Coming Soon: Articulate AI (With Video!)
Exciting news: We’re working on some AI features that’ll help amplify your creativity and accelerate course creation. Check out this short video for a quick preview of what’s in store: We hope you’re as excited as we are about these upcoming features! Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest product updates directly in your inbox. If you have questions, please share them in the comments.Upcoming Articulate 360 Training Webinars
Stay ahead of the curve with our free Articulate 360 Training webinars. These weekly sessions are designed to help busy course creators like you enhance your e-learning skills without investing too much time. As an Articulate 360 subscriber, you can grow your expertise through targeted training on the latest techniques and best practices – all at no additional cost. And if you want to view some on-demand training to view at your own time, visit the Articulate 360 training site to see what's available. Check out our upcoming webinars and level up your e-learning game. If you can't attend, that's OK. We record all of the sessions, so just sign up and you'll get a recording emailed to you. Date Title September 17, 2024 Typography Basics for E-Learning September 17, 2024 Getting Started with Reach 360 September 24, 2024 Guiding Principles of Instructional Design September 24, 2024 Getting Started with Reach 360 September 26, 2024 Quick Tips & Tricks: Episode 108 October 1, 2024 ✨ Getting Started with AI Assistant in Articulate 360 October 1, 2024 Getting Started with Reach 360 October 1, 2024 Getting Started With Rise 360 October 1, 2024 Storyline 360: Creating Social Personality Quizzes October 8, 2024 ✨ Overview of AI Assistant in Rise October 8, 2024 ✨ Overview of AI Assistant in Storyline October 8, 2024 Getting Started With Storyline 360 October 8, 2024 How to Build Compliance Training in Rise 360 October 15, 2024 Getting Started With Rise 360 October 15, 2024 ✨ Overview of AI Assistant in Storyline October 15, 2024 ✨ Overview of AI Assistant in Rise October 15, 2024 Getting Started with Reach 360 October 22, 2024 Branding your Rise 360 Course October 22, 2024 Getting Started With Storyline 360 October 22, 2024 ✨ Overview of AI Assistant in Rise October 22, 2024 ✨ Overview of AI Assistant in Storyline October 24, 2024 Unleash Your Inner Spark: Supercharge Your Self-Care with E-Learning with Guest Presenter Misty Wert Not yet an Articulate 360 subscriber? Sign up for a 30-day free trial and check out as many as you’d like. And if the live webinar time doesn’t work for you, no worries! Simply sign up anyway and you’ll receive the recording in your inbox so you can watch it whenever you have time. Hope to see you at one of our upcoming webinars!Engineering Journal: Demystifying 64-Bit Storyline
I’m Jesse Taber, engineering manager for Storyline 360, here with the first Engineering Product Highlight. My plan is to regularly cover a new or upcoming Storyline enhancement from an engineering perspective to provide technical insights you won’t find in release notes or product documentation. This first highlight is all about 64-bit. In November 2023, we released a 64-bit version of Storyline 360 to public beta that appears in the Articulate 360 desktop app as “Storyline 360 x64.” Since then, we’ve heard a lot of excitement about this new version of Storyline 360—but also some confusion. To address this feedback, I wanted to offer an FAQ that goes beyond the basics covered in the support article about 64-bit Storyline 360. What is Storyline 360 x64, and how does it differ from the version of Storyline 360 I’ve been using? Storyline has traditionally been a 32-bit application. The primary difference between 32-bit and 64-bit applications is the amount of system memory they can use. In Windows, 32-bit applications can access, at most, ~4GB of memory, while 64-bit applications can access far more memory than any modern consumer-grade PC can accommodate. Put simply, the 64-bit version of Storyline 360 can take advantage of the relatively large amounts of memory available on most modern PCs. Does Storyline 360 x64 provide performance improvements? The primary benefit of targeting 64-bit processor architecture is the ability to use more system memory. When Storyline 360 opens a project file, it loads it all into memory. Very large projects, particularly those with many rich media assets, can experience issues opening, saving, and publishing in the 32-bit version of Storyline 360. Projects like this should be much more stable in Storyline 360 x64. Aside from memory usage, most authors will likely see performance on par with the 32-bit version of Storyline 360. While performance improvements were not a primary driver for creating Storyline 360 x64, we plan to invest more directly in performance improvements going forward. Is Storyline 360 x64 a full rewrite of Storyline? No. Storyline 360 x64 comes from