BEYOND THE FAD FACTOR OF VIDEO FOR LEARNING

I’m a cynic. Perhaps that’s from working in media for too long. Cynicism is an occupational hazard for journalists and those of us who have gone on to teach media. 

So it’s in this spirit of cynicism that I’ve started identifying what I call the FAD FACTOR. I bet you know what I’m talking about. A catchy idea becomes popular and suddenly it’s a fad. 

Video is one of the current fads in our industry. And that worries me, because some people will rave about it without knowing its benefits and limitations, and then drop it when the next fad comes along.

5 REASONS VIDEO IS GOOD FOR ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

If you’re persuading your boss to invest in video for learning, you have to go beyond the FAD FACTOR and explain how it will help your organization. Here are five reasons you should invest in video for training.

1. Video reduces the need for travel. If you can provide learning content via video, you can save learners the hassle of traveling from one side of the country to the other just to attend a program.

2. Video saves money. Not only do you save on the costs of travel, you only have to record a learning event once and it’s on file forever. So, rather than facilitating the same class ten times a year, you do it once a year, update it once a year, and spend the rest of the time building new classes or meeting new development needs within your organization.

3. Video gives you the opportunity to provide training in a new way. It’s especially helpful in making learners aware of the psychomotor skills needed to complete physical tasks. And you can use techniques like slow motion, replays, and freeze frames to enhance and reinforce the content.

4. You can give your learners access to subject matter experts. If you’re used to bringing in guest speakers, you know how difficult it is to have them meet your monthly schedule.  Record them on video and you’ll only need to ask them to come to a program once.

5. Video is a powerful tool in the adult educator’s toolkit. Remember adult learning theory 101? You learned that adult learning is best when it is learner-centered, delivered at the learners’ pace, at a time and place that suits them. 

Video provides all of that for us. It’s portable and available on demand. And it can be viewed, paused, rewound, and watched repeatedly; allowing learners to go at their own pace.

In coming posts, I’ll share more thoughts on how you can make quality video that gives you the greatest return on your investment of time, money, and resources. I’ll also give some fresh examples when I speak at ASTD’s 2013 International Conference & Exposition at the pre-conference Multimedia for Learning Professionals Certificate Program – May 17-18, 2013. Hope to see you there!