I recently heard the term ‘Visual collaboration’, which is described as learning via visual events and visual content.

Historically people have learnt skills through an apprenticeship, where you would observe a skilled individual complete a task and that person would mentor you so that, in time, you too could perfect that skill. People still learn this way in the workplace and models such as 70:20:10 claim 70% of learning takes place on the job.

According to Biteable’s video statistics for 2019, 65% of people use YouTube to help them solve a problem. Workplaces appear to be starting to adopt this trend of visual content as the demand for video learning increases.

People prefer to learn with hands-on instructional information, either in person or by using digital content. Visuals provide an opportunity to observe the process and a visual learning event could, potentially, take place in situ. Visual content can be made available at the point of need and not only demonstrates the process in real time, but also provides the option to replay on demand. The ability to rewind is a huge advantage of digital content, making video one of the fastest ways to learn.

Including visuals into learning design can increase engagement rates and make the learning experience more enjoyable overall. It’s important to think of ways to engage the other senses to increase engagement further, for example visual and auditory content may grab the learners attention and spark an emotion which will make the experience memorable.

Personally, ‘Visual Collaboration’ sounds like a buzz word wannabe and essentially describes a blended approach which embeds demonstrations or observations and digital materials into a learning experience. The term does highlight the need for visual content, such as video, to support and enhance visual events.