Using Timed Activities in E-Learning #352

Using Timed Activities in E-Learning #352: Challenge | Recap

Using timers is a great way to create a sense of urgency or pressure in learning games and activities. And with Storyline 360's new elapsed time variables, it's never been easier to create engaging, time-based activities in e-learning. And that's what this week's challenge is all about.

Ideas for Timed Examples

  • Combine 360° images with countdown timers to create a gamified new hire orientation activity
  • Simulate real-world tasks that involve time constraints
  • Gamify decision-making activities
  • Create timed skill and drill exercises
  • Show hints or clues to quiz questions

Using the Elapsed Time Variables in Storyline 360

Check out this recent article from Amanda to learn more about the elapsed time variables and ways to use them in your projects.

Using the Elapsed Time Variables in Storyline 360

View the article | Download the source

Accessibility and Timed Interactions

Timed activities aren't recommended for accessible courses or learners with limited language proficiencies. You can find more guidance on using time limits in the WCAG 2.0 guidelines and success criteria.

Challenge of the Week

This week, your challenge is to share an example that shows how time-based activities can be used in e-learning. You can use Storyline’s new elapsed time variables or any other approach that triggers events based on time.

Project Files

If you use Storyline’s elapsed time variables, please consider sharing your .story files this week. I know it’s not always possible to share project files, and that’s okay. The variable is new to everyone, so your project files will help other designers learn from your work. 

Resources

Share Your E-Learning Work

  • Comments: Use the comments section below to share a link to your published example and blog post.
  • Forums: Start  your own 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 back to your posts so the great work you’re sharing gets even more exposure.
  • Social Media: If you share your demos on Twitter or LinkedIn, try using #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can track your e-learning coolness.

Last Week’s Challenge:

Before you make some time for this week’s challenge, check out the light and dark templates your fellow challengers shared over the past week:

Light and Dark E-Learning Themes #351 

Light and Dark E-Learning Themes #351: 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.

76 Comments
Nick Russell
Jodi M. Sansone
Jonathan Hill
Marie Slim
Daniel Holthouse

Thanks, Jonathan. I'm using the Slide.ElapsedTime variable to effectively timestamp the starting point and ending point. When the airplane intersects with an invisible object at Point A, I set a variable called "takeOff" to the current Slide.ElapsedTime. Similarly, when the airplane intersects with an invisible object at Point B, I set a variable called "landing" to the current Slide.ElapsedTime, and then subtract one from the other to get the "flight time" or time between intersecting A and B. The Slide.ElapsedTime never resets, but since I'm just getting the difference between two times, the relative difference is all that matters, and just gives the illusion of resetting. Clicking the "reset" button simply jumps to the start of the slide again, but as you pointed out, the Slide.ElapsedT... Expand

Jonathan Hill
Daniel Holthouse
Thierry EMMANUEL

Bonjour Heroes. If David allows me, I want to show you a demo I made a few months ago. This fits perfectly with the theme of this challenge, although it is not a timed activity but an activity based on the time of day. Thanks to a JS code created by Zsolt Olah, I change the appearance of the course depending on the time a learner logs in. I find this to be a very engaging and unusual way to start training. It can be a light template for the morning, or a dark template for the evening (cf ELC 351). I chose the different meal times. To understand, log in to this demo at different times of the day. (and let me know if you have any bugs with your local time, please). https://360.articulate.com/review/content/9e42309d-901d-4ac1-8aa4-67a21a3269d0/review And ... can someone explain t... Expand

Karin Lorbeck
Jonathan Hill
Mohamed Elsamouly
Ron Katz