Explore 5 video types that boost eLearning engagement. Learn about interactive video marketing, animated explainer videos, and whiteboard videos. Create captivating content with HeyGen's AI-driven tools.
5 Video Types to Boost eLearning Engagement
Want to make your eLearning more engaging? In this article, we present five types of videos using e-learning video software that can enhance your online courses and captivate your learners.
How-To Videos: Animated How To Videos and More
How-To Videos, including animated how to videos, are tutorials that guide learners through specific tasks or processes in e-learning. These videos simplify complex procedures and make them easier to understand and replicate.
Benefits of How-To Videos in eLearning
- Visual Demonstration: Seeing the process helps learners grasp material faster than reading instructions alone, which can be critical for enhanced memory retention.
- Practical Application: Bridges theory and practice, enabling direct use of learned concepts.
- Self-Paced Learning: Learners can pause, rewind, and rewatch sections for better comprehension.
Examples of How-To Videos
- Software Tutorials: Screencasts showing how to use specific software or web applications can be found in our examples of effective eLearning videos.
- Equipment Demonstrations: Product demonstration videos illustrating safe operation of machinery or tools.
- Process Walkthroughs: Guides on procedures like equipment repair or workplace tasks using video presentation techniques.
How-To Videos are crucial in eLearning as they cater to different learning preferences by providing visual clarity.

Animated Explainers: Engage with Visuals
Animated explainer videos combine animation, text, and elearning voice overs to simplify complex topics. These visual aids showcase how AI is changing the game for animated explainer videos, turning difficult concepts into easy-to-understand visuals ideal for eLearning courses.
Benefits of Animated Explainer Videos
- Simplify Complex Information: Animations effectively illustrate abstract ideas.
- Enhance Engagement: Graphics and illustrations keep interest and improve focus.
- Appeal to Different Learning Styles: Visual learners benefit from clear illustrations, encouraging improved knowledge retention.
- Cost-Effective and Flexible: Often more affordable and easier to produce than live-action videos.
When to Use Animated Explainers
Consider these for:
- Introducing complex or abstract topics.
- Explaining multi-step processes.
- Demonstrating concepts difficult to film.
- Engaging learners who prefer non-traditional teaching methods.
Adding animated explainer videos to your eLearning makes challenging content more accessible and engaging.

Instructor-Led Videos: Make Learning Personal
Instructor-led videos bring the classroom experience online, featuring instructors delivering content with visual aids like slides or screen shares. These AI-Powered Instructional Videos merge the best of digital and traditional teaching methods.
Tips for Creating Engaging Instructor-Led Videos
- Combine Instructor and Visuals: Show both the instructor and supporting content.
- Use Signaling Techniques: Highlight key information with on-screen text or symbols.
- Keep Segments Concise: Break lectures into shorter segments to maintain engagement.
- High-Quality Production: Ensure clear audio and visuals using elearning voice overs.
A professor explaining a complex theory with diagrams can make difficult concepts more accessible.

Whiteboard Videos: Simplify with Drawings
Whiteboard Videos present information through simple drawings on a white background, often with narration, guiding learners through complex topics engagingly.
Why Use Whiteboard Videos in eLearning
Whiteboard Videos are effective for explaining intricate subjects with a minimalist visual style, helping learners focus.
Benefits of Whiteboard Videos
- Simplify Complex Ideas: Step-by-step visuals make content easier to digest.
- Enhance Memorability: Seeing and hearing information reinforces learning.
- Engage Different Learning Styles: Appeals to visual and auditory learners.
- Cost-Effective Production: More economical than live-action or full-scale animations.
When and How to Use Whiteboard Videos
Utilize Whiteboard Videos for:
- Introducing new concepts.
- Summarizing information.
- Teaching abstract concepts.
Tips for Creating Effective Whiteboard Videos
- Plan Your Script Carefully: Outline key points and visual representations.
- Keep Visuals Simple: Use clear drawings with video localisation.
- Align Narration with Visuals: Match spoken content with drawings.
Whiteboard Videos are especially impactful in courses that aim to simplify complex subject matter.
Interactive Videos: Engage and Retain
Interactive videos turn passive watching into active learning using features like interactive video marketing that require engagement.
Key Features of Interactive Videos
- Clickable Hotspots: Areas within the video for accessing more info.
- Embedded Quizzes: Questions provide immediate feedback, reinforcing learning.
- Branching Scenarios: Choices lead to different outcomes, exploring various paths.
Benefits of Interactive Videos in eLearning
Interactive videos can explore interactive video lessons in eLearning, improving learning by examining the effectiveness of interactive eLearning.
- Increasing Engagement: Direct involvement keeps attention.
- Providing Immediate Feedback: Quizzes assess understanding.
Example of Interactive Video
Coldplay's "Ink" music video is an interactive video example that allows viewers to make storyline choices, showcasing the versatility of interactive video formats.
Implementing Interactive Videos in Your eLearning
Adding interactive videos transforms engagement, promoting deeper focus and understanding. Evaluate Interactive Video Lessons in eLearning for more insights.
How HeyGen Helps Create Engaging eLearning Videos
HeyGen simplifies eLearning content creation with its AI-driven video platform, ensuring top-notch quality in production. Our platform also offers a step-by-step guide to creating eLearning videos.
Use AI Avatars for Presenter-Led Content
HeyGen provides customizable AI avatars for presenter-led content, enabling personalization.
Simplify Animated Explainers with Intuitive Tools
HeyGen's editing suite aids in creating animated explainer videos.
Incorporate Interactive Elements Seamlessly
HeyGen enables adding interactive components like quizzes, enhancing participation and ensuring engagement.
Localize Content for a Global Audience
HeyGen supports over 150 languages for video localisation, broadening reach.
Streamline Production Without Sacrificing Quality
HeyGen helps produce various eLearning videos:
- How-To Videos: Demonstrate procedures with AI avatars.
- Whiteboard Animations: Illustrate ideas.
- Microlearning Clips: Create short, focused videos.
By simplifying production, HeyGen helps focus on crafting valuable content.
Engage Your Learners Today
By using these five types of videos—How-To Videos, Animated Explainers, Instructor-Led Videos, Whiteboard Videos, and Interactive Videos—improve learner engagement and retention. With HeyGen's AI-driven platform, creating these engaging videos is straightforward. Get started for free and see how HeyGen can help you today!
Nick Warner is Head of Creator Growth at HeyGen, where he helps creators and brands scale their content with AI video tools. He writes about AI, video technology, and how creators can use these tools to tell better stories and reach wider audiences.








