Videos are a commonly used learning tool in e-learning because they easily demonstrate how to do physical or web-based tasks. Since Articulate 360 Content Library gives you access to thousands of videos, it’s never been easier to find the one you need for your e-learning project. Here’s the best part: Storyline 360 makes it super-easy to take your videos a step further and make them interactive using a few key features. Let's take a closer look.

Cue Points

Cue points are useful when it comes to creating interactive videos in Storyline. They are bookmarks you can place anywhere on the timeline to trigger events.

Cue points are useful when it comes to creating interactive videos because they can be used to pause the video at certain points on the timeline.

Here’s an example of an interactive video that uses cue points to pause the video at key moments to display a question the learner must answer.

Medical Training: Interactive Video | Download

Learn more about cue points:

Layers

Layers are another powerful feature e-learning designers frequently use to create interactive video. You can use layers to display additional information appearing on the screen while the video is playing or when it’s paused.

Here’s an example of an interactive video that uses layers to display additional pop-up information for each step of the process.

Barista Training: Interactive Video | Download

Learn more about layers and how to use them:

Hotspots

Hotspots allow you to create a clickable area on the screen. They can be used on top of videos to encourage learners to click on parts of the scene.

Here’s an example of an interactive video that uses clickable hotspots to display additional information about this piece of heavy equipment.

Heavy Equipment Training: Interactive Video | Download

Learn more here: Working with Hotspots in Storyline 360

In Sum

Hopefully these features and examples get you thinking about ways you can turn your video into something more engaging and interactive. What features do you use to create interactive videos? Let me know in the comments below!

Want to try something you learned here, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial, and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.

50 Comments
Daniel Jovanov
Nicole Legault
Nate Marshall

Curious if there is a way to do any of this while still allowing the player controls to be available. Because without that there is no accessibility. It also may be nice for learners to be able to pause or skip around. When that is done though the timing gets all messed up and the interactions break. For example if i have a cue point at 21 seconds on the timeline that does not directly link to 21 seconds in the video. If the video is skipped the buttons on my second layer will be missed and the video will pause on the 21st second of time on that slide not the video. The interactions cannot be timed to the video if you allow player controls to be available. Other methods like placing all the elements on the timeline and not other layers still have the same issue. For instance if I p... Expand

Daniel Jovanov
Nate Marshall
Daniel Jovanov