Why Has there Been a Rise of Video in Training Industry Programs?
In the digital era, we’ve seen a rise in the use of video across many industries, but no industry has seen as significant of a rise in video use compared to the training industry. Why has there been a rise of video in training industry programs? Perhaps it’s the interactive elements of the video or the improved accuracy in training? As we look at the various reasons why there has been a rise of video in training industry programs the potential attributes to the rise in video use, we also examine how the use of video in the training industry has resulted in significant improvements for learners.
What Has Caused a Rise of Video in the Training Industry?
Video has been a key element in the training industry for several years, but there has certainly been an increased surge over the past couple of years. While there are several factors that are likely contributors to the rising use of video in the training industry, many believe that the COVID-19 pandemic was the driving force behind such a profound increase in the use of video in training industry programs. The pandemic resulted in business, schools, and organizations of all shapes and sizes being largely closed down and in workers, learners, and others being forced to learn remotely which meant that there was a need for a way to train people in remote environments. Thus, video would quickly become more popular.
Events and conferences went virtual. School went virtual. Work went virtual. With all of this virtual activity, training would also be largely virtual. But the pandemic isn’t the only cause for a rise of video in the training industry. It is also believed that advances in technology, particularly a rise in the availability of high definition filming equipment, advances in the ability for operations large and small to film their own video content, and a rise in interactive video also played a part.
Why Use Video in Training?
Why are videos used so frequently in the training industry? There are several potential reasons that videos are being used in training more frequently than ever before. Outside of the fact that video can be used to provide training in remote environments, the use of video in training programs is a valuable alternative to in-person training programs that can be quite costly for the organization and not exactly ideal for employees that are training. Studies have proven that employees frequently forget much of what they learn in training groups, or when they read, but when they watch a video they learn more and tend to retain up to 90% with much of that retention occurring long after the training is provided.
Video training is flexible and easy to access. Schools love to use video training for students because it is versatile and accommodates a variety of learner needs and educational styles. Organizations love to use video for training employees because video is accessible, affordable, and consistent.
Some believe that the surge in use of video for training purposes is attributable to the high-value content creation that we’ve seen in recent years while others believe that the surge is the direct result of video being more affordable and increasingly more interactive. Training videos that were once linear are now non-linear and incredibly engaging and interactive.
Benefits of Video
High-quality production, lower cost, and the improved ability to make training videos more interactive has certainly given rise to the frequency of video use in the training industry. The benefits of video training are also likely to have something to do with the rise of video in training industry programs. Certain video training is more beneficial than in-person or manual style written training.
In fact, video training has the following benefits:
- Video is easy to access.
- Video is available on-demand.
- Video is consistent.
- Video is affordable.
- Video is safe.
- Video is interactive.
Corporate training programs, educational training programs, and workplace training has certainly changed over the past decade with the majority of training now being provided in the form of video. Ask any student, young or old, if they prefer to train via video or via an instruction manual and you’re probably going to get close to 80% of them asking for video based training because video is easier to follow and retain and it’s more fun to watch.
So, if you’re still trying to figure out why there has been a rise of video in training industry programs, the answer is that there are several reasons for an increase in video across training programs. Video is more accessible and versatile, easier to follow, and more fun to engage in for the learner. It’s also affordable and more consistent for teaching. While the COVID-19 pandemic likely resulted in a rapid rise of video in training industry programs, there was already a rather consistent rise in the use of video for training purposes before the Coronavirus shifted our world upside down and then back up again. Video is just better to teach and train with!