the same source code as the 32-bit version of Storyline 360. The difference is that it’s compiled to support 64-bit processors and operating systems. What functionality differs between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Storyline 360? Because both versions of Storyline 360 share the same source code, their functionality should be identical. However, certain third-party components Storyline 360 uses don’t work with a 64-bit processor architecture. We’re currently working on removing, updating, or replacing those features. For example, the screen recording feature was not available in early builds of Storyline 360 x64 because a third-party component it relies on did not support 64-bit. As of Update 85, however, the screen recording functionality is available in the 64-bit version. The support article about 64-bit Storyline 360 lists the features we plan to remove (deprecate). Storyline 360 x64 is in public beta. Is it okay to use for my day-to-day work? We feel confident that Storyline 360 x64 is stable and suitable for production work. We have been using it internally for months without issue. We have also gotten positive feedback about its stability from several Storyline 360 users who have been using it regularly since it was in private beta. We plan to move Storyline 360 x64 out of public beta and into general availability in the second half of 2024. Most of the remaining work centers around providing a seamless experience for all customers to migrate from the 32-bit version. Because it shares source code with the 32-bit version of Storyline 360 there are no compatibility issues. That means that if you run into problems with Storyline 360 x64, you can always close your project and reopen it with 32-bit Storyline 360. Why did it take Articulate so long to deliver a 64-bit version of Storyline 360? Articulate released Storyline 1 in 2012. At that time, 64-bit processors and operating systems were becoming more popular in consumer-grade PCs, but 32-bit software was still prevalent. In the years that followed, memory got cheaper, which meant more PCs with memory greater than 4GB hit the market. Larger amounts of memory drove the need for 64-bit processors and software that supported them. We opted not to update Storyline 360 to support 64-bit until 2023, which we now realize was a mistake. When we consider the changes we want to make to Storyline 360, we have to weigh the impact that each change will have and the effort required to implement it. We must also consider the opportunity cost of choosing certain changes over others. We believed the effort to make Storyline 360 support 64-bit processor architecture was far higher than the impact it would have on our customers since it wouldn’t bring dramatic performance improvements. The Storyline codebase is over a decade old, and to say it is large and complex would be a gross understatement. Ensuring this code and the various third-party components would work properly in a 64-bit environment was daunting. Customers were also asking for many other features that would need to be put on hold if we committed to the 64-bit work. The team discussed 64-bit support many times in the 10 years that I’ve worked here. Each time, we reached the conclusion that it didn’t make sense. So what changed? Why now? Over the past several years, some of the third-party components that were roadblocks to 64-bit support have been updated or removed through the normal course of expanding and improving Storyline 360. More importantly, some intrepid software engineers on the Storyline team spent their Hackathon—a quarterly event where engineers can work on self-directed projects—proving that getting Storyline to support 64-bit processor architecture was more feasible than previously thought. When Kerry Munz came on board as our CTO, she brought a fresh perspective. She correctly surmised that our customers interpreted the lack of 64-bit support as a signal that we were not investing in Storyline 360. She directed us to prioritize this work as the first of several projects to modernize Storyline 360 and cement our commitment to its future. Will there always be both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Storyline 360 available? The number of 32-bit processors and operating systems actively in use today is extremely low. Eventually, we will only build and ship Storyline 360 in a 64-bit configuration. We’re currently working on a plan to make this transition as seamless as possible for our customers. We’ll share more details when they’re available. Wrap-Up I hope this product highlight has clarified the “what, how, and why” of Storyline 360 x64. If you haven’t already, I recommend trying out the public beta, particularly if you need to work with large or media-heavy projects. And remember to use the “Report a Bug” option at the top right corner of the application window to share any feedback directly with the engineering team. Stay tuned for future engineering journal entries! And please leave a comment below if there are specific topics you’d like me to cover.All 12 Quick Tips & Tricks Webinars From 2023
