Data-Centric Recommendations for Video Engagement

Incorporating prerecorded videos and animations into online learning experiences allows students the opportunity to access content at any time after the material is delivered. The inclusion of video and animation in online learning is now ubiquitous. To promote engagement, it is imperative that such content be delivered to learners clearly and effectively.

In this piece, we will discuss four insights related to video engagement deduced from extracted video data that lead to suggestions and design implications for future consideration. This piece builds on Data-Driven Insights for More Engaging Videos, a previously published piece on this topic. As categorized and defined by Everspring, the four types of videos researched are tutorials, explainers, vignettes, and interviews. The following section defines the four types of videos and describes key metrics and features of videos relevant to the insights presented in subsequent sections.

Tutorials demonstrate processes. These are best for walking through advanced concepts and may include live drawings, slides with annotations, presentations of math equations, and demonstrations of other kinds of complex procedures that require video screen captures. Tutorials may also contain faculty presence.

Explainers are conceptualized as mini-lecture videos that highlight key information for learners. Explainers may also be used for complex concepts or frameworks.

Vignettes primarily consist of webcam or “talking head” footage. Talking head videos contain footage of speakers and are utilized when displaying faculty presence is preferred to featuring visual aids. Slides, annotations, pop-up graphics, and animations may also be added to reinforce talking points.

Interviews consist of multiple speakers, usually including the faculty and one or more guests. These videos are typically centered around personal experiences, industry advice, and current trends. Interviews tend to run significantly longer than other videos.

Video scores calculate multiple factors like average completion rate, plays, and drop-off rate. All videos are scored individually and ranked from highest to lowest. The term "top videos" refers to the top three high scores in the rankings.

The average completion rate is defined as the average percentage of completion across the total number of plays for a video. For example, if a user watches 30% of a video the first time and then 60% the next time, the calculation will be (30 + 60) ÷ 2 = 45% average completion rate. This metric provides insight as to how often each categorized video is being watched all the way through and allows us to predict engagement. Top-rated videos generally have high completion rates.

We have categorized videos by their length (short, medium, and long), as defined by Afify (2020). Short videos are those that are less than six minutes, medium videos span 6–12 minutes, and long videos span 12–40 minutes. Each mention of video length in this piece refers to these definitions.

Many organizations, including Everspring, have on-staff members specializing in video production. The Creative Services team at Everspring consists of professionally trained in-house staff responsible for directing creative output from concept to production to delivery. Services provided by the team include pre-production, such as video strategizing and script creation; production, including camera setup and video recording; and post-production, including video editing, motion graphics, and animation.

This term broadly refers to a modernized quality of output for a video, sound, graphic, or animation asset, aligning with standards implemented by the Creative Services team. In this piece, high production value refers to the higher standard production quality software and equipment used to create professional video and animation content. Prior to the implementation of current Creative Services practices, videos were not subjected to standardization, which led to inconsistencies in video quality outputs.

Explainer videos produced by the Creative Services team garnered top average completion rates amongst all four video types categorized and employed by Everspring. While there is no official formula for the length of explainers, they naturally fall into the “sweet spot” of video engagement metrics:

• They are short in length; top videos examined ranged from 1:48–2:08.
• They are of high production value.
• They may include simplified introductions to terms, ideas, or processes in a lesson or module told through narrative storytelling.

Explainer videos also perpetuate positive knowledge effects in low knowledge-base areas or areas where involvement is low (Krämer & Böhrs, 2017). The effects of explainers may lead to eased processing fluency and a positive experience (Schorn, 2022).

Explainers work well as course or module introductions. The use of explainers is also beneficial when introducing complicated lessons or concepts. Want to attract your learners’ attention right away? Use an explainer as the hook. They will be well-watched, according to the data.

As mentioned above, explainer videos adhere to a set of standards practiced by the Creative Services team and fall into the high production value videos category. External findings indicate that videos with high production value lead to better retention than lower-quality videos. Improving brand equity with high-quality videos and graphics packages influences brand resonance, improves customer-based brand equity, and instills trust in the audience (Qiao et al., 2022).

Additionally, content from higher-quality videos is typically well-structured. Instead of one long video presenting all of the information in one viewing, a segmented group of videos allows for continuous adaptation and helps guarantee the reuse of the information according to the learning objectives (Afify, 2020). A high production value leads to a higher perceived product value, which, in turn, maximizes product satisfaction. An examination by Fein et al. (2019) revealed that higher-quality production leads to increased retention as the difficulty of the course material increases. All top-rated videos in our review were produced by the Everspring Creative Services team, using many standardized procedures and aided by an extensive library of multimedia assets and templated source files.

