The old adage goes… “In one ear, out the other”… perfectly encapsulating the phenomenon of hearing something, but just not registering it. Now it may be that you just didn’t want to remember it in the first place (like that reminder to take out the bins) but what if, to a certain extent, this applies to video learning too?
With a massive trend towards the use of multi-media and the inclusion of videos in educational and promotional pieces, have we really stopped to consider some of the associated pitfalls and what we can do to counteract these? I don’t think I have.
True, videos can add an element of variety, they also let you hear from eminent peers and access imagery that paints a thousand words. For the more languid amongst us, videos are also a more passive method of learning – where we can relax and absorb the information, rather than actively engaging with it. But they can also be frustrating as a communication method. They can be time consuming – long videos can put people off, unless they know it’s worth the time investment. You cannot skim read or effortlessly jump to the relevant bits, nor can you easily go back and revisit those pertinent points. And, if you’re like me, sometimes I just need to see something written down to commit to memory; hence why I am rubbish at modern languages, much to my disdain.
A handy summary accompanies this charming animation from the British Liver Trust
Today I had a “duh, why didn’t I think of that” moment. Every so often you come across something that you simply can’t believe you hadn’t considered yourself. This morning I stumbled across a charming little animated educational video from the British Liver Trust, explaining what the liver does, its importance and simple steps to protect it – Liver Good Life. Not only does it use creativity to engage the viewer, keeping them intrigued and wanting to learn more, but it frames the video with useful summary messages and even provides access to the film script, augmenting the learning possibilities. For me, this combines the best of both worlds – I can watch the video and but can easily access a brief synopsis too…. Simple, but highly effective. I cannot think of why I’ve not done this before, or why we don’t see it more elsewhere. Little differences like this can make a massive change in user experience and I’ll certainly be putting some thought about how we can best put this into practice.
Add a comment: