8 Business Use Cases for Microlearning
Are you excited to try out microlearning, but unsure when to use it? Below, we outline eight common workplace situations that benefit from a short-form course. Each situation includes a sample microlearning. At the end, learn how you can customize these templates for your own company and training needs. 1. Create Organizational Alignment To hit a business target, everyone needs to be moving in the same direction. Creating that alignment starts with clear, frequent communication of the shared mission, vision, and values. Microlearning can help. The following editable template shows how you can align employees through regular executive “micro” updates: Executive Update 2. Highlight HR Information, Notices, or Reminders Educating employees about annual events like open enrollment, tax season, and compliance training is a critical function of HR teams. The problem? Important announcements often get missed when they’re embedded in long paragraphs or endless emails. Grab the following templates to see how microlearning makes HR communications more digestible and engaging: A Quick Guide To Open Enrollment Internal Company Newsletter 3. Strengthen Company Culture and DEI Initiatives Fostering an inclusive company culture is a continuous process—not a one-time effort. A series of microlearnings can support your larger culture-building and DEI efforts. Check out the following examples for ideas on how to get started: Are You an Ally? Try Taking on These 5 Roles How To Identify and Stop Using Ableist Language Gossip-Proof Your Workplace 4. Streamline Business Processes You can also use microlearning to document and streamline business processes or workflows—such as employee onboarding or performance management. Notice how the following examples make it easy for employees to work through the steps of a process independently: New Hire Pre-Hire Checklist Performance Review and Feedback 5. Increase Security Awareness Most successful data breaches, phishing attacks, and other cybersecurity incidents are caused by human error. Adding refresher microlearnings throughout the year can fortify your defenses. See an example for safeguarding against phishing attacks below: Spot the Phish 6. Enhance Employee Wellness A successful business needs thriving employees. But employee wellness training often ends up buried under competing priorities. Microlearning makes it easy for employees to fit in short breaks for self-care throughout the workday. Check out these two wellness-related microlearning examples: 3 Desk Stretches to Instantly Improve Your Day 5 Tips for Better Naps 7. Provide Quick-Reference Guides Microlearning is the perfect resource for one-off training questions: Employees can quickly find the answers they need—when they need them. Below, we’ve created templates for product and software training. But you could easily create quick-reference guides for sales, customer service, and other teams. Get To Know [Name of Product] Software Training 8. Reinforce and Assess Key Takeaways Finally, who says you have to choose between a more sizable course and microlearning? Repetition aids retention. Consider following up longer training sessions with a microlearning quiz, scenario, or summary. The examples listed below demonstrate how you might do this: Can You Recover From a Workplace Mistake? Training Refresher Wrap-Up There’s no shortage of creative ways you can use microlearning to achieve your business training objectives. The examples above are just a starter list. You might also check out submissions to one of our weekly community challenges, 40+ Microlearning Examples Created in Rise 360 #407. Interested in customizing one of these examples for your team? If you’re an Articulate 360 subscriber or trialer, you can edit all of the examples linked throughout this post by choosing the course from our Rise 360 microlearning content templates. Here’s a short video showing how to do that: What’s the latest microlearning course you’ve created? Tell us about it in the comments—and feel free to ask any questions you might have! Like this article? 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 Twitter.98Views0likes9CommentsBuild Beautiful Courses Fast with Slide Templates from Content Library 360
We’ve all been there. Maybe you’re up against a short deadline or struggling to find some inspiration. You have your course content ready to go, but you’re not quite sure where to begin with your design. Whether you’re brand new to e-learning or a seasoned expert, turning to a course template might be the solution you need to kickstart your next e-learning development project. Thanks to Content Library 360, you can choose from hundreds of professionally designed, ready-to-go slide templates with cohesive design and color themes—all of which are completely customizable. Each one is crafted by the industry’s best e-learning designers, so you have all the elements you need to create an effective course in no time at all. And with Content Library 360 integrated right into Storyline 360, you can start adding slide templates to your project without interrupting your workflow! To view the different options, check out the table below. For help getting started, check out the links at the bottom of this article. Slide Template Sets Essence template (32 layout options) Project a luxe, modern vibe with the Essence template. Vitality template (36 layout options) Keep it simple with Vitality’s straightforward and easy-to-follow design. Synergy template (32 layout options) Synergy templates elevate your design while unpacking intricate content. Illuminate template (33 layout options) Distill complex topics with Illuminate’s mixed layout options and trendy design. Radiance template (32 layout options) Give your next project a cool, bright, and modern feel with the Radiance template. Affinity template (32 layout options) Go bold. Organize complex ideas with Affinity’s high-contrast, interactive design. Serenity template (32 layout options) Airy Serenity templates provide plenty of room for all your important content. Inspire template (33 layout options) Give important professional content an editorial feel with Inspire templates. Vibrance template (35 layout options) Charming design details make Vibrance templates pleasant and professional. Vision template (40 layout options) Bold images and clean visual layouts make Vision templates a go-to for any course. Velocity template (43 layout options) Velocity templates use blocks of color and full-slide images to highlight content. Tectonic template (34 layout options) Get to the point with dark Tectonic templates. Great for corporate training. Resonate template (37 layout options) Use the Resonate template set to dazzle learners with striking, high-contrast design. Quantum template (36 layout options) Make an impact. Use Quantum templates to give your images the space they deserve. Opportunity