The use of animations extends from theatres to classrooms. You may find many educators trying to involve as much animation as they can. This new trend is to get students more interested in the course. Moreover, it makes explaining complex concepts much easier. Educational animations can make any theory more interesting! You can make this motivational strategy successful by following certain guidelines.
Animations bring life to the theory and grab students’ attention. Although, it may not do so if prepared carelessly. Most students when they lose interest, end up requesting others to do my online class for me. Hence it is crucial to be mindful and evaluate the pros and cons of including animations in your online class.
Pros of using animation in online class:
Faster Learning
Did you know that just one minute of a video makes up about 1.8 million verbal texts? Research also suggests that our brain can grasp visual information exponentially quicker than text. Hence, you need to teach a subject with animations if you wish to save time. Students will get to learn more in the same amount of time. This is great for lengthy concepts that one may find fatiguing.
Motivates Students
Most students prefer subjects that are not bleak or traditional. Bringing something new to the table will encourage students to want to explore deeper into the subject. Your students may like or hate a subject based on how you teach them. When an educator invests time and effort in making the subject more interesting, students show appreciation through their involvement.
Improves Skills
Creating animations requires hours of technical work and knowledge. This can be tiring but also a great educational experience. Teachers who try to design their own animation get to learn a lot in this area. Teachers get to explore their creative and technical talent along the way. Not only this, but students get used to learning concepts much faster. Thus, animation enhances the learning experience of students overall.
Breaks down Complex Subjects
In subjects like biology or even art and design, there are concepts difficult to understand. Sometimes, simple explanations are not enough to explain certain ideas or theories. Transforming text into video simplifies the content. Students end up losing interest if the subject is too difficult. If your subject involves a lot of imagination, using animations would make learning easier.
Better than Experiments
We all love lab experiments but they can be hazardous. Supervising an entire group of learners at all times while demonstrating an experiment is not an easy task. Any mishap can jeopardize the supervisor’s position. Moreover, it is costly to arrange lap equipment for each student. Animations, in this case, can save much of the cost. Alongside this, you can easily demonstrate real-life concepts over online classes through animation.
Engages Students
Students cannot learn and retain information if they are not paying attention to the content. However, when something grabs their attention, they are more likely to understand and remember it. Students get more motivated when they find something fascinating. Difficult or lengthy concepts can be tedious to grasp. Accordingly, material that keeps students hooked can make learning fun.
Results
Students learn better through. Even though this method of teaching is harder for teachers, it makes learning easier for students. Students find animations stress-free even if they’re studying difficult concepts. Watching your students perform better in class and improve their scores make the hard work worth it.
Cons of using animation in online class:
Costlier than Traditional Methods
Finding custom animations for your course content can be tough. Hence, you can find a lot of animators who offer their services online. Although, there’s a catch. Most of these animations charge a good amount even for easy projects. Sadly, customized animations aren’t available for free on any website. Thus, you may have no other option than to buy these high-priced services. Since a course requires multiple animations, you might begin to rethink your options. Regardless, there are courses and free websites that can help you create your own animations.
Challenging
You can design the animations yourself if you don’t want to break your bank. Regardless, you will need technical skills which are complex and difficult to learn on your own. Most teachers have a lot of lesson planning and coursework to do. Consequently, it becomes difficult to fulfill the demands of teaching while learning other technical skills.
False Sense of Reality
You may require hands-on training when learning some concepts (such as safety training for chemistry experiments). While animation seems more real than a picture, it is far off from reality. You may think that the students clearly comprehend the animation content but that’s probably not the case. It is challenging for even professionals to translate text into basic animation. Although, that time is far from now when we’ll be able to involve hyper-realistic visuals in online learning.
Heavy Bandwidth Consumption
Unlike texts, animations consume a lot of memory space and bandwidth. Hence it becomes fundamental for the instructor to have a good internet connection and a device with enough memory. Then again, it doesn’t stop there. Also, each and every student needs to have these same resources to be able to download and view the animations. Buffering and lagging disturb the lecture for many students. They may even miss out on the initial part because of this.
Distracting
You may find that designing animations is not an easy task. Animations can attract students or distract them. This depends on the clarity and simplicity of the design. Avoid using over-the-top colors and wild movements to ensure the animation does not look unprofessional. Even a beautiful animation that focuses too much on design can hinder the learning process. It is essentially the content of the animation that matters and not the designs.
Teaching methods and learning materials are important factors for students’ learning. If the learners are not satisfied, they may end up wondering who can do my online class for me. You can add fun to your students’ learning by incorporating visual cues for learning. Students prefer things out of the ordinary. Hence, trying new teaching methods would enhance their learning experience. Animations are a great way to make lectures easy and entertaining. Yet, it is never a one-size-fits-all scenario. While animation can have its weaknesses, teachers can research and prepare in advance to create decent educational animations.
