Using videos in eLearning is an already established practice that increases engagement and knowledge retention, making learning experiences enjoyable and effective. But what we see more and more in eLearning courses are interactive videos, which further enhance the impact of the courses.
Interactive videos are significantly more engaging. They immerse learners in the learning material, motivating and inspiring them to push harder to achieve their objectives and goals.
Here’s how you can effectively implement them into your eLearning courses.
Keep the Videos Short
Keeping your interactive videos short, easily digestible, will help you keep your learners engaged. If the videos are long, especially if they’re too formal, your learners may lose focus and not pay close attention to every detail.
If you need to thoroughly explain a certain concept, simply break it down into small chunks, that is, as many microlearning nuggets as you need. This way, your trainees will retain all the information better.
Add Clickable Questions and Other Interactive Hotspots
Adding questions that your learners can click on will give them an opportunity to further explore the topic of your video. Those who’ve already mastered a certain topic can proceed to another video or activity, while others can click on the questions and get the answers to their specific needs.
You can add any other interactive hotspots to your videos. A hotspot can include a VR video to immerse your learners in a realistic scenario related to the topic. You can also direct them to a list of all the references from the video for better knowledge retention. The choices are limited only by your imagination.
Include Closed Captions
Why is it important to add closed captions to your interactive videos? The most important reason is that learners with special needs can’t listen to the videos.
The other reason is that the learners who retain information better by reading the text simply don’t want to have to listen through entire videos unless it’s crucial for learning. They should be able to mute them and simply read the captions.
This is especially important if they use mobile to learn on the go, or if they spend some time learning in the office.
Ask for Feedback at the End of Each Video
To improve your interactive videos continually and make them more engaging, ask your learners for feedback. Their input will help you enhance your approach and make changes for better learning.
You can add polls or surveys at the end of each video in the form of clickable links. It’s important not to distract your trainees with those links and disrupt their learning, so don’t make them a mandatory part of training.
Having said that, it helps to encourage your learners to take the time to give you feedback, as they will ultimately benefit from it.
Create Immersive Scenarios
Realistic scenarios are one of the best ways to use interactive videos in online training. They can create an immersive and interactive experience that gives your trainees complete control over their learning.
Branching scenarios can allow your learners to make their own choices through the scenarios, which take them to different parts of an interactive video. This enables them to control their learning path, taking them through different routes to different outcomes.
Use Gamification
Gamification also has the power of motivating and immersing learners. It increases engagement and knowledge retention because game-like elements make learning fun.
Those elements include points, badges, progress bars, timers, and any clickable hotspot that makes learners feel like they’re playing a game. It is when they don’t feel like they’re actually learning that they learn the most.
Create Virtual Tours
Virtual tours can take your trainees on an immersive virtual adventure that’s just like a real-life experience. For instance, you can create interactive 360° videos that your employees can use to learn about a variety of different roles in your organization.
They can take a virtual walk-through of different departments and see exactly what it takes to do a good job. This can be beneficial for onboarding courses.
And once again, you can include hotspots that take your learners to different virtual tours.
Create Simulated Q&A Videos
Q&A simulations can also be very beneficial for eLearning. But turning them into interactive videos will lead to even better results.
For instance, you can create a Q&A video with a training instructor or an expert in your industry. Cut it into short clips, not longer than 1 minute and create questions for each. Enable your learners to click on any question they want, so that they can watch any part of the video that matters to them.
Make a Reference Guide for Interactive Videos
For every interactive video you create, include a reference guide that your learners can use to revise everything they’ve learned and refresh their knowledge. Make it in such a way that they can reference any part of your interactive videos they want, including scenarios, simulations, and anything else related to the topic.
What’s also important is to make that guide available at any time, not just during online training. Tie it in with your LMS and online training software. That way, learners can access it whenever they need to revise something both during training and later on the job.
Key Takeaways
Interactive videos can completely transform online training. They can help you empower your learners, keeping them motivated and engaged, and helping them reach their full potential.
To make the most out of your online training, utilize online training software. It will help you create your courses, add interactive videos, presentations, images, documents, surveys, quizzes, and much more. It will also help you monitor your learners’ progress and engagement, assess them and manage training goals.
You can easily insert interactive videos into your eLearning courses with the help of your online training software, but you need good eLearning authoring tool and video editing software to create them.
So, get all the right tools, apply all these tips, and add hugely beneficial interactivity to your online training.