template (36 layout options) Grid layouts and emoji-style icons make Opportunity templates professional and fun. Momentum template (42 layout options) Use Momentum templates to present course content in a beautiful and modern layout. Journey template (34 layout options) Dress up content with the on-trend shapes and styling of Journey templates. Harmony template (34 layout options) Color blocking and minimalist icons imbue Harmony templates with a distinctive feel. Fractal template (40 layout options) From the unique background to sleek charts, Fractal templates make a statement. Focus template (41 layout options) Focus templates feature photographic layouts, modern icons, and sleek chart styles. Evolve template (34 layout options) Evolve slide templates use icons and large images to make course content pop. Integrity template (36 layout options) Make your course stand out with bold, high-contrast Integrity templates. Perspective template (33 layout options) Minimal slides and a dark theme give this modern template set a sleek feel. Diversity template (34 layout options) The Diversity template set gives any type of training an elegant look and feel. Axis template (34 layout options) Look sharp! The angular shapes in this template set emphasize your content. Chroma template (36 layout options) With hexagonal accents, Chroma slide templates make courses look fresh and modern. Clarity template (34 layout options) Give your course content a vibrant stage with modern and sleek Clarity templates. Vigor template (33 layout options) Give any course a polished look with this simple and effective template set. Flow template (34 layout options) Go with the Flow. Give your course an active, edgy look with this template set. More templates coming soon! Wrap-Up Whether you’re using templates for creative inspiration or to kickstart development, these fully functional slides will have you creating professional-looking courses in no time at all. And the best part is you can customize them to fit the look and feel of your project. To learn how to use and customize Content Library 360 slide templates, check out these articles: Using Content Library 360 Templates How I Customized This Content Library 360 Template 3 Timesaving Tips for Customizing Content Library 360 Templates 2 Tips for Using Content Library 360 That’ll Save You Oodles of Time Inspired by any of the templates listed above? Let us know how you plan to use them in your next e-learning project! Want to use these templates for your own e-learning courses, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial, and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.96Views0likes0CommentsAll the Best E-Learning Heroes Content from 2023 in One Place
As we wind down 2023 and look ahead to all the things to come in 2024, now is the perfect time to catch up on the most popular content shared in the E-Learning Heroes Community in 2023. To save you time, we’ve rounded up the best of the best for your review. You’ll also find a comprehensive list of the 102+ new and enhanced features we released to Articulate 360 in 2023, in case you missed any. 7 Most Popular Rise 360 Examples of 2023 7 Most Popular Storyline 360 Examples & Downloads of 2023 Check Out the 102+ Articulate 360 Features We Released in 2023 10 Most Popular E-Learning Heroes Articles of 2023 Best of E-Learning Challenges 2023 10 Most Popular Rise 360 Placeholder Content Templates of 2023 10 Most Popular Rise 360 Real-Content Templates of 2023 All 12 Quick Tips & Tricks Webinars From 2023 And if we missed any of your favorite content, please let us know in the comments below. 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.36Views0likes3CommentsHow to Find the Images You Want in Content Library 360
In the past, finding stock images was one of the most time-consuming aspects of e-learning development. Between visiting multiple websites to find what you need and trying to parse each site’s terms of use, attribution requirements, and download specs—it was a frustrating time-suck. But all of that has changed with Articulate 360. That’s because Articulate 360 includes Content Library 360, the ever-growing assetlibrary of millions of images, videos, icons, and illustrations. Content Library 360 puts all of these assets right at your fingertips in Articulate Storyline 360 and in Rise360. With Content Library 360, you never have to leave Storyline 360 or Rise 360 to find what you need. You can search from millions of stock assets without cranking up your web browser—and without sweating details like image quality or usage rights. With Content Library 360, it’s all taken care of for you. Having Content Library 360 built right into your authoring workflow is certainly convenient for finding stock assets, butmillions of them to choose from how do you hone in on what you really want? In this article, we’ll explore some handy Content Library 360 search tips that can help. Nail down keywords and phrases Having access to the stock imagery in Content Library 360 is super-helpful, but at the end of the day finding quality images boils down to smart searching—and as any librarian will tell you: keywords matter. Use keywords that are too broad or vague and you’ll waste time wading through too many of the wrong images. Do Some Word Association Since the same words can have a lot of different meanings, I like to do a little word association. I jot down the keywords and phrases I come up with on a scrap of paper and keep those next to me as I search. When certain keywords or phrases yield better search results, I’ll circle them so I know to come back to those later on as I narrow my search and make my final selections. For example, let’s say I need a picture of someone looking healthy and content for a health and wellness course. When I search for the word “content” I end up with lots of images of writing and paperwork. Not exactly what I’m going for. But if I brainstorm some associated words, like “relaxed” or “peaceful,” and then search for those and other related terms, I find many more options that are better suited to my topic. Pro Tip: Keep in mind that the more search terms you add, the more refined your search results will be. So if you’re looking for something specific, try using as many keywords as possible at first. You can always remove words or phrases from your search to broaden the results. Word Usage Impacts Your Search Results Words that have different uses can complicate searching for the right image. For example, when searching with keywords like “female” or “male,” you may end up with results that seem a little random—or even sexist. That’s because those terms are commonly used as both nouns and adjectives, so searching them is more likely to yield images that include stereotypical gender traits or roles. The term “female leader,” for instance, might result in an assortment of images that include everything