The Advent of Digital Educational Media

Over the course of motion picture and video production history, the term “film” has become synonymous with the entire medium, but in reality, recent trends have found content creators moving away from traditional “filming” techniques and approaches, even avoiding the use of the namesake celluloid “film” as the canvas upon which the content was recorded.  Beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the industry entered a Digital Age, where costly, time-consuming processes and equipment were replaced with computerized, digital software and other technology. This switch ushered in a new era in production, where knowledgeable, capable artists and professionals found themselves in a position to effectively create studio-quality content in efficient, affordable ways.  Media and the “film” industry would never be the same again.  

Prior to the Digital Age, Educational Video content was a deep after-thought.  The relevance and effectiveness of using visual content in a learning environment may have been apparent at some point, but the cost made the pursuit of it prohibitive.  Still, educators slowly ventured into the arena of visual instruction, sparsely utilizing the videos and content available at the time.  To keep costs manageable, these productions, which were sometimes helmed by the educators themselves, utilized bare-bones, simplified techniques and basic, uninspired presentation styles.  The result was often a flawed, mundane, ineffective video that showcased the content in a manner that failed to engage or instruct the learner properly.

Today, through the use of modern digital cameras, editing software, and other technology, previous obstacles and deterrents for Educational Video have been eliminated.  In the right hands, a properly developed and researched video can now be custom-made to effectively present the course curriculum in a way that utilizes all of the engaging and immersive qualities of a big-budget Hollywood blockbuster.  Filmmakers have been connecting with audiences through story-telling and visual spectacle since the very first motion pictures were produced.  Finally, with the advent of digital technology, Educational Video can follow suit, bridging the gap between the content and the learner like never before.