Creating Courses from Webinars

Apr 21, 2013

Raye Shilen
By Raye Shilen

Hello Articulate Community! Long time listener, first time caller...

I've been working with Articulate Storyline as a self-taught user (thanks to the tutorials and this forum) for about eight months now.  A few weeks ago, I attended the 2-Day Basic and 1-Day Advanced Articulate Storyline trainings and finally learned how to do everything right as opposed to my patchwork system.  Now that I have a better understanding of how to use the software more efficiently, I'm looking for ideas/tips/tricks specifically related to some of the projects on which I work. 

One of my projects includes creating courses from recorded webinars. While I understand this is not the optimal foundation for an e-learning course, it is one way to enable these webinars to live on after they have been conducted. Does anyone else have experience in creating courses like this? Specifically, I'm looking for advice on the following:

  • How might one make the experience more interactive?
  • What are unique ways to organize these fairly linear artifacts?
  • What is the best way to segment a 60-90 minute webinar to maintain the learner's interest?

Any experiences you'd like to share would be greatly appreciated!

14 Replies
Melanie Sobie
almost 11 years ago04/21/13 at 2:28 pm (UTC)

Hi Raye,

I would recommend not thinking too much about the original content being in webinar form. If you've previously taken content from a classroom training event and converted it to online training, you can probably use those same priciples to deal with this project.

Hope this thought helps!

Rebecca Fleisch Cordeiro
almost 11 years ago04/21/13 at 4:31 pm (UTC)

HI Raye,

LOVE your intro to us (long time listener...). The community is glad to receive your first call.

Not sure how much help this will be regarding converting a webinar to eLearning with Storyline, but you asked about making the experience more interactive and maintaining Learners' interested. I think Tom Kuhlmann's post about Building Branched E-Learning Scenarios, with his 3 C's: Choice, Challenge, Consequences, sums it all up nicely.

The choice makes the Learners sit forward in their seats, as does the challenge, and the consequences speak for themselves.

I also came across another blog post recently when I was thinking about scenarios, entitled Draft a Branching Scenario in 6 Steps. Not only is this article well-done, the Blogger, Shelley A. Gable, has links to lots of other great post.

Good luck!

Diana Myers
almost 11 years ago04/22/13 at 1:26 pm (UTC)

Hi Raye,

I'm so glad to hear you got so much from the classes you attended!  I'm in your shoes as a self-taught Storyline users of 5 months, and I can't wait for the classes being offered locally in November.

Depending on your subject and content, you could add some interaction with additional screen cast recordings presented in Try Mode or Test Mode.  This would work well if you can break up the original recordings into smaller chunks, and then follow the webinar presentation with the opportunity for learners to try it on their own (with hints) or test their knowledge and comprehension (without hints).  Again, it all depends on the topic and subject matter, but many participants will follow the webinar material more closely if they know they have to complete the same procedures, processes, steps, etc. on their own after they watch.

Please keep us posted on your progress and how you achieved the interactivity you were looking for. 

Best wishes,

Diana

Raye Shilen
almost 11 years ago04/22/13 at 1:41 pm (UTC)

Thank you everyone! These are all great suggestions. It's so easy to get into a single mindset (or a RUT!)  when doing these, and I genuinely want to produce the best course possible for the subject. 

Diana, I was amazed at how much I DIDN'T know after I took the classes--but all in a good way. You will love the training. I'm definitely feeling more confident about moving forward, that's for sure!  

Thanks again!

Raye

Maurine Kwende
almost 11 years ago04/23/13 at 11:42 am (UTC)

Hello Raye,

I use presenter 09 to create courses from webinars, recorded videos.I havent used storyline yet so i wouldnt be giving any ideas on that.With Presenter 09, I create intro and concluding slides as a sandwich for the webinar.Since the webinars and recorded videos that i work with can not be split into two or more segments, its hard to bring in some interaction in the middle so i create quizzes and some interactions at the begining and at the end of the course to test their knowledge and keep them engaged.I use avatars/ pictures for narattion and use sound effects.For the quizzes i create them in quiz maker and the interactions i use engage.

our target audience are not so tech savvy and more of baby boomers.You might want to do an LNA to identify the needs pf your audience and then use those to design course.

Hope this helps.

Maurine

Maurine Kwende
almost 11 years ago04/23/13 at 12:26 pm (UTC)

Rebecca Fleisch Cordeiro said:

HI Raye,

LOVE your intro to us (long time listener...). The community is glad to receive your first call.

Not sure how much help this will be regarding converting a webinar to eLearning with Storyline, but you asked about making the experience more interactive and maintaining Learners' interested. I think Tom Kuhlmann's post about Building Branched E-Learning Scenarios, with his 3 C's: Choice, Challenge, Consequences, sums it all up nicely.

The choice makes the Learners sit forward in their seats, as does the challenge, and the consequences speak for themselves.

I also came across another blog post recently when I was thinking about scenarios, entitled Draft a Branching Scenario in 6 Steps. Not only is this article well-done, the Blogger, Shelley A. Gable, has links to lots of other great post.

Good luck!


I had a peek at Toms post you mentioned , it simply amazing. Ive learnt a whole lot on building scenarios

Raye Shilen
almost 11 years ago04/29/13 at 8:47 am (UTC)

Maurine, 

I love the idea of pre- and post-tests. I will have to try that. It also sounds like we're working with similar audiences. Creating interaction with a 60 minute (or in some cases 90 minute) is quite a challenge. Lately, I've been attempting to segment it into 5-10 minute chunks when I can. I've thought of adding "quiz-as-you-go" type features but haven't really played with it yet. 

Thank you for your help! 

Veolia Water Technologies
almost 9 years ago04/29/15 at 9:34 am (UTC)

I'm a late comer to this conversation but I thought it may be useful to explain how I've been working. I ensure that I have the powerpoint file and supporting documents used for the basis for the webinar presentation. I then extract just the audio from the webinar and chop it up into sections for each slide/item presented. I then take all the original files and import them into Storyline and add the audio for each slide. I then tidy up the audio and highlight/animate onscreen items where it seems appropriate. I also add pop ups indicating that a certain term is available in the Glossary or a document available in the Resources area. I transcribe and regroup any questions asked in sections on the way through the webinar. I haven't yet been asked to include a quiz section as by the time I get the content the expert has moved on to new projects...

Hope this is useful for someone.

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