How to Create eLearning Videos With Lightboard?

Originally published on themarketingfolks.com

 No matter the topic you want to teach or your goals for your learners, you want to create eLearning videos your learners will love. There are several different types of elearning content you can create, but video content is probably the most popular type. In this video, eLearning Partners discuss how to create eLearning videos with their favorite type of tool - a lightboard. 

Lightboard video is our favorite way to create elearning videos, and we’ve created an entire miniseries on our YouTube channel about Lightboards. In this blog post, we will keep it short and give you a general overview of what Lightboards are and why we suggest using them. 

What Are Lightboards? 

A Lightboard is a type of board that you can write on when you create eLearning videos. It is similar to a chalkboard or whiteboard in that you write on it to teach. But that’s where the similarities end. 

How Do Lightboards Work? 

The main piece of a Lightboard is a piece of glass, which serves as the surface that you will be writing on.  The surface is illuminated throughout, letting your learners see the content on the board and you as the subject matter expert.  

Specifically, there are blacklights inside the board that illuminate special neon markers. Then, the frame has normal lights to illuminate the subject matter expert. Between those two types of lights, lighting comes from nearly every part of the Lightboard. 

When you use a Lightboard, you write on it with special neon markers. These are designed to be illuminated by the blacklight within the Lightboard, helping them appear clearly and in focus. 

How Do You Create eLearning Videos with a Lightboard? 

Technically, all you need to make an eLearning video with a Lightboard is the Lightboard itself, a camera, markers and a Subject Matter Expert (SME). You want to make sure that you prepare for your lightboard video shoot ahead of time. 

You set up the camera on one side of the Lightboard, and the subject matter expert stands on the other side. You then write normally and address the camera as much as you want to. 

Bonus Tip: Use 4K or Better

While any camera is technically fine for Lightboard videos, we suggest shooting in at least 4K resolution. Doing so will produce a higher-quality video and give you more freedom when it comes to editing. 

Do You Need to Write Backward on a Lightboard? 

Because of how the camera is set up, it is common to wonder whether you need to learn to write backward to use a Lightboard. After all, remember that the camera is pointing at you from the opposite side of the glass from where you are writing. So, the writing is backward to the camera. 

Luckily, technology makes this a simple fix. When you edit your video after recording, you can just flip it around. 

Remember Everything Is Flipped

But there is an important caveat here. Since you will flip the video around to make the writing face forward, everything else in the video will be flipped as well. Any images on your clothing or in the background will appear in the video as a mirrored image of how they were in real life. 

This is why we suggest wearing solid colors and using solid-colored backgrounds for Lightboard videos. 

Conclusion

There are several different types of elearning content you can create. But one of the best ways to create professionally-looking eLearning video content is by using a Lightboard. Doing so lets you write with ease and speak directly to the learners as you explain important concepts of your elearning program.