from female animals in the wild, leading the pack, mixed in with images of women with exaggerated, stereotypically feminine traits. Here’s a quick example of what I mean: Simply searching “female” yields lots of images of stereotypical traits like youthful women with long shiny hair, curvy body shapes, big eyes, and pouty lips. However, when I searched for “woman” and added the term “business” it yielded much better, more workplace-appropriate results. Keep authenticity in mind Stock images are usually commissioned or sold for use in advertising. Often these images are tagged for search engines or stock photo sites by the individual photographers who took the images. The tags they use to categorize their photos may be based on attributes of the project they were hired for. So one photographer may tag an image of a family on the beach with words like “family” or “vacation” and another might tag a similar image as “people” or “holiday.” Obviously, this makes using some word association a powerful technique (see above), but it’s also a good opportunity to consider images that are a bit more evocative and less literal; to focus on more authentic depictions of concepts rather than the cheesy perfection we usually associate with stock photos. After all, when you’re trying to change people’s minds or their behavior, using more authentic images can help you connect with learners on an emotional level. To help search for and find images with an authentic look and feel in Content Library 360, keep these tips in mind. Take a cue from your audience Are your audience members mostly young people in business casual dress? Appeal to these learners by looking for images of diverse groups of people in a more casual, realistic setting, like the one below. Source: Content Library 360 Don’t toss out people images that aren’t picture perfect Human beings come in lots of different shapes, sizes, ages, abilities, and ethnicities. We don’t all look like models and we don’t always stare straight into the camera with a gleaming smile of perfectly straight pearly whites. Instead of searching for images that depict a model workplace full of designer-clad, camera-ready perfection, like the image below left, opt for a little more realness and character, like the image below right. Staged Stock Photo Source: Dreamstime More Candid Stock Photo Source: Content Library 360 Focus ondepictingan authentic mood or setting I mentioned already that stock photos are not designed specifically for use in e-learning projects. Because of this, many images can end up being exaggerated or cliched portrayals of real-life situations that just don’t resonate with learners. For instance, terms like “boss” can produce results that are gender stereotyped—like a bunch of elderly white men in business suits. Instead, try searching for environments or situations where you’d find someone collaborating, directing, or looking like they’re taking the lead. When I searched Content Library 360 with the keyword “team meeting,” I found lots of great images, including the following ones showing diverse team leaders working side by side with employees. The best part about using images like these is that they convey a feeling of teamwork in a modern workplace, rather than perpetuate a dated stereotype. And images like these are open to interpretation about who is “the boss,” so there’s no worrying that you’ve shared a biased depiction of leadership in your organization. Source: Content Library 360 Avoid being too literal Images should never be there just to fill white space on the screen. You want to make sure that you’re using them purposefully to support the content and objectives of your course. Some people may take that a step too far by asking you to use images of someone doing the exact thing you’re talking about on a particular slide or screen—like a picture of a manager juggling their schedule, in a time management course, for example. But be careful. Searching with keywords that are too literal, like “juggling schedule,” could get you a ton of images like this: Source: Content Library 360 Instead, of wading through photos of jugglers, try searching for images that complement your content and reinforce context. For instance, you could use words that evoke how it feels to be a busy manager, or focus in on images that support the concept of time, like this one: Source: Content Library 360 Get a little creative with stock photos Some stock images may not always be a perfect fit out of the box, but there are ways you can make them work. Here are a few things to try. Do somecropping With the built-in photo editing tools in Storyline 360, there’s quite a bit you can do to customize the look of Content Library 360 images, includingcropping out the bits you don’t need, like I did with this image, below. Source: Content Library 360 Add a transparent overlay Distract from the shortcomings of an image that’s less than ideal by covering it with a transparent overlay. Here’s how to do it in Storyline: Draw a rectangle shape over the image and add a light or dark fill. Change the transparency of the rectangle’s fill color to achieve the desired effect. Finally, place some text on top of that rectangle overlay, like in the example below. Now you’ve de-emphasized the image by making it part of the background for your content AND you’ve created a cool, eye-catching way to draw your learner’s attention to what really matters! Before Overlay Source: Content Library 360 After Overlay More Learning The bottom line is that stock photos are not designed specifically for use in e-learning projects. And the truth is, you’re not always going to find the perfect image right away. Sometimes you’ll need to go to a highly specialized photo site or get a little creative with how you use an image—or you’ll need to spend some time refining your search terms using the tips I shared above. But the real beauty of Content Library 360 is having the ability to search right at your fingertips. You can’t beat the convenience of finding and inserting images right within the apps. And by using some of the creative search strategies I’ve covered here, you’re bound to find loads of options for your projects. If you’re looking for more tips on working with stock images, check out these helpful articles: Customize and Edit Photos in Storyline: 6 Tips How to Remove Backgrounds in PowerPoint Enhance Your E-Learning Courses with Stock Images and Video What are your search tricks for finding stock assets in Content Library 360? I’d love to hear your tips, so please share them with me in a comment, below. Want to try something you learned here, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial, and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.35Views0likes39CommentsCheck Out the 102+ Articulate 360 Features We Released in 2023