Our monthly Quick Tips & Tricks webinars provide answers to your questions, practical tips to further your skills, and creative tricks to help speed up your course development. Whether you’re brand new to e-learning or a seasoned professional, our quick tips sessions offer something for everyone. We record each month’s session since we know that you’re busy, and it’s not always easy to attend a live webinar. For your viewing pleasure, we’ve compiled this year’s Quick Tips & Tricks into one on-demand video. If you’re ever looking for help with your own projects—technical, creative, or want to try out some new ideas—just post your question in the community where helpful folks are always willing to help. And who knows? Your question might get featured in the next Quick Tips & Tricks. Here's an outline of the featured tips and tricks we shared over the past year. January 2023 Creating Graphics in Google Slides Working with Combined Hover and Selected States Storyline 360 Workflow Updates Using a Simple Text Effect to Increase Readability February 2023 Working with Audio in Markers in Storyline 360 Using the Embed Block in Rise 360 Working with Conditional Navigation in Accordions Audio for Sound Effects March 2023 Using Subtle Backgrounds in E-Learning Creating Dividers for Use in Rise 360 Creating Smoother Mouseover Interactions with Characters April 2023 Unrestricting Access in Storyline 360 if You're Using a Pre-Assessment Test Working with a Click and Hold Timer in Storyline 360 Recent New Features and Updates to Storyline 360 May 2023 New Features in Review 360 Tips for Working with Drag-and-Drop Interactions Trimming a Long Audio Track into Smaller Track Using Studio 360 June 2023 Working with a Zoom Region in Storyline 360 New Features in Rise 360 Resetting Only the Incorrect Drag and Drop Choices in Storyline 360 July 2023 Skipping Animations in Storyline 360 Creating a GIF from a Peek 360 Video New Review and Collaboration Features in Articulate 360 August 2023 Creating GIFs Using PowerPoint Creating a Magnifying Slider Effect Adding Numbers to Markers in Storyline 360 September 2023 Additional Ways to Create Scenarios in Rise 360 Using the Morph Transition in PowerPoint to Make GIFs Tips for Working with Audio in Storyline 360 October 2023 Ways to Work with a Drag and Drop Out Animation Using a Checklist in Storyline 360 and Rise 360 Using Sliders to Measure and Align Objects November 2023 Ways to Have a Consistent Character Size Background Playlists and the New Trigger to Control Audio in Storyline 360 Finding an Image's Size and Resizing Images Without Stretching Them December 2023 Animation Effect Example Optional Content in Rise 360 Share Link Permission in Review 360 Common Questions from Recent Webinars
See New and Upcoming Articulate 360 Features in This Video
If you didn’t make it to any L&D events this spring but are curious to hear about new and upcoming Articulate 360 features, you’re in luck! We’re sharing video recordings of our stage sessions where we demoed our new and upcoming features—including AI! Hit play to discover what’s in store. What's New and What's Next in Articulate 360 Presented by Madison McCartney We hope you’re as excited as we are about these new features! Let us know what you think by commenting below. Want to try something you learned here, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial. And subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest product updates, e-learning examples, and expert advice directly in your inbox.Articulate Receives Security Certification From US Federal Government—FedRAMP®
Security is a priority for us, which is why we’re excited to share that Articulate is officially FedRAMP® authorized! If you’re not familiar with FedRAMP, basically this means that the US federal government has done a thorough security and risk assessment of Articulate apps and determined they meet their strict cloud security requirements and are safe to use. If you work for an agency of the US government, this also means you can use Articulate 360 without worry, knowing that they’re FedRAMP authorized. Head over to the FedRAMP marketplace for more details on our authorization. And for those of you in the private sector, it means you can rest easy knowing you’re in good hands with Articulate. Of course, if you want more information on our approach to security and data protection, check out our Trust Center. Want to try out our apps but don’t have an Articulate 360 subscription? Start a free 30-day trial today. And if you have any questions, please share them in the comments.7 Most Popular Storyline 360 Examples & Downloads of 2023
