Using Labeled Graphics to Create Interactive Pictures in E-Learning #371

Labeled Graphics in E-Learning #371: Challenge | Recap

What’s the Swiss Army Knife of E-Learning Interactions?

Some e-learning experts claim that the tabs interaction is the most common type of e-learning interaction. Fair enough. Tabs use a familiar navigation layout that makes it super easy to chunk information.

But tabs require a structured layout. You can’t drop tabs on a slide willy-nilly and expect the content to fall into place. Their size and position should fill the height or width of a slide while leaving proper space for their associated content.

The Most Versatile E-Learning Interaction

If there’s one e-learning interaction that’s even more common than tabs, it’s the labeled graphic. Like tabs, labeled graphics are click-and-reveal interactions that let learners pull information when they need it.

Unlike tabs interactions, labeled graphics don’t require a structured layout. Instead, labeled graphics use small buttons (called markers) that can be placed anywhere over an existing, static slide to transform it into something more explorable.

Anatomy of an Interactive Marker

For the example above, I used Articulate Storyline's built-in markers. They're quick and easy, and they always work. However, if you want to step away from using the default markers, you can create your own using basic shapes. Here's what you'll need:

The only thing left is finding a place to put your markers. And that’s what this week’s challenge is all about!

Challenge of the Week

This week, your challenge is to design a labeled graphic interaction for e-learning. You can use the built-in markers or create something from scratch using shapes and graphics.

New Entries Only!

We hosted our first labeled graphics challenge over five years ago and the entries were amazing. To keep things fresh, we’re asking you share a new entry or rework a previous example for this week’s challenge.

Share Your E-Learning Work

• Comments: Use the comments section below to share a link to your published example and blog post.
• Forums: Start  your own thread and share a link to your published example..
• Personal blog:  If you have a blog, please consider writing about your challenges. We’ll link back to your posts so the great work you’re sharing gets even more exposure.
• Social Media: If you share your demos on Twitter or LinkedIn, try using #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can track your e-learning coolness.

Last Week’s Challenge:

Before you get started with this week's challenge, check out the creative ways web objects can be used for just-in-time support:

Using Web Objects in E-Learning RECAP #370: Challenge | Recap

New to the E-Learning Challenges?

The weekly e-learning challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of the previous challenges anytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos.

Learn more about the challenges in this Q&A post and why and how to participate in this helpful article.