How Interactive Video in Canvas Delivers Engagement and ROI

It’s not news that the COVID-19 pandemic changed daily life in major ways, and the education system was no exception. Having to go to virtual class models, basically overnight, placed significant stress on educators, parents, and students. However, communities have adapted to new and innovative ways of schooling, and the bar has been raised for more flexible, accessible education tools that support different modalities of learning. Now, teachers and faculty can rely on interactive video to solve a wide range of problems while saving time and providing a better experience for students, learners, and even parents.

WeVideo Creates Scalable Interactive Video Experiences with Canvas Integration

The key to success with video in digital learning is to move beyond a passive experience: students click “play,” try to pay attention and retain some material, and move on to the next lesson or assignment. Interactive video makes that possible, shifting video’s usefulness from being a static resource to an active learning engine that engages students, collects insights, and adapts to their needs. The WeVideo integration into Canvas LMS makes these highly engaging experiences easily accessible where so much of learning already takes place.

WeVideo provides the infrastructure for educators to build interactive videos in an intuitive platform and easily assign them in Canvas without ever having to leave. The experience for students in Canvas is just as seamless — they can take quizzes, participate in discussions, and much more, to engage with lesson content. Every click, choice, and response becomes part of the learning process.The WeVideo platform's robust toolset allows educators to not only create interactive content, but also leverage powerful video editing features to produce high-quality instructional materials.

This integration saves educators time and helps them optimize their lessons: 

• Streamline the Canvas Workflow: Student completion and performance data flow seamlessly into the Canvas Gradebook. Instructors save hours of administrative time and avoid the hassle (and potential for errors) that come from manual data entry.

• Generate Actionable Data Inside Your Course: See exactly where students excel or struggle, in real time, without leaving Canvas. Use these insights to intervene early and tailor your instruction to students’ needs so nobody gets behind.

• Enhance Canvas Modules: This integration makes it easy to create dynamic, self-paced branched learning experiences for each student. Interactive video can guide learners through content based on their responses, creating personalized pathways that meet them where they are.

By using WeVideo directly with Canvas workflows, instructors can transform video from a passive teaching aid into a central driver of engagement, assessment, and personalized learning.

Interactivity in Action at Florida International University

In 2019, Florida International University (FIU) started working with PlayPosit (acquired by WeVideo in 2022 and integrated into the platform) to overhaul their interactive e-learning experience. They’d been using one of the first-ever video assessment tools on the market, and it simply needed replacing with an advanced, engaging, and interactive platform. The institution’s main goal was to go beyond simply replicating in-person educational experiences for its online campus – educators and administrators wanted to elevate the e-learning experience and make it even more impactful.

Then, 2020 came, and student disengagement spiked. 

FIU educators and faculty started exploring how to use WeVideo’s interactive features to right the ship. Eventually, they built a gamified syllabus quiz in Canvas, which required students to virtually explore campus and answer questions to proceed. They were able to directly see student engagement in action and make adjustments to improve clarity and ensure students had the information they needed to complete coursework successfully. 

The results spoke for themselves – 100% of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they felt prepared for the class after the syllabus quizzes.

WeVideo’s Canvas integration impacted student confidence and readiness for the semester, while helping FIU usher in a new era of immersive and interactive multimedia experiences.

Quantifiable Results from Interactive Video 

While FIU’s success is a powerful snapshot into the impact of interactive video, demonstrating ROI is even more important today as educators, districts, and their institutions are working with tighter budgets. To understand the financial implications of interactive video, WeVideo enlisted an independent firm – Forrester Consulting – to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study. 

The study found that, for the composite higher-ed organization modeled in the study, WeVideo would result in:

• A 208% return on investment (ROI) over three years
• The impacts are quantified at nearly $190,000 in net present value (NPV)
• Payback on investment in under six months

Beyond the balance sheet, the most compelling takeaway for Canvas users is time: educators reduced administrative workload by 50%, freeing up 6 hours each week to focus on instruction, student feedback, and higher-impact teaching activities. In other words, the platform doesn’t just pay for itself quickly – it gives faculty time back to do what matters most.

Explore How Interactive Video Can Impact Your Organization

At FIU, students confirmed the impact of interactive video, while a Forrester Consulting study proved its financial value and time savings. When interactive video is built seamlessly into Canvas– the world’s most-loved LMS– its benefits multiply: engagement grows, outcomes improve, and educators gain measurable efficiencies. Now that you know interactive video is proven to deliver real results, what’s next?

See the full financial analysis and build the case for WeVideo at your institution. Download the complete, independent Forrester TEI report to explore the data behind the 208% ROI.

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