Video is used all over the place for educational content. You’re going to find it one of the most effective media in your toolkit because it’s engaging, multimedia and easy to do. You don’t need to be a videographer or video expert to create great content. In fact, your smartphone has pretty much everything you need. Video is great for m
obile platforms as well—all smartphones support it. Major video sites like Wistia report that half of their viewers are mobile.
So, here are the steps to designing great video content.
Step 1: Be Focused
Make sure you have just ONE learning objective for your microlearning video. You should be able to ask just a single assessment question to verify whether your learner has got it. Break things down into their most discrete chunks.
For example, if you are using a microlearning video to retrain some restaurant employees on washing their hands, focus tightly on a small chunk of information. One of the best ways to do this is to start with the assessment question.
Let’s say the main thing you want to teach is how long employees should wash their hands. Here’s the assessment
How long do you need to wash your hands before returning to work?
- 20 seconds
- 30 seconds
- 40 seconds
This makes the content you create in order to teach this object very easy to create. You are now focused on the “timing” part of the process.
Step 2: Think in Pictures
It’s easy to get caught up in scripting and voice over, but remember, this is video. You need to show the user what you want them to learn. Reinforce that with text on screen and voice over, but the main avenue for training in video is motion. Show the process, the procedure, the information.
Here’s an example
Step 3: Write it Down
Unless you are an improv artist, you’ll want a script. Preferably one that includes the visual story as well as the dialogue or voice over. Keep it short, engaging and direct. With microlearning, you have time to tell a story, but it’s a very short story.
30 second advertising is a good place to look for inspiration—short ads are a form of micro marketing, if you will. We can use the same sort of engagement techniques and micro storytelling that good TV advertising firms use.
Step 4: Delete the Fluff
If you’re just trying to convey information, then avoid distractions. Stick to your story and make it straight to the point. Your audience will appreciate the fact that you’re not wasting their time with extraneous fluff. So much of long-form elearning is wasted time. Here’s your opportunity to cut to the chase!
Step 5: Review and Test
Try your material out on a test audience. Have a couple of takes which you can take a look at later. Or better yet, use a sample group of your audience to see which content is more effective at reaching your learning objective. A good microlearning system will have analytics which you can track and use to verify competency before and after.
So, there they are, five steps to great video microlearning
- Focus on a single objective
- Think visually
- Script it out
- Delete any fluff
- Test and Review
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