Microlearning videos under one minute in length require rapid storyboarding and predefined video content structures. As the length of the video decreases, so does the optimal format of the video. Leaving out too many details will have a negative effect on your learning strategy. Every second counts for your learner!

In this session, you will learn the process for creating microvideo, including video length considerations, optimal short video structures, emotional push/pull events, and instructional media strategies. Explore the steps for creating microcontent and tricks for using video analytics to select the best content for a microvideo. You will leave with specific formulas for creating short-form video-based content.

In this session, you will learn:

• About the various structures for microvideo
• When to use microvideo for learning
• Formulas for opening and closing a microvideo
• About the importance of emotional pull and push techniques
• Effective instructional microvideo techniques

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Video content management systems, video playback, and storyboarding tools.

Click here for the session trailer

Modern adult learners don’t always have time to learn in a classroom; they need engaging mobile learning solutions that can be accessed anywhere and at any time. Teaching through podcasting can allow organizations to package training in a manner that is appealing to learners and easy to consume. On-demand narrative audio can allow learners to gain important skills while on the go.

In this session, you will explore the science behind podcasting as a learning tool and the benefits of teaching adults through storytelling. Find out why narrative podcasts can provide a successful learning solution to a growing mobile audience. You will learn from a case study on narrative podcasting to train insurance professionals on complex policy language. You will gain tips and suggestions for creating your own podcasts, along with recommendations on equipment and programs (both paid and free) that you can use to begin podcasting.

In this session, you will learn:

• Why narrative podcasts are an effective learning tool
• About one organization’s successful implementation of a podcast to meet learning needs
• The skills and knowledge you need to construct your own podcast
• Expert tips and tricks to make podcast recording and editing easier and quicker
• About the science behind using audio as a teaching tool

Audience:
Novice, intermediate, and advanced designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Podcasting, audio recording devices and programs, audio recording and editing methods, and mobile content delivery.

Click here for the session trailer

People are drawn to whiteboard animations (pardon the pun!). Watching the story unfold before your eyes creates a memorable and lasting impression—and can often provide a better transfer of knowledge. But the cost of producing whiteboard animation can be prohibitive. If you’re a freelance developer, work in a not-for-profit organization, or have a minimal budget, whiteboard animation can be out of reach. Or is it?

In this session, you’ll learn how to use VideoScribe to create engaging whiteboard animations for a fraction of the cost of hiring a professional developer. You can quickly assemble your animated clips using the built-in library of images. Or, with even a tiny bit of artistic talent, you can create your own images using vector editing software. Combining your animations with an audio track and narration provides a cost-effective way of creating explainer videos, digital stories, simulations, and more. Your whiteboard animations can be great stand-alone eLearning pieces, or they can be combined with other, more traditional learning modalities.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to create simple whiteboard animations usingVideoScribe
• What you’ll want to include when you storyboard your ideas
• How to add audio and narration to your animation
• How to draw your own images for animation (no artistic talent required!)
• How to integrate your animation into a traditional eLearning course

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and developers.

Technology discussed in this session:
VideoScribe, Adobe Illustrator, and Inkscape.

Technology required:
VideoScribe (note: Download the seven-day free trial at videoscribe.co the day before you attend the workshop) and Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape (you must have a working knowledge of whichever software you choose).

Click here for the session trailer

Video is eating the Internet. People are consuming and creating more of it than ever, and 64 percent of consumers identify as binge watchers. But these trends don’t just apply to entertainment content—they’re having a huge impact on learning, and learners’ expectations, too.

This session will explore how learning and development professionals can leverage content-consumption trends to create powerful and impactful learning experiences. Through examples ranging from surfers in Hawaii to telecom companies in Europe, you will learn how video can amplify the reach of informal learning, empower employees to create and share, and increase retention and engagement. You will also learn how platforms like Netflix and YouTube leverage cloud technologies to create the seamless, frictionless video experiences that users have come to expect in 2016.

In this session, you will learn:

• About key trends and behaviors driving video usage in the consumer world
• How to leverage these trends to create powerful workplace learning experiences
• About practical ideas for piloting video learning at your organization
• About key video technologies underpinning these trends

Audience:
Intermediate designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Video, social platforms, and social tools.

While linear video is a preferred method for learning, technologically speaking it has not advanced much over the past few decades. Now, linear video has started to incorporate interactive annotations, which have greatly improved users’ learning experience. Adding interactive annotations becomes easier each year.

This session will cover the various ways to add interactive annotations to your videos, including YouTube, HapYak, Captivate, Articulate Storyline, etc. You will learn how these different technologies compare to one another and see how easy it is to add interactivity with platforms such as YouTube and HapYak. You will also learn interactive video best practices for the five most common interactive annotations and the values they offer video users.

