Storytelling for Education

October 2020 - David Baker

Have you ever failed to engage with a subject because you didn’t want to read walls of text over and over? In recent years, educational storytelling methods such as whiteboard animation have grown in popularity. So what are the benefits of using animation in an educational setting?

Using visual storytelling as an educational tool removes some of the limitations and hurdles commonly found in other methods of education. If an academic is describing a detailed and complicated topic, they may be concerned as to how to keep students engaged with the subject matter. An animation, for example, would provide a creative and illustrative visual to complement the academic’s narration. Moreover, there is no limit to how you portray those visuals within an illustrative-style animation.

Educational Enterprise uses a piece of whiteboard animation software called ‘VideoScribe’. The combination of text and illustrations being drawn out on the screen via a virtual hand helps students to absorb the information being provided to them. It also gives us a chance to put some life back into the subject matter and perhaps even a little tongue-in-cheek humour. The ultimate goal of these animations is to aid students in their learning in a fresh, exciting way.

In summary, animation can turn a dry, information-heavy subject matter into an engaging learning experience. Students will find it easier to retain and recall information within the video with the help of creative visuals, as the animation captures their full attention. With whiteboard animation, students will be lured in by the hand-drawn illustrations, wanting to know what image will be drawn next. Easy-to-use tools such as ‘VideoScribe’ give designers the power to change the overall learning experience for the better and even promote the use of online learning.