The Total Economic Impact™ Of WeVideo And PlayPosit
Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By WeVideo And PlayPosit Video Learning Tools
A Forrester Total Economic Impact™ Study Commissioned By WeVideo, January 2025
Changing student behavior and the shift to remote and hybrid learning models are making it more difficult for administrators and educators to effectively foster higher levels of student engagement with learning content.1 As student preference for video content continues to increase, educators must create diverse, interactive learning experiences that improve student comprehension and provide time savings both in and out of the classroom.
WeVideo is an end-to-end video learning platform for use by administrators, educators, or students at both K12 and higher education institutions. PlayPosit, a WeVideo product, is part of this platform, empowering users with a diverse portfolio of interactive video tools.
WeVideo commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools.2 The purpose of this study is to provide readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of WeVideo and Playposit video learning tools on their organizations.
Return on investment (ROI)
208%
Net present value (NPV)
$189.6K
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To better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment, Forrester interviewed eight representatives at six organizations with experience using WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools and surveyed 97 respondents across K12 and higher education organizations. For the purposes of this study, Forrester aggregated the interviewees’ and survey respondents’ experiences and combined the results into a single composite organization that is a large higher education organization with 5,000 students, 300 educators, and a team of 10 administrators responsible for learning management and instructional design. This composite organization specifically uses PlayPosit to enhance its students’ learning experience.
Interviewees said that prior to using WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools, their organizations used alternative video creation and/or interactive content tools. However, these tools were often incompatible with available hardware or lacked integrations with existing systems, which made them inflexible and difficult to use for end users. These limitations led to obstacles in creating engaging and personalized materials for online or hybrid learning environments.
With WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools, the interviewees facilitated student engagement by creating student-centered and personalized content that was easily accessible. Additionally, interviewed educators found the tools — especially PlayPosit — easy to use, which encouraged adoption and led to the creation of more effective learning content as well as increased productivity from reducing time spent on administrative activities.
Top Outcomes Experienced With WeVideo And PlayPosit Video Learning Tools
Better lesson, assignment, or course completion rates from students by introducing interactivity components Increased educator satisfaction More effective use of teacher time in classroom (content creation, student performance assessments, peer knowledge sharing) Optimizes video creation as measured by the ability to create more videos, more quickly and with better student engagement Increased classroom test scores Increased student and/or class retention (students leaving for other districts, public/private or homeschooling)
Base: 97 WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools users at education organizations
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of WeVideo, September 2024
Key Findings
Quantified benefits. Three-year, risk-adjusted present value (PV) quantified benefits for the composite organization include:
- Reduced time spent on administrative activities for educators by 50% annually. The composite organization’s educators make virtual content and integrate that content with backend systems to facilitate administrative tasks. The resulting time savings enables educators to spend more one-on-one time with students, handle the administrative load of larger class sizes, and focus on other obligations, such as research projects. Over three years, the time savings is worth nearly $202,000 to the composite organization.
- Reduced time spent in the physical classroom for educators by 50% annually. PlayPosit’s interactive content enables educators to move more learning sessions to hybrid or online-only content. In this way, the composite’s educators reach more students with more content and spend less time in the physical classroom. Over three years, the value scales to impact 10% of the total educator population who represent the power users of the PlayPosit product. In total, the time savings are worth more than $59,000 to the composite organization.
- Reduced administrator training time by up to 46 hours per administrator annually. At the composite organization, administrators create training videos to cover topics that impact a large audience of educators and/or detail common tasks. Therefore, administrators spend less time answering one-off questions or providing in-person training sessions for related tasks. Over three years, the value scales to impact seven administrators, saving them 2 hours on average per video created. In total, the time savings are worth nearly $20,000 to the composite organization.
Unquantified benefits. Benefits that provide value for the composite organization but are not quantified for this study include:
- Improved use of educator time in the classroom. Educators personalize content in addition to student experiences in the classroom through peer knowledge-sharing capabilities and by leveraging classroom analytics. As a result, educators found that they made more effective use of teaching time spent in the classroom.
- Optimized video creation time spent. Optimized video creation is measured by the ability to create more videos faster and garner more student views. WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools allow the composite organization to create video content faster than prior tools and therefore increase the total volume of videos created.
- Improved student engagement. Additionally, the video content created with PlayPosit utilizes interactivity to garner more student views, which means that the additional time spent on content creation is rewarded with higher student engagement rates for the composite organization.
- Improved lesson, assignment, and course completion rates for students. PlayPosit enable the composite organization to track “time in course” metrics at the lesson, assignment, or course level. Easy access to — and trust in — the quality of the analytics enables the composite’s administrators to back revenue opportunities and better communication with students around course expectations. Additionally, PlayPosit requires students to view content in its’ entirety before marking it “Complete,” which contributes to better student learning comprehension as well as improves accountability.
- Impacted learning outcomes. PlayPosit’s interactive content, providing opportunities for repetition of material, immediate feedback, and a higher level of accountability in the learning environment for students. This further promotes better learning outcomes, including better test scores.
- Improved school culture. The content available with PlayPosit encourages participation and fosters collaboration between students and teachers as well as for students with their peers. Easier collaboration contributes to better learning outcomes for students and promotes a positive learning environment for all parties involved. Additionally, PlayPosit creates informative, interactive content aimed at increasing awareness of school activities or offerings that contribute to school culture, such as athletic events and wellness programs.
