Animated videos create an effective learning experience and better engagement for students in online environments. In this presentation we will discuss a variety of digital instructional design tools and the process we use for creating these videos. Emphasizing pedagogical aspects, we will highlight important video characteristics in the creation of these videos.
Animated videos are also known as whiteboard animations, videoscribe, video doodling, or speed draw videos. Basically, they are short videos that use illustrations and sometimes voiceovers to communicate information. These videos show sequential animations drawn on a whiteboard as the story progresses, and they offer an effective and engaging way to explain a complex idea or describe a process.
We first started creating and using these videos in some of our MBA courses to help our students understand complex models and theories - something that is not easily seen in the real world (Ainsworth, 2008) and topics that our students struggled with every semester. After successful implementation and positive feedback, we expanded the use of the animated videos to other areas such as using them to provide professional development to our faculty.
As per emotional design theory, our videos strive to use graphics and images with personification and visual appeal to “increase the learner’s motivation to make sense of the essential material and thereby prime deeper learning processes that lead to improved learning outcomes” (Mayer & Estrella, 2014). We also rely heavily on Dr. Mayer’s multimedia principles when crafting our videos.
Most of the videos combine audio and visuals, and all of them include subtitles and/or transcripts. If students prefer, they can skip these videos altogether and read articles and lecture notes instead. Therefore, we offer different modes of delivering required content to meet various learning needs of our students.
We’ve used a few different tools, including PowToon, Videoscribe and animated PowerPoints, and have established a collaborative team process for creating these videos.
In this presentation we will demo some of the tools we use, showcase the samples of the videos we created, share the process we use for creating them and highlight theories and principles we rely on in this process.
Ainsworth, S. (2008a). How do animations influence learning? In D. Robinson & G.Schraw (Eds.), Recent innovations in educational technology that facilitate student learning (pp. 37–67). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.