Brand-new features in Articulate 360 can help you create a broader range of exciting learning experiences. And enhancements to existing features can streamline your design and development processes, making course creation even easier. But when apps evolve constantly, it’s not always easy to see just how much has changed over time. That’s why we’ve collected the 102+ new and enhanced features released in 2023 in this one handy article! Take a look at how much our apps have progressed over the past 12 months to see if there are any useful updates you might have missed. Storyline 360 Rise 360 Content Library 360 Review 360 Reach 360 Articulate 360 Desktop App Articulate 360 Teams Storyline 360 64-Bit Version of Storyline Harness the processing power in modern computers with a 64-bit version of Storyline 360. Large, media-rich courses benefit from increased stability and faster performance. Video Playback Speed Let learners explore at their own pace by choosing a course playback speed between 0.25x and 2x. Closed Captioning Boost video accessibility by including closed captions when publishing projects as MP4 video files. Adaptive Streaming Video With streaming video support, deliver video content to all learners, regardless of their internet speed. Accessible Feedback Layers Empower learners with accessible question feedback layers that meet color, contrast, and focus guidelines by default. Publish Storyline 360 Courses to Reach 360 Publish Storyline 360 courses directly to Reach 360—a lightweight distribution tool to deploy your e-learning content to more learners, including deskless workers, contractors, and customers. Video Transcripts Generate synchronized video transcripts from closed captions so visual content is accessible to all learners, including those who rely on screen readers, use braille displays, or prefer to read. Background Audio Create immersive experiences with continuous background audio that sets the tone and keeps learners engaged. Learners can turn off background audio if they prefer. In-App Review Comments Speed the review process and never miss crucial feedback with in-app comments. Review 360 comments appear in context as you’re working in Storyline 360, so you can act on stakeholder feedback immediately. Reply to comments and resolve them in real time as you create content. Add images from comments to training with a single click. Cloud Backup Access your Storyline 360 project files from anywhere and share them with team members by uploading your source files to Review 360. Rest easy knowing your projects are backed up, making previous versions easy to recover. Improved File AutoRecovery Fix project files that won’t open with the help of strengthened Storyline 360 recovery capabilities. Live Caption Support in Google Chrome Make use of Live Captions while taking Storyline 360 courses in Google Chrome. Updated Default Fonts Access the latest versions of several fonts that get installed with Storyline 360. Enhanced Player Properties Enjoy easier access to the modern player controls (play/pause, volume, etc.) and player tabs (menu, glossary, etc.) checkboxes now that they’re all left-aligned. Streaming Video Support for Videos in 360° Images Make use of the streaming video feature for videos in 360° images. Create Time-Based Triggers Create time-based triggers in minutes and seconds instead of having to convert values to seconds only. Feedback Master Quickly apply a feedback master to multiple question slides simultaneously. Upgraded Embedded Version of Chromium Benefit from Chromium 112.0.5615.165 in Storyline 360. Insert Web Videos Insert web videos using relative paths. High-Res Animated GIFs Give learners the best visual experience possible with high-resolution animated GIF support. Wrap Text Ensure text in data-entry fields wraps more easily using the wrap text option instead of having to increase the height to be more than 60 pixels. Optional “Lost Connectivity” Alert Let your learners know when they lose their connection with this optional alert you can turn on in the player properties. Faster Trigger Wizard Performance on Macs Enjoy better trigger wizard performance on M-series Macs. Set Your Cover Photo To Fill the Player Frame Easily set your cover photo to fill the player frame in the player properties. Screen Recording on Primary and Secondary Monitors Record your screen on primary and secondary monitors with DPI settings over 100%. Full-Screen Storyline Block Display Display Storyline blocks in Rise 360 full screen on mobile devices when player controls are turned off. Display Crisp Text and Images Display crisp text and images in embedded web objects by unchecking the scaling option. Background Audio in Video Output Include background audio in published video output. Turn Player Navigation Elements On or Off Control how learners navigate submitted quiz questions by turning player navigation elements on or off. Neural Voices Generate realistic, natural-sounding text-to-speech narration with neural voices. New Neural Voices (US English) Enjoy two new English (US) neural voices options, Danielle and Gregory, for text-to-speech conversion. Icons and Text Displayed in Player For new projects that use the modern player, navigation buttons now display both icons and text by default. You can still switch to just icons or text instead. Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) Support Unlock new possibilities for text-to-speech audio. Use SSML to adjust the speaking rate, modify pronunciation, emphasize words, add pauses, and more. Fixed Positions for Modern Player Controls Make it even easier for learners to interact with your course thanks to fixed control positions at the bottom of the player. Text Wrapping Easier Benefit from an improved user interface for text-entry fields text-wrapping options. Enhanced Button Accessibility Provide learners with a more accessible experience now that the “Back to Top” and “Skip Navigation” buttons and the volume slider meet color contrast guidelines. Control Background Audio with Triggers Control the background audio for each slide using triggers to play, pause, or stop the playlist. Tooltips Available Display tooltips that are accessible to mouse, keyboard, and screen reader users automatically using the built-in player controls and navigation buttons. Fine-Tune Background Audio Customize the background audio experience even further by fine-tuning the volume with a percentage-based variable. Rise 360 Microlearning Deliver bite-size, single-objective content with the Microlearning feature. Turn Off the Cover Page Turn off the cover page when you publish for LMS to improve compatibility, streamline training, and get learners into content faster. Theme Color Contrast Use theme color contrast to instantly ensure training content meets accessible color handling requirements for learners with low vision. Turn Off Lesson Headers Turn off lesson headers to provide a more focused learning experience. Reply To and Resolve Review 360 Comments Reply