- Eliminated learning obstacles for students. WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools allow educators to make more virtual learning content. Virtual content supports online and hybrid learning models to make learning more accessible for students by reducing in-person time commitments and costs for both materials and logistics. In this way, WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools help the composite organization eliminate common obstacles that students face in the education space.
Costs. Three-year, risk-adjusted PV costs for the composite organization include:
- The cost of WeVideo video learning tools that includes an unlimited PlayPosit license, totaling $62,000 over three years. Annual licensing costs for the composite organization consider both student and faculty users. For 5,000 students and 310 faculty members, the composite pays just over $25,000 a year for PlayPosit.
- Additional time spent on video creation costs under $29,000 over three years. Optimizing video creation timelines results in the composite organization creating much higher volumes of interactive video content than with its prior video tools. As such, both educators and administrators spend more collective time on video creation than before.
The financial analysis which is based on the interviews and survey found that a composite organization experiences benefits of $281,000 over three years versus costs of $91,000, adding up to a net present value (NPV) of $190,000 and an ROI of 208%.
Key Statistics
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Return on investment (ROI)
208%
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Benefits PV
$280.8K
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Net present value (NPV)
$189.6K
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Payback
<6 months
Benefits (Three-Year)
Administrative time savings for educators outside of the classroom Efficiencies in the classroom for educators Administrative time savings for creating and administering instructor trainings
TEI Framework And Methodology
From the information provided in the interviews, Forrester constructed a Total Economic Impact™ framework for those organizations considering an investment in PlayPosit.
The objective of the framework is to identify the cost, benefit, flexibility, and risk factors that affect the investment decision. Forrester took a multistep approach to evaluate the impact that PlayPosit can have on an organization.
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Due Diligence
Interviewed stakeholders and Forrester analysts to gather data relative to WeVideo and PlayPosit.
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Interviews
Interviewed eight representatives at six organizations using WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools to obtain data about costs, benefits, and risks.
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Composite Organization
Designed a composite organization based on characteristics of the interviewees’ and survey respondents’ organizations.
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Financial Model Framework
Constructed a financial model representative of the interviews and survey using the TEI methodology and risk-adjusted the financial model based on issues and concerns of the interviewees and survey respondents.
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Case Study
Employed four fundamental elements of TEI in modeling the investment impact: benefits, costs, flexibility, and risks. Given the increasing sophistication of ROI analyses related to IT investments, Forrester’s TEI methodology provides a complete picture of the total economic impact of purchase decisions. Please see Appendix A for additional information on the TEI methodology.
Disclosures
Readers should be aware of the following:
This study is commissioned by WeVideo, the parent company of PlayPosit, and delivered by Forrester Consulting. It is not meant to be used as a competitive analysis.
Forrester makes no assumptions as to the potential ROI that other organizations will receive. Forrester strongly advises that readers use their own estimates within the framework provided in the study to determine the appropriateness of an investment in WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools.
WeVideo reviewed and provided feedback to Forrester, but Forrester maintains editorial control over the study and its findings and does not accept changes to the study that contradict Forrester’s findings or obscure the meaning of the study.
WeVideo provided the customer names for the interviews but did not participate in the interviews.
Consulting Team:
Casey Sirotnak
Drivers leading to the WeVideo and PlayPosit investment
Interviews
| Role | Industry | Region | User Type And Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learning management system administrator Instructional designer |
Higher education (state university) | US (WI) | 1,000+ student and faculty users |
| Instructional designer Instructional designer and professor |
Higher education (state university) | US (MO) | 315 faculty users |
| Instructional designer | Higher education (state university extension program) | US (MI) | <150 student and faculty users |
| Media arts teacher | K12 (middle school) | US (KY) | 160 student and faculty users |
| Lecturer | Higher education (state university) | US (CA) | 600 student users |
| Professor | Higher education (state university) | US (NY) | 900 student users |
Key Challenges
Prior to PlayPosit, the interviewees’ organizations utilized alternative video creation and interactivity tools. However, interviewees noted that these tools did not meet their organizational goals to create engaging and personalized content for online or hybrid learning environments and struggled with common challenges, including:
- Evolving learning environments and student expectations. While the COVID-19 pandemic initially drove online and hybrid learning, the interviewees expressed that the need for flexible alternative learning environments persists today. They noted that students expect to interact with instructional content that is relevant to the content they consume outside of the classroom, which is typically digital and interactive. Additionally, remote and hybrid learning environments eliminated learning obstacles such as high costs and the logistical complexities of in-person courses. Interviewees wanted to maintain the flexibility and accessibility afforded by these new learning environments without adding new technology barriers.
- Tool limitations. The interviewees reported that their organizations’ prior tools lacked functionality and integrations with existing systems, such as learning management systems (LMS), which meant that virtual content often added to the administrative burden for educators and negatively impacted adoption rates. Additionally, prior tools were incompatible with widely available hardware and devices or were difficult to access, which impacted accessibility of the content for end users and contributed to further learning barriers.
- Difficulty creating engaging materials to support online and hybrid learning. Prior to PlayPosit, video content was time-consuming to create, which left educators unwilling or unmotivated to reinvigorate instructional materials with interactivity. There was very little video content created, and the videos that were created were unimaginative, long form, and static in nature, which did nothing to boost engagement with the intended audience.