E-Learning Heroes Community is the perfect place to get inspired by examples from both our amazing community members and our Articulate staff members. Below are the top seven Storyline 360 examples from 2023. 1. Storyline Comics Style Communication: Branched Scenario See how you can use interactive storytelling elements and branching techniques to teach learners the skills they need in this cool example. 2. Power of Self-Motivation Scrolling Experience Check out this completely unique interactive example that engages learners right from the start. 3. Office Safety Training Template Want to teach workplace safety in a memorable and interactive way? Check outthis downloadable template to help kickstart your project. 4. Interactive Storytelling Template Learn how to leverage storytelling in Storyline 360 to help your learners apply their skills in a real-life scenario with this inspiring example. 5. Room Exploration Interaction Template Make searching an office, home, warehouse, store, or any other 2D environment feel more cinematic with this downloadable interaction. With the help of hotspots, triggers, and layers, learners can use the on-screen flashlight to help them discover clues. 6. Reset Drag-and-Drop Incorrect Choices Template Ever wanted to reset only the incorrect drag choices in Storyline 360? Use this starter template and supporting video tutorial to learn how to reset your own drag-and-drop interactions. 7. Employee Health and Wellness Check out this stunning example to see some of the immersive and custom learning experiences you can create with Storyline 360. Wrap-Up We hope these examples inspire you as you work on your next e-learning projects! Did we miss any of your favorites? Be sure to let us know in the comments below. You can view more article recaps from 2023 by checking out our latest compilation of articles here: All the Best E-Learning Heroes Content from 2023 in One Place. Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest e-learning inspiration and insights directly in your inbox. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter). And if you have questions, please share them in the comments.Time-Saving Tips for Formatting Tables in Rise 360
Do you love the table block in Rise 360 as much as I do? It’s a great way to organize content so it’s easy for learners to digest. And there are so many different ways to use it! Whether you want to display product specs, outline your weekly schedule, or compare and contrast concepts, tables are an excellent option. Depending on how you’re using tables, you might want to customize their look and feel by adding a background color to certain cells, for example, or by changing the font size. Luckily, personalizing table formatting is super quick and easy in Rise 360! Read on to find out how to efficiently format multiple cells at once. Formatting Multiple Cells If you want to change the way your cells look—say, change the background color from white to green or gray—there’s an easy way to apply that formatting to multiple cells at once. Simply click inside a cell, press and hold Shift, use the arrows on your keyboard to select the other cells you want to apply the formatting to, and select the format you want to apply in the toolbar. It’s super easy! Check out the GIF below to see how it works. Formatting Text Across Cells Once you’re happy with the formatting of the cells themselves, you might want to change the formatting of the text within those cells. For example, let’s say you want all your text to be a little smaller. No problem! There are a couple of different ways to quickly format your text across cells, depending on what you want to do. To apply the same text formatting to all the cells in your table, simply highlight the text in one cell, press and hold Control+A (or Command+A on a Mac), and select the format you want to apply in the toolbar. Take a look at the GIF below for a quick preview of how this works. If you want to reformat the text across some cells, but not all, highlight the text in one cell, press and hold Shift, and use the down arrow to select the cells with text you want to format. Every time you press on the down arrow, it’ll automatically select the entire text in the next cell. Once you’ve selected all the cells with text you want to format, choose the formatting options you want to apply in the toolbar. Get a clearer picture of how this works by checking out the GIF below. You can also select text that you want to format letter by letter. To do this, highlight the text in one cell, press and hold the Shift key, use the right arrow to select the cells with the text you want to format, and select the format you want to apply in the toolbar. See how this works in the GIF below. More Resources As you can see, formatting tables in Rise 360 is super fast and easy. To find out more about inserting table blocks into your Rise 360 courses, check out this helpful article. And if you’re looking for some creative ideas on how to use the table block in your next course, be sure to check out the following resources: Displaying Your Data with Rise 360 Tables Rise 360 Example Featuring Table Blocks If you’re dying to try out Rise 360 but don’t have Articulate 360, be sure to grab a free 30-day trial. And subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest e-learning inspiration and insights directly in your inbox. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X (Formerly Twitter).Free Webinar: How Leaders Improve Training and Get Results
