Challenge Recap: Here’s What Your Fellow Course Designers Brought to the E-Learning Feast
What’s cookin’, E-Learning Heroes?
Since many of us here in the US will be celebrating Thanksgiving this week, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the Weekly Challenge entries you’ve shared over the past 12 weeks. And I’ll tell you, it’s a cornucopia of e-learning inspiration!
As I was compiling the entries, I was reminded of how thankful I am for this amazing community. You guys generously share your time, expertise, and ideas with one another. That’s a recipe for e-learning success—and that’s something we can all be thankful for.
How Would You Show Meaningful Comparisons?
- Montse Anderson shared a link to her interactive comparison graphic.
- Blair Parkin combined tabs navigation with transparent graphics to design his creative comparison example. Blair also shared his source files in this forum thread. Thanks, Blair!
- Tricia Ransom showed a creative use of drag-and-drop in her interactive comparison.
What’s Your Best Tabs Interaction?
- Heather Steckley kicked off the challenge with a roadmap theme and followed up with an out-of-the-box pseudo-scrolling tabs demo.
- Tricia Ransom shared creative example featuring interactive cabinet drawers with open and closed states.
- Kevin Thorn shared an elegant tabs example with animated tabs. Be sure to grab the free template he shared with his example.
- Przemysław Hubisz shared two grid-based tabs examples: version 1 and version 2.
- Montse Anderson shared a character tabs example along with a free Storyline template.
- Andrzej Rudnik shared a creative photo slideshow tabs interaction.
- Jenise Cook shared a desktop-themed tabs interaction. To help you get started creating your own tabs interaction, Jenise shared her Storyline file and recorded a screencast. Thanks, Jenise!
- Allen Way shared a simple yet practical tabs interaction that he built to recreate a DVD-style menu.
Gate Screens in Online Courses
- Montse Anderson shared a course-review gate screen that presented the learner with options to review resources, collaborate in discussion threads, or continue to the next chapter.
- Tracy Parish shared an out-of-this-world gate idea that featured a summary gate with options to dig deeper into the topic or return to the navigation slide. Great idea, Tracy!
- Lucia Salters shared a decision-making gate that asked learners to confirm their scenario choices or return to make a different selection. This is a practical approach for a lot of the courses we design in corporate e-learning.
- Blair Parkin took things in a creatively different direction by overlaying ribbon-styled gates over the in-slide video. While this approach is more subtle than the others, it’s an ideal solution that keeps the learner in the moment. Blair also shared his source files in this forum thread. Thanks, Blair!
- Joe Deegan added a playful admonition into his shark-infested gate example. Be sure to view the minimum number of videos or Snuffy gets it!
Flatten Up Your Course Design Skills
- Dana Dutiel kicked off the challenge with a PowerPoint example for coaching employees. Dana’s template features a creative menu, objectives, and scenario feedback slides.
- Andrzej Rudnik found inspiration from an existing template and a post by our very own Nicole Legault to create his flat design interaction. Be sure to download his free Storyline template.
- Artur Kowalski followed up with his own interactive flat example created in Articulate Storyline. Nice job, Artur!
- Gabi Cahalon shared a fun PowerPoint example designed around office security. Lots of neat ideas going on in this example.
- Mayra Aixa Villar really captured the essence of flat in her interactive quiz example.
- Gina Heumann captured the big, flat button styles common in flat designs in this fun demo featuring California wines.
- Ari Avivi shared a trivia game theme featuring flat buttons.
- Ian Minderman shared a simple yet flat example. Great job with the contrasting background colors and large icons. You totally captured the flat elements, Ian!
- Montse Anderson shared a flat square example featuring a menu screen and feedback layers.
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David Lindenberg shared a great flat design example. Check out David’s blog post on how he built his flat e-learning demo.
Desktop and Office Theme Designs
- Mariann Toth kicked things off with an office-themed exploration activity. Not only is this a great idea for a new hire course or spot-the-red-flags type activity, but she also built every graphic element in Storyline… and, shared the source file.
- Adrienne Tange put together a winning desktop theme replete with sticky notes, notepads, pencils, and tablet.
- Gabi Cahalon shared a notebook themed PowerPoint template featuring labeled graphics and sticky tabs navigation.
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Rachel Ingram threw things in a different direction in her Cubicle Basics demo where learners throw a crumpled paper ball to navigate slides.
Bring This Medical Training Course Back To Life!
- Sarah Redmond introduced herself to E-Learning Heroes by sharing her minimalist design that features creative navigation, lightboxes, and medical disclaimers.
- Mariann Toth really captured the medical theme in her template makeover. From the characters, to the colors and medical imagery, she totally captured the medical feel in this template.
