Instructional technology, or the practice of using tech to enhance education, drives positive learning outcomes. One key piece of instructional technology is interactive video, which allows educators to design both synchronous and asynchronous lessons that engage their students. These learning experiences improve comprehension, recall, and application, allowing students to absorb information better.
You might think that you need a degree in instructional technology to implement the practices into your classroom, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In this post, we’ll show you how to easily use video technology to take learning to the next level.
What is instructional technology?
Instructional technology is the use of technology in partnership with educational theories to enhance learning for all students. This includes the hardware, like computers, cameras, and tablets, that educators use. It also includes software, like apps, learning management systems, and multimedia resources.
The goal of instructional technology is to create better learning outcomes through more effective instruction. Instructional technology is often used to drive clarity in in-person lessons, but it is also used to provide a more interactive experience for remote students. It even can be used to make lessons more accessible for learners with disabilities or learning differences.
What role do interactive videos play?
Interactive videos are a form of instructional technology that transforms passive viewing into active learning. While conventional videos play through without interruption, interactive videos incorporate touchpoints for direct learner engagement. From answering questions to making intentional choices, interactive videos redefine the learning experience with:
- In-line questions: Multiple choice, open-ended, or reflection questions that periodically appear
- Clickable elements: Interactive images, graphics, or text shown within the video timeline
- Decision points: Scenarios where learners choose their learning path
By providing a myriad of ways for learners to engage with media content, interactive video provides many opportunities for educators to build their lessons to meet their education goals.
Why use interactive video?
Wondering why you should include interactive video as part of your instruction? You can expect these benefits.
Engagement and retention
The top benefit of interactive videos is their ability to captivate learners. Adding interactive elements boosts the level of engagement that students have with the content. This can lead to better information retention.
Personalized learning
One-size education does not fit all. Interactive videos address this by enabling self-paced learning. Students get through lessons with more personalized experiences. This suits different learning styles and encourages comprehension before each student moves on to a new concept or unit.
Convenience and flexibility
As education evolves, flexibility is more important. Interactive video works in both traditional and virtual classrooms. The accessibility from this form of instructional technology benefits students regardless of physical location.
Asynchronous distance learning
With distance learning established as the norm for many, asynchronous engagement is key. Interactive videos foster academic participation on students’ own time. This accommodates varying schedules helping educators keep up with the growth rate of the online learning market. (Up 900% since 2000!)
Want to know more about finding the right blend of synchronous vs. asynchronous learning? Read: Synchronous Vs. Asynchronous Learning: What Educators Should Know
How interactive videos promote deeper learning
What makes interactive video a valuable part of the instructional technology toolbox? Take a look at these methods of supporting learning.
Focused content delivery
Interactive videos break information into short segments. This makes facts and ideas easier to digest. Asking questions between video chunks allows students to think before getting new information and prevents information overload. Using different media (text, images, and video) boosts retention, too. Students engage with concepts in different ways.
For example, a 30-minute biology module might consist of three 5-minute video segments. This format can prevent cognitive overload. Learners fully digest bite-sized pieces before receiving new information.
Active thinking
Questions you place into videos ask students to apply concepts right away. Going through these questions and answers while taking notes helps learners connect the dots between new concepts.
For example, integrating quick quiz questions covers content students just consumed. Just three to five self-graded questions can give real-time indicators of comprehension. Though it’s less formal than an exam, the feedback keeps learners and instructors aware of current progress.
Tailored experience
Giving students control over videos personalizes learning. When consuming the content, students don’t just take in facts. They engage deeply with concepts, make connections, and direct their own learning process.
Why interactive video creation platforms are an essential part of instructional technology
Empowering educators to create their own interactive videos improves the implementation of instructional technology for several reasons:
- They make interactive video creation accessible without advanced technical skills
- They enable teachers to customize videos to specific learning objectives and students
- They support more personalized instruction at scale
- They can support flipped classrooms, blended models, and remote learning
By making the power of interactive video available to all educators through easy-to-use video design platforms, this technology expands the instructional design possibilities for schools and workplaces. Video creation tools democratize access to advanced learning resources. That’s where PlayPosit comes in.
Introducing PlayPosit’s interactive video design studio
PlayPosit is a tool that makes it easy to build and implement interactive videos. Our platform transforms instructional technology and education by turning passive video consumption into active learning participation. This platform powers immersive, efficient instruction powered by engagement and analytics. At its core, PlayPosit makes it easier to build next-level learning experiences.
