The benefits of using video in a teaching and learning context are clear. The JISC guide to Using Video in Teaching and Learning states how high-quality, well-structured video can provide ‘motivating, memorable and inclusive learning experiences.’ Diana Laurillard echoes these points in her book Rethinking University Teaching, saying that video is ‘peculiarly able to convey a way of experiencing the world. It provides a vicarious experience through dynamic sound and vision.’
But how useful is educational video outside of school or college? The success of platforms like Udemy, which uses video to deliver it’s 30,000+ courses, shows that there is a demand. Here are three ways and examples of how educational video can benefit organisations and businesses.
For potato growers, damaged crop costs the UK industry an average of £26 million a year so it is vital that farmers are informed about how to reduce it. We worked with the Potato Council to produce a series of videos to raise awareness among farmers about the issue of crop damage. The video series is accessible online alongside other learning resources including downloadable checklists and advice sheets.
After the project, Claire Hodge from the Potato Council talked to us about the benefits of using video. She explained that with video, they can access “a wider audience using these visual tools” and as a result they can “save the industry a lot of money by improving people’s understanding.” Also, because video is so quick and easy to distribute it means that employers can be responsive to industry change, such as changes in regulation.
Video is a visual and auditory resource which supports different learning styles. This was particularly beneficial for the Potato Council. As a national organisation it’s vital that they communicate to a diverse audience from many different countries. For Claire, video proved most effective:
For global companies where their staff speak many different languages, a visual medium like video is more useful than long written passages or difficult textbooks.
World-class experts are in demand, which means getting access to their knowledge and expertise can be tricky. Warwick Music recognised this, and so produced a series of pay-per view video tutorials with world-class trombonist, Ian Bousfield.
The video masterclasses captured tips and techniques from Ian’s decades of experience working in the world’s greatest orchestras. It was the first time these insights had been shared outside of the most prestigious of music colleges.
This approach can be adopted in the workplace to great effect:
The Pathway Group offer training programmes and apprenticeships to employers and jobseekers ranging from business skills to beauty therapy. A large part of their training content is delivered using video via their eLearning portal and YouTube channel. We spoke to Nigel Birch at the Pathway Group who talked about their reasons for using video as part of their training provision.
He told us that video “accelerates the learning process and improves the quality of the learning experience.” Well planned and produced video ensures that you’re always delivering the same high standards of content to your employees.
Pathway Group’s experience has shown them that video facilitates ‘independent learning’ which, both engages and provides more flexibility to the learner. Learners can access the training as and when they need it, pause and rewind to master areas they are finding difficult.
In comparison to other costly methods of delivery such as face-to-face training, “video can save time and money, [instead of] producing and writing reams of online text and manuals.”
Video can communicate complex information in a way that is unrivalled by any other medium. It can inform, inspire and upskill an entire workforce. These examples show that video can integrate learning into everyday working life, save time and money and improve the quality of the learning experience.
Live video may seem, at first glance, like a medium with limited applications; but the simple fact of its being live opens up several possibilities to innovate and draw in your audience.
To promote Cisco Webex and Arkadin, our live-action video used a narrative structure based on resolving the pain points of our target audience: IT managers.
With Shutterstock’s prediction that the aesthetics of the past will be a dominant trend this year, it's a perfect time to think about ways of looking to the past to inspire forward-thinking content.
For providers of specialist or niche products and services, it's especially important to use video as part of your business marketing and sales strategy
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