Adhering to video production criteria and standardized methods established by your program can help promote engagement.

Videos belonging to this category are primarily tutorials, vignettes, and interviews. Analytics suggest that videos beyond 12 minutes still garnered high average completion rates. External studies suggest that employing viewing strategies may increase student learning, even when information or instruction is presented in an inefficient manner (Costley et al., 2021). Viewing strategies directly apply to longer-length videos as they allow the learner to control the flow of information on their own accord. Online learning videos generally include interactive features such as a play/pause button, playback speed controls, and timeline controls to skip ahead or return to a previous spot (Afify, 2020). These interactivity features decrease the negative correlation between extraneous and germane cognitive loads since applied viewing strategies allow the learner to better understand the content.

Consider the following strategies for enhancing engagement with videos:

• Extend interactive features of videos.
• Incorporate reflexive pauses in videos after introducing key concepts. Ask rhetorical or inductive questions so that students have the opportunity to immediately utilize the newly learned concepts and to encourage discussion with peers (Afify, 2020).
• Pair quiz questions or practice problems with videos. Quiz questions or practice problems can be presented adjacent to videos or incorporated directly. Displaying these at appropriate times within the videos can simulate dialogue between learners and faculty, allowing learners to practice concepts or skills discussed in the video and receive feedback in a timely manner (Cummins et al., 2016). While this strategy is especially helpful for long videos, it can usefully be applied to shorter videos as well.
• Incorporate elements of novelty, such as transitions or pop-ups, to break up monotony in videos. The sudden appearance of unexpected stimuli can recapture and attract learner attention.

A sizable chunk of our tutorials fall into the long video category. Despite that, engagement still achieves high marks because of their interactivity and useful content. These videos may contain a combination of PowerPoint slides with annotations and live drawings, screen-captured demonstrations with annotations, and/or talking head footage. A study led by Sondermann and Merkt (2023) revealed that adding the faculty’s presence resulted in higher levels of satisfaction and better perceived learning of the subject. Learners also felt that they were being personally addressed by faculty. In recent years, Creative Services has implemented a set of standardized procedures that ensure high-quality output across all categories of videos. Tutorial videos produced after the implementation of standards have achieved higher viewership scores than historical videos produced beforehand.

However, one must be cautious when incorporating faculty presence. Learners may find adding a talking head video to the primary visual aids to be distracting from the course’s content, affecting learning outcomes. For example, learners may find a visible instructor added to the foreground of an instructional video interesting but will need to divide their attention between the instructor and informational material (Schroeder & Cenkci, 2018).

Talking head shots should be incorporated into videos sparingly. To ensure that the shots included are thoroughly impactful, display didactic functions and gestures such as the following:

• Directing eyes at the problem/equation
• Exhibiting the acts of annotating or drawing
• Writing out words and solving problems

The use of prerecorded videos in the world of online learning is more prevalent than ever. Based on our video analytics, we were able to formulate key insights and engagement recommendations relevant to the four types of videos we have categorized and defined: tutorials, explainers, vignettes, and interviews.
We, as learners, have become accustomed to the ever-changing landscape of video technologies and processes, and it appears that we will continue to see constant innovation as long as platforms exist to host such learning material.

Afify, M. K. (2020). Effect of interactive video length within e-learning environments on cognitive load, cognitive achievement and retention of learning. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 21(4), 68–89.

Costley, J., Fanguy, M., Lange, C., & Baldwin, M. (2021). The effects of video lecture viewing strategies on cognitive load. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 33, 19–38.

Cummins, S., Beresford, A. R., & Rice, A. (2016). Investigating engagement with in-video quiz questions in a programming course. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 9(1), 57–66.

Fein, A., Wu, M., & Heap, T. (2019, April 2–4). Does quality of video production influence learning outcomes? [Conference presentation]. Coursera Partners Conference, London, England.

Krämer, A., & Böhrs, S. (2017). How do consumers evaluate explainer videos? An empirical study on the effectiveness and efficiency of different explainer video formats. Journal of Education and Learning, 6(1), 254–266.

Qiao, Y., Yin, X., & Xing, G. (2022). Impact of perceived product value on customer-based brand equity: Marx’s theory – value-based perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 931064.

Schorn, A. (2022). Online explainer videos: Features, benefits, and effects. Frontiers in Communication, 7, Article 1034199.

Schroeder, N. L., & Cenkci, A. T. (2018). Spatial contiguity and spatial split-attention effects in multimedia learning environments: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 30(3), 679–701.

Sondermann, C., & Merkt, M. (2023). Like it or learn from it: Effects of talking heads in educational videos. Computers & Education, 193, Article 104675.