to and resolve Review 360 comments from within Rise 360 and add suggested images with a single click. Block Contrast Settings Automatically adjust the contrast of text and graphics at the block level or select your own contrast with block contrast settings. Enhanced Block Settings Customize your blocks with distinctive backgrounds and easily adjust padding options with enhanced block settings. Team Folders Create shared team folders to organize your team’s content, assign permissions, and invite collaborators. Enhanced Dashboard Management Organize and keep track of what’s important to you more easily with the enhanced dashboard. New Real Content Course Templates Get even more great content out to learners fast with new additions to our library of real content course templates. In 2023 we added new courses and microlearning experiences on topics like exercise, forming healthy habits, Black History Month, discussing disabilities in the workplace, and more! New Placeholder Content Course Templates Jump-start course creation with even more placeholder content course templates. New additions include course outlines on equity compensation conversations and sales order management processes. Publish Rise 360 Courses to Reach 360 Publish Rise 360 courses directly to Reach 360—an add-on to Articulate 360 that lets you quickly distribute training, enroll learners, and track their progress. Specify an Admin When Publishing to Reach 360 Get the right eyes on your course when publishing it to Reach 360 by selecting a specific admin to notify from a searchable drop-down menu. Quote Block Accessibility Improvements Give all your learners a better experience with accessibility improvements for quote blocks. WCAG 2.1 Conformant Process Blocks Include process blocks in your accessible courses now that they’re WCAG 2.1 conformant with improved keyboard navigation and screen reader support. Translate Labels for Screen Readers Broaden your impact and enhance accessibility by translating screen reader labels into other languages. Added Labels for Sidebar Progress Indicator Enhance localization and accessibility with labels for sidebar progress indicator tooltips. Default Text Color Improve accessibility conformance on new courses without lifting a finger by leaving the default text color, which is now true black. Skip Video Compression Add _NOPROCESS_ to a video file name to skip compression when uploading it to your course. Exported Training Destinations Quickly select a destination for your exported training with the Rise 360 dashboard publish menu. Cover Page Overlay Setting Use the Overlay setting to preserve both image clarity and text readability by choosing a light or dark translucent overlay for your cover photo that automatically maximizes text contrast. Links in Button and Button Stack Blocks Use relative links in button and button stack blocks to link to training within your subdomain. Theme Color Selector Use the Theme setting in the block element color picker to quickly select your training’s theme color. Logo Size Options Crop your logo to decrease white space and increase its size to customize your cover page branding. Quiz and Labeled Graphics No Longer Animate Protect those with motion disorders automatically now that quiz and labeled graphics items no longer animate when learners enable reduced motion settings on their devices. Rise 360 Images Marked as Decorative by Default Mark images as decorative automatically when you leave alt text for an image blank so it’s ignored by screen readers. Block Background Images Randomly Selected Enjoy a wider variety of default block background images now that they’re randomly selected on a block-by-block basis. Progression Arrows Remain Visible on Zoom Give all learners a better experience now that labeled graphic progression arrows remain visible when zoomed in or viewed on a mobile device. Split Block Design Menu Apply design settings to blocks more easily now that we’ve split the block design menu into two new menus: Style and Format. Updated Placeholder Content Templates Enjoy the new and improved placeholder content templates, a makeover where you’ll notice that the “lorem ipsum” text has been replaced with instructional and sample content. To improve accessibility, we’ve removed italicized formatting. We’ve also updated block design throughout the templates to take advantage of recent Rise 360 formatting enhancements. Linked Block Padding Add a custom value for top and bottom block padding at the same time using the linked padding option. 4k Video Support Boost course video quality with the ability to upload 4k videos to Rise 360. Content Library 360 Thousands of New Images Find the perfect royalty-free photos for your online training even more easily with the addition of hundreds of thousands more high-resolution images from Pexels. New Illustrated Characters Represent a greater variety of learners with six new illustrated characters: Eduardo, Camila, Mike, Shanae, Don, and Wren. Review 360 Request Review Keep your team on track without the hassle of spreadsheets or phone calls thanks to the request review feature. Send and track requests for specific stakeholders to review a content item right from Review 360. With email notifications, due dates, visible statuses, and completion buttons, you’ll never miss another deadline. Team Folders Create shared team folders in Review 360 to organize your content, assign permissions, and invite collaborators. You can even allow multiple authors to publish new versions of a course to the same Review 360 project. Comments Only Allowed on Current Versions of Courses Keep teams in sync by preventing stakeholders from accidentally adding new comments to old versions of a content item. Enhanced Dashboard Quickly and intuitively organize your Review 360 dashboard with nested folders, subfolder breadcrumbs, an action toolbar, and more project management efficiencies. You can even multi-select items and folders, then move them in bulk. Learn more about the enhanced dashboard. Review Status Labels Allow stakeholders to reset their status after completing a review for more flexibility. Send Bulk Review Requests Send a request to multiple reviewers simultaneously by copying and pasting their email addresses in bulk. Text-Formatting Toolbar in Request Review Send engaging review request messages with the new text-formatting toolbar. Content Privacy Settings Control access to your content by making your Review 360 items private while still allowing invited stakeholders to offer feedback. Reach 360 Reach 360 Launched Reach 360 launched! Reach 360 is a frictionless LMS that integrates with Articulate 360 so you can easily deliver training to more learners. Group Self-Registration Simplify learner management by generating a sign-up link that automatically adds your learners into a group. API Integrations Use the Reach 360 API to build custom integrations with