Simplify webinar recordings with chapters
Long webinar recordings and videos can be overwhelming, especially when viewers are trying to learn something new. Webinars often cover multiple topics, and are not designed for on-demand viewing. Even well-produced videos can create unnecessary cognitive load if learners have to scrub back and forth to find the information they need. One simple way to improve your learners experience is to add chapters to your videos.
What is cognitive load?
Cognitive load refers to the amount of mental effort required to process information. When cognitive load is too high, learning becomes harder and people can get frustrated. Long, unstructured videos often add to cognitive load by:
- Presenting too much information at once
- Lacking clear organization
- Forcing viewers to remember where key topics appear
Reducing cognitive load helps learners focus on understanding the content, rather than figuring out how to navigate it.
Why chapters help
Adding chapters to your videos supports learning in several ways:
- Chunking content into chapters divide information into smaller pieces
- Self-paced navigation allows people to skip ahead, revisit sections or focus on what's relevant to them
- Reduced memory strain because viewers don't have to remember timestamps or rewatch large sections to find one thing
- Improves focus with chapter titles to help viewers know what's coming next
Adding chapters through tools you already use
You can add chapters in YouTube, Kaltura Mediaspace and Zoom.
YouTube Chapters
When recordings are shared on YouTube, adding timestamps and short titles in the video description creates clickable chapters that allow viewers to jump directly to specific topics. Example:
Kaltura Mediaspace Chapters
When recordings in Kaltura are set up to include chapters, viewers can view and search the chapter menu (like a table of contents) to find and jump to specific points in that recording. Example:
Zoom Smart Recording Chapters
When this is enabled, Zoom AI Companion smart chapters in Zoom will automatically group the recording into different sections with timestamps. You can click on a chapter to watch the part of the recording starting at that timestamp. Viewers who watch the cloud recording can see the smart chapters and next steps. You can manually adjust chapters as needed. Example:
Article by Karen Matthes, Extension Learning Technologies, klm@umn.edu
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