Most of you reading this blog will agree that animation has the power to transform the most boring of e-learning into a fantastic visual experience. But like all good things it also comes with its set of caveats.
Including animation in e-learning involves weaving in of a powerful script or story, characters or avatars, visually rich graphics, good quality audio and the most important element being the ability of the animation clip to convey the learning information and meet the learning objectives. Thus animation in e-learning, unlike the other animations, has to strike a fine balance between user experience and learning objectives.
This definitely makes our work more challenging and hence it is important to plan the usage of animations in e-learning systematically. Here I will share some of the tips on how to use animations in e-learning to make learning effective :
1.Choose elements for right emotion
Animations are only effective if they convey the right emotion or tone. For example, while you are dealing with serious subject matters like biohazards or demolition, use of a funny character in animation may not convey the gravity of the situation and will bring down the experience. Instead, you can opt for a more serious and authoritative character who demonstrates the entire process and teaches how to equip the learners with the protective gear.
2.Focus on one topic at a time
Animations in e-learning can become confusing if it covers multiple topics at any given time. For example, if you are using animations to show how to engage with the customer, you cannot include the USP of your product or service in the same video. This can distract the learners as videos are a high paced medium of delivering the subject content and if the learner does not focus well, he can lose out on a lot of relevant information.
3.Pair visuals with audio
Even the most compelling visuals will fall flat if you don’t pair them with high-quality audio, such as background music or narration. Audio has the power to create an emotional connect that immerses online learners. Audio enhances the learning experience and also helps in increasing the retention and recall.
4.Use animation to simplify complex subjects
By using animations you can simplify complex topics or ideas. For example, if you are trying to highlight a specific trend, you can create a separate animated clip for each of the facts or stats and include animated charts that illustrate the e-learning concepts thus making it easier to understand.
5.Build elements of interactivity in the animation
E-learning animations are powerful but mostly passive. By including elements of interactivity you can involve learners to participate in the learning process and improve the overall learning experience.
6.Give your users the power to pause
Many of the learners may not be able to find time to go through the entire e-learning module at one go. By including a pause, stop, rewind, and fast-forward options you can empower your learners to pause the course and resume it when they have some free time.
Animations can make your e-learning course more interactive, engaging, and emotionally-centered. Do follow the above-recommended tips and share with us your experience of creating animated videos. We would love to hear from you.