Learn how to scale your remote training efforts on August 6th at 11 a.m. ET in the latest edition of our exclusive webinar series, Learning Luminaries. Join this month’s guest, Jarrod Hogan of Intermountain Health, as he reveals how changing the way he shared training helped him reach learners faster and at a lower cost. Learning Luminaries: August 6th, 11 a.m. ET What you can expect from Learning Luminaries webinars: Hear from L&D experts at the forefront of workplace learning as they share their experiences and lessons learned. Get practical, actionable tips to create engaging learning no matter your budget or audience size. Discover new techniques and applications for old methods, creative use cases, and innovative ways to use industry tools to reach learners. Register NowHow I Made This Randomized Math Game in Storyline 360
When I was in fourth grade, my teacher would hold math competitions. He’d call two students to the front of the class and then give us a multiplication problem to solve. The first student to answer correctly would remain at the front and another student would be called up until there were no more students left. The last person remaining was the winner. It was a fun yet nerve-wracking challenge. I liked math (note: this was before calculus 😆), but didn’t always like practicing in front of a large group of people. That’s what inspired me to create an online version: View | Download In my version, instead of competing against others, learners can either answer at their own pace or race against the clock. And thanks to random number variables in Storyline 360, I built it all without any coding skills! Curious how I did it? Let me walk you through my process. 1. Create the Storyboard The concept for this game was pretty simple: I wanted to present learners with 10 questions and see how many in a row they could answer correctly. With that in mind, I decided to draft a storyboard using this visual template. Here’s how it turned out: Basically, I mapped out: An intro slide with a Start button and an Instructions layer, where learners decide whether they want to race against the clock. A main slide for all the math questions, with some feedback layers. A final slide where learners can see if they passed or failed and decide if they want to try again. 2. Build the Slides The first thing I did to bring that storyboard to life in Storyline 360 was build each slide and layer. From there, I inserted the text, shapes, icons, and graphics. I found the background image and all the monster illustrations in Content Library 360. Then, I used the media library feature to quickly open and edit the illustrations in Photoshop. For example, I was able to transform this free purple monster asset … Before (Content Library 360 illustration) … into four additional options by removing the background and making more poses and facial expressions, for a more engaging learning experience. After (edited versions) After I finished building and designing all my slides and layers, I was ready to focus on the more technical aspects—math!😬 3. Display Random Questions and Feedback To make this game challenging, I wanted learners to see different math problems each time they played. I also wanted to show a variety of feedback messages so it felt more personalized. To do this, I used variables. Variables collect and store data in Storyline 360 that you can use to display information anywhere in your course. This can be text—the learner’s name, for example—or numbers—like in math problems. Most people create variables first and then insert the references to display the values on the screen. However, I decided to type my variable names on the slide before creating them to figure out exactly how many—and what kind—I needed. In Storyline 360, it’s easy to manually insert variable references. Simply insert a textbox and type percentage signs on each side of the variable name, as shown below. Slide On the base layer, I ended up with the following variables: Variable Name Type Default Value Purpose score Number 0 The total score. a Number 0 First number in the math problem. b Number 0 Second number in the math problem. I also planned to add one behind-the-scene variable that wasn’t going to be visible on the base layer: Variable Name Type Default Value Purpose timer True/False False To make the timer visible for learners who want it, and invisible for those who don’t. Layers For the layers, I added the following variables: Layer