Best Practices for Creating Videos for Online Courses and Training

 

The use of videos has increased tremendously over the past few years. According to Statista, there were approximately 192 million unique video views during May 2015. Videos are posted online to social media sites by users as well as by professionals to online new websites. So it is no surprise that videos are being used in online courses and training. It is important to develop a plan before recording videos for online courses and training. Below are five best practices for creating videos:

 

Prior to recording videos determine the target audience so you can identify your goals. Identifying goals provides focus so you can effectively communicate with your target audience. For example, training employees on policies and procedures may vary by position. The video for managers is probably more detailed than the video for their subordinates.

 

 

Typically, videos are more professional when reading from a script. Think Facebook versus news videos. Scripts are also beneficial if you plan on providing closed captions. Closed captions are important for 508 compliance and you can expand the audience for people who speak other languages through sub titles.

 

 

People have limited time and attention spans, so be brief. It is best to record video segments of 5-10 minutes with a maximum of 20 minutes. The length will vary based on your topic.

 

 

The natural progression of creating videos is to use the PowerPoint presentations as the script. Rather than simply reading a script, you can create interaction by using a conversational approach and providing examples or using case studies. As you progress try creating SCORM files with divergent paths, quizzes, and hyperlinks.

 

 

Recording high quality video is important, but the video must be accessible from mobile devices too. You also need to consider whether or not the video needs to be accessible offline. Most videos are presented via streaming so the file format does not matter. However, if the videos will be downloaded the file format is important. The mp4 format is probably best because it can be viewed on Apple and Windows computers as well as mobile devices.

 

 

Once you have created your videos the next step is posting the videos online. Consider using a learning management system (LMS) to host the videos and provide tools for monitoring and tracking usage. Edvance360 LMS-SN provides all the tools needed to deliver your online courses and training. Learn more by selecting your industry:

 

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