Seeking tips for creating intractive E-learning modules

Hi, and welcome to the e-learning field!

You've asked some excellent but complex questions about ways to make effective e-learning. Thankfully, we have a ton of articles and resources here in the E-Learning Heroes community to help you do a deeper dive into these topics.

Interactive Elements:
We have a series of articles in this Building Interactivity collection that discuss how to make interactions that meaningfully enhance the learning experience. And if you want to browse finished projects that get interactivity right, check out the E-Learning Examples and Downloads section of this community.

Storytelling:
As Ray mentioned, scenario stories can be powerful learning tools. They can help people understand why information is important and how it applies in the real world. And if you blend a scenario story with interactions, you can also give people an opportunity to practice their skills.

We have several helpful articles and examples on scenarios, including:

• 6 Sweet Branching Scenario Examples
• Choose Your Own Adventure in These 7 Branching Scenario Examples
• 2 Rise 360 Scenario Examples That Think Outside the Block
• How I Designed This Immersive Scenario on Prioritizing Tasks

And our E-Learning Examples section has a wide range of story-based scenario courses too.

Gamification:
Gamification is a technique that doesn't work in every situation but can be helpful when it's the right fit for the project, audience, and content. Our Everything You Need To Know About Gamification in E-Learning article series can help you explore how to use this approach thoughtfully. In particular, my article Game Over or Game On: Knowing When Gamification Is Right for Your Course can be useful for understanding where it can help an e-learning project and where it might get in the way.

Tools and Software:
Well, I work for Articulate, so obviously I have a preference when it comes to e-learning authoring tools. But if it's any help, I'm an instructional designer and used the Articulate apps for years and years before I started working here. So that recommendation comes with a lot of practical, personal experience.

I definitely recommend trying out the free trials of any app you're considering (here's the link to the 30-day free trial of Articulate 360). That can help you get a good sense of what development with it is like, what training comes with the app, and the breadth of features and apps included in the cost. Sometimes you'll find development app has a higher price tag up front but saves you so much time in development that it makes up for the cost in the long run. And because different tools have different strengths and limitations, getting your hands on them can help you discover which ones best meet your particular needs and preferences.