Investment Objectives
The interviewees and survey respondents searched for a solution that could:
- Facilitate student engagement in online or hybrid learning environments with interactive video content.
- Optimize video creation and consumption with intuitive tooling.
- Ensure compatibility with existing devices and backend systems to encourage adoption.
- Improve learning experiences and outcomes for students.
The interviewees represented various personas with different use cases and related success criteria; however, all personas were critical to the investment decision in PlayPosit. The interviewees, included:
- Half of the interviewees represented the administrator persona that included resources across instructional design and learning management roles. Administrators tracked adoption by user count — inclusive of both students as content consumers and faculty members as creators — to prove that video content was being leveraged effectively as a learning tool. For example, two instructional designers from a state university in Missouri tracked the adoption of the tool across their population of 315 educators as content creators, while a learning management system administrator at a state university in Wisconsin tracked users more broadly, favoring total video count metrics to prove adoption.
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The other half of the interviewees represented the educator persona, including a media arts teacher at a K12 school, a lecturer, and a professor — both in higher education. The educator persona in higher education measured success through higher student enrollment volumes enabled by PlayPosit. For example, a lecturer from a state university in California was able to teach a 600-student class each semester utilizing PlayPosit to replace some of the classroom learning with virtual learning. Similarly, a professor from a private university in New York met the needs of the 900 students enrolled in their class annually with PlayPosit content as supplemental virtual content.
The educator persona from a K12 perspective also promoted the WeVideo platform without PlayPosit as a learning device itself because it encouraged more student-created content versus educator- or administrator-created content. - Survey respondents represented the same personas as the interviewees with most respondents being educators (51%). The majority of these educators (54%) were in the higher education space.
Composite Organization
Based on the interviews and survey, Forrester constructed a TEI framework, a composite company, and an ROI analysis that illustrates the areas financially affected. The composite organization is representative of the eight interviewees and 97 survey respondents, and it is used to present the aggregate financial analysis in the next section. The composite organization has the following characteristics:
Description of composite. The higher education organization was previously using alternative tools for video editing and interactivity before investing in Wevideo and PlayPosit video learning tools. The student body consists of 5,000 students and is served by a faculty of 300 educators and a team of 10 administrators with responsibilities across both learning management and instructional design.
Deployment characteristics. The composite organization begins using the solution in Year 1 following a brief pilot program managed by the administrative team. While the entire faculty is given access via an unlimited license, adoption is scaled for educators by user count (measured as full-time employees [FTEs]) with 50 full-time users in Year 1. This number grows by 10% year over year. A smaller percentage of these users are considered super users — 4% of the educators in Year 1, growing to 10% by Year 3. Adoption for administrators is measured by user count (growing from 50% of total administrators in Year 1 to 70% by Year 3) as well as the volume of videos created. Administrators create video content for two primary use cases: 1) training content for their own professional development responsibilities and 2) instructional content for educators to use in their classes. Within the first use case, administrators create 10 videos each in Year 1, and up to 23 videos each by Year 3. Within the second use case, administrators create 55 videos total in Year 1 to support educators and 161 videos by Year 3.
Quantified benefit data as applied to the composite
Total Benefits
| Ref. | Benefit | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atr | Administrative time savings for educators outside of the classroom | $74,250 | $81,675 | $89,100 | $245,025 | $201,942 |
| Btr | Efficiencies in the classroom for educators | $11,880 | $26,136 | $35,640 | $73,656 | $59,177 |
| Ctr | Administrative time savings for creating and administering instructor trainings | $4,085 | $7,353 | $13,154 | $24,592 | $19,673 |
| Total benefits (risk-adjusted) | $90,215 | $115,164 | $137,894 | $343,273 | $280,792 | |
Administrative Time Savings For Educators Outside Of The Classroom
Evidence and data. Prior to investing in PlayPosit by WeVideo, the interviewees’ organizations utilized alternative tools for video creation that offered limited functionality and, ultimately, contributed to more administrative overhead for educators. PlayPosit is intuitive to use and integrates well with back-end systems, such as LMS, to sync content with grade books and other administrative tools. Additionally, educators created demonstrations and how-to videos to eliminate frequently asked questions and streamline communications with students outside of the classroom. As educators built up instructional video content in video libraries, they benefited from further efficiencies in lesson planning. The time savings for educators were redistributed to time spent with students, to accommodate the administrative burden of larger class enrollments, and to individual projects, such as research opportunities.
- A lecturer at a higher education organization in California indicated that administration time for a 600-student class decreased from 10 to 15 hours per week to 5 to 7 hours per week with PlayPosit due to integrations with the LMS that facilitated grading efforts.
- The same interviewee estimated that grading decreased from a four-person job, which included two full-time instructors and two teaching assistants to a two-person job for the teaching assistants with minimal oversight required at the instructor-level.
- A professor at higher education organization in Missouri indicated that their administration time spent outside of the classroom decreased from 4 hours per week to less than 2 hours per week with PlayPosit.
- A professor at a higher education organization in New York created supplemental virtual content with PlayPosit that was aimed at supporting students during absences from class. Students benefited from being able to engage in course materials despite an absence, and the educator benefited from fewer office hours and less time spent responding to student communications regarding catch-up materials.