In this session, you will learn:

• About various technologies available to add interactivity to your videos
• About the pros and cons of these technologies
• How to add the five most common interactive annotations to your video
• Best practices for these interactive annotations
• About the values these interactive annotations offer your users
• How and why others like you are using interactive video in their businesses

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
YouTube, HapYak, Captivate, and Articulate Storyline.

NorthShore is taking proactive measures to combat the rising number of violent trends in health care settings. The company developed online training that teaches employees how to 1) identify the beginning stages of workplace violence, 2) understand how best to respond and prevent it from escalating, and 3) know when to get help.

In this session, you will learn how NorthShore addressed an issue that is on everyone’s minds: preventing violence. The ideal venue for this type of training would be in-person training that provides education, practice, and coaching. But with over 10,000 employees, the organization needed to deploy training in a time-effective manner. You will learn how NorthShore came up with a compromise: blended learning that was deployed to the entire organization. Learn how the company introduced its workforce to de-escalation techniques, provided practice through video-based scenarios, and provided high-risk areas with additional opportunities for in-person training and practice.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to creatively approach a compromise between online learning and instructor-led training
• Why video-based scenarios can provide learners with memorable feedback
• About the importance of collaborating across teams to develop lifelike scenarios
• About some of the challenges and rewards that accompany “choose-your-own-adventure” training

Audience:
Novice, intermediate, and advanced designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Articulate, Captivate, Vimeo, and Premiere.

Text and voice communications are the cheapest, fastest, easiest way to communicate, but they are also the least effective. With over 100 billion emails sent each day and climbing, your message is lucky to break through the noise. If you do get noticed, your text and voice often fail to keep audience attention or boost learning retention. If you want your message to be seen, understood, remembered, and acted on, you need to make it visual. This session will share the science behind visual communication, and attendees will leave with a clear methodology to apply immediately.

In a world of short attention spans and the need to “break through the clutter,” how can you ensure your learning videos leave your audience remembering your message? Maybe it’s time to look outside L&D for inspiration and toward a field that already does this well: advertising. If advertisements can influence people to purchase items they don’t need, are there ways to use this field’s secrets to influence learners (and do this without their feeling manipulated)?

In this session, you’ll learn how the techniques that influence purchasing behavior can also change the behavior of your audience. You’ll find out what exactly makes an ad so compelling that it can persuade you to spend your money, then apply these secrets to make your next learning video successful. You’ll explore the hooks that grab viewer interest, the components that lead to an effective video concept, and a framework you can use to shape a successful learning-video strategy.

In this session, you will learn:

• About a strategic framework for designing and evaluating effective video for learning
• About two “hooks” that make the content in your learning video memorable
• About four components that make an effective video concept
• About two techniques for using drama to design or evaluate videos

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and managers.

Click here for the session trailer

Intellectual property law affects every stage of the development and delivery process. Unfortunately, it’s daunting—and, even worse, often deadly boring. As a result, your decision making about what media resources you can actually use might be rooted in ignorance, fear, or frustration, none of which contributes to your project goals. As a result, it’s not uncommon to struggle with how to use free media to enhance your projects while also avoiding accidentally infringing on someone else’s work or exposing yourself to unpleasant legal action.

In this session, you’ll learn about copyright essentials through a surprisingly entertaining and easy-to-understand snapshot of the law and recent cases. Learn how to protect your own work and apply legal concepts, such as the fair use doctrine, to everyday scenarios and become more confident in finding sites that offer public domain, Creative Commons, and open access licensed works. Building this stronger understanding of how you can and can’t legally use media in your work will help you become more productive and focused as you maximize your financial and creative resources.

In this session, you will learn:

• About copyright law and fair-use basics
• Which recent court cases are interesting, relevant, and important
• How to protect your work and avoid being sued
• How to find awesome online media you can use
• About Creative Commons licenses and which are most accommodating
• How to correctly attribute media you use

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
API for Creative Commons licenses and plugins for proper attribution of work.

Click here for the session trailer

Get a comprehensive introduction to video compression and delivery standards for optimizing content delivery to mobile and desktop devices. This session will provide an overview with everything you need to know about editing, preparing, and delivering the highest-quality video and audio to your audience. Learn about the latest standards and how you can take advantage of free to inexpensive tools to deliver amazing content , and find out about hardware, software, and mobile apps to upgrade your studio.

