What is Educational Video Design? [EVD Model]

The EVD model is something I've just made up. 

(As far as I know..)

Nonetheless, it's a very real thing for me. 

The reason why I needed to coin a term and create a model is because of my constant search for what it really is that I do. 

Do I teach animation? Do I teach teachers to teach online? Or what is it exactly that I'm trying to build a business around? What can I help people do?

I teach Educational Video Design!

What is Educational Video Design?

It's a pretty simple model that consists of 3 letters, each standing for a part of what the model consists of. 

Inspo, video, and info.

As you can see, the model is shaped like a pyramid with 3 layers. Let me explain what each layer means and stands for.

E: Educational

When you're a teacher or trying to teach someone something online, you need the content to be educational. This is probably not news to you.

Your knowledge, information, wisdom, call it what you want—needs to be there!

Examples of educational content are video courses, step-by-step tutorials, "complete guides" and how-to videos, explaining a practical workflow for doing something specific.

This is the top layer - it's what most educators start with and many end with. It never goes beyond the information. 

In my opinion, that's a mistake. And it's outdated today as it has been outdated for the past 5 years.

What's needed is better formats, right? How we package our information is crucial if we want our students to consume it.

V: Video

The #1 format we consume information through today is video. More and more videos are consumed every day, and it's largely because we all carry a smartphone around with us.

Video is a rich format that combines visuals and audio, and thereby it beats text and audio separately commonly known as articles and podcasts.

(I know these formats have their strengths too, but I'm a 110% video fan! And this is my blog post.)

I love to watch video and to create video. And I think video is a format that every modern online teacher needs to master.

No need to be a pro. But you need to know a little. 

Video is a skill set. It's the packaging of your information. It's how you present what you want to say.

Formats that are good to learn are recorded camera footage, simple animation, screen-recording and motion graphics.

BUT!

The combination of information and video as a vessel is nothing new. The combo of these 2 factors is extremely well-known—commonly consumed as e.g. video courses.

But, hey; something is wrong with most modern video courses, right?

In this Netflix day and age, who is ready to sit down for hours, watching a teacher's talking head?

Not me. I've been there and done that. And it doesn't work.

No, we need to think much more about the 3rd component of this EVD model; the D!

D: Design

Design means a lot of different things to different people. 

To me, design means how something works.

The FULL understanding of how it works; how is it structured, where is it embedded, what's the experience of consuming, what effect does it have, why is it made this way?

Now, we are taking educational content to a new level, can you feel it?

We don't just spray out information, and we don't just focus on a cool format.

No, now it's time to think holistically about the DESIGN of your educational video.

The main things to think about here are; structure, context, experience and strategy.

What's the point?

The point is that educational video design needs to be simplified. And we need to raise the quality of the average video course that is put out into the world.

Enough with the boring formats. And enough with the boring way of using new formats. 

What we need are lessons that are 1) educational and full of new information that teaches us something useful, 2) presented in an engaging format that's digital and available in an instant on our phones, and 3) the experience of consuming this piece of content needs to engage the viewer, feel unique to the teacher and respect the context of where and when it's being watched.

What I miss in most educational videos is the fun. The joy. The energy, that we've gotten so used to from all other media. 

But somehow, educational content has to be "serious" and boring. 

I say FORGET about being a traditional teacher and start thinking like a YouTuber.

On YouTube, competition is high, attention span is relatively short and the platform is one of the most popular in the world. 

What can you learn from that as a teacher?

Be Educational, make great Videos, and make sure your content's Design is uniquely yours and fits with the platform.

If you can win on YouTube, you master the EVD model. 

If you're already a successful online teacher, there's probably still a lot you can do in designing your content better, so no student's time is wasted, watching a slideshow or a talking head.

Phew! I needed to get this out of my head, so I can return to this again later; I'm going to talk a lot more about this rough idea on YouTube, in my courses and everywhere else I live digitally.

Thanks for reading along, and make sure to take care of yourself and those around you, 

Rued