When people have ideas that can solve a need but lack the resources to put them into practice, they access that brilliant part of the brain where creativity dwells. They have to either come up with creative ways to find new resources, or get creative with those available.
Examples abound:
With hoards of millennials taking over the workplace, growing numbers of mobile devices, time constraints, and shrinking training budgets, instructional designers nowadays need to be as creative as possible. While the first two options above — finding the resources they need in creative ways — may hit some roadblocks sooner or later, the last one — being creative with the available resources — seems to lead the way to success.
So, what training technique is cheap, offers just-in-time support, can be accessed on mobile devices, and keeps employees engaged during the learning process?
That's right: bite-sized learning, a.k.a. micro-learning.
And what is the most engaging type of learning materials?
That's right: video is.
Take one step further and you get to the video selfie, a.k.a. the velfie.
I bet you met this headline with a raised eyebrow. I sure hope you'll lose it by the end of this post.
Basically, it's a talking selfie.
A velfie, or a video selfie, is a short video (of one to three minutes), informal, unscripted, and fun. Anyone can create a velfie, a mobile phone camera being the most popular way to do it.
People make velfies whenever they have something cool to share - the atmosphere at a concert maybe, or how the world looks like when sky-jumping.
Mostly, because bite-sized learning is cool. The rest of the reasons include:
All of the above characteristics of velfies are the ingredients of the perfect recipe for successful online training programs. They contribute to better engagement and retention rates, as well as to an organizational culture of knowledge sharing.
The protagonist of the velfie has this enormous power of transferring or inducing emotions to the audience. We know that emotions can have a great impact over the knowledge acquisition process.
What's more, bite-sized learning modules can include short quizzes at the end, or invite learners to comment on the video, thus adding an interactive touch to the whole learning experience.
The attention grabbing characteristic of velfies makes learners remember more information than in any other training technique. They can identify familiar faces and settings and watch the short videos as many times they need until they get to mastery.
This means that all training programs, no matter if we're talking about the orientation program, compliance training, workplace safety, or any other type, can become not only shorter, but also more efficient.
Real mastery happens when employees are able to explain a business process or procedure, or how to best perform a task, in words that anyone can understand. Experienced employees are usually better at this, so they are the most qualified for creating velfies for training.
New employees rely on all these pieces of shared knowledge in order to improve their productivity as fast as possible and reach that point when they themselves can make training velfies for others.
What's your opinion about the use of velfies in online training? Do you think this could ever become the norm? What challenges can video selfies create for L&D professionals?
Do share your thoughts in the comments section below.