Going beyond hosting
PlayPosit isn’t a standard video player. Teachers embed questions, interactive elements, and exercises into lesson videos. That shifts students from passive viewers to empowered learners. Interactivity elevates standard instruction into dynamic, personalized learning journeys.
Enhancing learning
Educators who focus on strategically placed exercises and practice opportunities ensure learners actively engage, not coast. This drives critical thinking, reinforces understanding, and makes learning participatory by design.
Including comprehension checks
One of PlayPosit’s defining instructional technology features allows you to embed questions into video timelines. As students watch, periodic quiz questions encourage responses that support comprehension while promoting participation.
Offering insights
Educators get actionable analytics via PlayPosit’s intuitive dashboard. Detailed performance and engagement data pinpoints student strengths and knowledge gaps. This empowers continuous improvement, allowing teachers to refine instruction based on real-time feedback.
Getting started with PlayPosit
Integrating interactive video content with PlayPosit makes creating engaging lessons easy. Follow this walkthrough to start leveraging this powerful instructional technology platform.
1. Access PlayPosit
First, access PlayPosit and create an account if you don’t already have one. The intuitive interface provides a user-friendly starting point for instructional technology.
2. Build a new bulb
PlayPosit structures interactive video content into “bulbs.” Begin by building a new bulb. This serves as the framework for your interactive lesson. Bulbs enable easy content organization and management.
3. Outline the content or course
Before incorporating videos, assign the bulb to learners. Outline the expectations and objectives of the interactive lesson for students. Ensure they understand the purpose and the goals of what they learn.
Organize content into sequenced sections and then lock them so that learners can only progress when they’re ready. You can add course jumps, tables of content, and branched paths for further individualization. It’s like having a live instructor in the classroom—only the classroom is anywhere.
4. Upload video content
Import a pre-recorded lesson or video clips from platforms like YouTube or Vimeo that align with the outlined exercise. PlayPosit supports your ability to seamlessly integrate various video sources.
5. Insert interactive elements
Strategically embed questions, clickable graphics, discussion points, or other interactive elements throughout the video timeline. Transform passive watching into active learning by implementing the elements that best support your lesson.
For example, with PlayPosit you can create engagement with embedded questions like multiple choice, free response, discussion, and more. Perfect for synchronous and asynchronous learning alike.
6. Strategic question placement
Insert questions at key points to reinforce understanding while maintaining the lesson flow. You may vary question types to support critical thinking and cater to diverse learning needs among your learners.
7. Customize and monitor
Tailor interactive feature settings to fit instructional technology goals. Adjust response requirements, add explanations, enable attempts, and more. Customizations align interactive components with desired outcomes.
PlayPosit also makes it easy to understand how your students or employees are learning—and what needs reinforcement—through a powerful analytics dashboard. View learner attempts, grade responses, and track completion for any remote course.
Educators can also track participation rates on specific video activities. If a lesson has low engagement completion numbers, you can assess the reasons and recalibrate the approach to increase attraction. Engagement trends can give context to better understand performance outliers as well.
3 ways to maximize the value of interactive video
Taking a strategic approach to this instructional technology tool will help teachers and learners get the most value. Here are some tips for effectively using interactive videos:
1. Encourage open discussion
Interactive videos can include more than answering preset questions. Incorporating open discussion moments encourages collaborative discourse and critical thinking. This is good for virtual learning and team building.
2. Use grading and peer feedback
Grading participation motivates student effort. PlayPosit allows the scoring of interactive video activities, elevating them from optional to key course components. This instructional technology incentivizes participation while serving as an assessment function.
For example, an instructor might make an interactive video consumption worth 10% of the total course grade. By using a major graded deliverable, not just an informal activity, for accountability, the instructor can drive better learning outcomes.
Or if you’re iterating on a new product or teaching a challenging concept, try including peer feedback to create your ideal outcome. Take advantage of in-course rubrics to facilitate even more meaningful discussion.
3. Try collaborative projects
Interactive videos can improve collaborative group projects. For example, teachers might assign groups to create their own interactive videos on a topic or ask them to jointly review and respond to video questions.
Equip learners to actively contribute to any course through learner-made content. Have students create their own videos as standalone assignments, or request learner-made video, audio, or text as part of an assessment. When students think more creatively, they can remember more.
Ready to add PlayPosit to your instructional technology strategy?
Interactive videos are accessible, personalized, and flexible for modern students and professionals. And PlayPosit is changing education by promoting the next generation of instructional excellence. In-line questions, gamified elements, and robust analytics turn static videos into adaptive lessons.