Banking is already the biggest user of video of any UK industry sector, producing, collectively 5-10, or possibly more, videos every month. Ninety percent of these are used for training, on every imaginable topic – for new products, new processes, new corporate values, new starters. Literally anything new that requires a competent response.
More videos are on their way, driven by issues of the day, whether it’s internet fraud, increasing consumer complaints, over-lending and rate rises, terrorist threats, the impending merger.
Whether the training is for cashiers, sales people, managers, IT staff, property and infrastructure managers, or suppliers and contractors, there’s a huge internal market for video training in the banking industry. In a world of money, it’s a people business.
Video aims, and succeeds, in delivering competence and, better still, proficiency. It’s no coincidence that banking staff are arguably the best trained employees in Britain, and that these employees are all video trained.
So what’s the problem?
The problem is how to improve; where to go next. How to deliver more for less.
Video has done the job adequately for years, but it falls short as it’s not interactive. It’s strictly one-way.
Without the element of interaction, we find that acquiring, retaining and recalling information is a lot less efficient than it could be.
Potentially this means extra training time is required to:
- Learn to the required standard
- Make up for the lack of motivation from not getting it right first time,
- Fill in gaps in understanding later
- Compensate for lack of attention at the point of delivery of the training.
Video is good, but not the best available. Interaction brings a relationship to training, complete with an inbuilt self-validating process.
Where next?
For a while, computer-based training (CBT) filled the interaction gap, but CBT was strictly text only and as dry as dust. Words alone never engage enough to stick. And they lack the emotional wallop to win hearts and minds. Winning commitment is not guaranteed.
Paper-based training also has the same limitations – nice flow, good charts, relevant pictures – but no sound, no role model on screen, no authority.
Internet-based training sounds ideal, but there’s the cost element. Upgrading 20,000 branch PCs to multimedia standard is not cheap. Then there are security issues. Hackers target banking systems, and training online is a soft entry point.
This leaves interactive DVD.
Let’s define it. It’s video, text, animation, multiple choice, graphics and sound all authored into a single dynamic, friendly and persuasive package.
And DVD players are dirt cheap, highly accessible and cost-efficient for other applications.
What is Interactive DVD? How does it work?
Instead of playing a whole video from end to end, interactive DVD allows users to select the sections they need to see - and to see them in the order they select.
After viewing a given section they’re guided towards a multiple choice questionnaire where the training for that section can be validated.
For example, take this cashier training situation, where effective distance learning is essential:
> A cashier watches a section on handling ad-hoc customer complaints.
> It concludes by automatically arriving at a multiple choice questionnaire.
> If they get the answers correct, they automatically get directed to the next section
> If they get the answers wrong, they automatically have to watch the module section again.
This is what interactive DVD offers. User choice and validation, all desirable features from the points of view of the trainee and the distance learning training designer.
And you get all the pulling power and excitement of a terrific interactive DVD (if you need proof of this, go out and buy a copy of Chris Tarrant’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire DVD!)
What does it cost and how soon can I get it?
Interactive authoring costs have come down substantially mainly because the software is cheaper and better than ever before. Many corporate budgets can now afford to plan for moving to interactive DVD.
A big plus is that older videos, that still work well, can now be re-edited and authored into the new interactive format, offering greater user choice and validation.
If you’re starting a new video from scratch, you can produce it as a series of short interactive DVD modules, each followed by a Multiple Choice Questionnaire.
Powerful interactive DVD modules start from £20,000, with the cost of DVD copies as low as 3p and a production time of three months.
So next time instead of commissioning 5 video modules of one way street learning, opt for a single disk solution - interactive training DVD.
Kevin Rossiter is a leading UK video and multimedia producer with many years experience in helping companies win high value contracts. He publishes Corporate Producer, the newsletter for buyers of corporate multimedia video web: http://www.rossiterandco.com/CorporateProducer/Newsletter/Index.asp
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