Using Video in eLearning
Video is really taking off in the eLearning world and can add to the effectiveness of content. However, when using video there are many things to think about.
Typical steps to get video into an online course:
- Script the video on paper
- Record (sound and audio)
- Edit
- Compress/Render
- Insert into eLearning authoring tool
- Place on server
- Open up access to the learners
Each one of the steps above takes various technical skills.
A big challenge when using video is to keep a high-level of quality but not have the files size too big. There are various techniques that help when compressing and deploying video. Flash .swf and .flv (Flash Video) is a great way to overcome these issues.
I found an article that focuses on compression, security, and deployment and could help you deploy your eLearning videos.
The article below addresses a scenario where a company needs to train 1500 employees using a 30 minute video. They are worried about security and the quality of their video. They will also have many employees accessing the video at the same time. Limited bandwidth is a worry.
Article: Deploying Online Courses with Video Content (Syberworks)
Quickly build eLearning games and eLearning interactions. Works with your eLearning authoring tool. No programming needed.
Cutout people images. No backgrounds and lots of poses!
Dealing with this very thing now. Source videos are over 200 Mb in .wmv format. First, they need spiced to relevant content and shortened to less than 3 minutes (scope requirement). Converting to .flv reduced file size on avg. to 9-11 Mb (after splicing).
Additional technical problems revolve around the authoring tool where one may render .flv differently than another. In this case I had to import the .flv into Flash maintaining timeline, then export (publish) as an .swf. File size increased slightly but the LMS accepted it better.
My guess is its not so much the authoring tool or whether it was .flv or .swf rather how the LMS processed the request. Haven’t dug into it that deep to validate. Just glad I got it working!
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