Do You Use Strategic Media? You Should!

By: Justin Ferriman • March 30, 2015
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Editing-ElearningIf you’re creating an elearning module, then one of the biggest decisions you have to make is how you want to present the content.

By default, most people revert to Microsoft PowerPoint since this program has been a staple in training for quite some time.

However, this format is not ideal, especially in online courses.

It’s a good idea to boost learning engagement using various types of strategic media. Strategic media is the use of various media elements (video, images, audio, interactions, etc.) for achieving a specific purpose.

In other words, you aren’t including media because it matches the theme of the content. An example would be the image included in this blog post. While it helps to break-up the content visually, it hasn’t been included to achieve a specific goal.

Why Use Strategic Media?

There are a variety of reasons to use strategic media, many of which backed by studies proving its effectiveness in certain situations. Besides those reason though, consider for a moment the courses that you enjoy taking. Chances are they include strategic media. Text-only courses are hardly ever memorable.

But if you’re looking for some facts, then there are certainly compelling ones to consider:

  • Our brains process visuals 60,000 times faster than text.
  • Our brains process visual cues in just 250 milliseconds.
  • 90% of information that comes to our brain is visual.
  • 40% of people respond better to visual information than text-only content.
  • People prefer visuals, with 59% of senior executives in the corporate sector preferring visuals over text.

As you create your elearning storyboard, make sure you include a section for strategic media. Not every section needs to have media, but where possible you should strongly consider implementing it.

Here’s a tip. Instead of just describing what the media will be in that section of your course, also include the desired goal of the media. This will help to ensure that media is relevant rather than distracting.

Reference:
allencomm.com

Justin Ferriman

Justin started LearnDash, the WordPress LMS trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major universities, training organizations, and entrepreneurs worldwide. He is currently founder & CEO of GapScout. Justin’s Homepage | GapScout | Twitter