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E-Learning Challenges
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How I Became an E-Learning Instructional Designer #469

DavidAnderson's avatar
4 months ago

What Instructional Designers Do #469: Challenge | Recap

Have you ever tried explaining your job to friends or family, and all you get are those confused looks? Even though our industry is booming, titles like “Instructional Designer” or “E-Learning Designer” are still pretty much a mystery to most folks.

It usually leads to a bunch of questions: What kind of education did you need? What exactly do you do? What technologies do you use? Do you build those compliance courses I have to take? And, of course, what do you love about your job? 

Now, explaining all that can be a bit of a challenge, but it’s also a great way to show off the wide range of skills we bring to the table. And demystifying our profession is what this week’s challenge is all about.

🏆 Challenge of the Week

This week, your challenge is to share an example that explains what you do as an e-learning or instructional designer. Your example can be anything from a simple static graphic to a complex interaction.

✨ Share Your E-Learning Work

  • Comments: Use the comments section below to link your published example and blog post.
  • Forums: Start a new 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 to your posts so your great work gets even more exposure.
  • Social media: If you share your demos on Twitter or LinkedIn, try using #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can follow your e-learning coolness.

🙌 Last Week’s Challenge:

Before you share your e-learning origin story, check out the drag-and-drop interactions your fellow challengers shared:

Drag-and-Drop in E-Learning RECAP #468: 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

Published 4 months ago
Version 1.0
  • Ron_Katz's avatar
    Ron_Katz
    Community Member
    Hello Heroes, I guess I took this a bit literally. You can follow my journey, but I've only completed 5/6 of the videos so far. They should all be done by post time.

    Demo: https://360.articulate.com/review/content/108bfa6f-4739-487e-a8c2-6b12d9d2e540/review

    I use an image with a path cut out and wipe image animations behind it triggered by the markers. The end of the animation triggers the layers. Videos are created with CreateStudioPro.

    I've also redesigned my website to make it simpler and less distracting (I hope!). You can view it here: https://ronkatzelearning.carrd.co/

    Let me know your thoughts.
    • JenifferBrubake's avatar
      JenifferBrubake
      Community Member
      Hi Ron, I've looked at many of your challenge responses and it's great to see how your work has evolved over the years! I love how you used the computer voice coupled with a natural voice. Sometimes the computer voices are dull, but this combo worked and kept me interested to the end.
  • JodiSansone's avatar
    JodiSansone
    Community Member
    Corporate Curveball
    Demo: https://jodisdemos.s3.amazonaws.com/469+ID/story.html

    The title of this challenge seemed different from the description, so I went with the exact moment in corporate America I was told to be an ID. That was in 2001, and although the moment was upsetting to me (as I was a Marketing Director and had a long career in marketing, sales and advertising that I loved) it ended up being a great life vector change for me. Here's how I remember the moment. :)
    • JodiSansone's avatar
      JodiSansone
      Community Member
      Thank you all for the comments. Looking back, "2001 Jodi" was not happy with the change that came, but "2024 Jodi" is very pleased with how things turned out. If I hadn't been given that assignment, I never would have met all the kind and supportive people in this community.
    • NickMorrison's avatar
      NickMorrison
      Community Member
      Wow - that sounds like a very stressful transition for sure!
      You know it's funny as I often look at ID and learning in general as a sales/marketing problem. I try to put myself in the learner's perspective, in so much as "what's in it for me?".
      Usually there is a problem (pain) that needs to be highlighted and my training is the solution (relief from the pain).
      Sometimes it leads to very creative and fun outputs that really ups the buy-in.
      (Let's face it - most people really only care about themselves anyway...) ;)
      All that to say they likely made a great pic when selecting you to spearhead their new learning hub initiative! Judging by the time that's passed since - you've excelled in the field!
    • Ron_Katz's avatar
      Ron_Katz
      Community Member
      Loved this, Jody. The title and video production are superb.
    • Ron_Katz's avatar
      Ron_Katz
      Community Member
      Wonderful work, Samuel. You always inspire us.
    • JodiSansone's avatar
      JodiSansone
      Community Member
      Cute! I sure do remember! My memory is not as hip as your memory. :)
      • Samuel's avatar
        Samuel
        Community Member
        Haha. It has been a pleasure creating alongside you, Jodi!
  • I work for Totara and I create courses to teach people how to administrate an LMS.

