Why embedded video is the future
If you visit this blog on a regular basis, you probably already know we have a thing for personalised and adaptive learning. If you don’t, but you’ve somehow found your way here, then we suspect it’s possible that you are wondering whether it’s time you did too.
There has long been the misconception that learning content can only either be entirely off-the-shelf or entirely customised — personalised learning is the perfect hybrid of both. In this article, we’ll look at the benefits of personalised learning experiences and weigh those up against the costs involved in delivering them. Let’s start with some evidence.
Suggested reading: If you want a more in depth guide on how to reinvent your entire learning and development strategy, check out our new eBook — So, You Need a More Effective Learning Platform?
Why choose personalised learning content?
The desire for personalisation in learning and development (L&D) has always been around — but why is there such an increase in demand for it now? Sure, it’s effective learning, but who doesn’t always want effective learning? In a nutshell, learners and learning designers alike need that higher level of efficiency now more than ever to keep up with changing times.
Recent developments like more people working from home and greater adoption of digital resources have led to workplaces needing to up their game to remain relevant in their learning methods, while still hoping to retain their core messaging.
That need and desire isn’t just exclusive to the seasoned professionals, by the way. 76% of Gen Z believe learning is the key to career success and the number one L&D feature they want to see is relevant learning content.1 Enter personalised learning.
The science behind the pros of using personalised learning speaks for itself. A 1984 study of different learning conditions — conventional, mastery, and tutoring — found that students had the most positive attitudes and interests towards the latter (and most personalised) method.2 More than three decades later, not much has changed: 77% of L&D professionals believe personalised learning is vital in improving employee engagement.3
If psychology is more your forte, personalised learning content is ideal in bringing about the self-reference effect. If it isn’t, the key takeaway of the self-reference effect is this: “information leaves a deeper and more robust memory trace when encoded with reference to the self.” In plain English, personalised content and information are the most effective learning concepts for promoting memory.4
Suggested reading: Want to know what else you can do to achieve the best results? Check out our article to learn the secret to learner engagement.
Types of learning content (personalised and not)
There are three types of learning content that you can choose from when creating your learning program.
- Purchased courses/collections: Purchasing readymade content is the fastest and most seamless way to get workplace learning underway. These work pretty well for standard courses and you’re probably used to outsourcing to specialists already. The one major potential setback is that you won’t be able to customise your learning content for more complex topics that require a level of personalisation — but this can be offset by properly rolling out the purchased content alongside additional learning pathways.
- Bespoke content production: This remains the ideal for many L&D professionals and organisations who are serious about continuous learning. It gives you complete control over messaging, tone, structure, and everything in between. Plus, it enables a concentrated and focussed delivery. If time and budget permit, there really is no limit to the level of personalisation you can introduce into the learning experience.
- iFrames: iFrames (aka inline frames, aka the tech behind embedding video) is not only a happy medium between these two extremes, but the most effective method to creating relevant learning content today. It enables you to create personalised resources by using high-quality video content as the building blocks of custom learning pathways, which iFrames then compiles for you with an authoring tool. You get the combined benefits of either quickly customising existing content or plugging straight in if you’re happy with what’s already there.
Pro tip: If you suspect using iFrames is beyond your organisation, let’s be clear: it isn’t. If you’ve ever watched a YouTube video on a site that wasn’t YouTube, you’ve been looking at embedded video. If you’ve ever had a go at embedding content into a webpage, you are doing this through the use of iFrames. Web developers need not apply.
Cost considerations of personalised learning and development content
We suspect this is the part a lot of you were waiting for. We say that because a recent study found that “insufficient resources” ranked as the number one barrier for organisations from delivering personalised learning environments.5
An off-the-shelf learning course will always be the most cost-effective option. It won’t need to be maintained and, since it’ll work with compliant learning management systems, you’re unlikely to encounter hidden deployment costs. However, expenditure is not the same as investment and these are not the ideal conditions for talent development.
Suggested reading: keen to learn about those conditions? Check out this article on creating an effective learning and development strategy.
Fully custom content can put a strain on financial and human resources. L&D managers will have to offer input at every step and that’s true even when you outsource. And let’s not forget that making professional-grade videos requires the skills of a bunch of people, from scriptwriters to sound technicians. Oh, and all your materials are likely to need refreshing every three years to ensure relevance.
And this is really where the benefit of iFrames comes into focus. All you need to introduce personalised learning content is:
- a halfway competent learning designer
- a well-maintained catalogue of content
- access to tools such as Rise or Articulate
With that, you have everything required to control the structure and the messaging — and it can all be done at a fraction of the cost of making everything from scratch. The annotation capabilities allow for far easier tailoring so that you’re guaranteed content that is truly personalised.
How Video Arts delivers high-quality personalised content
There is really only one last thing to say to you at this point: we have your back.
Should you decide that training and development is custom-or-nothing then we are ready to step in to produce high-quality, bespoke content that can be aligned with all learning styles and goals. Furthermore, we’ve got a roster of actors that includes some of the most recognisable faces in British comedy so you can be sure the outcome will be engaging. You might even find that your colleagues enjoy it so much you catch them telling everyone on social media just how much they love where they work. Maybe.
We can also provide access to an extensive library of up-to-date iFrame content that covers pretty much every L&D topic you might care to name — content that was made under those same studio conditions. Of course, you can turn to the internet and embed any resources you find using the same method we spoke about earlier but what we’re offering is instant access to reliable material composed by qualified subject matter experts and featuring those same famous faces (seriously, people love the famous faces.)
And yes. We do off-the-shelf too.
All that’s left is to provide a link to our contact details. All yours.
1 LinkedIn Learning’s 5th Annual 2021 / Skill Building in the New World of Work
2 The 2 Sigma Problem, Benjamin Bloom
3 5 Stats Proving The Value Of Personalised Learning
4 An online paradigm for exploring the self-reference effect
5 The Arrival of Personalized Learning