Using a book as course reference material

Dec 30, 2021

I am working on a course using Storyline where the reference material is a book rather than the information being displayed in the course. The student is required to regularly access and where necessary make notes / highlight the book

I'm looking for interesting ways to get the student to access the book / content.

Any thoughts, ideas or links to relevent blogs etc?

Many thanks

6 Replies
Bianca Woods

Hi Gareth,

That sounds like a fascinating challenge!

The first thought that came to my mind was to create challenges in the e-learning that a learner would need content from the book to solve. For instance, you could include a short scenario and then ask the learner how the content on page __ would inform next steps or make them think about the situation in a different way.

The trick with this would be to make the scenarios or prompts intriguing and complex enough that it would feel worthwhile to bounce back and forth between the book and the e-learning. If it was too easy it would seem like mindless busywork. But if the scenarios in the e-learning helped learners understand the book content more or see how it applied in real-world situations, that could make it more compelling for them to work their way through both.

I also wonder if the book content might inspire some other ideas. Any chance you could share what topic the course and book are on?

Gareth Harris

Hi BiancaThanks for you great response.The book is health and safety.The candidate will keep and use it as reference after the course We want them to be familiar and comfortable with finding information when they need it rater than have to remember all the content. Happy for them to highlight or write in the book as necessary.Hope this helps.GarethGet Outlook for Android

Joanne Chen

Hi Gareth,

I will create a game for students to answer some key information which they can find answers in the book. Maybe a time limit game(20 or 30 min?) with a leader board that will motivate them to be familiar with the book and know where to find information they need if they want a high score. Give them a hint button in each question for them to know which page to find the answer if they need the help, and each hint will cost them some points. For example, users will earn 10 points for each correct question but a hint cost them 5 points. So if a user uses the hint and get the answer correct, he will earn 5 point (10-5) for that question. Let them have as many times as they like to attend the game in a limit period(a week or a month?) for refreshing their own record and challenge for higher scores. And if you do have a real class students, it might even better to reward them with real prizes for the top three.

Bianca Woods

Hi Gareth,

I can definitely see why your goal is less about learning everything in the book and more about getting people comfortable with using the book as a reference when needed. That seems like a smart approach that's very respectful of people's time.

I think the scenario idea I mentioned earlier could work well for that, as you could create scenarios around the real situations they could expect to need to revisit the book in their real life. Joanne's game idea is also an intriguing option, particularly for health and safety content where being able to find an answer quick could have real-world benefits.