- Survey respondents saw a time savings of 50% on lesson planning attributed to content created with PlayPosit saved to their content library for reuse annually.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- Educators as users of PlayPosit are measured as FTEs. 50 educator FTEs adopt PlayPosit in Year 1, growing 10% annually year over year.
- Each educator previously spent 4 hours per week on administrative tasks, such as grading, fielding student questions and communication, and lesson planning.
- The composite organization is in higher education and assumes that there are 30 weeks of teaching, on average, annually across two semesters.
- The fully burdened hourly rate for educators is $55. This rate assumes an annual salary of $115,000 and is divided by 2,080 working hours in the year.
- A 50% productivity rate is applied because not all the time savings will be redistributed to value-add work.
Risks. Administrative time savings for educators outside of the classroom may vary depending on the following:
- Adoption of the tools by educators in terms of volumes of both users and videos created.
- Class sizes and the associated time spent on administration before WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools.
- The average salary for impacted educators.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $202,000.
Administrative Time Savings For Educators Outside Of The Classroom
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Educators using PlayPosit annually | Composite | 50 | 55 | 60 | |
| A2 | Time spent annually on administration outside of the classroom before PlayPosit (hours) | Interviews | 120 | 120 | 120 | |
| A3 | Time savings on administration outside of the classroom with PlayPosit | Interviews | 50% | 50% | 50% | |
| A4 | Fully burdened hourly rate for an impacted educator | TEI standard | $55 | $55 | $55 | |
| A5 | Productivity recapture rate | TEI standard | 50% | 50% | 50% | |
| At | Administrative time savings for educators outside of the classroom | A1*A2*A3*A4*A5 | $82,500 | $90,750 | $99,000 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓10% | |||||
| Atr | Administrative time savings for educators outside of the classroom (risk-adjusted) | $74,250 | $81,675 | $89,100 | ||
| Three-year total: $245,025 | Three-year present value: $201,942 | |||||
Efficiencies In The Classroom For Educators
Evidence and data. With PlayPosit, the interviewees created virtual content that was supplementary to in-person classroom instruction either optimizing time spent in the classroom or replacing in-person instruction entirely. In this way, educators spent less time in the classroom without compromising learning comprehension and, ultimately, were able to reach more students without adding to in-person classroom time.
- A lecturer at a higher education organization in California indicated that their course went from in-person classes that met two times a week with mandatory attendance to meeting once a week in the classroom and once a week virtually. In this way, they could accommodate the schedules of their students better, allowing them to enroll 600 or more students in the course per semester.
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A professor at a higher education organization in New York reduced time spent on in-class room instruction in two ways. First, they used PlayPosit to create virtual review sessions for exams to replace in-person review sessions. While the in-person review sessions prior to PlayPosit used to get 100 or so of the 900-student class, the new, virtual content received thousands of views. Second, they moved half of their summer session content to virtual-only content with PlayPosit. Summer classes used to meet four times a week in the classroom. With PlayPosit, the interviewee eliminated half of the in-person classroom sessions to provide more flexibility to students in the summer months when they often have other responsibilities, such as summer jobs.
This interviewee stated: “I put half of my summer session content on PlayPosit to cut the amount of time spent in the classroom by half. Students don’t want to be in a classroom four days a week in the summer, they want to get summer jobs, etc. I also don’t want to be on campus four days a week in the summer.” - An instructional designer at a higher education organization in Missouri agreed that replacing in-person instruction with virtual content provided a level of flexibility to students that increased accessibility. They stated: “We need to create virtual content that is easily accessible to our priority communities. With PlayPosit, we can offer virtual content with a URL instead of having to provide access through complicated LMS systems.”
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- The value of this benefit is derived from power users of PlayPosit, or educators that use the tool to such an extent that they are comfortable replacing in-person instruction or review with virtual, interactive content. The percentage of educators who are considered power users at the composite organization starts at 4% in Year 1 and grows to 10% by Year 3.
- The impacted educators replace 50% of prior in-person instructional time with content created with PlayPosit. So, educators that previously spent 8 hours per week in the classroom now only spent 4 hours per week.
- The fully burdened hourly rate for educators is $55. This rate assumes an annual salary of $115,000 and is divided by 2,080 working hours in the year.
- There is no productivity recapture percentage on this benefit as the prior state assumes educators spent the additional time confined to the classroom.
Risks. Efficiencies from creating virtual content for educators may vary depending on the following:
- Overall adoption of PlayPosit by educators as well as the percentage of educators that adopt the tools as power users.
- The structure of individual courses prior to PlayPosit, whether they are in-person, fully remote, or hybrid.
- The average salary for impacted educators.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $59,000.
Efficiencies In The Classroom For Educators
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Percentage of total educators using PlayPosit as power users | Composite | 4% | 8% | 10% | |
| B2 | Educators using PlayPosit as power users | A1*B1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | |
| B3 | Time spent teaching in-person annually before PlayPosit (classroom hours) | Interviews | 240 | 240 | 240 | |
| B4 | Reduction in time spent in the classroom due to interactive content created with PlayPosit | Interviews | 50% | 50% | 50% | |
| B5 | Fully burdened hourly rate for an impacted educator | TEI standard | $55 | $55 | $55 | |
| Bt | Efficiencies in the classroom for educators | B2*B3*B4*B5 | $13,200 | $29,040 | $39,600 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓10% | |||||
| Btr | Efficiencies in the classroom for educators (risk-adjusted) | $11,880 | $26,136 | $35,640 | ||
| Three-year total: $73,656 | Three-year present value: $59,177 | |||||
Administrative Time Savings For Creating And Administering Instructor Trainings
Evidence and data. Interviewed administrators noted they created content with PlayPosit to cover teacher training topics and common administrative tasks, such as how to submit grades. As a result, administrators spent less time answering ad hoc questions from educators or hosting in-person training sessions for perfunctory tasks. The time savings were especially crucial as the volume of questions from educators peaked at the close of a semester or end of year when timing was of the utmost importance. With PlayPosit, administrators redirected their time to focus on teacher trainings for more value-added tasks or on more complex and nuanced topics.
