Monday, August 06, 2018

Video is good but never enough - how to supplement it in minutes to get great learning

10 researched tips to produce great video in learning (some will surprise you) had concrete tips on producing video for online learning but it was only half the story, as research also shows that video, in most cases, is rarely enough in learning. 
Video not sufficient
Video is great at showing processes, procedures, real things moving in the real world, drama, even much-maligned talking heads, but it is poor on many other things, especially concepts, numbers and abstract meaning. When delivering WildFire created content to nurses in the NHS, we discovered that processes and procedures were recalled from video but much of the detail was not. The knowledge that was not retained and recalled was often 'semantic' knowledge: 
1) Numbers (doses, measurements, statistical results and so on) 
2) Names and concepts (concepts, drugs, pathogens, anatomy and so on)
This is not surprising, as there is a real difference between episodic and semantic memory. 
Episodic memory is all of those things remembered as experiences or events, you are an actor within these events. Semantic memory is facts, concepts, numbers, where meaning is independent of space and time, often thought as words and symbols.
In healthcare, as in most professions, you need to know both. This is why video alone, is rarely enough. One solution is to supplement video with learning that focuses on reinforcing the episodic and semantic knowledge, so that two plus two makes five.
Two plus two makes five
Our solution was to automatically grab the transcript (narration) of the videos. Some transcripts were already available and for those that were not, we used the automatic transcript service on YouTube. This transcript was put through the WildFire process, where AI was used to automatically produce online leaning with open input questions to increase retention and recall. This allowed the learner to both watch the video (for process and procedure) then do the active learning, where they picked up the semantic knowledge, as well as reinforcing the processes and procedures.
Example
In a nurse training video on Allergy Tests, where the nurse administers allergens into the skin of the patient and the reactions are recorded, the video shows the nurse as she gets patient comfortable with a pillow under his arm. She then asks him some questions (Any lotions on your skin? Taken any antihistamines in the last 4 days?). Other important learning points are to blot (not rub), tell the patient not to scratch and so on.
Now the video did a great job on the procedure – pillow under the arm, lancets in sharps bin, blot not rub, and so on. Where the video failed was in the number of days within which the patient had taken antihistamines, the names of the allergens and the concept of a negative control. This was then covered by asking the learners to recall and type in their answers (not MCQs) in WildFire, items such as 4 days, names of allergens, negative control etc. In addition, if the learner didn’t know, for example, what a negative control was, there were AI created links to explanations, describing what a negative control is within a diagnostic test.
The learner gets the best of both worlds, the visual learning through video and the semantic learning through WildFire, all in the right order and context.
Conclusion
Video is a fabulous learning medium, witness the popularity of YouTube and the success of video in learning, although there are some principles that make it better. When supplemented by WildFire produced content, you get a double dividend – visual episodic learning and semantic knowledge. If you have video content that you need to turn into powerful online learning, quickly, with high retention and recall, contact us at WildFire.

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