Name Variable Name Type Default Value Purpose Correct FeedbackCorrect Text blank The Correct feedback text. Incorrect FeedbackIncorrect Text blank The Incorrect feedback text. Incorrect and Time’s Up answer Number 1 The Correct answer. I also planned to add one behind-the-scene variable that wasn’t going to be visible on the correct and incorrect layers: Layer Name Variable Name Type Default Value Purpose Correct and Incorrect FeedbackNumber Number 0 Decides which Correct and Incorrect feedback phrases to display Once I identified all the variables I needed, I went ahead and created them by clicking the Manage Project Variables icon at the top right of the triggers panel. I then selected the plus (+) sign to create each new variable. When you’re done, this is what it should look like: Once everything’s set up, the default values will appear automatically in place of the variable references, as shown below with light yellow boxes. But don’t worry, these boxes won’t show when you preview/publish. They’re simply there to help you see which variables are being referenced. All you need to do is hover over each yellow box to see the name of the variable. Slide Layers 4. Make a Space for Learners to Type Their Answers Next, I needed to create a space for learners to type their answers. I went to the Insert tab, clicked Input, and chose Numeric Entry Field. Then, I drew the data-entry field on my slide. I customized the formatting of the text in the numeric entry field to match my course design and formatted the shape by removing the outline and making the fill color completely transparent. (Note: Do not select the No Fill option. Doing so will prevent learners from clicking on the object and typing an answer.) When you add a numeric entry field, Storyline 360 automatically creates a variable to save the data … … and a trigger to set the value of the variable to whatever the learner types in the field. So there’s nothing else for you to do! It’s supereasy. And now, when the learner enters their answer and then clicks away—or selects the Submit button—the NumericEntry variable automatically updates to the value they typed. 5. Set Up the Math Calculations With the variables and the numeric entry field all set up, it was time to add triggers to make the math problems work! Triggers make it so easy to build these types of interactions without any code. All you have to do is choose an action and decide when you want it to occur. Let’s take a look at the triggers I created on my slide. First, the base layer. I organized the triggers into two parts: when the timeline starts and when the user clicks Check Answer. Let’s take a look at the triggers I created. 1. When the timeline starts on this slide. At the start of the slide, learners are presented with a random math problem. Here’s the image with the variable names so it’s easier to follow along. Variable Trigger Purpose a Set a to random number between 1 and 12 when the timeline starts on this slide I chose to pull from a range of 1 to 12 since this is a common range used for testing multiplication. You can easily edit the trigger to display a different range. b Set b to random number between 1 and 12 when the timeline starts on this slide NumericEntry Set NumericEntry to value 0 when the timeline starts on this slide I wanted the data field to display a neutral number so the learner knows to type their answer there. 2. When the user clicks Check Answer. Once the learner types their answer in the numeric entry field, they click the Check Answer button and are automatically directed to a custom feedback layer—Correct or Incorrect—depending on their response. Here are the triggers I created to ensure they were directed to the right layer. Variable Trigger Purpose answer a Multiply answer by variable a when the user clicks Check Answer When I created the variables earlier, I set the default value of answer to 1. That’s because this is a multiplication problem and anything multiplied by 0 is 0. Setting answer to 1 makes it so: answer (1) x a = a answer (1) x b = b Which then makes the correct answer: a x b = answer answer b Multiply answer by variable b when the user clicks Check Answer NumericEntry answer Show layer Correct when the user clicks Check Answer if NumericEntry＝ variable answer This lets learners know when their response is the same as the correct answer. Show layer Incorrect when the user clicks Check Answer if NumericEntry ≠ variable answer This lets learners know when their response doesn’t match the correct answer. 6. Add Some Feedback When it comes to quizzes, feedback is essential because it lets learners know how they’re doing. Since this is a game, I kept the feedback simple to keep the momentum going. Let’s take a quick look at how I set up the feedback from a technical perspective. Correct layer For the Correct layer, I organized the triggers into three different categories—Score, Feedback, Next button. 