Using animation in your eLearning courses
Can you remember watching Disney films as a child and then being filled with creativity? Animation may bring out the inner child among us but also has the power to improve knowledge retention, engage learners and simplify complex concepts. Here are a few ways that you can use animation in your eLearning courses to truly connect with your learners.
Storytelling
Stories help build an instant emotional connection. It is the best way to immerse learners’ attention in the content. With the help of animation, you can take storytelling a step further by creating scenario-based learning. For example, let’s say you’re making an eLearning video on de-escalating situations in the office. Your video could include a scenario that shows how two people get into an argument and how the situation could be resolved with communication techniques.
With its extensive range of eLearning assets, Vyond is the perfect tool to help you create high-impact storytelling videos.
Simplifying complex subjects
Can you imagine trying to explain complex ideas, such as inner workings of the human body, economic models, or geographical processes through text? Not only that, these can also be impossible to film as a video. This is where animation steps in. Animation can be used to communicate complicated information and enable your learners to visualise these ideas, without restraint.
Convey emotions
Emotions can be often lost through text, which is critical in many eLearning courses. Animated characters can foster an emotional connection in a concrete, understandable way. This in turn makes it more likely that the learner will care, pay attention, and engage with the course content. Animated characters can help guide a learner through a difficult topic, act out a scenario or illustrate a specific example. For example, if you have an induction course and you’re trying to teach new employees about company culture, this can be effectively portrayed through animated characters, such as cheering for teamwork, or a handshake for trust.
Evergreen content
Imagine that you have just finished shooting a high-end video, that explains GDPR. You’ve hired actors and professional videographers. You’ve spent a lot of time planning and filming the video to make sure that it is outstanding and that your learners find it really useful. Then, a month later, the government changes legislations, and your video needs updating again. This means that you probably need to pay out for the same actors and videographer to update your video. This can be costly and have a knock-on effect on your yearly budget.
However, with animation, updates can be made in a few simple clicks – with little (or no) expense!
Lights, camera, action!
Let’s face it, learning in the modern world has intertwined itself with entertainment, and you cannot help your learners learn unless you keep them not only engaged but entertained. According to research, over 764,000 hours of Netflix are watched every minute. Why not use animation to tap into this statistic? Using animation coupled with humour offers a comedic relief from the learners’ day-to-day corporate repetitiveness and helps break up lengthy training sessions. It keeps the learners’ attention from dwindling and makes them more likely to recall learned information after training is complete.
Animation can make your eLearning courses more interactive, engaging and emotionally centred. So, if you’re looking to bring a dull course to life, or explain a complex concept to your learners, why not try animation?