearning (short bursts of learning in small, easily digestible chunks). Videos use both auditory and visual cues to help learners retain information and stay engaged. Videos also give us the ability to provide content to learners the way they want it provided, and the way they consume content outside of work: in short bursts, on their mobile devices, whenever and wherever it works for them.
With all the video editing and graphic design technology at our fingertips, it’s easy to get caught up in video production and miss out on great opportunities for low-hanging fruit that can enhance the learner’s experience. Here are some of the top ways your course video player can help you achieve your desired performance outcomes.
1. Deliver A Standardized Experience
By harnessing the power of one excellent video player across all your courses, learners can spend time on one player that will function consistently across your course library. This cuts down on the time spent and the frustration as they try to learn the basic functions like playing, pausing, and advancing to the next screen, enabling them to put their time in the learning environment to better use.
2. Stay Inside The LMS
By launching your video player inside your Learning Management System (LMS), you keep everything in one holistic environment for your learners. The time and energy to toggle between a course window and a separate player pop-up can be disruptive to the focus and concentration of learners.
3. Offer Seamless Accessibility Features
Accessibility features should be easily accessible and part of your video player experience. An example of this is allowing learners to quickly and easily toggle the audio transcript on and off so that it can provide information when they want it to and not distract them when they don’t.
4. Support Multiple Languages
The ability to accurately translate and deliver your material in multiple languages makes your content exponentially more valuable to your learners—and your bottom line. Your video player should allow you to select the audio and audio transcript for other languages.
5. Create Searchable Audio Transcripts
An enhanced video player experience should offer searchable transcripts, allowing learners to type in a word and have it take them to that part of the course transcript. Another dynamic feature is follow-ups. For example, a video player can incorporate the next section of the transcript from the one that was searched for, to tease the content and keep the learner engaged.
6. Provide Interactive Transcripts
Interactive transcript features allow learners to use the audio transcript to find the piece of the course that they would like to view. When they click on the words they are looking for, the eLearning course automatically and seamlessly advances to the exact section of material they’d like to view.
7. Allow Mobile Response Viewing
One of the best qualities of eLearning is that it is easy and accessible to learners wherever they are and on any device they choose. By utilizing a video player that is mobile responsive, you’re fostering the ability for learners to view and complete their courses when it’s convenient for them, which can help improve engagement and completion rates.
8. Optimize Viewing Conditions
It doesn’t matter how great your content is if you can’t view it on your mobile device because it’s buffering! Your LMS should be able to automatically detect the learner’s connection and offer the best video and audio bit rate possible for their learning conditions.
Is Your Video Player Working Hard Enough For You?
As course authors, we must constantly audit our course design for quality and efficacy to ensure that we’re offering an optimized experience for our learners. While video is a powerful tool, it has to be used effectively; poorly designed video players and an inconsistent experience can be frustrating for learners, detracting from their experience. When it comes to video content, like every facet of online learning and training, we must constantly audit the experience to ensure our courses are optimized for our learners.