1. Score: Displaying a score helps learners gauge their progress. Since the goal of this game is for the learner to get 10 questions right in a row, I created the following trigger to calculate the score. Variable Trigger Purpose score Add value 1 to score when the timeline starts on this layer For every question the learner gets right, a point is added to their score. 2. Feedback: When I first created the Correct layer, I typed the feedback phrase, “That’s right!” But as I reviewed this interaction, seeing “That’s right!” 10 times in a row felt too repetitive. So, in addition to random math problems, I decided to add random feedback phrases for some variety. I wasn’t quite sure how to randomize words, but I remembered seeing this awesome Storyline: E-Learning Needs Analysis Generator by Montse. The concept was similar to what I was looking to do, so I dug into her file to see how she set it up. Here’s how I got the randomized feedback to work in my project: Variable Trigger Reason FeedbackNumber Set FeedbackNumber to random number between 1 and 10 when the timeline starts on this layer Since the goal of the game is to answer 10 questions right in a row, I included 10 different feedback phrases. This random number determines which phrase displays each time the learner answers correctly. FeedbackCorrect FeedbackNumber Set FeedbackCorrect to value Way to go! when FeedbackNumber = value 1 These are all the positive feedback phrases that display depending on the FeedbackNumber. I assigned each phrase a different number. Set FeedbackCorrect to value Outstanding! when FeedbackNumber = value 2 Set FeedbackCorrect to value Marvelous! when FeedbackNumber = value 3 Set FeedbackCorrect to value Incredible! when FeedbackNumber = value 4 Set FeedbackCorrect to value Right on! when FeedbackNumber = value 5 Set FeedbackCorrect to value You’re on fire! when FeedbackNumber = value 6 Set FeedbackCorrect to value I’m impressed! when FeedbackNumber = value 7 Set FeedbackCorrect to value Good thinking! when FeedbackNumber = value 8 Set FeedbackCorrect to value Grrr … eat! when FeedbackNumber = value 9 Set FeedbackCorrect to value Brilliant! when FeedbackNumber = value 10 3. Next button: After the learner reviews the correct feedback, they can move on to the next question. But since I built this entire interaction on just one slide, there are a few other triggers to add to reset everything after each question. Variable Trigger Purpose n/a Hide this layer when the user clicks Next button If the learner hasn’t earned 10 points yet, the layer closes and they’re presented with a new question to earn more points. score Jump to 1.3 Pass when the user clicks Next button if score = value 10 Once a learner earns 10 points, instead of hiding the layer to display the next question they’re directed to the final slide. answer Set answer to value 1 when the user clicks Next button Since the learner is moving onto the next question, this trigger resets the correct answer to its default value of 1. NumericEntry Set NumericEntry to value 0 when the user clicks Next button Instead of leaving the previously typed answer visible, this trigger resets the numeric entry field to 0 so the learner can start with a neutral number. a Set a to random number between 1 and 12 when the user clicks Next button These triggers reset both number fields to display a new math problem within the selected range. b Set b to random number between 1 and 12 when the user clicks Next button Incorrect layer For the Incorrect layer, I organized the triggers into two categories—Feedback and Next button. This layer didn’t require as many triggers since the Next button takes them to a final slide that allows them to restart the game. 1. Feedback: Similar to the Correct layer, I wanted to present different feedback phrases for incorrect responses. This is how that works: Variable Trigger Reason FeedbackNumber Set FeedbackNumber to random number between 1 and 3 when the timeline starts on this layer This random number determines which phrase displays each time the learner answers incorrectly. Incorrect FeedbackNumber Set FeedbackIncorrect to value Ahhh! when FeedbackNumber = value 1 These are all the Incorrect feedback phrases that display depending on the FeedbackNumber. I assigned each phrase a different number. I only included three different feedback phrases since the game is set up to get more answers right and the learners won’t see this layer as often. Set FeedbackIncorrect to value Grrr … when FeedbackNumber = value 2 Set FeedbackIncorrect to value Eeek! when FeedbackNumber = value 3 2. Next button: After the learner reviews the Incorrect feedback, they’re directed to the final slide. Here’s how I set that up: Variable Trigger Purpose n/a Jump to slide 1.4 Fail when the user clicks the Next button Since the learner didn’t answer 10 questions right in a row, they’re directed to the final slide, where they can play again. n/a Hide this layer when the user clicks Next button Left this trigger in to ensure the slide resets on restart. 