The 11 Most Popular Types of Visual eLearning Content

Humans are visual creatures. In truth, the wiring of our brains is set up to respond to pictures rather than words. That is why Pinterest and Instagram have become such a big part of our lives. This is also why Facebook posts and tweets with images receive the most likes and retweets. However, as a company, you should be more interested in the fact that the human brain processes pictures faster than text, visual eLearning content.

To make your eLearning more engaging, you must add compelling and interesting pictures to your courses. Reading through massive amounts of material, negotiating language ambiguities, and deciphering jargon and complex sentence patterns are made easier with visual aids. Here are 11 of the most popular visual eLearning content types, which are guaranteed to multiply employee engagement:

The 11 Most Popular Types of Visual eLearning Content

Photographs

Choosing photos should not be a last-minute decision. It is not a chore that you approach without considering and then do haphazardly. A relevant, memorable image is a great teaching tool that enhances learner engagement, minimizes cognitive load, and efficiently meets learning objectives.

Photographs that are meaningful and relevant arouse the viewers’ emotions and compel them to pay attention to the text. Pictures can also be used to clarify complex learning topics and help learners remember what they’ve learned. But be careful not to abuse this tremendous visual tool; it’s easy to go awry.

Here are some suggestions:

• Only use high-resolution, eye-catching photos to engage students right away. 
• Always strive to utilize photos to clarify and demystify complicated issues rather than merely for adornment.
• Use photos that strike a chord with the students. Avoid generic visuals that appear to be generic.

Graphics (such as graphs and flow charts)

Charts and graphs are helpful learning aids for explaining complex relationships, revealing hidden patterns and trends, and connecting seemingly unrelated concepts and ideas. Some instances are as follows:

• Flow charts (also known as flow diagrams) are visual representations of a succession of actions or processes. They’re particularly handy for visualising a multi-step process or a sequence of conditional outcomes.
• Pie charts depict percentages of a whole, such as how much money the government spent on each department last year.
• Vertical bar graphs are useful for displaying changes in spending over time, such as total spending over the last ten years.

Icons

Stock photography sources may not always provide appropriate images for our needs. In such circumstances, using drawings and icons to help learners make sense of complex learning content is critical. Here are some pointers on how to make good graphics and icons:

• When you need to point out and explain the various pieces of an object or a process, or when the parts are little and hidden from view, use pictures.
• To depict complex relationships and hidden patterns, use pictures or icons.
• Organize stuff with icons to make it scannable and digestible. This reduces distraction and aids learners in swiftly comprehending your topic. This adds to the content’s intrigue without taking up important screen space.

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Characters

We are social beings who are significantly impacted by the thoughts and recommendations of others. Did you realize that Ronald McDonald is recognized by almost 96 percent of youngsters? That is the power of establishing a memorable personality.

Using characters in your eLearning courses can make them more engaging than simply scrolling through a block of text. It also creates a familiar environment for your learners to receive instructions from a teacher or mentor, similar to what they experienced in school. It even assists your viewers in recalling the material visually by associating it with your persona.

Here are some suggestions for creating a memorable character for your online courses:

• To design a persona that your audience can relate to, learn about their demographics. Dilbert, for example, is one of the most relatable characters among office workers.
• Make sure your characters speak in a natural but entertaining manner. If your audience responds well to it, you can even use a more casual tone in your messages.

The objective is to develop credible and human characters that immediately establish a bond with your audience. If you can’t create a character from scratch, you may always utilize a well-known figure like Bart Simpson or Jedi Master Yoda to spice things up.

GIFs with Animations

Animated GIFs have become one of the most popular ways to send messages, prompting social media companies like Facebook to support them. They’re not simply for emailing kitten videos and visiting websites. You can use them in a variety of ways in your eLearning courses:

• As amusing ice breakers to make your course more approachable and rapidly capture the interest of your audience.
• Instead of using films, which require more data, to teach simple activities like developing sales email templates.
• Emotional elicitation – When your learners complete a training task, show them celebratory GIFs.
• You may also use animated GIFs to depict yourself as a more relaxed and approachable trainer who enjoys having fun while teaching.

Infographics

Infographics are one of the most effective ways to convey corporate information in various situations, from presenting complex analytical reports to sophisticated data, from outlining company procedures to simply telling a compelling story.

Infographics are a visually appealing approach to deliver complex information and engage learners. They strike the proper blend between cool and professional. You can quickly build a visual story from your data using apps like Canva, Piktochart, and Infogram.

When developing infographics, keep the following in mind:

• Simplify the design – A complicated design will simply make information more difficult to comprehend. The objective is to simplify even the most complex data into a graphic.
• Reduce the amount of text in the image – too much text might make the image appear cluttered. The images should be sufficient to convey information.
• Maintain your concentration if you’re offering how-to knowledge. Adding more information will draw attention away from the infographic’s main topic.
• Colors should be limited – a pleasing image is harmonised. Instead of picking any colour that you think will pop, limit your palette to colours that complement each other.
• Keep the flow in mind – A excellent infographic reads like a good story.

