Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to act as a catalyst for the rise of e-learning, online learning had already established its global presence even before this crisis.
In fact, the global e-learning market was set to grow to $336.98 billion by 2026.
With rapid technological advancement in almost all sectors, it’s not surprising that the education industry has taken steps to move toward online learning, where subjects are taught and learnt remotely via digital platforms.
What has this got to do with animation though?
Animation in education
One of the problems with online learning is that students are often less engaged since they don’t get face to face interaction with a teacher.
Augmented reality (AR) helps to bridge this gap by elevating the learning experience through solutions such as marker-based AR apps and AR-enabled worksheets.
Students can scan their textbooks using the camera on their mobile device and the AR mobile app will present illustrations or motion graphics that provide additional information about the real-life object they are scanning.
In our case, while our creation wasn’t educational, we developed the Meiji40SG AR app for Meiji’s consumers.
Users could use the app to scan the Hello Panda mascot on the packaging and the adorable 3D mascot would pop up on their screen. The mascot even responds with different reactions every time users tap on it.
According to Thermopylae Sciences and Technology, a provider of IT services, the human brain processes visuals 60,000 times quicker as compared to texts. Moreover, 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is usually visual in nature.
That’s where animation comes into the picture.
Animated videos create a more engaging and, thus, conducive experience for students participating in e-learning lessons.
It incorporates a good mix of eye-catching visual content with textual ones and goes beyond the conventional (and boring) black and white text.
Besides, students have full control over their learning pace since they can choose to pause, rewind or speed up the video.
For instance, we produced a 2D animation piece for National Healthcare Group to educate the public about depression during World Depression Day.
We used impressive visuals to keep the video engaging while taking care to treat the sensitive topic of depression respectfully and responsibly.
The video featured minimal textual content and relied heavily on smooth transitions and the help of a voice over to convey the message to the audience.
However, videos that require more information to be shown can go with simpler motion graphics that feature a breakdown of complex processes step by step.
These tend to be more effective at reducing the cognitive load.
An excellent example would be the Bar Model Company; they utilise visuals to teach math to primary and secondary school students in England.
Essentially, they illustrate problems and questions using bars to help young learners apply their math skills in problem-solving settings.
Animation: helping teachers bring their A game
From making the online learning process more engaging, to helping students retain knowledge better, to offering easily digestible explanations about a subject, animated educational videos provide many noteworthy benefits to educators and students alike.
That said, it’s good to keep in mind that not just any animation style will suit your students’ needs.
Will motion graphics suffice? Should you go for a whiteboard animation style to explain a concept more clearly? Or are you looking at incorporating a mix of 2D and 3D animation to make sure your students can visualise concepts properly?
If you happen to be teaching K-12 students, then character animation pieces like those featured on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel will appeal to this group.
Usually, these channels use a wide variety of bold and vibrant colours to captivate their young audience. Cute and unique character designs also help to capture the short attention span of children so that it becomes easy for them to follow the didactic stories presented on the show.
In Dora and Friends: Into the City, a well-known series about community service, problem-solving and friendship, the protagonist (Dora) guides viewers along through the problems that pop up throughout the show using handy visual and sound cues.
We used this same logic when producing an animated series for OCBC’s Mighty Savers to teach children the importance of saving.
Needless to say, if your target audience is a bunch of corporate employees, then you’ll need something more professional yet interesting.
When it comes to content-heavy topics like engineering or healthcare, studies have found that visuals help to improve learning by up to 400 percent.
While TED-Ed is well-known for their entertaining yet informative talks, they also come up with short animated videos to help educate the public too.
In this video, viewers learn about the harmful impact of kidney stones and gain some tips on ways to prevent their formation.
Animation is versatile
While there are many tools for educators to use – like platforms with ready-made animation – these may not be the best options to convey your lesson plans in video form.
We believe that producing bespoke animated pieces for lesson plans (that educators painstakingly tailor-make to suit their student’s learning) would benefit both teachers and their students most.
If you’re looking for a company experienced with 2D and 3D animation to turn your lesson plan into an engaging animated video for your students, we’d love to help!
Not looking for that? That’s fine – animation is an all-rounded tool that’s perfect for practically any sector! Even if you’re a part of the corporate world, animation can come in handy for you too.
Feel free to drop us an inquiry – once we have a good picture of what you’ll need, we’ll prepare a quote for you with the animated video production cost at the soonest.
