Today’s kids are very lucky to have the technology by their side to help them learn. Animated explainer videos allow kids to learn in new and interesting ways. They don’t have to understand their lessons by old-school methods of learning which were very difficult and cumbersome. The use of animation has revolutionized the process of learning. Animation keeps the mind focused on the screen, which leads to better understanding.
In the past, there were only whiteboards or blackboards where teachers wrote points to convey their message. There was no visual representation of what students were learning. It must have been a hard-fought job to understand all those concepts. Now in the 2020s, we are in the technological revolution phase in the educational field.
During the coronavirus, the learning process was shifted online. This was the time that maximized the role of animated explainer videos in learning. Now, although, classes have shifted back to their normal physical mode, people still use these explainer videos to learn important and complex topics that they can’t understand in a physical class.
Even in the business field, animated explainer videos are playing a huge role. It is estimated that the use of animation in emails has increased business by about 80%. This is probably because animation allows the potential client to understand the product or services more easily.
What Are Educational Animated Explainer Videos?
Educational explainers are animated clips that are made for fostering educational processes. They are short videos that are used for their visuals and relative storytelling to convey complex concepts. These videos are very helpful for the students as they break down hard-to-understand ideas into simpler concepts through the use of enjoyable visuals and compelling plotlines.
Use Cases for Educational Animated Explainer Videos
Educational explainer videos are best used in K-12 institutions as well as primary and adult education systems. Learners of all ages equally benefit from this type of content. Here are two use cases for these videos:
Integrating Learning With Fun
These videos are very helpful in teaching academic lessons with an additional feature which is having fun. They allow the viewers to learn while enjoying it. Usually, we do not associate learning with an enjoyable task but rather a dull and monotonous ordeal. These videos maintain the value of learning while making it enjoyable for the viewer.
To Bring Visual Learning
Learning with animation videos is like experiencing something in real life. Some topics in education are not easily imaginable. These videos present these topics and processes as if they are happening in real life.
Are Animated Explainer Videos Effective For Online Learning?
- Animated explainer videos are like a home tutor with the superpower of creating visuals of what you are learning.
- In traditional learning, we teach concepts using words, either said or written, to create a vision of a topic. It requires a lot of effort.
- With the help of animated explainer videos, you can learn more with relatively less struggle. You also get a better idea of what you are learning.
- Animated explainer videos keep you away from cramming. Students do not need to worry about cramming for long hours thanks to educational explainer videos.
What Are The Pros And Cons Of Animated Explainer Videos For Online Learning?
First, let’s talk about some of the positive aspects of animated explainer videos for online learning.
Quick Learning
As discussed earlier, animated explainer videos make a topic less tiresome to learn. Studies show that our minds process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. It is a major reason behind the claim that animation videos can make you learn quickly.
Vickie M. Williamson and Michael R Abraham also pointed out that: “Animation helps students learn in two ways. It facilitates the creation of mental representations of concepts, phenomenons, and processes and it also replaces difficult cognitive processes (ex: abstraction, and imagination).” Animations process direct images instead of texts that allow the learner to learn and there is a high probability that the learner will recall this learning more easily.
Helps Retain Information
About 90% of the information transmitted to our brain is visual. So, visual information is what makes the most of our observations. Taking this a step further, we can say that our brain can best retain the information that was perceived in the form of images. Animated characters also play a role in the retention of information. Due to these reasons, we can also understand and retain very complex topics.
Promote Creative Storytelling
Another impact of animated explainer videos on online learning is that they promote creative storytelling. Students understand their topics in the form of creative stories. They see different animated characters in these stories. This awakens a sense of creativity and imagination in them.
Now, let’s also take a look at what are the potential drawbacks of animation videos.
Distraction
One of the disadvantages of animation videos is that they can distract you from your original purpose which is learning. You become more attracted to animations and other enjoyable stuff while losing focus on learning. The learning process is lost somewhere in it. So, animated explainer videos have to be precise about what they are preaching and their primary focus should be learning.
Costly
Animated videos can be costly as well. You will see different websites offering different learning courses. You may want to join those courses, but they may be too expensive as they usually try to offset the cost of making animated videos for their teaching material. This is another possible downside of animated explainer videos.
How Can Animated Explainer Videos Revolutionize Online Learning?
From the discussion above, we can say that animation explainer videos make students learn quickly and understand the topics clearly. They engage the students with the topics more deeply and make them enjoy learning. Students don’t need to cram for exams anymore as they can just watch explainer videos that will review the main subject material for them in only a few minutes. This makes learning difficult topics much easier. Due to these reasons, we can say that animated explainer videos have the potential to revolutionize online learning.