- An instructional designer at a higher education organization in Missouri saved 10 hours per semester by creating five instructional videos on common training topics, including how to use PlayPosit, for educators to reference. The instructional designer stated, “I make [interactive videos] on PlayPosit to teach educators how to use PlayPosit to develop content for their own classes. I also use it to create bulbs to train educators on general administrative tasks that are required of them.”
- Survey participants indicated that video content volumes increased by 150% on average, annually.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- The composite organization has an administrative team of 10 resources that cover instructional design and learning management responsibilities. Of these 10 resources, 50% adopt PlayPosit in Year 1, increasing to 70% by Year 3.
- Administrators save on average 2 hours per video created and the volume of videos created per administrator scales by 150% year over year.
- The fully burdened hourly rate for administrators is $43. This rate assumes an annual salary of $90,000 and is divided by 2,080 working hours in the year.
Risks. Time savings for administrators in creating and administering instructor training may vary depending on the following:
- The rate of adoption for administrators and the volume of videos created to replace training sessions or cover common topic areas per administrator annually.
- The fully loaded annual salary for impacted administrators.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $20,000.
Administrative Time Savings For Creating And Administering Instructor Trainings
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | Administrators using PlayPosit annually | Composite | 5 | 6 | 7 | |
| C2 | Average interactive videos created per administrator annually | Composite | 10 | 15 | 23 | |
| C3 | Hours saved on administrative or training tasks per video | Interviews | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| C4 | Fully burdened hourly rate for an administrator | TEI standard | $43 | $43 | $43 | |
| Ct | Administrative time savings for creating and administering instructor trainings | C1*C2*C3*C4 | $4,300 | $7,740 | $13,846 | |
| Risk adjustment | ↓5% | |||||
| Ctr | Administrative time savings for creating and administering instructor trainings (risk-adjusted) | Composite | $4,085 | $7,353 | $13,154 | |
| Three-year total: $24,592 | Three-year present value: $19,673 | |||||
Unquantified Benefits
Interviewees and survey respondents mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:
- Improved use of educator time in the classroom. In addition to reducing the time spent on administrative tasks outside of the classroom and the overall time spent in a physical classroom, interviewees and survey respondents indicated that they made better use of the remaining time spent on classroom instruction. PlayPosit enhanced classroom instruction with interactive components, such as peer-sharing capabilities, and classroom analytics that enabled educators to personalize the learning experience to individual students. Classroom analytics were used to influence instruction in real time or adjust instructional materials for future lessons or classes. A learning management system administrator at a higher education organization in Wisconsin described how analyzing classroom data impacted the creation of instructional materials to further meet student comprehension needs and increase accessibility of the content, which led to smoother lesson delivery. They stated: “We see instructors reflecting on classroom analytics and asking students at the end of video content where the sticking points were [in the content]. It is fast learning for teachers and helps them adapt materials to make them more accessible at different levels.”
- Optimized video creation time spent. Prior to their organizations’ investment in PlayPosit, interviewees noted that video creation and interactive learning tools were difficult to use and had restrictions that impeded overall adoption of the tool in terms of the number of users and the volume of content created. With PlayPosit specifically, more educators and administrators adopted the tool and used it to supplement or replace in-person instruction. As a result, the interviewees noted that they spent more time creating videos and interactive content than they did prior to the investment. However, the additional time spent resulted in a higher overall output as well as better quality output measured by student views. A learning management system administrator at a higher education organization in Wisconsin synthesized the point, stating, “We might be spending 10 extra minutes adding interactivity interactions with PlayPosit, but [that extra time] is unlocking the power of video content through student views compared to videos of lectures that instructors were posting prior.” The same interviewee described how they used PlayPosit to motivate students to complete video content, which helped justify the additional time spent on the video content: “PlayPosit increased student motivation to watch video content to completion.”
- Improved student engagement. A learning management system administrator at a higher education organization said they in Wisconsin adopted video content creation best practices to further promote engagement. They said, “We know that the median time to engage for students is 6 minutes, and we now provide interactivity every 6 minutes with PlayPosit to help ‘reset the clock’ for students.” Additionally, 70% of survey respondents agreed that they enhanced the remote learning experience and/or increased attention and engagement in the classroom with PlayPosit. This success encouraged educators to unlock new use cases for video content. A professor at a higher education organization in New York replaced in-person exam review sessions with PlayPosit content to provide a more flexible learning experience for students that, ultimately, reached more students without requiring additional in-person teaching time for the educator. They stated: “I created exam-specific modules in PlayPosit for virtual review content. In this way, I can reach my 900 students without having to schedule multiple review sessions. These modules get thousands of views, so students are going through them more than once to learn material. Whereas, before, I would host in-person reviews that maybe 100 students would be able to attend.”