your business systems, giving your team access to valuable training and data where they need it most. Connect Reach 360 and Zapier Automate your work and streamline your productivity by adding Reach 360 to your Zapier workflows (currently in beta). Custom Domain Brand your Reach 360 URL with a custom domain you own. Owner Role The purchaser of your Articulate 360 Teams subscription is now listed as the Owner in Reach 360. Improved Group Member Lists Improve performance with paginated group member lists that display 50 members per page. Bulk Delete Learners Use true “select all” to bulk delete learners, even every learner, from your Reach 360 account. Active Learner Usage Report At a glance, see how many users have logged in to your Reach 360 account with the Active Learner Usage report. Bulk Delete Members Bulk delete members, even every member, from a group with “select all.” Bulk Import Bulk import and delete group members via CSV. Connect with Slack Connect Reach 360 and Slack so you can share course previews and get in-app training notifications. Share Content with QR Code Share specific training items directly with learners via URL or QR code. Learning Path QR Code Allow users to directly access a learning path—and self-register as a new learner if necessary—with a QR code. Self-Registration QR Code Allow users to self-register as new learners or group members using a QR code. Custom Certificates Create and manage custom certificates. SSO for Learners Enable SSO for your Reach 360 learners directly from your Reach 360 settings. Manage Groups and Users with SSO Use SSO to manage learners and groups, allowing them to quickly access training using one set of log-in credentials. Users API Endpoint Delete users from training with this Users API endpoint. Reach 360 API Quiz Data Enhancement Include quiz data in the course.completed event type for Webhook Events in the Reach 360 API. Sortable Activity Report Column Quickly check completion status with a sortable column in the activity report. Separate Admins for Reach 360 Enjoy more organizational options by defining separate admins for Reach 360. Enhanced User Role Management Streamline Reach 360 user management to include learners and admins only. Reporter Access Delegate training analytics by assigning reporters who only have access to detailed reports for specific groups of learners. Custom Certificate Settings Select a custom certificate to be the default certificate for your Reach 360 training. Default Direct Sharing Direct sharing is enabled by default for all new content published to your Reach 360 library. Articulate 360 Desktop App Improved Error Reporting Resolve issues faster with updated error reporting. Articulate 360 Teams Retain Shared Content Maintain control over shared content when a member leaves the team. Wrap-Up As you can see, 2023 was a big year with lots of exciting updates to the Articulate 360 apps. You can see what’s up next by checking out our feature roadmap page. Want to try out some of these features, but don’t have Articulate 360 just yet? Start a free 30-day trial, and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.34Views0likes0CommentsTwo New Storyline Characters Wearing Personal Protective Equipment
We’re excited to announce that we’re adding two new characters to our ever-expanding character library in Storyline! Dressed in hard hats and high-vis safety vests, Sebastian and Haley are ready for a variety of scenarios that require industry-specific outfits. Here’s a quick peek at how you can use these new characters in your courses. Sebastian Dressed in a hard hat, high-visibility vest, and work boots, Sebastian represents a variety of industries. His personal protective equipment makes him a great fit for settings like construction and events. With a serious, experienced presence, he can play many roles—co-worker, manager, foreman, or mentor. Haley Bright personal protective equipment makes Haley stand out from the crowd. She could be a member of a maintenance crew, an airport mechanic, or a stakeholder visiting a construction site. With her vibrant expressions and sleek ponytail, Haley is a versatile character, perfect for entry-level or managerial roles. Wrap-Up To insert these characters into your Storyline 360 courses, select Characters in the Insert tab. There, you can explore the full character collection in Content Library 360, which features these new characters and many more for a total of 100,000+ combinations of photographic and illustrated characters, expressions, and poses. We look forward to bringing you more characters dressed in different styles and for more industries. If there’s a specific character you’re looking for, let us know in the comments! These characters will work for folks using Storyline 360, the continuously updated version of Storyline included in Articulate 360. Want to try them out? Get a free trial of Articulate 360 right here. And subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest features and resources.34Views0likes0CommentsBring Courses to Life with Characters from Content Library 360
Characters are one of the most commonly used elements of e-learning courses. Whether you’re trying to craft a meaningful narrative or make your content more relatable for learners, characters are a great way to bring your content to life. Luckily, thanks to Content Library 360, you have a diverse assortment of 100+ illustrated and photographic characters at your fingertips. Choose from 100,000+ combinations of characters, expressions, and poses. With a wide range of industries and professions to choose from, you’ll have endless ways to show learners how your content applies to them. And with Content Library 360 integrated into Articulate 360, you can bring a sense of personality to your courses without slowing down your workflow! Let’s take a look at the characters available in Content Library 360: Photographic Illustrated — Modern Characters Illustrated — Classic Characters Photographic Characters Each character has 100+ poses. Thomas (3 outfits) Friendly and professional, Thomas fits any business setting. Sarah (3 outfits) Sarah is a cheerful choice for leading learners through a variety of topics. Aliyah (3 outfits) Choose Aliyah when you need a poised young professional who knows how to get the job done. Renita Renita’s dressed for success as a young professional or customer service rep. Craig Choose Craig to showcase safety protocols on your construction site. Robert Choose Robert when your training needs a friendly face. Amira Meet Amira, a polished woman who’s ideal for most business settings. Michele Select Michele to lead learners through safety and construction scenes. Liz Liz’s kind look is ideal for customer service, healthcare, and more. Glenn Choose Glenn when you want to add a polished executive to your course. DeShaun Deshaun’s a versatile young professional perfect for business settings. Shafer