7. Include an Optional Timer I decided to give learners the option to race against the clock, to make it even more challenging if they wanted to. Timed quizzes make for a more gamified experience, but—for accessibility purposes—I made the timer optional. Timers put learners who have visual, cognitive, or motor impairments and those using screen readers at a disadvantage. By providing two options, all learners are empowered to personalize the experience to fit their needs. Here’s how I set that up. Create the Timer Graphic To create the timer graphic, I inserted three long, thin rectangles at the top of the main quiz slide. Then, I changed the fill colors of each so that I had one white, one gray, and one red rectangle. Hide the Timer For learners who want to answer the questions at their own pace, I hid the timer. To do this, I changed the initial state of each shape to Hidden. Now, if a learner selects “Not timed,” the timer remains hidden. No triggers necessary. Show the Timer Then, to ensure the timer is visible for learners who want it, I added the following trigger to the Instructions layer of the introduction slide. Variable Trigger Purpose timer Set timer to True when the user clicks Timed button To save the option selected by the learner: Timed or Not Timed. Then, I added three triggers to the base layer of the main quiz slide—one for each of the colored rectangles—so that the timer displays if the learner selects the Timed button: Variable Trigger Purpose timer Change state of [timer color] to Normal when the timeline starts on this slide if timer = value True To show the timer at the start of this slide when the learner selects the Timed option. Remember: You need to add the above trigger to each colored rectangle, so in the end, you should have three almost identical triggers: Make the Timer Work Now it’s time to add animations to the timer so it looks like time is running out. To do that, I added a Fade and Wipe from Right animation to the red timer rectangle at the top of my slide. I changed the duration of the wipe to 30 seconds to give learners 30 seconds to complete the 10-question quiz before the timer runs out. Next, I extended the timeline of my slide to 30.75 seconds to take into account the animation durations. Then, I added the following trigger to display the Time’s Up layer when the time runs out: Variable Trigger Purpose timer Show layer Time’s Up when the animation Exit on red completes if timer = value True To make the Time’s Up layer appear when the red shape is no longer visible. Here’s what that layer looks like: Since the Time’s Up layer appears automatically when time runs out, there’s no time for learners to click on the Check button to see if they answered the questions correctly. For this reason, I added the following triggers to this layer: Variable Trigger Purpose answer a Multiply answer by variable a when the timeline starts on this slide To show the correct answer on this layer. answer b Multiply answer by variable b when the timeline starts on this slide Then, I added a trigger to jump to the Fail slide when learners click on Next so they can see their score and decide whether they want to play again. Variable Trigger Purpose n/a Jump to 1.4 Fail when the user clicks Next button To see their final results and give them another chance to play. Finally, I adjusted the settings of each layer on the main quiz slide so that the timer would only run when the learner was solving a math problem—not when they were viewing feedback. To do that, I clicked the properties icon and selected the Pause Timeline of Base Layer option: 8. Add Finishing Touches Once everything worked the way I wanted it to, I added some finishing touches to make it feel more game-like. For example, I inserted music I found on YouTube Studio and included a few sound effects I downloaded from Freesound. I also added subtle fade-ins and wipe-up animations for a smoother gaming experience. It’s amazing what a difference these small details can make when it comes to the overall experience. Wrap-Up In this project, I used random number variables to generate unpredictable math problems and phrases to make a more dynamic learning experience, but there are so many other cool ways to use this feature. Want to take a deeper dive into this game? You can download it here. How have you used random number variables in your projects? Please share your ideas or examples in the comments below. Looking for more inspiration on how to use variables in your projects? Check out these these e-learning challenges: 39 Brilliant Ways to Use Random Number Variables in E-Learning 24 Dynamic Ideas for Using Number Variables in E-Learning 33 Random Number Variable Examples in E-Learning Want to try building something similar in Storyline 360, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial.
