3 Ways to Personalize Your E-Learning Courses

As e-learning designers, we’re often looking for quick and easy ways to create a more personalized learning experience. There are many options for making courses more engaging and meaningful to the learner, but they all come down to this: letting the learner interact with the content and actively make decisions. Let’s take a look at three ways you can personalize your next course.

Speak Directly to Your Learner

Asking learners to enter their names at the start of the course—and then addressing them directly throughout the training—is a great way to add a personal touch.

Here’s an example of what that could look like:

 View the Demo

Find out how easy it is to add and display the learner’s name in Storyline 360 in this article: Add and Display a Learner’s Name in Storyline 360. Short on time? Grab this free download and the work is already done for you. Couldn’t be any easier!

Select an Avatar

Another fun way to personalize a course is to let learners select an avatar early on that either represents them throughout the course or simply guides them along. Here’s an example of how you can choose an avatar at the start of the course and have it appear later within a scenario:

View the Demo

This functionality is easy to achieve when you’re working with Content Library 360 characters (both illustrated and photographic) and variables in Storyline 360. Here’s a free template you can download: Storyline 360: Choose an Avatar Template.

Another fun way to present this content is to let learners choose their avatar by dragging a slider, as opposed to just clicking directly on a character.

View the Demo

It’s the same idea, but includes a more creative way to allow learners to make the selection. If you like it, go ahead and download the free template and use it in your next project!

Create Branched Scenarios

Another exciting way to personalize your e-learning is with branched scenarios. In a branched scenario, each learner will have a different path through the course based on the choices he or she makes. This encourages exploration and decision-making and results in a truly personalized learning experience. 

Here’s an example of a branched scenario that also includes some other personal touches, including the learner’s name and a progress meter.

View the Demo

Seem like something you could use for your next project? Download the template.

Remember these three techniques the next time you’re designing a course and want to offer a more personal touch to your learners. Do you have any other personalization techniques you like to use that we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comments!

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.