Using Progress Indicators to Display Learner Status in E-Learning #368

David Anderson
By David Anderson

Using Progress Indicators to Display Learner Status in E-Learning #368

Using Progress Indicators in E-Learning #368: Challenge | Recap

Showing learners their progress is a great way to help them feel motivated and empowered. That’s because progress indicators provide visual and immediate feedback to help learners know where they are in the course. And keeping learners on track with custom progress bars, meters, and gauges is what this week’s challenge is all about.

Challenge of the Week

This week, your challenge is to show how custom progress trackers can be used in e-learning. Your example can be static or interactive but share your ideas for helping learners track their progress.

New Entries Only!

We hosted the first progress meters challenge more than seven years ago. Since then, course creators have shared dozens of examples and downloads in the community. Because progress bars are so popular, we’re asking that you only share new examples in this week’s challenge.

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.

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. 

Last Week’s Challenge:

Before you visually track your learners’ progress, check out the creative ways course designers use hints and prompts to guide learners to make good choices in quizzes.

Using Hints and Clues in E-Learning #367

Using Hints and Clues in E-Learning #367: Challenge | Recap

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97 Comments
Ron Katz
2 years ago04/17/22 at 1:48 am (UTC)
Have you ever operated an old-fashioned well pump? Learn the lesson of the water pump in this "hands-on" interaction. This interaction is based on a classic speech by motivational speaker and sales trainer, Zig Ziglar. You can watch his speech after you complete the three steps. Demo: https://360.articulate.com/review/content/065c4eb0-c2e5-4b88-876e-341bb2ed831f/review Discuss and Download: https://community.articulate.com/discussions/building-better-courses/priming-the-pump-elc-358
Jodi M. Sansone
2 years ago04/17/22 at 9:02 pm (UTC)
Tour the Sunnylands Garden Demo: https://jodisdemos.s3.amazonaws.com/368+Sunnylands+Tour/story.html Here's a quick tour of the Sunnylands Retreat here in Rancho Mirage. April is the best time of the year to visit it and it's still on my mind from last week's challenge. The progress device is on the third slide as you make your way through different sections of the garden. Have a great week!
Daniel Canaveral
2 years ago04/18/22 at 5:36 pm (UTC)
Greetings, Thierry! What you see there is a custom drag and drop activity. I'm not quite sure why I went this route instead of using the built-in D&D slide... I'm sure if I convert to freeform I can tweak the settings such that the draggable items won't snap back to point of origin. If I didn't have such an exhausting weekend I would be happy to go back in and make adjustments to the project 😴😅
Thierry EMMANUEL
2 years ago04/18/22 at 5:14 pm (UTC)

Bonjour Heroes. Here is a dynamic two-speed progress indicator (forward and backward) for a final 5-question quiz. (Actually, that's a great name for just a bouncy little thing). I think that in the theme I am talking about (health and care), there can be incorrect answers, but also better answers. Like incorrect answers and even worse than incorrect answers. Try and try all the answers again to see the gauge move and Isabel's attitude, but of course you only have to get correct or better answers to pass this test. Some learning designers don't like pass/fail indicators during the quiz, but it can strongly boost learner engagement by measuring resistance to stress and discouragement or competitive spirit. The debate is open. https://360.articulate.com/review/content/a9c821ad-c2ba-4... Expand