Outgoing and motivating, Shafer is perfect for most business settings. Joseph A charismatic coach or mentor for sports and health-related topics. Isabel A poised character to guide learners through courses on medicine and science. Bradley Bradley’s kind expressions make him an approachable guide for medical courses. Vicki A cheerful-looking call center employee who’s great for customer service courses. Antonio Antonio makes a perfect guide for international business courses. Maria Maria is a young, sharp-looking female EMT for medical courses. Kayla With all her gear on, Kayla is prepped for your safety courses. Mitchell Mitchell radiates the warmth and energy of a caring customer service pro. Lange Lange is the perfect energetic businessman for leadership courses. Mary Choose Mary to guide your learners through customer service training. Valeria An upbeat, young character with a casual look for a variety of courses. Andres Outfitted in an EMT uniform, Andres is ready to lead in medical courses. Carlos Provide learners with a relatable guide in casual workplace courses. Ginnie Friendly-looking older woman in colorful attire for challenging topics. Emily Emily is a laid-back character who’s perfect for many types of courses. Paulina Paulina is an energetic guide for learners in medical and dental fields. Gail A dynamic professional character for courses set in a modern workplace. William An authoritative, professional character for health and science courses. Shelia Sheila is a well-dressed young professional who radiates confidence. Nora This sporty middle-aged woman is the perfect coach for health courses. Jet Jet’s casual style and friendly face make him a versatile character. Gianna This stylish businesswoman is great for corporate training. Brandon The perfect casual character for a wide range of everyday scenarios. Alberto This cheerful man in workwear is great for office training courses. Quan This bright young man in workwear is perfect for industrial scenarios. Laura A great character for customer service courses. Includes headset shots. Atsumi This recognizable character’s fun expressions make her a fan favorite. Al A confident, gray-haired gentleman well-suited for leadership training. Caesar Let this affable doctor help learners make healthy choices. Tonya This cheerful character is perfect for health and wellness training. Nicky Nicky’s style and piercing looks make her a go-to manager character. Tony With his hard hat and safety goggles, Tony’s ready to work. Paula Use this woman in workwear for casual scenarios or industrial courses. Nerijus Nerijus has the look of a sharp young businessman on his way to the top. Marie Mature woman in professional attire is great for courses of any type. Lorraine Cheerful doctor in scrubs and lab coat ideal for health-conscious courses. Jonathan This older man in a headset works great in customer support courses. Javier This casual, older male character works well in any kind of course. James Customer service professional in workplace attire. Includes headset. Jake The perfect worker for industry courses. Includes safety hat and vest. Harriet This regal businesswoman in conservative garb is great for leadership training. Cort Cort is a male nurse character ready to help learners tackle health topics. Rosie Meet Rosie, a stylish young businesswoman for any type of course. Rhonda Encouraging, enthusiastic office worker for corporate training courses. Chris A mature businessman with a lot of personality for workplace courses. Paul Paul is a kind-looking man who’s great for customer service courses. Edwin Edwin is a casual character with kind expressions and a warm smile. Sonee Prim and proper, Sonee is a great seasoned character for workplace training. Jeremy Jeremy’s casual attire and laid-back attitude help him fit in anywhere. Christy Use this energetic businesswoman to give learners the inside scoop. Dave Playful and creative, Dave works well in any workplace course. Nicole Nicole’s gregarious vibe makes her a great character for sales courses. Christian Kind and sincere, Christian is a good pick for corporate training. Ron Approachable middle-aged professional perfect for workplace training. Anton This casual character is perfect for a wide variety of course topics. Andrea Cheerful female worker for industrial or construction site training. Brian A character whose warmth and charisma are great for workplace courses. Christine This serious blonde woman is a perfect partner for challenging courses. Ammon This affable chap can add friendliness and cheer to any type of course. Terri A middle-aged woman for customer service training. Includes headset. Alice A pleasant woman in office attire wearing a hard hat and safety goggles. Sukiyo A seasoned executive who’s perfect for scenarios in office settings. More coming soon! Illustrated — Modern Characters Each character has 300+ pose combinations. More coming soon! Haley Wearing a hard hat, vest, and work boots, ready for many industries. Sebastian A seasoned industry worker wearing personal protective equipment. Chloe Chloe is perfect for cafe, retail, or casual dining settings. Theresa Wearing nurses’ scrubs, Theresa fits right into medical settings. Shanae An approachable and memorable everyday guide. Wren A young, fashion-forward character suited for casual settings. Don A charming older man for any type of relaxed training. Mike An easygoing, self-assured guy perfect for relaxed settings. Eduardo An older gentleman, well suited for business-casual workplaces. Camila A casual, everyday guide ready to connect with a variety of learners. Jayla A cool, sophisticated friend or mentor, perfect for casual settings. Jamal At home in the business world, Jamal is distinguished but still fun. Jada A savvy and stylish guide who can connect with a broad audience. Eric A man with presence and panache who can connect with corporate crowds. Maya A busy young healthcare worker, well-suited for medical training. Pamela A mature businesswoman for corporate or finance training. Charles The epitome of a CEO, Charles is ready to lead in executive settings. Simone A reliable choice for helping learners navigate healthcare scenarios. Dante A versatile character for most business casual or academic settings. Lily Casual attire makes this character versatile. Includes built-in states. This sharp businessman is a great character for professional training. Shannon Modern businesswoman perfect for executive and leadership training. Amber A young doctor for health-related courses. Poses include a stethoscope. Blake A well-dressed character for any situation. Includes built-in states. Zachary Meticulous, middle-aged doctor for medical-themed training courses. Theo A mature professional who’s suited for more formal corporate training. Sylvie This businesswoman in sharp attire is perfect for professional courses. Sofie Use this casual and approachable