Educational videos have taken the learning world by storm. It’s no wonder, especially with their effective and high success rate. Demonstrations from videos have been proven time and time again to be effective, even when used on staff at work.

Since staff videos are similar to educational ones, you may like our other article on staff training videos and how effective they are.

In this article, we are going to separate what makes a good educational video compared to a bad one, this way, we are aware of how to create an effective, successful, and enticing educational video.

Making a Good Educational Video

There are a few different variations of learning videos, so to begin with, what are the best video types you could make for educational videos?

Types Of Educational Videos

Instructional Video

According to TechSmith, 53% of people were recorded to watch up to two or more instructional videos a week.

Instructional videos are around us everywhere, yet we don’t realise how often we see them. They’re everywhere from TV, to YouTube to advertisements, including brand videos. When you want to learn something new, instructional videos are the first thing that people turn to.

Interactive Video

Interactive video content has become much more common in today’s world and is used by many Brands in advertisements and social media campaigns. Interaction allows the viewer to engage within the video production they’re currently watching, thus meaning they are interested in the content.

Tutorial Video

Educational Videos based in a tutorial format have a great engagement rate for the viewer, mainly for once they’ve bought the product or service. According to ThinkWithGoogle, Users are three times more likely to watch a tutorial video rather than read a product’s instructions on packaging, or the internet.

The main goal of a tutorial video is to aid the user to complete a task, or use their product / service correctly.

Common Mistakes Creators Make

To help determine what makes a bad educational video compared to a good one, it’s important to know the mistakes that video editors often make, lowering the quality of their videos.

Not Rehearsing Before Recording

A lot of people make this common mistake when shooting their videos. Some think that shooting one take is enough to create the video when in reality, won’t make much sense to the viewer.

This type of video needs a ‘learning objective’, which requires planning. During this process, a thought out script and visual plan should be made before the video is being created. Doing this increases your video to a high quality standard.

Poor Recording Location

Believe it or not, but this is common amongst these types of videos. When choosing your recording location, make sure it’s warm and welcome and fits with the style of your video.

Typically for these videos, people record in a professional studio, this is the norm as acceptable. What is not acceptable is going outside on a windy day, unless that’s part of a skit.

Focus on having clear and clean cut quality to allow the viewer to understand what is going on, and more importantly, what they’re going to learn.

Having a Clear Video Direction

Following up from the previous point, pre planning what you are going to say and not doing it off the top of your head is important. Not just that, the conclusion must refer back to the learning objectives for the video to be effective.

Having a script is useful, allowing you to have a clear structure to the video, however, do not worry if you slip up! It’s normal and may take a few tries and re-takes to get it right.

Making sure you have a clear beginning, middle and end is important for video flow and for viewers to be able to watch the entire thing. Depending on the content your educational video is on, your videos will vary in length, but typically they are 10-15 minutes long, roughly.

Not Dividing The Video

Dividing the video allows for ease when watching, especially during this unprecedented time in the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic. Being able to skip forward or backwards is perfect for viewers who already have an idea about what they’re getting into.

Divide your video into segments and label each time stamps for ease of access for the viewer. Also, speak slowly and clear, but not too slow, take your time.

Conclusion

Understanding this type of video is very complex and can take some time getting used to planning and filming. Especially when starting off, it can be very daunting and you may seem lost. We understand this, which if you are in need of an educational video, us at the DigitalOx Video Production team can aid your needs by creating an educational video for you.