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Curtis Pembrook also introduced himself to E-Learning Heroes with his medical makeover template. Really like the creative navigation, Ask the Expert, and Tips sub-navigation technique. This would make a great course template.
Weekly Challenge: Converting Static Content to Interactive Knowledge Checks
- Montse Anderson shared an example of how a text-heavy table can be converted into a multi-question knowledge check.
- David Anderson shared an example he re-worked for a blog reader. The example featured an introductory paragraph and three bullet points. Quickly and easily, he converted the bullet points to a drag-and-drop knowledge check.
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Nicole Legault jumped in to show how easy it is to convert static text using Quizmaker ‘13. Be sure to check out Nicole’s blog post describing how she put her demo together.
Create an E-Learning Template from Clip Art
- Tricia Ransom offered a healthy serving of creativity in her Farm Fresh Vegetable template.
- Destery Hildenbrand proved that clip art doesn’t have to be scary in his Halloween-themed demo.
- Jackie Van Nice found a way to relieve the pain from clip art by putting them to good use in this sales demo. Be sure to read her post where she describes how she put the demo together.
- Heather Steckley reminds us that breaking clip art is better than breaking office romance policies.
- Mark Woolwine went back to school to educate us on college basics in this creative demo. Be sure to check out Mark’s blog post on how he created his project.
- Rachel Ingram shared a wonderful demo that will get you up out of your seat.
- David Lindenberg shared another great demo and revealed his design process in a related blog post.
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Veronica Budnikas negotiated a winning concept with this creative demo. The file cabinet menu rocks!
Design an Ethics Course Template with Clip Art
- Jeff Kortenbosch did a great job reworking and coloring clip art graphics in this scenario-based ethics demo.
- Lara Sebastian demonstrated a novel approach to character dialog by including off-stage characters in this sweet-toothed ethics demo.
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Dawn Mahoney celebrated clip art week with a cheerful combination of ethical reminders for office employees in her ethics PowerPoint template.
Shoot Your Own E-Learning Background Graphics
- Alicia Durham shared a great example of DIY office and desktop graphics in this Personal and Professional Development course. Awesome example, Alicia!
- Montse Anderson shared a library-themed demo along with 100 free background graphics.
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Jeff Kortenbosch shared a set of awesome office backgrounds along with a Replay overview of his design process.
Design a Comic Book Theme for Your E-Learning Course
- Jeff Kortenbosch shared a kicked off the challenge with a graphic novel-inspired scenario interaction. Be sure to take a look at the free comic layouts Jeff used in his demo. Awesome example, Jeff!
- Ana Lucia Barguil based her challenge entry on a recent blog post by Tom. She shared three templates with different layouts. Swing by this forum thread to say “Thanks!” and download the awesome freebies
- Paul Alders shared page curls and animated transitions to show how Articulate Storyline helps you build engaging learning experiences. Great demo as always, Paul!
- Yewande Daniel-Ayoade shows how to teach SAP using comic book designs. I really like how she maximized limited clip art graphics in this project. Thanks, Yewande!
- Lawrence Williams resurrected one of his first Articulate Studio projects and leveraged some Storyline sweetness to create this storytelling demo. Great job, Lawrence! And thanks for sharing your source files.
- Nancy Woinoski shared her first Storyline project. Custom illustrations, drag-drop interaction, and storytelling make this a must-see project!
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Cary Glenn shared free PowerPoint and Storyline templates from his Manga style demo. Thanks, Cary!
Transform Infographics Into Interactive Graphics
- Jeff Kortenbosch kicked off the infographic challenge using both Storyline and Studio ‘13 to create a character-driven interaction. What’s cool about building the same demo in Storyline and Studio is the ability to compare production workflows and outputs from each tool.
- Paul Alders shared a custom puzzle interaction that helps users “get the picture” on why Storyline’s custom states are so powerful. I love how the puzzle pieces rotate when dragged.
- Ana Lucia Barguil shared an interactive map example that show percentages of Portuguese across the world. I really like how Ana used Storyline’s slide layers to simulate the zoom in effect for the countries. Ana always shares her source files so be sure to take a look at how she put her project together. Thanks, Ana!
- Mark Woolwine leveraged his clip art and flat design challenge demos for this week’s challenge. I really like vertical layout and the way he separated the interactivity from content sections. I could see this making a very nice template <wink>.
- Kelly Prince shared a demo that you won't forget. Great use of color and layout in this interactive markers demo.
- David Lindenberg posted a healthy example of creativity in this timeline makeover.
- Raymond M shared an interactive sample showing how The Wall compares to other large structures.
Even if you’re using a trial version of Studio '13 or Storyline, you can absolutely publish your challenge files. Just sign up for a fully functional, free 30-day trial, and have at it. And remember to post your questions and comments in the forums; we're here to help. For more e-learning tips, examples, and downloads, follow us on Twitter.
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