Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive. This facility makes it the most versatile and explicit means of communication yet devised for quick mass appreciation.
– Walt Disney
You might not be Walt Disney, but there’s no reason you can’t put a little magic in your next training program. Animation unlocks a greater potential for creativity and clarity, and its cost-effectiveness will probably surprise you. When you compare the cost of creating animation-based eLearning with a great ROI, the benefits transcend any drawbacks. Of course, like any eLearning method, it’s all about knowing how to use animation to achieve the most benefits for your learners.
Animation’s benefits go way beyond business and deep into the way a learner’s brain responds to different types of stimulation. Did you know, for instance, that 70 percent of all your sensory receptors are in your eyes? And almost 50 percent of your brain is involved in visual processing?
Before you start channeling your inner Walt, making the choice to present your eLearning as animation requires a thorough analysis of your audience and your content. Luckily, we love talking about all the best methods for eLearning, so we’ll break it all down here.
What exactly is animation-based learning?
Animation-based learning can be defined as any educational or visual aid tool that has an animation element. When you hear “animation,” you might automatically think of cartoons, but animation can also refer to GIFs, videos, and even animated infographics.
Basically, any sort of non-static, illustrated images can be considered animation and reap all the same great benefits for your eLearning.
How is animation used in corporate training?
How would your learners react if they found out their topic mastery was linked to the survival of the human race? What if you could show new procedures without having to tell? How do you illustrate hypothetical scenarios in a safe and inclusive space? These examples are exactly how organizations are using animation-based learning as part of their training strategies. Whether it’s to demonstrate or to engage, animations help corporations elevate their eLearning and invest more in their learners.
We’ve seen everything from entire animated storylines where the learner leads their avatar through a series of choices, to animated infographics that help engage users and demonstrate important points. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words; an animation is worth at least a million.
5 reasons your brain loves animation
The reason animation is so effective for eLearning is short and sweet: brains love it. The human brain is as efficient as it is lazy, and it’s always looking for shortcuts. When you’re subjected to long blocks of text or lengthened periods of attention, your brain automatically starts looking for more efficient methods for processing information and will often lose focus. Animations help sustain attention and tell your learners where to look, when to care, and how to behave by showing rather than telling. Still not convinced? Here are five reasons why brains are obsessed with animation, especially for training.
1. Animation directs and demands attention.
What happens when someone points up at the sky? Chances are that you’ll—you guessed it—look up at the sky. Animation functions for the brain in a similar way. When compared to a live action or photorealistic method, it’s much easier to direct learner attention using the simplistic and graphic foundation of animation. You can visually tell the learner, “Look at this!” rather than hoping the learner knows where to focus their attention or identify the important factors in a scenario or picture.
That’s because the brain is better trained to look for and understand simpler images. Simple images free the brain’s processes so it spends less time and effort identifying important factors and more time storing important information away for later recall. So, while animated images are often less complicated than an acted scene or a talking head, the brain prefers the “shortcut” of an image that shows exactly what’s important, where to look, and where to focus attention.
2. Visual metaphors boost brain engagement.
Humans use metaphors as a part of storytelling for communication every single day, and it’s not just to tell a tall tale. In fact, you might call metaphors the official language of the brain. If someone tells you that they had a “rough day,” they’re obviously not explaining how the day felt physically, but they’re using a physical attribute to help you imagine how the day felt emotionally. This allows the brain to assign other senses to the information: not only hearing, but imagining the physical sense of touch as well.
Now, relate this phenomenon to animated training videos—instead of simply hearing the information, the learner sees a character in a metaphorical situation that helps create stronger connections in the brain. It’s a more “hands-on” method of learning that doesn’t actually involve the hands at all. Animation helps learners relate information to existing knowledge already stored in the brain; the same way metaphors allow a listener to more closely experience how something looked or felt.
3. People learn better from words and pictures than from just words alone.
Richard E. Mayer, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, created principles he discovered through his work around multimedia learning. The findings show that people learn better from multimedia when it is designed in a way that is consistent with how the human mind works and with research-based principles. You have to understand the mind to know how to integrate animation because it’s also very easy to use graphics ineffectively.