Jeffrey Riley
2 years ago04/18/22 at 8:02 pm (UTC)
It always amazes me how many ways people approach these challenges. I always learn something and am in awe of what people create. My project is a game that could be a make your own adventure. The player can go in any order to play, but I only have three sections. This is my example: http://learningcoursesplcllc.s3.amazonaws.com/ELHChallenges/ELH%20Challenge%20368%20Progress%20Indicators/story.html This is where I posted the discussion: https://community.articulate.com/discussions/building-better-courses/elh-368-progress-indicators-discussion Have a great week and keep on making projects to share.
Mark Hopper
2 years ago04/19/22 at 2:18 pm (UTC)
Hi All, I just recently discovered these challenges and thought I would toss one up this week. This is an interactive section of a Rise course, so the progress indicator shown on the left "continue ->" informs the learner they can continue in the Rise course. First time posting - looking forward to sharing more! Hope you like it. =) https://360.articulate.com/review/content/f30fa1c8-f6a2-4501-86f9-66ec0b3bbc4e/review
Jackie Van Nice
2 years ago04/19/22 at 3:05 pm (UTC)
Welcome to the challenges, Mark! You have so many good ideas and you've executed them really well. As a click-happy, curious learner I was hoping I could toggle the device off and on, or that "off" would automatically change to "on" - maybe when I'm in the voltage part of the dial? But the best news of all is that I felt like a click-happy, curious learner who wanted to explore the interaction, which is a high-voltage result no matter how you look at it. : )
Alison Sollars
almost 2 years ago04/20/22 at 10:25 pm (UTC)
I updated last week's hints & tricks D&D with a simple progress bar at the bottom using a gradient shading per this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz7rm_H3DSA) by Georg Volmer: Updated D&D Storyline with progress bar - https://360.articulate.com/review/content/f5a60bb9-ca24-4712-916b-3cdcbf22376f/review This was inspired by and submitted for the last challenge (but without the progress bar) and I'm still iterating on this one overall to make it into something fun and more complete! I also made a new slide that uses a checklist where the checks use states to appear/disappear, showing your progress through the slide: Dice Checklist - https://360.articulate.com/review/content/22affb87-3fc2-4b77-a245-c334e0fd86e7/review
Amelia Altstadt
almost 2 years ago04/21/22 at 1:29 am (UTC)
Hello! Here's my project link: https://360.articulate.com/review/content/34cb7eb4-4ca4-452c-aee5-95b1345471be/review I used progress bars in a Storyline template meant to be embedded in Rise. The default prompt is "Click anywhere to continue" but with actual content that would be modified, e.g. "Hover over y" I'm considering removing the wipe animation from the progress bar states on the content pages... I like it on the menu page, but not the main pages. Like many of the entries above, I used Georg Volmer's progress bar youtube tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz7rm_H3DSA&t=198s I took inspiration from Marcus Miers' phishing simulation: https://community.articulate.com/e-learning-examples/storyline-phishing-simulation-example
Jackie Van Nice
almost 2 years ago04/21/22 at 9:29 pm (UTC)
Hi Abby! This is really nicely done! Feedback-wise (since you asked!) I appreciate the metaphor of the bridge and the outdoor scene, but I kept thinking it would be more effective to present your content in a context where the learner would be expected to apply it. Like maybe your protagonist plays out the scenes in the work environment with a bunch of coworkers watching what’s happening - and those people act as your progress indicator. They could all start with scowly faces and postures and progress to looking like the happy, trusting employees they are by the end. Oh! And THEN they could all go out to the river and have an employee picnic or something so you could use your beautiful outdoor scene! :-D
Lanie Kepler
almost 2 years ago04/22/22 at 1:26 pm (UTC)
Hi Jackie- Thank you for your feedback! You're right and I had just watched something the other day about the CAFF model that emphasizes context as a major component of learning. I love your idea about the scowling faces. I think sometimes I get caught up in the way the learning is aesthetically designed that I miss important pieces of the true intention- learning! Again, thanks so much for taking the time to provide the feedback.
Jackie Van Nice
almost 2 years ago04/22/22 at 1:51 pm (UTC)
Hi Abby! Yes! I aaaaaalways have Michael Allen’s Context-Challenge-Activity-Feedback model in my head. It’s nearly impossible to go wrong if you can figure out a way to apply it thoughtfully. It also makes developing both the instructional design and the visual design much more involving and fun. It becomes more of a three-dimensional design problem - way more fun to solve. : )
Karin Lorbeck
almost 2 years ago04/22/22 at 4:29 am (UTC)
My contribution this week is from a verb tense review I prepared for my ESL class. The progress indicator is on the second slide. It is a simple one with a color change to indicate which tenses the user has reviewed. I hope that qualifies as a progress indicator! https://lorbeck-elearningchallenges.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/368/story.html
Jeffrey Riley
almost 2 years ago04/22/22 at 12:53 pm (UTC)
Seems like an excellent example of language. It makes me wonder how many English speakers could pass this? I had forgotten how many levels there are of past tense. I think your progress indicator works fine. Color change is a good way to do that. I wish Articulate would get rid of the X for lightboxes. I always build a button as many users don't see the X and don't know what to do.
Karin Lorbeck
almost 2 years ago04/23/22 at 1:07 am (UTC)
Thanks, Jeffrey. I agree with you that the X can be hard to see. I considered using a button instead but wasn't sure if that would be confusing. I think I will give it a try! On the grammar note, native speakers often use the tenses correctly (and sometimes incorrectly) without being conscious of the grammar rules. That's one of the advantages natural language acquisition!
Jackie Van Nice
almost 2 years ago04/22/22 at 1:19 pm (UTC)
Hi Karin! As a former ESL teacher I was happy to see a more advanced level of language being reviewed - it’s just more fun! I know this is just a partial demo, but I was disappointed I couldn’t skip the review screens. Whether I’m going through as a native speaker or a non-native speaker, it would be more fun to have the option to skip the review and challenge myself with an assessment, then go back to review if I get something wrong - once my curiosity is piqued. Lovely work!
Daniel Canaveral
almost 2 years ago04/22/22 at 5:01 pm (UTC)
Hi Karin! I taught ESL classes for 5 years, so your subject matter is near and dear to my heart. I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could recreate your project, using a combination of a timeline and badges to indicate progress made by the learner: https://360.articulate.com/review/content/98173d55-f9f3-4bb7-9fec-58b23509412a/review Thank you for the inspiration!
Jeffrey Riley
almost 2 years ago04/23/22 at 2:39 pm (UTC)
I missed the Challenge #255 making an elearning game out of mountain. I did do a game for the How are Designers Using Random Number #334. This is my mountain game: This is the published version: http://learningcoursesplcllc.s3.amazonaws.com/ELHChallenges/ELH%20Challenge%20334%20Random%20Number/story.html This is the Story file: http://learningcoursesplcllc.s3.amazonaws.com/ELHChallenges/ELH%20Challenge%20334%20Random%20Number/ELH334Random_v1.story
Jared Speight
almost 2 years ago04/23/22 at 7:45 pm (UTC)
Not sure if this counts as a progress meter and you'll have to excuse the busyness of the slides as this was for a school assignment, but here is my first shot at an e-learning challenge: https://jaredspeight.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Google+Tools+for+Workplace+Collaboration+and+Communication+-+Storyline+output/story.html What I'm counting as a progress meter are the nine Google tools on the second slide that darken after you've gone through their material.
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