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E-Learning Challenges
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Using Learning Journals to Keep Learners Focused & Engaged #425

DavidAnderson's avatar
2 years ago

Using Learning Journals in E-Learning #425: Challenge | Recap

Looking for a way to practice working with variables and keep your learners focused and engaged? Try adding a learning journal option to your next project.

Learning journals can be a great tool to help learners record their thoughts, insights, and questions about the course. They’re also a fantastic way to learn to work with text variables and references in Storyline 360. 

Check out the following examples to get an idea of how learning journals can work in e-learning.

Watch. Explore. Reflect.

I like this example because it features YouTube videos that give learners a big-picture overview of the topic, followed by a drag-and-explore activity, all before asking the student to jot down their ideas about life from outer space.

Example | Ron Katz | Website

Just-In-Time Journals

This example features a learning journal icon that’s available on every slide in the course. Giving learners a persistent means to track their thoughts and enhance their learning experience.

Example | Thierry EMMANUEL

Challenge of the Week

This week, your challenge is to share an interactive example that shows how learning journals and note-taking can be used to encourage learners to reflect on the material.

If you’re new to variables or need assistance with your example, let us know in either the comments section or in the Build Better Courses forums so we can help. 

Resources

Here are some resources for Storyline users. If you’re using another authoring tool or even a tool that doesn’t support variables (like PowerPoint) you can still share your ideas.

User Guide:

  • Storyline 360: Working with Variables. Use variables to remember information—such as a learner's name or a numeric value
  • Storyline 360: Adding Variable References. Variable references let you display that information anywhere in your course.
  • Storyline 360: Print Slide Trigger. Let learners print individual slides, such as certificates, with a single trigger—no coding required.

More resources:

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 reflect on this weeks challenge, check out the practical ways course designers transform static content into interactive e-learning:

Converting Static Slides Into Interactive E-Learning #424: 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.

Got an idea for a challenge? Are you interested in doing a webinar showcasing how you made one or more challenge demos? Or do you have some comments for your humble challenge host? Use this anonymous form to share your feedback:  https://bit.ly/ElearningChallengeForm.

Published 2 years ago
Version 1.0
  • Hello!

    A quick 'one slider' today - thought I'd try to gamify the notepad function. Perhaps this could be the start of an escape room? Hope you don't get LOST.

    THE NUMBERS STATION
    https://bit.ly/elhc425
    • KaliMaginity-4a's avatar
      KaliMaginity-4a
      Community Member
      I appreciate that you incorporated an additional variable to count the number of broadcasts! Is that associated with a trigger to add +1 to a broadcast "score" after an animation cycle? Or is it based on the duration of the cycle on the timeline (in seconds)?
      • Jonathan_Hill's avatar
        Jonathan_Hill
        Super Hero
        Thanks! It was the first method: +1 after each animation cycle. Good guess!
  • AshiTandon's avatar
    AshiTandon
    Community Member
    Loved it. So well made. The notepad was definitely needed here.
  • A bit older of a project, but this escape room has a note taking mechanic built into it.

    If you open the backpack, and then select the "Notes" icon, a notepad will open up allowing you to take notes on the clues in the escape room. This is extremely helpful to put together some of the compound puzzles that are contained in the room.

    https://www.teajaydesign.com/escaperoom/index.html
    • TJBarber-a1e652's avatar
      TJBarber-a1e652
      Community Member
      I've also used this feature to create an interactive workbook for ILT, having multiple note fields, and then forcing the storyline application to never reset when reopened. I wish I could show this piece but it is proprietary to the client, and recreating it would be a significant lift. But, it allowed users to use the workbook for a multiweek course (as long as they used the same computer hardware, as it appears the notes information is saved through the temp files related to web browsing.)
    • JenniferClarke's avatar
      JenniferClarke
      Community Member
      This is lovely - and I still consider myself a new parent because everyday is a new adventure - even (and maybe especially) 16 years on. ;-)
    • AshiTandon's avatar
      AshiTandon
      Community Member
      Hi Kymberly...Relatively new parent here. Liked the layout a lot :)
    • AshiTandon's avatar
      AshiTandon
      Community Member
      Great topic. Loved the overall look and feel.
    • SarahCooper-b98's avatar
      SarahCooper-b98
      Community Member
      I really enjoyed this. It is well-designed with the journals matching their corresponding slides. A bit of activity and interesting mechanics.
    • Jonathan_Hill's avatar
      Jonathan_Hill
      Super Hero
      Great concept and well-executed - I think that's Adobe Character Animator? I like how there are in fact two journals, on either side of the slide, and how neither interferes with the delivery of the story. As others have mentioned, I was expecting the icon to be persistent and it's also a little difficult to click. That can be fixed by adding a transparent shape to the Normal state of the icon, though. Enjoyed this!
      • MattWright-1173's avatar
        MattWright-1173
        Community Member
        Thanks for the input! I made those changes. And that is Character Animator.

        Love your work, we have very similar tastes in movies and music.
    • SarahCooper-b98's avatar
      SarahCooper-b98
      Community Member
      Fun animation and easy to use journal! I would suggest you add something to the background of the quiz so it is easier to distinguish the text from the scene (for accessibility sake).
    • Samuel's avatar
      Samuel
      Community Member
      Great interpretation. It was easy to follow along.
    • LauraHansen-065's avatar
      LauraHansen-065
      Community Member
      Love the color choices and great reflection prompts! I could see this being a pre-exercise to a facilitated leadership course. Like others, I love the use of the button to bring up a layer vs trying to cram it on the slide. I have to remember this! One small suggestion would be to repeat the question on the review slides, so if they print, they remember what the prompt was. Well done!
  • Ron_Katz's avatar
    Ron_Katz
    Community Member
    Here is my entry for this week. The subject, which is topical, was suggested by Bing Chat. The voice of the President is generated using Play.ht. I thought the voice of "Pedro" at .8 sounded most like Mr. Biden.

    Two of the three statements he actually said. One he didn't. If you guess which one, you can put it in your comments. You can check the resources and also turn on closed-captions.

    Demo: https://360.articulate.com/review/content/a0fd2553-727e-445d-b62f-9049774cdb39/review

    Download available in Comments/Feedback section on Review360.
  • Ron_Katz's avatar
    Ron_Katz
    Community Member
    David, thanks for the mention. I'm glad I included the download because this was actually a file I had lost. I updated it to include background audio and made some of the navigation clearer. I also, shamelessly, added my logo to the print screen page.
    • DavidAnderson's avatar
      DavidAnderson
      Staff
      It's a great example, Ron. If you ever need one of your files, let me know. I download every file you and others share and add them to your user folder where I manage your challenge entries. The way you work your branding into demos is totally fine.