Interactive Learning Videos and Why You Should Be Using Them!

In an age where technology and shortening attention spans have disrupted traditional learning models, organizations are struggling to find solutions that meet a new set of L&D needs. Learners today are rejecting lengthy, linear-based e-courses. They want to interact with and connect to the content. They want a say in how they navigate through a digital lesson. And they want engaging graphics and visualizations of the content. For these reasons, ICOM Productions has identified and invested in developing a solution to these pains: Interactive Video E-Courses.

What Are Interactive Videos?

An interactive learning video is, essentially, a learning tool composed of two parts: a ‘Main Video’ (MV) and pop-out ‘Interactives’ that are embedded within the MV. When a hotspot is clicked (computer) or touched (mobile device), the main video playback pauses, and an interactive opens that allows the user to dive deeper into a related topic in a variety of ways. 

Main Video

At ICOM, we typically recommend the Main Video to encase the core training. It plays like any other video, such that if the learner does not click/touch on any of the interactive hotspots, that's all they would view. For this reason, ICOM’s Instructional Designers (IDs) typically ensure the core learning outcomes of each lesson are addressed in the MV.

The typical MV runtime ranges between 1-5 minutes depending on what’s required. The learner’s seat-time, however, can be longer because she has the option to pause and engage with the interactives. These interactives come in a variety of shapes and forms, and they allow the learner to dive deep, explore, and interact in more engaging and self-paced ways.

Example #1

Click the image below to view a Productivity Training trailer we developed for a F500 company.

Example #2

The image to the right is a screenshot of the MV from an interactive video micro-lesson we developed for a restaurant franchise client. They wanted to overhaul their food menu training program for maximum engagement, but also minimize the amount of time the training took.

You can see the MV timebar at the bottom of the screen like you would for any video. The learner, then, had the option to watch the video in full, or pause it by clicking/touching the interactive hotspots when they appeared during playback. The MV was 65 seconds in length and showed what the menu item was, what’s in it, and how it was made (i.e. core LOs). The average seat time was 2 minutes. The interactives explored different aspects of the menu item, from videos of customers talking about it, to backstories of its origins, and why the ingredients were chosen.

Video Interactives 

The purpose of interactives is to slow down and enhance learning. When we allow the learner to pause, reflect, and interact with the core material in a different way. It reinforces learning. It’s a doubling effect that pings a different part of the learner’s brain (kinesthetic, self-directed clicking versus passive visual/auditory viewing and listening). This increases the likelihood that the targeted information will encode beyond sensory and short-term memory, and into long-term memory. 

As a MV plays, the interactive hotspots appear within the frame of the video. When they will appear is also signaled in the time bar at the bottom of the player. Referencing Example #2 above (and screenshot to the right), the yellow arrows show when the interactive hotspots will appear (bottom playbar), and where on the MV frame when they do (burger bun). 

This interactive allowed learners to learn more about the ingredients that the MV just mentioned. Close up pictures and pertinent details were included in this interactive photo carousel. Learning was reinforced, and by clicking the “X” (top right), they continued back to the MV.  

Types of Interactives

The sky’s the limit for interactive options. Everything from interactive social media integrations; to rewards and recognition programs; and engaging mini-games can be incorporated into a video’s interactivities. Beyond interest, ICOM considers budget vs. meeting the learning objectives first and foremost. For these reasons, we have tend to use variations of the following types of interactivities:

1. Slide-Decks: Whether pausing the MV to highlight a step procedure, protocol, or anything instructional, slide-deck interactives allow for deeper dives.

1. Photo Carousels: It’s easy, affordable, and effective to use existing, or create new photos and/or images that add detail and context, and collate them in carousel interactive.
2. Video-within-Video: Basically, this interactive allows the learner to pause the main video at a certain point (and for a certain reason) to open up an additional video related to the topic. For example, ICOM might use B-roll footage of a Healthy & Safety officer telling a story about a frightening safety incident. Or footage of a head chef cooking a menu item might be used to “show” a crucial step. Video-within-video presents huge opportunities.  

1. Branching: Allows its users to choose their own paths through a video to maximize engagement and interaction. 
2. Dynamic Hotspots & Custom Motion Tracking: Whereas static hotspots stay in one place as the main video plays, a Dynamic Hotspot moves with an identified object. For example, in the screenshot of the video below, the Yellow Car hotspot moves with it as it drives around the traffic circle.

Learning & Development Benefits 

ICOM maps out learning benefits of solutions before investing in them. With reference to 2 learning theories we use to guide our design them, Interactive Video offers these learning and development benefits:

Brain-based Learning

• Voice-over impacts learner’s visual (occipital) and auditory cortex 
• Interactives impact learner’s visual and motor cortex
• Music impacts learner’s auditory cortex and triggers right-hemisphere involvement
• Interactives allow for greater chance of neurological encoding > consolidation > storage > recall/retrieval

Bloom’s Taxonomy

• Cognitive: interactives reinforce the facts about each menu item
• Affective: interactives drive home impressionability; video-in-videos emotionally resonate
• Psychomotor: interactives allow the user to engage with the learning at their own pace and preference

How Do We Get Started?

The first place to start would be to search online for examples of Interactive Video that are aligned with your needs. As stated above, us at ICOM have identified WireWax to be the best option for organizational learning and development needs. But the truth of the matter is that Interactive Video is brand new, and the potential is unlimited.

If you are interested in developing Interactive Learning Videos for your organization, or want to learn how we approach them at ICOM, please:

• Message me on LinkedIn or at [email protected], or
• Contact ICOM Productions directly.