How Training with Video Skyrockets Teacher Time & Training Success

Read Time: 5 minutes

Skyguide’s eLearning Instructor & Expert, Roland Frei, explains how he leveraged Powtoon to digitize the training they provide to aviation professionals.

For any training or L&D department, instructor time is precious. After all, there are only so many hours in the day, and you can’t be in two places at once. That is… unless you’re training with video!

That’s where Roland from Skyguide comes in. I had a chance to sit down with him to learn exactly how using Powtoon to create training videos helped him implement a digital LMS platform. That allowed him and Skyguide to give teachers more time to teach by digitizing the most common and time consuming lesson components with video.

Not only that, but I got to meet a super talented and passionate trainer with a knack for driving innovation.

Ready? Let’s meet Roland and Skyguide!

Roland & Skyguide — 24 Years of Experience Training & Supporting Aviation

I teach the company how to get the biggest benefit from the learning management system that we have. Instead of just using it as a file storage system, we try to use it more or less as a teaching robot.
Roland Frei, Skyguide

Skyguide provides air navigation services for Switzerland and the surrounding areas. We’re responsible for safely guiding over 1.2 million flights a year through Europe’s most complex airspace. Our main task is to ensure that traffic runs safely and efficiently.

We make sure that aircraft fly safely through the Swiss skies — that we keep flight paths clear, and takeoffs and landings orderly. We also ensure that they arrive on time — that delays are minimized, and passengers and staff alike are able to avoid unnecessary inconvenience. This is what we mean when we say that the air traffic runs “safely and efficiently.”

I’ve been with Skyguide since 1995 – already over half my life! At the beginning, I provided pilot briefings. We produced charts and last minute updates for pilots and things like that — the entire briefing process and documentation.

Today, I work in the training center as an Instructor and an eLearning Expert. Basically, I teach the company how to get the biggest benefit from the learning management system that we have. Instead of just using it as a file storage system, we try to use it more or less as a teaching robot.

Who Does Skyguide Train?

In my role, my biggest audience are the instructors themselves. I help them create things for their students. I’m also involved in delivering some lessons with the content that I’ve worked with before.

Skyguide as a company, of course, delivers training for air traffic controllers. But we also have quite a big technical department where we provide training to engineers and maintenance technicians. And we use the course concept LMS I created with all our training clients.

Finally, we also have some external customers from time to time. And I’m in charge of setting up the system so that it works smoothly and meets our clients’ needs.

How Do You Use Video in Your Training?

Well, that’s where Powtoon comes into the game for training. We create explainer videos, mainly for our air traffic controller students, to provide training material around topics that we would usually explain in the classroom.

In other words, Powtoon allows us to create video content to cover those things that go beyond simple documentation. Specifically, concepts that shed light on the context, relationships, and interdependencies from one topic to another.

These are the things that are usually easier to communicate in person. So that’s why it’s been traditionally done in the classroom. Now, we’re trying to transform as much as possible to self-learning and self-service for our students. That’s why we also are excited to work with Powtoon to create explanations and content that’s actually as or more engaging than a live class.

I can actually create animated videos by myself. All I need is an internet connection and a working computer. That’s brilliant.
Roland Frei, Skyguide

How Did You Discover Powtoon?

I first saw Powtoon when I was training to become a certified trainer myself. A classmate actually found it on the internet and gave a presentation about it.

What really impressed me is that it is straightforward to use. And that I can actually create animated videos by myself. All I need is an internet connection and a working computer. That’s brilliant. So I started to play around with it.

What Sets Powtoon Apart for Training Videos?

Powtoon allows you to put things you have in your head quite directly into a video... you have an idea and you can almost immediately go and make it happen.
Roland Frei, Skyguide

I like the variety of choices that Powtoon has. There are so many templates, characters, shapes, and props can insert. It has airplanes, classrooms, landscapes, even dogs, and almost anything you can think of. There are free and premium image libraries that are right there in the studio. I can just search for images I can use straight away. And Powtoon’s content keeps growing constantly. There’s always new features and new characters. It provides much more flexibility and allows us to create more videos about more and different topics than other tools.

Compared to creating animations with PowerPoint, Powtoon has that timeline feature, which makes it very easy to produce something quickly. It’s very visual, which makes it intuitive to use. Here’s where this character appears and here he fades out. It’s clear because you see it right on the screen — That’s one of the things I like most about Powtoon.

But what’s most valuable is that Powtoon allows you to put things you have in your head quite directly into a video. Instead of having to put it into a script, and explain it to someone else who will then, if you’re lucky, weeks later start with the production of it. With Powtoon, you have an idea and you can almost immediately go and make it happen.

There’s always new features and new characters. It provides much more flexibility and allows us to create more videos about more and different topics than other tools.
Roland Frei, Skyguide

Training With Video: What Were Your Results?

First, we rolled out our LMS eLearning concept to all our trainers. That was my starting point and also my prototype for using video throughout a training course. I created videos to explain specific chapters. They were received very well. People were quite surprised to see my face and hear my voice in a video. And then video started to grow.

We have already produced over 20 video products that we use in different contexts. More are being produced now, and we’ll be implementing in the coming months.

The most important result so far is we save a significant amount of instructor time with Powtoon. So for lessons that are really repetitive, and need to be explained to every class over and over again, instructors usually know their best explanation that works for them.

By putting content into video form, we can assign fewer instructors, saving time for our teachers and allowing us to serve more students. And students can garner the knowledge by themselves on their schedule, instead of falling asleep while an instructor gives a PowerPoint presentation.

What’s Next for Skyguide & Video?

I think that regarding eLearning and training, that video will just continue to grow. We will continue on the path that we’ve chosen now. I know because we get more and more requests for access to Powtoon.

It works like this: someone sees the video you made in Powtoon, and they say, “Wow, that’s clever! How did you do that? I’d like to have that as well!” So the community starts to grow.

I can see video expanding to internal communications. For instance, when we have something new to inform staff about, our HR department or corporate communications department could create a video with Powtoon to share, rather than written text.

Keep Up The Awesomeness, Roland!

Amazing! Using video to train your trainers and implement a fully digital LMS-based eLearning strategy. Saving teacher time by creating videos of their most important and time-consuming lessons. Giving students more flexibility and control. All this plus spreading the powerful skill of video creation across the entire Skyguide organization. Roland, I tip my cap to you, sir!

So What’s YOUR Next Training Video?

Are you using video for training? Are you creating HR or internal comms videos? Maybe you’re a marketer making social media content or product videos… No matter who you are or how you use Powtoon, tell me about your results in the comments below.

Stay awesome!

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Nick Liebman

Nick is Powtoon's Head Creator for Video & Learning. He joined Powtoon as head copywriter in 2016, after his previous blog was voted one of the top 8 CRO blogs on the internet by Digital Marketer. He continues to churn out awesomeness for all Powtoon users via blog posts, tutorials, webinars, videos, and more. Before working in technology full-time, Nick honed his skills in the unlikely world of music and non-profit work. He holds a B.A. in Music from Grinnell College and an M.M. in Music Composition from Butler University, and has performed his and others' music all over the world.