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Improved lesson, assignment, and course completion rates for students. At the lesson or assignment level, PlayPosit videos required student interaction to prove that content was completed. In this way, educators knew that the content was engaged with versus simply viewed by students, which introduced a level of accountability that was not previously established with prior video content or interactive video tools.
Interviewees from higher education organizations stated that course completion rates were critical metrics to collect as they influenced student credit earned. Even more so, the interviewee from the state university expansion program noted there was revenue associated with completed courses for their organization. PlayPosit not only provided the necessary analytics to back critical initiatives with data but also improved the rate of completion by 17% according to survey respondents. - Impacted learning outcomes. Interviewees stated that they believed that PlayPosit impacted learning outcomes because of the inclusion of interactivity in instructional materials. PlayPosit content established accountability and enabled repetition and learning through immediate feedback to drive better learning outcomes. A learning management system administrator at a higher education organization in Wisconsin stated: “[With PlayPosit], there is more accountability on behalf of the student to complete interactive video content and interactivity contributes to reinforcement. After the pilot [with PlayPosit], we surveyed student users, and five out of six surveyed students indicated that the tool helped their learning because they received immediate feedback.” The same interviewee indicated that they saw educators inputting course prep work into PlayPosit to ensure that the work was completed by students prior to arriving in the classroom. In this way, they influenced the quality of classroom discussions and were able to push lessons further during lessons. A professor at a higher education organization in New York used PlayPosit content to help students review for exams. They saw an improvement in test scores and even noticed that a notoriously difficult test was the highest scoring test of the semester. Over 50% of survey respondents also agreed that they saw improved learning outcomes, including improved test scores, due to PlayPosit.
Impact Of WeVideo And PlayPositVideo Learning Tools On Students
Enhanced the remote-learning experience Increased attention and engagement in the clasroom Increased collaboration between teachers and students Increased test scores Increased collabroation between students Increased attendance rates Increased graduation rates Other Somewhat agree Strongly agree
Base: 97 WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools users at education organizations
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of WeVideo, September 2024
- Improved school culture. Outside of instructional content, interviewees used PlayPosit to create informational content as well. This content called students’ attention to events, goings on, and offerings that encouraged healthy participation in the community. For example, an instructional designer at a higher education organization in Missouri created a wellness video for freshmen on PlayPosit that overlaid content with questions to surface personalized wellness offerings. They stated that the video “gave freshmen students the opportunity to view all dimensions of wellness, such as resources for recreation services, tutors, career services, resume writing resources, etc., to promote access and awareness of those offerings.” Additionally, survey respondents cited improved collaboration both between teachers and students as well as between students, which contributed to better learning environments and improved school culture.
- Eliminated learning obstacles for students. PlayPosit encouraged more flexibility in instruction by making it easy to create virtual content, prompting educators to convert more courses to hybrid or remote learning environments. Virtual content was not only more accessible by reducing in-person time commitments, but it also reduced the cost of course materials. A learning management system administrator at a higher education organization in Wisconsin noted how their organization intended to replace more textbook packets with PlayPosit content: “In this way, we can make our courses less expensive for students and, therefore, more accessible to lower income learners.” Additionally, PlayPosit was easy to access as it integrated seamlessly with existing backend systems and did not require users to go through complicated processes to gain access. In this way, the interviewees’ organizations avoided creating any new technology barriers for students.
Flexibility
The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement PlayPosit and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:
-
Revenue impact. While revenue impact was not the interviewees’ main driver for investing in PlayPosit, there were multiple instances where the underlying data and metrics on a trusted platform led to potential revenue or funding impacts, such as:
- Additional revenue streams for continuing education. Continuing education is a major revenue stream within the higher education space. However, there are strict requirements around tracking course completion rates that organizations must adhere to. A learning management system administrator at a higher education organization in Wisconsin emphasized: “Continuing education is revenue generating for the university, but we need to prove course completions. PlayPosit is integral in proving course completes compared to [using just LMS] for time-in-course metrics. Plus, it means less time spent arguing with students about course completions.”
- The ability to meet grant requirements or unlock new funding opportunities. Organizations are required to have detailed course completion rate data for institutions or programs that are funded through grants. Data from WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools helped the interviewees’ organizations meet these requirements and potentially avoid penalties, including lost funding. Additionally, in the K12 space, a media arts teacher indicated that having WeVideo and PlayPosit video learning tools enabled them to grow the digital arts/digital media department at their school, which could open them up to more grant and funding opportunities to further invest in the arts.
Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Appendix A).
Quantified cost data as applied to the composite
Total Costs
| Ref. | Cost | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dtr | WeVideo video learning tools cost | $0 | $25,046 | $25,046 | $25,046 | $75,138 | $62,286 |
| Etr | Additional time spent on video creation and interactive videos | $59 | $6,642 | $11,047 | $18,239 | $35,987 | $28,930 |
| Total costs (risk adjusted) |
$59 | $31,688 | $36,093 | $43,285 | $111,125 | $91,216 | |
WeVideo Video Learning Tools Cost
Evidence and data. Interviewees’ organizations paid annual licensing fees to WeVideo for use of the WeVideo and PlayPosit platforms. Licensing was based on contract type and user volumes. As such, pricing may vary. Contact WeVideo for additional details.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- The composite organization has an unlimited PlayPosit license with WeVideo based on a total potential user population of 5,000 students, 300 educators, and 10 administrators.
