Creative Thinkers Click here! Inspiration Needed for Sustainable Lifestyle E-Learning Tool

Jul 17, 2016

Hello lovely people,

I am an environmental student and I have been assigned to create a storyboard for an E Learning Tool on the theme of "Sustainable Lifestyles", which is to be used for the staff at my University. I have never created a storyboard before, and I am stuck for inspiration on what kind of fun ways I could present information on the storyboard. If any of you have any creative, fun ideas for this concept, I would love to hear them!

Many Thanks, Maire

7 Replies
Bob S

Hi Maire,

Most e-learning storyboards are business tools.... efficient short-hand to convey content (and sometimes style) ideas to stakeholders.  As such they are often not terribly creative in and of themselves.

That being said.... perhaps a combination approach might be in order here?  Create the stroryboard in a more traditional manner. But then include more detailed examples of the key "exciting" pieces of your proposed approach.  For example, if your approach is character based, include profiles, pictures, a few examples of 1 or two of the characters interacting with the content.   If your approach is video-based, include a rough cut of one very short key scene. 

These extras can provide the flavor of your approach without requiring huge investments of time that might be wasted if the project goes another direction..... they very thing that storyboards are meant to limit.

Good luck! 

Carolina Fautsch

Hi Maire,

This is a difficult one: you may have an awesome interaction planned, but it's hard to get across in the storyboard, particularly if your audience isn't familiar with the tool or what interactive courses tend to look like.

If you can, I'd suggest making mockups in PowerPoint that illustrate what you're going for. Images make interactions much less abstract. In cases where you may need to show your interactions in advance, maybe create a simple mockup. 

Hope that helps!

Carolina

Jerson  Campos

Finger Puppets! Luchadores! Pirates!  This are usually some of the ideas I get after drinking a can of Monster Energy Drink.  I haven't built any modules with these ideas (yet!) but I wanted to make a point of thinking outside the box.  And to think outside the box you have to look for inspiration outside of eLearning.  I've had inspiration from games, comic books, websites, and classical artist.  Once you hit that creativity wall, the best thing to do is stop beating your head against it and just look around.  Opportunities will present themselves.

 

Daniel Brigham

Hi, Maire: This screencast might give you some ideas. I always try to get a good handle on my content and THEN ask, "ok, now, how can I present this in an interesting way?"

http://www.brighamcommunications.com/3-ways-to-storyboard-your-e-learning-course/

I also enjoy Connie Malamud's post seen here: http://theelearningcoach.com/category/elearning_design/storyboarding/

And Nicole Legault's seen here: https://nlegault.ca/2012/05/09/15-elearning-storyboard-templates/

Best of luck, and report back with what you end up doing. --Daniel

Vicky Romero

Hi Marie, the first thing I would suggest is to get clarity on the needs of the organization and the participants as that will drive the content, which then will impact your approach. This is also help avoid miscommunication on the approach. Using scenario-based storytelling is always a fun memorable learning experience. Here's a helpful article. https://elearningindustry.com/3-tips-weave-storytelling-in-elearning-module

What problems will this course solve?
What’s currently working well?
What is the business goal of the project?
What are the learning objectives?
Speak with a sample of the audience to get their thoughts on their specific needs.

Ulises Musseb

Hello, Marie. In addition to the wonderful suggestions already given, I'd like to add to accommodate for the learning style and personality of the University Staff. I think it's important to use something (some analogy, some kind of inside joke, etc) that speaks to them and/or about them.

The more they see themselves taken into account in the presentation, the better response you obtain.

Carlene Barton

There are so many ways you can go about this it may seem overwhelming. First sit down and agree the learning objectives. Its fun coming up with the interactivity and bells and whistle. But to place these for the most effective results they should be aligned to those objectives. 

Have you thought about telling a story with decisions to be made by the learner and different outcomes depending on what they choose? You can use short videos, a comic books layout etc..

At this stage don't worry too much about how you would create it but what you want to achieve:

  • What does the learner know already?
  • What examples will they relate to?
  • What do you want them to know by the end?
  • What will the learner be able to do as a result of the learning?

I use a really simple template for the story boarding stage, see attached. 

Check out these blogs for some inspiration: https://elearningindustry.com/top-10-must-read-elearning-blogs 

Good luck! :)

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