LinkedIn Learning is a popular online learning platform that offers thousands of video courses taught by industry experts. With a vast library covering topics like software development, creative skills, business strategy, and more, LinkedIn Learning makes it easy to learn new skills and advance your career from the comfort of your home or office.
One common question from LinkedIn Learning users is whether you can fast forward through the videos. Like other streaming platforms, LinkedIn Learning does give you the ability to skip ahead or fast forward through videos.
Skipping ahead in LinkedIn Learning videos
When watching a video in LinkedIn Learning, you have full control over the playback. Below the video player, you’ll see the standard video controls, including the ability to play/pause, adjust the volume, enter fullscreen mode, and more.
On the far right of the video controls is a seek bar, which shows your current playback position in the video and allows you to skip ahead. You can click and drag the handle on the seek bar to jump forward or back in the video.
When you click on the seek bar, a preview thumbnail will appear showing you a still image from that part of the video to help guide your navigation. This makes it easy to fast forward to later sections of the video.
In addition to the seek bar, you can also use the right and left arrow keys on your keyboard to skip forward and back 5 seconds at a time. This provides a quick way to fast forward through small sections.
Fast forwarding in LinkedIn Learning
In addition to skipping ahead, LinkedIn Learning also gives you the ability to dynamically fast forward through videos at increased speed. Just above the seek bar in the video controls, you’ll see a speed option.
By default, videos play at normal 1x speed. But you can click on this control to increase the playback speed to 1.5x, 2x, or even 3x. At 3x speed, you’re watching the video 3 times faster than normal speed.
Fast forwarding can be helpful if you’re watching a longer video and want to speed through certain sections. It allows you to maintain the flow of the video without jumping around, while saving time.
One tip is to first try increasing playback speed to 1.5x or 2x. 3x can be very fast and potentially difficult to comprehend the content. But for short reviews or if you’re already familiar with the material, 3x could work.
Why fast forwarding can be useful
Here are some of the reasons why many LinkedIn Learning users take advantage of the ability to fast forward and skip ahead:
- Skip over sections you already know
- Speed up repetitive demonstrations or long examples
- Quickly scan ahead to see if a video will be relevant
- Shorten total video playback time to complete courses faster
- Focus on parts of a video most relevant to your needs
Fast forwarding allows you to customize your learning experience based on your individual knowledge and goals.
Tips for effective fast forwarding
While the ability to fast forward can be helpful, it does require some caution. Skipping too much or speeding through important explanations can mean missing key information. Here are some tips for using fast forwarding effectively:
- Preview video sections before fully skipping to ensure you don’t miss important points
- Rewatch sections at normal speed if you feel you didn’t comprehend the content
- Increase playback speed gradually instead of maximizing speed right away
- Focus on forwarding through repetitive or overexplained sections rather than new concepts
- Stop and rewind if you realize you’ve skipped something you need to see
The most effective strategy is frequently pausing and assessing whether to continue forwarding, rewind, or return playback to normal speed based on the current content.
Limitations
While LinkedIn Learning does provide video controls for fast forwarding, there are some limitations to be aware of:
- You cannot fast forward through instructor intros/outros – these contain important context
- Playback speed adjusts the video itself, so audio will sound distorted at higher speeds
- Rewinding may be required if you skip too far and miss a key concept
- Preview thumbnails when dragging seek bar may not always represent content accurately
The best results come from using the fast forward features judiciously, and filling in gaps by rewinding and rewatching sections as needed.
Alternative speed options
In addition to fast forwarding within a video, LinkedIn Learning provides some alternative options to speed up your learning:
- Playlists – You can save videos to a playlist and set it to play videos back-to-back, allowing you to learn faster.
- Interactive transcripts – You can skim through interactive transcripts below each video to find and jump to relevant sections.
- Notes – Taking time-stamped notes lets you save key insights for later review.
Combining video navigation controls with other built-in features can optimize your learning efficiency on the platform.
Conclusion
Fast forwarding capability is a useful feature in LinkedIn Learning that allows customizing your video learning. While you can freely skip ahead or increase playback speed, it takes some discipline to avoid missing key insights. Using the controls strategically, along with other techniques like transcripts and playlists, provides the best experience.
So can you fast forward through LinkedIn Learning videos? Absolutely. This ability gives you greater control over your learning path. Just be sure to balance speed with stopping for reflection anytime important topics arise in a video.