- The unlimited license is $21,779 per year and totals $62,285 over the three-year investment period.
Risks. Costs to WeVideo might vary depending on the following:
- The license type purchased from WeVideo.
- The annual cost is valued on the volume of users on the platform.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $62,000.
WeVideo Video Learning Tools Cost
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Fee for an unlimited PlayPosit license based on estimated user volumes | Composite | 0 | $21,779 | $21,779 | $21,779 |
| Dt | WeVideo video learning tools cost | D1 | $0 | $21,779 | $21,779 | $21,779 |
| Risk adjustment | ↑15% | |||||
| Dtr | WeVideo video learning tools cost (risk-adjusted) | $0 | $25,046 | $25,046 | $25,046 | |
| Three-year total: $75,138 | Three-year present value: $62,286 | |||||
Additional Time Spent On Video Creation And Interactive Videos
Evidence and data. Interviewees’ organizations spent additional time on video creation with PlayPosit to fuel various use cases. Administrators spent more time on video creation than with prior tools, creating content for their own internal training purposes as well as to support educators in building content for their courses. Additionally, as educators adopted the tool, they took on more and more content creation themselves, spending more time creating videos overall.
- Survey results indicated that respondents created 150% more videos each year.
- PlayPosit video creation timelines ranged in survey data from 15 minutes to 2 hours. Survey data indicated an average timeline of 30 minutes.
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
- Educators each create 150% more videos year over year with PlayPosit. Educators create four videos each in Year 1 and nine videos per year by Year 3.
- The educator-made videos take 30 more minutes to create with PlayPosit compared to video creation times with previous tools due to the additional layers of critical interactivity to the videos that enhance the engagement experience for students.
- Administrators begin creating videos in an initial pilot program. Video creation ramps in Year 1 when administrators start creating videos for educators in addition to their own internal purposes. Administrators’ videos created for both use cases total 50 in Year 1 and scales to 161 by Year 3.
- The administrator makes videos take 15 more minutes to create with PlayPosit compared to video creation timelines with previous tools due to the level of interactivity included in the videos. Videos created by administrators are less complex and shorter than those created by educators.
Risks. Additional time spent on video creation and interactivity may vary depending on the following:
- Adoption of PlayPosit by all user types as well as the volume of videos created by each user annually.
- The types of videos created and the content creation timeline for those videos.
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $29,000.
Additional Time Spent On Video Creation And Interactive Videos
| Ref. | Metric | Source | Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | Average additional videos created per year per educator with PlayPosit | Survey data | 4 | 6 | 9 | |
| E2 | Total additional videos educators create per year with PlayPosit | A1*E1 | 200 | 330 | 540 | |
| E3 | Average additional time educators spend on video creation per video with PlayPosit (minutes) | Survey data | 30 | 30 | 30 | |
| E4 | Total hours educators spend on video creation per year with PlayPosit | E2*E3/60 | 100 | 165 | 270 | |
| E5 | Fully burdened hourly rate for an educator | Assumption | $55 | $55 | $55 | |
| E6 | Subtotal: Total cost of educator time spent on video creation with PlayPosit | E4*E5 | $5,500 | $9,075 | $14,850 | |
| E7 | Total additional videos created per year by administrators with PlayPosit | C1*C2 | 5 | 50 | 90 | 161 |
| E8 | Average additional time administrators spend on video creation per video (minutes) | Interviews | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| E9 | Total hours administrators spend on video creation per year | E7*E8/60 | 1.25 | 13 | 23 | 40 |
| E10 | Fully burdened hourly rate for an administrator | Assumption | $43 | $43 | $43 | $43 |
| E11 | Subtotal: Total cost of administrator time spent on video creation with PlayPosit | E9*E10 | $54 | $538 | $968 | $1,731 |
| Et | Additional time spent on video creation and interactive videos | E6+E11 | $54 | $6,038 | $10,043 | $16,581 |
| Risk adjustment | ↑10% | |||||
| Etr | Additional time spent on video creation and interactive videos (risk-adjusted) | $59 | $6,642 | $11,047 | $18,239 | |
| Three-year total: $35,987 | Three-year present value: $28,930 | |||||
Consolidated Three-Year, Risk-Adjusted Metrics
Cash Flow Chart (Risk-Adjusted)
Total costs Total benefits Cumulative net benefits Initial Year 1 Year 2 Year 3-
The financial results calculated in the Benefits and Costs sections can be used to determine the ROI, NPV, and payback period for the composite organization’s investment. Forrester assumes a yearly discount rate of 10% for this analysis.
These risk-adjusted ROI, NPV, and payback period values are determined by applying risk-adjustment factors to the unadjusted results in each Benefit and Cost section.
Cash Flow Analysis (Risk-Adjusted)
| Initial | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | Present Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total costs | ($59) | ($31,688) | ($36,093) | ($43,285) | ($111,125) | ($91,216) |
| Total benefits | $0 | $90,215 | $115,164 | $137,894 | $343,273 | $280,792 |
| Net benefits | ($59) | $58,527 | $79,071 | $94,609 | $232,148 | $189,576 |
| ROI | 208% | |||||
| Payback | <6 months | |||||
Appendix A: Total Economic Impact
Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of IT initiatives to both senior management and other key business stakeholders.
