From primary school children to undergraduates, students are being exposed to more technology than ever before, and that includes the use of animated videos in their day-to-day classes and school activities. With the existence of platforms like TikTok, we all find it hard to concentrate on longform content, but videos have proven to be very effective for those with short attention spans, in fact viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video. In this article we list 5 benefits for using animated content in education.
Number 1: Learning through Engagement
Traditional learning methods such as databases, charts or printed handouts lack visual and sound aids that animated videos present us. This monotonous exercise doesn't always contribute to students' learning experience and instead can be distracting to students who may disengage with their teachers. With animated videos they are commonly short and instantly grab the attention of the viewer. Not only does animation allow people to absorb information quickly but 4 in 5 people said digital video helps them learn new things.
Number 2: Provides Entertainment
With approximately 65 percent of the population being visual learners, it's important that students are exposed to educational content that involves graphics and other imagery. Animated videos are perfect for this, with bright colourful visuals and interactive characters, these videos not only enhance learning but also helps entertain the viewer. Bonus points if the animated content has humour, as this also helps become memorable to the audience!
Number 3: Affordability & Reusability
With printed materials considered wasteful, need replacing overtime and often lost at the bottom of a backpack, it becomes messy and easily forgotten about. Video however has excellent reusability and doesn't take up space. When uploaded online, it becomes accessible to not only the students but teachers too; even allowing them to reuse animated content for other classes.
And because of how easily video can be reused it also becomes more affordable. Unlike printing paper and using up ink each time, animation can be used over and over. This is also great for students who want to learn more about watching a video, helped by the fact that video content is 50 times more likely to drive organic search results than plain text, meaning students are more likely to click on a video about a subject than read the same information on a webpage.
Number 4: Short & Sweet
The majority of animated videos will be short (sometimes a minute or two long) and this works perfectly for students wanting to learn. With the use of social media we all have a short attention spans, swiping to the next video if one doesn't catch our eye fast enough. Because of this, it's important to stick with shorter videos and help retain information that you're trying to portray. Studies show that videos that are longer than 20 minutes only get about 24% audience engagement. While videos that are less than a minute long get 58%.
Number 5: Versatile
An exciting aspect of animated videos is that they're so versatile! Not limited to one topic, animated content can cover anything from English to History, Foreign languages and much more. Animation can cover the impossible, showcasing ancient history or space itself. It can also include audio or onscreen text like subtitles, which is perfect as 80% of consumers are more likely to watch an entire video when captions are available.
We hope you enjoyed reading through these top 5 benefits of using animation in education. We had the opportunity to work with De Montfort University on animated content for their students and recent graduates; encouraging engagement in a fun and creative way. To check out our projects with DMU, please see the case study links below:
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