    This is an example of one of our courses:
    https://totara.community/course/view.php?id=835

    We use Storyline to build the System Simulations in our courses such as this one:
    https://totara.community/mod/scorm/view.php?id=22651

    If you want to give this simulation a go you will need to first watch the related video here:
    https://totara.community/mod/page/view.php?id=22646

    Learners need to finish these simulations to complete the course and earn the course badge.
    • DavidAtkinson-d's avatar
      DavidAtkinson-d
      Community Member
      I'm curious, during the system simulation for adding a user. Did you create this in Storyline using the built in record screen > test mode steps? I am wondering how you achieved allowing the user to scroll down the page as I have been unable to do that using this method.
      • JordanAsh-a83d8's avatar
        JordanAsh-a83d8
        Community Member
        To allow the user to scroll up and down the page we built the simulation inside scrolling panels.

        We first take full page screenshots of our site using the fireshot extension in google chrome.

        We then chop this screenshot up into smaller sections. Storyline compresses images that are larger than the slide size - so if we have a screenshot that 1920x3000 and a slide size of 1920x1080 then we would need to split our screenshot into three.

        We then insert these three sections into our scrolling panel in storyline and align the sections to recreate our full screenshot.

        After this you can add any hotspots or text input boxes over the top of the screenshot.
    • DavidAtkinson-d's avatar
      DavidAtkinson-d
      Community Member
      I really like your systems training built in Storyline, excellent stuff
  • I work in a large team of developers, and I mostly focus on gamifying education.
    Customizing the appearance of a character is one way to help students associate themselves with the character and transfer their experiences onto themselves.
    When I show such examples to my friends, they say, "You really have a cool job."

    Here is my example of customizing a character's appearance: https://360.articulate.com/review/content/f669759e-b60a-43a1-8e14-99074c4f33c5/review

    You can download the template from this link: https://community.articulate.com/discussions/building-better-courses/customize-character-template
    • Ron_Katz's avatar
      Ron_Katz
      Community Member
      Alex, simple and straightforward interaction in any language. Thanks fort the download.
  • I have experienced the "confused looks" that you mention! I usually follow up by saying, "I create training materials and computer-based e-learning."

    As an instructional designer, it is important to understand when training can impact poor performance. I created a presentation to explain some factors affecting performance that training cannot typically change. This is part of the analysis an instructional designer performs when they meet with clients.

    When Training Isn't The Answer:
    https://360.articulate.com/review/content/d1e7bc51-e835-4af1-af32-455a17bb4719/review
    • Ron_Katz's avatar
      Ron_Katz
      Community Member
      Jeniffer, Great storytelling and use of Storyline built in characters. I almost spelled your name wrong because my wife, Jennifer, spells it differently.
      • JenifferBrubake's avatar
        JenifferBrubake
        Community Member
        Thanks Ron! I liked your example too. I will leave you a note below. I get that a lot on my name. My dad spelled it wrong and now everyone else does too LOL
  • "Hi, my name's Jon Hill, and I trick people into taking Compliance training."

    LOCKDOWN THE LABORATORY
    https://bit.ly/elhc469

    This demo is mobile-first, designed for security staff who aren't at a desk all day, and who often work alone. It uses gamification to encourage resource management, accuracy and thoroughness. It also uses a bit of humour to reinforce a message. In a nutshell, that's what I try to do as an Instructional Designer.

    Am I always successful? Why do you think I'm here. Every day's a school day!
    • Ron_Katz's avatar
      Ron_Katz
      Community Member
      If every day is a school day, I'm pleased that you are one of our (voluntary) instructors. As always, love your sense of humor and graphic design skills. You created a real sense of urgency in a "realistic" scenario.