One study found that not only did narrated animations cause better recall, but they improved overall long-term retention in biology topics. Whether it’s a whiteboard or a hyper-relatable animated scenario, animations tell the brain where to look and what to absorb, creating shortcuts to better overall retention. By helping your learners pay better attention to the right stuff, your smart business move to include animation becomes a genius play for better training effectiveness.
4. Animation reduces cognitive load.
There’s always a gap between learning and remembering, and cognitive load might be the secret to maxing out recall. Cognitive load describes the process by which your brain receives information and sorts it from short-term memory to long-term recall. The problem is that the human brain has a finite ability to process; there is definitely such a thing as too much information. When too much is competing for attention or your brain receives too much stimuli at once, it starts to work less efficiently and may discard even important information to reduce that cognitive load. When you opt for animation over static images or text, you reduce the pressure your brain is under to pay attention and process. You clearly highlight what’s important and, because you’re showing rather than telling, your brain’s vision processing kicks into high gear and knows what to store as long-term memory.
5. It’s an easy way to increase abstract diversity.
No matter what industry you work in, chances are that diversity has been on your mind and on your meeting agenda. As more and more organizations become global entities, representation matters even more. If learners can’t relate to the content, it’s a quick road to disengagement and overall poor ROI.
Our brains naturally search for similarities and belonging before devoting attention to content. We love adding diversity to our animations in an abstract way. Instead of depicting one type of person, animation allows you to create characters with abstract features that anyone can relate to. It’s one of the simplest ways to address a lack of diversity in your current training materials and gives everyone a chance to feel included and respected.
How can you add animation to your eLearning?
You don’t need to be a professional animator to reap all of the brain benefits associated with moving pictures. Naturally, working with someone who understands LXD is a great first step to giving your content an animation overhaul. A fun character here and a well-placed GIF there might not be using animation up to its full online education potential. If you’re thinking about adding animation to a project, consider these quick tips to kickstart the process:
- Set the tone. Animation helps you convey a mood or feeling more effectively than words. When we think of animation, we automatically imagine lighthearted graphics, but animation doesn’t necessarily need to be reserved for “easier” topics. Fun, engaging, and bright animations are ideal for pulling focus for lighthearted training, but simple, high-contrast animations work just as well for highlighting more serious topics. Think of the tone you’d like to strike with learners, and there is definitely a type of animation that will help you achieve it.
- Avoid distraction. Don’t fall into the trap of too much of a good thing. Animation is amazing for directing focus, but getting too complicated with characters, storylines, and images could have the opposite effect you’re going for. Opt for clarity whenever possible and use the least number of design elements necessary to get your point across.
- Show, don’t tell. It’s one of the most important pillars of our design philosophy: always show instead of telling. That means that, whenever possible, substitute words with animation. Telling someone is never as effective as showing, and animation shows in the most engaging way possible. Animation can also lead to the next step of the learner engagement path: learners trying out new skills for themselves. As they lead characters through a story or choose from a list of options, animation becomes a safe haven for practice and feedback.
- Break it down. There’s a reason most cartoons are less than 30 minutes long, and it’s not because of commercial breaks. It’s because to keep engagement levels high, storylines must show a quick succession of a problem, a path, and a solution. Consider a mini “hero’s journey” and an ideal blueprint for making eLearning engaging and motivational. By breaking animations into digestible pieces, you keep focus longer and utilize the medium to its fullest capabilities.
Elevating eLearning Experiences with Animation
Why does the human brain love animation? Because it works. The way we see it, animation is an eLearning content tool with few to no downsides. After all, what organization doesn’t wish for higher attention rates, more engagement, and better recall? Animation ignites the imagination and presents your training in the way that your learners’ brains love the most. Close the gap between learning and remembering by putting more movement into your learning.
Ready to bring your learning to life with animation? Contact us and we’ll help you get started.