Total Economic Impact Approach
-
Benefits represent the value delivered to the business by the product. The TEI methodology places equal weight on the measure of benefits and the measure of costs, allowing for a full examination of the effect of the technology on the entire organization.
-
Costs consider all expenses necessary to deliver the proposed value, or benefits, of the product. The cost category within TEI captures incremental costs over the existing environment for ongoing costs associated with the solution.
-
Flexibility represents the strategic value that can be obtained for some future additional investment building on top of the initial investment already made. Having the ability to capture that benefit has a PV that can be estimated.
-
Risks measure the uncertainty of benefit and cost estimates given: 1) the likelihood that estimates will meet original projections and 2) the likelihood that estimates will be tracked over time. TEI risk factors are based on “triangular distribution.”
The initial investment column contains costs incurred at “time 0” or at the beginning of Year 1 that are not discounted. All other cash flows are discounted using the discount rate at the end of the year. PV calculations are calculated for each total cost and benefit estimate. NPV calculations in the summary tables are the sum of the initial investment and the discounted cash flows in each year. Sums and present value calculations of the Total Benefits, Total Costs, and Cash Flow tables may not exactly add up, as some rounding may occur.
Appendix B: SURVEY DETAILS
Top 3 Industries
| Higher ed – College/university | 54% |
| K12 – Elementary school | 15% |
| Higher ed – Graduate school | 12% |
Assignment Completion Rates
| Extended assignment completion rates prior to WeVideo and PlayPosit | 35% |
| Extended assignment completion rates with WeVideo and PlayPosit | 38% |
Primary Use Case for WeVideo and/or PlayPosit
| Educators developing interactive video lessons for classroom use | 74% |
| Administrators/coaches creating videos for staff professional development | 27% |
| Administrators/instructional design teams supporting educators In creating video lessons | 23% |
| Students creating project-based learning videos for coursework | 19% |
| Educators/administrators producing interactive videos for extracurricular activities | 11% |
| Students producing videos for extracurricular activities | 7% |
| Students creating videos for media arts coursework | 6% |
| Other | 1% |
Key Investment Decision Drivers
| To support hybrid/remote teaching environments | 30% |
| To facilitate student engagement | 28% |
| To enable student-centered and personalized learning experiences | 14% |
| To increase teaching efficacy in the classroom | 8% |
| To increase productivity for administrators in learning management or professional development | 7% |
| To drive collaboration in classrooms | 4% |
| To update the available technology in the classroom | 3% |
| To support equity and access for students | 3% |
| Other | 3% |
Current Position or Department
| Teacher/professor – Nondigital arts/media subject | 51% |
| Teacher/professor – Digital arts/media subject | 12% |
| Instructional design | 9% |
| Informational/educational technology | 7% |
| Assistant principal/principal | 2% |
| Administrator – Operations | 2% |
| Professional development/instructional coaching | 1% |
| Administrator – Student services | 1% |
| Other | 15% |
Length of Use of WeVideo and/or PlayPosit
| Less than 6 months | 9% |
| 6 months to under 12 months | 8% |
| 12 months to under 16 months | 9% |
| 16 months or over | 48% |
Median Videos Created Annually
| Average number of videos created prior to WeVideo and PlayPosit | 20 |
| Average number of videos created with WeVideo and PlayPosit | 32 |
Median Views per Video
| Average number of views per video prior to WeVideo and PlayPosit | 30 |
| Average number of views per video with WeVideo and PlayPosit | 70 |
Median Minutes Required to Create Videos
| Average number of minutes to create one video prior to WeVideo and PlayPosit | 45 |
| Average number of minutes to create one video with WeVideo and PlayPosit | 30 |
Teacher Efficiencies in Lesson Delivery from Personalizing Student Experiences
| Less than 5% reduction in time | 6% |
| 5% to 10% reduction in time | 17% |
| 11% to 15% reduction in time | 11% |
| 16% to 25% reduction in time | 33% |
| 26% to 30% reduction in time | 11% |
| 31% to 40% reduction in time | 11% |
| 41% to 50% reduction in time | 0% |
| Greater than 50% reduction in time | 6% |
| No reduction in time | 6% |
Teacher Efficiencies in Lesson Delivery from Classroom Analytics
| Less than 5% reduction in time | 0% |
| 5% to 10% reduction in time | 33% |
| 11% to 15% reduction in time | 27% |
| 16% to 25% reduction in time | 0% |
| 26% to 30% reduction in time | 13% |
| 31% to 40% reduction in time | 0% |
| 41% to 50% reduction in time | 13% |
| Greater than 50% reduction in time | 13% |
| No reduction in time | 0% |
Lesson Completion Rates
| One-time lesson completion rates prior to WeVideo and PlayPosit | 41% |
| One-time lesson completion rates with WeVideo and PlayPosit | 74% |
Course Completion Rates
| Course completion rates prior to WeVideo and PlayPosit | 44% |
| Course completion rates with WeVideo and PlayPosit | 61% |
Note: Percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
Appendix C: Endnotes
1 Source: Reduce Technical Debt By Understanding Enterprise Video Platform Capabilities Before RFP, Forrester Research, Inc., December 20, 2023.
2 Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists vendors in communicating the value proposition of their products and services to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of IT initiatives to both senior management and other key business stakeholders.
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