It’s no secret that some videos are way more successful than others at supporting learning objectives. But what makes some videos work and others fall flat? This session will highlight four types of video that lend themselves well to learning, and it will equip you with criteria to help you decide which type of video to employ for your project. You’ll look at real examples, discuss what makes them impactful, and get tips to help you craft them with confidence.

Video production and delivery have evolved quickly over the past few years. Unfortunately, pre-2010-era video knowledge often dominates how people consider using video for learning, including their understanding of video files and codecs, streaming specifications and file sizes, video production techniques and styles, and even the role of video in training media. Moreover, these misconceptions actually keep teams from launching the video production processes they’d love to be working on.

This session will rapidly dispel the top video and audio myths held by eLearning developers. You’ll learn more about the technical side of creating video, including which video files, codecs, and optimum export settings you need to know; how streaming services really work and what types of files to give them; and how to work around Internet bandwidth concerns. You’ll also explore project management for video, from how to plan a production so that it can be accomplished in a single day or less to what level of production value is really necessary for good teaching. And, to round things out, you’ll get tips for how to leverage the vast array of free online videos in your training.

In this session, you will learn:

• Whether or not you need a fancy new camera
• Whether codecs even matter
• Whether reducing frame rate actually reduces video bit rate
• What compression is and how it works
• Whether you should use your camera’s microphone for recording
• How to plan your production so that it can be accomplished quickly

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Video cameras, video files and codecs, streaming services, audio files and types, and video editing and compiling software.

In a world of fragmented content consumption and constant distraction, how do you not only grab your audience’s attention but also get them to care about your content? One way is to create an emotional connection by putting them in the driver’s seat of the experience. Giving your audience choice both attracts their attention and creates emotional investment, allowing the message you share to go deeper and actually change behavior.

Interactive video is a powerful tool in this shifting landscape. With it, you don’t have to choose between making an emotional connection or providing information: You can instead enjoy the benefits of both. In this session, you’ll find out how interactive video allows your content to speak to an individual instead of generically addressing a broad audience. You’ll also learn more about the rapid development tools available today that can help you easily make your own interactive videos. These tools automate many of the technical details of creating and deploying your content, allowing you more time to focus on making your content authentic, relatable, and engaging.

In this session, you will learn:

• How interactive video helps get your audience to critical emotional mass
• How to use interactive video and the “gratitude effect” to drive action and desired behaviors
• About rapid development interactive video tools in the marketplace today
• Which data and insights best justify the use of interactive video

Audience:
Intermediate managers, directors, and senior leaders.

Technology discussed in this session:
Rapid development and interactive video technologies.

The popularity of video in learning has grown substantially in recent years, due in large part to how much easier and cheaper it has become to create this content. But while video is a valuable tool, it’s also a medium that most L&D professionals aren’t trained in—and the last thing you want is for that lack of experience to lead to videos that are just plain bad. Thankfully, a little knowledge can go a long way toward improving your video skills. But where do you start?

This session is a fast-paced view on the key tips and tricks that will make an immediate difference in the quality of your videos, including everything from pre-production through production and editing. Instead of focusing on hard-to-implement theory, these tips are instead based on practical and easy-to-follow ideas that you can use immediately. You’ll walk out of this session with 50 simple ways to make what you decide to film (and how you decide to film it) simpler, more effective at conveying your message, and much more engaging for your audience.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to shorten the production and editing process through pre-planning
• About the key components of audio and how they can impact your videos
• Which production techniques, such as lighting and multiple cameras, create more compelling and interesting video
• Which techniques can help you speed up your filming and avoid re-recording footage

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers and developers.

Click here for the session trailer

Audio can be one of the most powerful tools in your toolbox when it comes to creating effective and impactful eLearning. Bad audio, however, can be one of the most destructive tools—distracting the learner and making your course feel unprofessional or unfinished. Don’t let your courses fall prey to bad audio. There are easy steps you can take to create high-quality audio without big-budget voice talent!

This session will explore some easy ways to create high-quality and professional-sounding audio files for your eLearning modules. You will go through the entire audio-recording journey, starting with some tips and best practices for choosing your microphone, setting up your “sound studio,” and recording your own audio. Next, you’ll learn about different software (free and paid) to help you edit that awesome audio you just recorded, and finally, you’ll bring it home by learning some quick and easy—but highly effective—audio editing techniques to clean up that audio and make it shine!

In this session, you will learn:

• Which type of microphone is most suited for your recording needs
• Tips and tricks for recording your own audio, including how to set up your own basic studio
• About different audio editing software available to developers
• How to quickly and effectively edit your audio files

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
Adobe Audition, Audacity (and other free audio editing software), and studio microphones and accessories.