Animation is becoming a valuable teaching tool, it helps explain and demonstrate important learning material and help develop understanding. The popularity of animation has greatly increased due to more people being visual learners and having shortened attention spans, therefore it is a great tool to use when teaching as audiences will become more interested in what is being shown to them.
The approach of using animation as a learning style has proven to be very effective across many different fields like online training and courses as it means the needs of everyone involved. Here are some key benefits of using animation as a learning tool;
When topics aren't interesting learners can easily lose interest very quickly, using animation to simplify abstract topics and explain concepts to audiences can help them find more interest in what is being taught to them. With animation you are able to bring any concept to life, no matter how complex the topic you are talking about might be. You are able to pick apart what you are teaching someone and explain it through the moving images.
By using animation you are able to show the story rather than tell the story, this makes it easier to convey what you are trying to explain as the use of graphics and images can do the story telling for you. This can make your teaching style a lot more interesting as you are choosing the colourful imagery to capture people's attention for longer and it is able to break down your ideas a lot easier. Animation gives you the opportunity to explain what you need to a lot faster and more efficiently compared to text and images, what you're presenting in your animation can be much easier to than understand in a few seconds than other mediums.
Audiences struggle connecting with text, this is where animation becomes important as your animation will allow your audience to connect with the dynamic movement of graphics and characters. This means people are more drawn to what you are teaching them and it will help them learn what you are explaining better than blocks of text would. It is a lighter way of teaching heavy topics as the imagery is able to do the explaining for you, this is preferred over text as it is a lot nicer to look at.
Animation video is a great audiovisual learning resource, the brain is able to process the visual information faster and more effectively, humans are more likely to retain the information in picture than the text. The combination of both audio and visual will be essential for easy learning retention as it suits the different learners. As people learn in different ways it helps incorporate all the different methods, some people are practical learners, others like reading what's in front of them and some people are visual learners. Animation will allow you to combine these learning methods into one video as you are able to use moving graphics, voice overs and text to hold everyone's attention for as long as possible. This means the content you are creating will appeal to a much wider audience and it will help a lot more people learn what you are trying to explain to them faster and will stick with them longer.
Animation makes it possible to pair different concepts together with more meaningful images, this helps turn the topic into a long term memory. This will give more students the chance to engage with the content and it makes it easier for people to process chunks of information when the right visuals are available to support the text. A strong design supported with a clear narrative can help comprehension, e-learning content has the potential to give more of an impact then just a paragraph of text with. You want your content to be remembered, making sure you are making videos to suit your audience is important as it will stick in their minds better and stay with them due it to being made around their needs.
Visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text, therefore animation learning can be great when people are under time pressure and need to learn information quickly. Making sure you have clear learning objectives to animate will help when trying to get your message across, the clearer the message and the more relevant the tone of voice you use the more effective your illustrations will turn out to be as you will be creating the content to match what you are trying to teach. This will provide audiences with the necessary skills and understand they need to learn the topic quicker.
Animated learning video will save people a lot of time, providing images the right way will help students understand lessons faster will benefit teachers as they won't have to worry about long explanations as it's done for them in the video content. The stronger the illustrations within the video the more likely people are going to recall the information and make it easier for them to learn the topics faster as they are seeing the information straight in front of them.
Traditional methods of learning have become boring, people can spend hours reading without understanding anything. Animation will help learners engage better due to it being a more entertaining way of learning. 40% of people respond better to visual information as it is something fun to look at, and it is a great way to motivate students as it is giving them a different way of learning. Animation is great to use in subjects that involve lots of formulas as it makes the subject and the information a lot easier to digest which will help keep people on topic and motivated into learning what they need to.
Graphics used in animation need to be as relevant as possible, if they seem off topic learners will become disengaged and it wont help them keep on topic with what they are learning. If you use colour and graphics appropriate for the age groups you are teaching it will help keep them interested for a lot longer and will make them keen to learn more as you are making the topic suitable for them rather than making your content suitable for everyone.
There are many different styles of animation, this means you have a choice of what style you believe your learners will enjoy the most and benefit from. It gives you the chance to make sure your audience is going to enjoy what you are trying to teach them and they are going to be more engaged in what they are learning. You want to make sure your learning style is standing out from what other companies that offer the same service are offering their students, standing out will help you stay at the top of peoples options.
If you're considering using animation for learning it's important to make sure you're creating the right content for your audience. There are many benefits to using animation for every business as it can be suitable for all audiences of all ages, animation will help inspire your learners and help them build skills from the material you're producing.
Animation is limitless, it can really help build connections with your learners which is the most important part of teaching. You want your learners to feel a part of what you are teaching them as this will keep them engaged for longer and interested in what they are being educated on.
If you are interested in producing animated educational content, chat to one of the team today to find out how we can help you.
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