The situation
The Bavarian State Ministry of Justice (BMJ) was looking for a way to teach refugees the basics of German law. From criminal law, to the role of women and social integration. The challenge: The target group is very mixed in terms of education, some are even illiterate and there are language barriers. This means the learning content should be simply formulated, visual, multilingual and entertaining – the explainer video was the obvious choice.
The solution
It soon was obvious to us: handmade, that is, explainer videos with paper cut-outs was the right method in this case. Minimalist drawings and clear movements steer the focus to important content and maximize learning. What’s more, this plain and neutral style is ideal for inter-cultural topics. But it was not simply an explainer video: The learners had to be actively involved and test their knowledge. That’s why we created quiz questions in addition to the video. This makes learning more fun, which in turn adds to the success of the course.
The challenge here was to create interactions that were easy to understand, even for illiterate people. The important content should be repeated and motivate the target group by means of gamification without overwhelming them. At the same time, it shouldn’t come across as silly or too funny, so as not to trivialize the importance of the topic. We had to strike a balance.
The result: Five interactive handmade explainer videos
We succeeded in mastering the special challenges this project posed and have produced five interactive explainer videos for teaching refugees. We used many pictures for the interactions and had the entire text narrated to make the tasks accessible to everyone, including illiterate people. Little animations lighten up the dry and sometimes serious topics and motivate the audience. The interactive explainer videos were translated into many languages including English, Arabic, Urdu, Pashto and Dari.
The interactive explainer videos can be found on the Bavarian State Ministry of Justice’s website. These videos are also used for classes.
