When it comes to your corporate LMS, using video for training is becoming almost the universal preference for delivering eLearning content.
A recent survey of more than a thousand eLearning practitioners—mostly in North America–conducted by the eLearning Guild, found that video accounts for more than 92% of their training materials. That’s more than a 20% increase in the use of video from 4 years ago.
Why the trend? Short answer: improvements in video technology and the tools needed to edit videos and incorporate them into an LMS. What is surprising in this survey is that almost one in ten respondents shoot their own videos mostly on location. This is not particularly good news for video production houses, but it is a sign of the times. The use of videos from third party vendors or curated videos from Vimeo or YouTube has dropped to roughly a third of the video content in eLearning from survey participants.
More than half of those respondents who use their own videos use dedicated video cameras and just over a third use smartphones to do their filming.
How are these videos used? Mostly as short tutorials and to supplement classroom training and most of those videos were clocked in at under five minutes. The Guild found that the top topics for video training were:
- Software how-tos
- Coaching and leadership
- Product training
- Onboarding
- Compliance
The videos were launched predominantly on desktop devices while just over half were formatted for smartphones. The idea is that video is a richer learning experience and producing them has come down in price.
The survey did not address the issue of video quality. Professional production companies are adept at lightning, editing, and recording voice tracks that won’t be muffled when played back on small speakers. So if you have the budget, it is always wise to get a pro in there to keep the videos up to snuff.
If you decide to shoot your own videos, it pays to use professional video and editing tools that are readily available on the market. (See: “L&D Content Tools on the Cheap”). These will help you plan, storyboard and script something that resonates with your learners, particularly in a small screen format where quality can get lost easily.
Also, consider animation as a friend. There may be someone in your group who has those skills and does it for fun or profit and use their skills.
For more information about content design, please contact us.