The Effectiveness of How to Videos in Preparing You to Use an Application

The Effectiveness of How-To Videos in Preparing Learners to Use an Application

Introduction 

        In today's digital learning landscape, how-to videos have become an essential tool for teaching users how to navigate new applications. These instructional videos offer step-by-step guidance, often incorporating visual demonstrations and interactive elements to enhance comprehension. One platform that relies on such videos for onboarding new users is Edpuzzle, an interactive video-based learning tool designed for educators and students. In this blog post, I will analyze Edpuzzle’s how-to videos to evaluate their effectiveness in teaching users how to navigate the platform. Specifically, I will examine the use of interactive elements, the level of engagement they promote, and how well they facilitate learning. By assessing these factors, I aim to determine whether Edpuzzle’s instructional videos successfully prepare users to utilize the platform with confidence.

An Overview of Edpuzzle 

Edpuzzle allows educators to add questions, notes 
and voiceovers to videos. 

        Edpuzzle is a web-based platform that allows educators to transform videos into interactive learning experiences by adding questions, voiceovers, and notes to engage students. It is widely used in K-12 and higher education to support flipped classrooms and self-paced learning. Edpuzzle helps teachers track student progress and understanding by integrating assessment features directly into videos. Effective instructional videos are essential for onboarding new users, ensuring they can navigate the platform and utilize its features efficiently. Well-structured tutorials should not only demonstrate technical functions but also provide practical guidance on integrating Edpuzzle into lesson plans. In the following sections, I will analyze specific Edpuzzle how-to videos to evaluate their effectiveness in teaching users how to navigate and utilize the platform. The focus will be on the use of interactive elements, the level of engagement they promote, and how well they facilitate learning. 

Analysis of Edpuzzle How-To Videos 

Interactive Elements 

        Edpuzzle's how-to videos primarily function as screen recordings with on-screen explanations, guiding users through the platform's features step by step. While they effectively demonstrate how to navigate Edpuzzle, they lack many interactive elements that could enhance engagement and reinforce learning. The videos do not incorporate embedded quizzes or questions, meaning learners are not prompted to check their understanding before moving forward. Similarly, they do not utilize branching scenarios, which would allow users to explore different features based on their experience level or interests. Clickable hotspots and annotations are absent, though tooltips appear within the screen recordings to highlight specific buttons and features. While captions are available, the videos do not allow users to click on transcript text to jump to specific sections. There is also no guided practice, as the videos simply demonstrate actions without encouraging viewers to try them in real-time. Additionally, the videos lack progress tracking, feedback, or gamification elements such as badges or challenges to incentivize engagement. Call-to-action prompts are minimal, with only a brief statement at the end encouraging learners to begin using Edpuzzle. Overall, while the videos provide clear demonstrations, they could be more effective by integrating interactive elements that promote active learning and engagement.

Design Decisions 

Screen capture of tutorial format on Edpuzzle. 

Edpuzzle's how-to videos are designed with educators as the primary audience, and their structure reflects the need for quick, straight-to-the-point tutorials that fit into educators' busy schedules. The videos follow a step-by-step format, using screen recordings with on-screen explanations to guide users through the platform's features. The pacing is relatively fast, which benefits tech-savvy users who want a brief overview but may pose challenges for those less familiar with educational technology. While captions are available, other supportive features—such as interactive transcripts or clickable hotspots—are absent, which could make it harder for users to revisit specific sections efficiently. The videos also lack quizzes, branching scenarios, or guided practice, meaning users passively watch rather than actively engage with the material. These design choices may be effective for educators who prefer concise, demonstration-based instruction. Still, they could lead to frustration for those who benefit from more hands-on learning or interactive reinforcement. While the tutorials provide a clear introduction to Edpuzzle’s features, integrating more interactive elements and user-driven navigation would make them more accessible and engaging for a diverse range of learners.

Engagement and Effectiveness 

        Despite watching all the Edpuzzle how-to videos, I found that they did not effectively prepare me to use the platform. Rather than providing comprehensive, step-by-step instruction, the videos only offered a brief introduction to Edpuzzle’s capabilities, leaving me to teach myself how to navigate the application. The lack of interactive elements made it difficult to engage with the content, and as a result, I did not retain much of the information presented. Additionally, the dry and unengaging presentation style made the videos challenging to watch, reducing their effectiveness as a learning tool. Without hands-on practice, quizzes, or opportunities for reinforcement, applying what was learned required multiple viewings, which felt inefficient and time-consuming. While the videos may serve as a quick reference for tech-savvy users, they fall short of supporting new users who need clearer guidance and more interactive learning opportunities to fully grasp and retain the material.

Overall Effectiveness 

        Overall, the Edpuzzle how-to videos have both strengths and weaknesses in helping users learn the platform. Their concise, step-by-step demonstrations cater to educators with limited time, offering a quick overview of Edpuzzle’s features. However, the videos fall short in engagement and effectiveness, as they lack interactive elements such as quizzes, branching scenarios, guided practice, and progress tracking. As a result, I found that the videos did not effectively teach me how to use the application, and I had to rely on self-exploration to fully understand its functions. The irony lies in the fact that Edpuzzle itself is designed to create interactive and engaging educational videos, yet its own tutorials fail to embody these principles. To improve the learning experience, the videos could incorporate more hands-on activities, clickable hotspots, and user-driven navigation to reinforce comprehension. While how-to videos can be an effective instructional tool when designed thoughtfully, these particular tutorials highlight the importance of engaging design choices in making learning truly effective.

Disclosure

ChatGpt was used to generate a blog post outline and for sentence clarification. 

References

Brame, C. J. (2017). Effective educational videos: Principles and guidelines for maximizing student learning from video content. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 15(4). https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-03-0125

Edpuzzle. EDPuzzle - Western University. (2020, September 16). https://elearningtoolkit.uwo.ca/tools/EDpuzzle.html#:~:text=EDpuzzle%20is%20a%20web%2Dbased,engagement%20with%20the%20videos%20created.

Make any video your lesson. Edpuzzle. (n.d.). https://edpuzzle.com/discover

What is edpuzzle.com. Los Angeles Unified School District / Homepage. (n.d.). https://www.lausd.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&ModuleInstanceID=17380&ViewID=7b97f7ed-8e5e-4120-848f-a8b4987d588f&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=43856&PageID=7227

YouTube. (n.d.). Getting started with edpuzzle. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKl8fZYdu71FXu1bVaqXtaFe41aLeyV2N