Videos

The phenomenal popularity of video sites like YouTube and Vimeo demonstrates that watching videos, rather than reading or listening, is one of the most engaging ways to consume content. According to a report by Kleiner Perkins, the video will account for 74% of all online traffic soon.

Videos, when used correctly, can help keep your students awake and interested. Videos not only bring your training sessions to life, but they also enable you to offer your course in an entertaining manner by incorporating real-world tales and scenarios. Here are some examples of how we might use movies in eLearning courses:

• Instructional videos (How To’s and Tutorials) that assist learners in doing tasks independently. Videos on how to generate a balance sheet in Excel, for example.
• Customer testimonials in video format on how your training has benefitted them.
• Interviews and case studies that take you through real-life problems and solutions.

When making a video, you must:

• Outline your video’s flow — Using an outline, you may direct the flow and tempo of your videos so that one portion flows into the next. Keep it simple by having a distinct beginning and end. Don’t cram too much material into one video; you may break down advanced information in a different video.
• Keep in mind that the tone of your narration can make or break a video. Choose simple words and facts to use in your script. Add some personality to your presentation and speak genuinely, as this will help learners recall the content better. Before recording, always rehearse narration.
• Present videos correctly — Presentation refers to the visual appearance of the video as well as the audio quality. Use the proper microphone and screencasting software, as inferior equipment will simply degrade video quality. Pick the right location to record to reduce distractions with background sounds.
• Post-production editing – After recording the films, add components like transitions, closed captions, effects, and animations to make them more pleasurable to watch.

Captures of the Screen

These are the most effective visual aids for explaining computer procedures. Screencasts are frequently used in eLearning courses that educate how to navigate a new software or use an application. It’s logical since the students get to observe and work in a virtual version of the real-world setting they’ll be working in when they return to their desks.

Screenshots are also helpful in classes that teach students to fill out forms and submit them online. You may then add text blocks and arrows to clarify words and jargon and point out relationships between the various objects on the screen to augment and improve these graphics.

Comics and Pictographs

Think back to when you were a kid and you “behaved” for the entire week for Mom to let you watch your favorite cartoon show on Sunday. Remember how enthralled you were when you first picked up a weekly or monthly comic book? By the time you got home from the bookstore, you’d finished it.

Comic books have a way of reaching out to our inner child and touching it. They make no pretenses about being serious while teaching us life-changing truths. This scientific investigation backs up our claim.

“A total of 234 patients were successfully contacted by telephone; 105 (45%) had been given ED release instructions with cartoons, 129 (55%), without cartoons. There was no significant difference in age, gender, level of education, or satisfaction with the ED visit between the two groups. The patients given cartoon instructions were more likely to have read the instructions (98% vs 79%, p < 0.001), were more likely to answer all wound care questions correctly (46% vs 6%, p < 0.001), and were more compliant with daily wound care (77% vs 54%, p < 0.01). Subset analysis of those patients who had less than a high school education (n = 57) demonstrated even larger differences between the two treatment groups in terms of comprehension of and compliance with ED release instructions.“

Pictographs and simple line drawings are equally appealing. These simple drawings, which are not concerned with aesthetics, are excellent tools for describing complex actions and procedures. They are easily comprehended even by persons with weak literacy or comprehension skills. Pictographs are so powerful that they are frequently utilized in medical situations.

Notes on the Visual

Using sketch notes or graphic notes instead of boring written text is more enjoyable. With the help of a few simple lines, arrows, and a little text, you may organize and integrate knowledge, bring concepts together, connect diverse ideas, and translate them into visual shapes.

Even if you don’t have a fine arts degree, you can make fantastic graphic notes! Sketching is a technique for translating your content into a physical, visible form that you can share with learners. It is not intended to be an aesthetic masterpiece.

Typography

Were you aware that typography accounts for 90% of your website’s design? You can improve readability, increase information processing, and even engage learners’ emotions if you master typography.

Here’s how you can use typography to get learners’ attention:

• Use fonts that are clean, legible, and distinct from the rest of the screen’s graphical features.
• Play with colours to bring attention to the text on the screen and improve visibility and readability.
• Text and graphics should be in sync so that they look well on the screen.
• To focus the learner’s attention, provide contrast between different fonts or between text and empty space.

Putting It All Together

As you can see, there are various ways to display and enliven your courses graphically. The trick is to convey your ideas with excellent eLearning visual content. Experiment with different images to determine which ones get the greatest response and which ones are the most remarkable when you’re first starting. Instead of the traditional presentations and data, offer your business audience a novel method to learn new things. Inquire about what your students enjoyed, what they thought could be improved, and how you may modify your classes to make them more effective.

Ad: PlayAblo’s Enterprise-Grade Micro-Learning platform is built for millennial learners. Micro-Learning, along with assessments and gamification features, ensures learning outcome measurement along with sustained engagement.
Find out more and request a custom demo!