middle-aged woman in your next course. Sophia Sophia is a modern and youthful character for any workplace course. Reuben This casual guy is a relatable ally for learners in any type of course. Phoebe Use this skilled nurse in hospital scenarios and workplace courses. Oliver This professional middle-aged man is dressed for any workplace scenario. Nathan This crisp gentleman in a gray suit is great for executive training. Matthew Gentleman in a black and gray business suit for professional training. Marcus Use this bespectacled doctor in health and wellness training courses. Madeline A sharply dressed doctor that’s great for health and wellness courses. Mabel Mabel is an older female surgeon with short hair and wireframe glasses. Lucas An easygoing middle-aged man in flattering business-casual attire. Juliet A redheaded woman in casual attire who’s suited for any kind of course. Stephen Use this charismatic businessman in a bold suit for executive training. Iris Young neighborly female character works for many different types of courses. Harrison Use this charming middle-aged doctor in health and wellness courses. Grace Use this calm and assured female doctor in health and wellness courses. Frank Middle-aged nurse with shiny dark hair perfect for hospital scenarios. Frances A youthful medical professional to use in health and wellness courses. Emma This brunette, middle-aged woman in workplace attire means business. Elisa This young woman is perfect for courses in casual environments. Demond A young nurse is here to help learners in health and wellness courses. Daniel Young, high-energy male perfect for any course in a casual setting. Claire Middle-aged woman for scenarios in casual locations, even the outdoors. Charlotte Fair-haired female professional perfect for workplace training courses. Arthur A striking doctor in business attire who’s great for wellness training. Alex A versatile character that’s calm, cool, and just a little outdoorsy. Abby This powerful corporate character is great for executive-level courses. Jonah This middle-aged man in jeans and a T-shirt is great for casual courses. Ethan An older, salt-and-pepper professional for any type of office training. Marilyn Marilyn’s casual attire and kind smile make her a relatable character. Lydia You can put this confident brunette in just about any type of course. Illustrated — Classic Characters Each character has 300+ pose combinations. Gabriel Molly Olivia Dennis Curt Norene Shane Bernardo Leonard Samantha Jennifer Louis Erik Kristina Beatrice Jayce Rose Roland Gloria Martin Maisie Jay Carmen Gregory Dominick Walt Evelyn Connie Peter Ivy Jason Adelaide Jessica Evangeline Debra Niles Cooper Hazel Bob Marissa In Summary With this ever-growing library of photographic and illustrated characters, it’s easier than ever to create personalized content that truly connects with your learners. Simply include them in a scenario in Rise 360 or add them to your slides in Storyline 360 to tell a story. The possibilities are endless! Looking for more ways to use characters in your courses? Check out these helpful resources to get inspired: 5 Tips to Help You Choose Characters for E-Learning 2 Quick Tips for Working with Characters in Storyline 360 5 Cool Ways to Use Characters to Engage and Connect with Learners Are you already using characters in your e-learning? Share your best practices in the comment below. Want to use these characters in your own e-learning courses, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial, and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.27Views0likes3CommentsIntroducing Two New Modern Illustrated Storyline Characters: Chloe and Theresa!
Characters bring learning to life, and today we’ve got two new modern illustrated characters who will be perfect for your service industry and medical scenarios. These characters come in a variety of poses, including seated at a desk and in a wheelchair and holding props like laptops and clipboards. Of course, they also capture a range of emotions, so they can adapt to whatever’s happening in your scenarios. Without further ado, here’s a quick glimpse at these new characters. Chloe Chloe is ready to work—perfect for cafe, retail, or casual dining settings. Sporting an apron, jeans, and tennis shoes, she fits in at a cafe, storefront, or casual restaurant. She’s versatile, too—she could be a florist, a barista, a server, a line cook, and more. Her comfortable, upbeat spirit makes Chloe a great choice for a variety of learning subjects. Theresa Theresa is a seasoned professional who fits right into medical settings. Wearing dark blue scrubs and comfortable sneakers, she’s prepared for anything that happens in her unit. With a pulled-back bun and minimal makeup, Theresa balances professionalism and approachability, making her ideal for learning about health topics of all kinds. Wrap-Up To insert these characters into your Storyline 360 courses, simply select Characters in the Insert tab. There, you can explore the full character collection in Content Library 360, which features over 100,000 combinations of photographic and illustrated characters, expressions, and poses. We’re excited to see how you’ll use Chloe and Theresa! These characters will work for folks using Storyline 360, the continuously updated version of Storyline included in Articulate 360. Want to try them out? Get a free trial of Articulate 360 right here. And subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest features and resources.17Views0likes5CommentsHow to Easily Customize the Gorgeous Content Library 360 Templates
Content Library 360 gives you access to beautiful e-learning templates designed by the industry’s leading course designers. These templates not only look great, they also include pre-programmed interactions. And you access them right from Storyline 360 and Studio 360, so your course will be ready to go faster than ever before. You can use them as-is or customize them to get the look you want. Follow these four easy steps to build great-looking and effective e-learning courses. And watch this quick videoto kick-start your content creation with Content Library 360. 1. Browse for a Template Built by instructional designers for instructional designers, Content Library 360 is organized by content type, so it’s easy to find the right template for the job. Whether you’re looking for a great way to present learning objectives or add scenarios to your e-learning, we’ve got you covered. 2. Download a Template Once you’ve found the template that you want, simply click on Insert Slide and the template will be inserted into your project. Onceyou insert one slide template, the template set you used will appear at the top of the list when you reopen Content Library 360, so you can easily add other slides to your project from the template set for a cohesive, professional look. 3. Adapt the Template to Fit Your Brand Another great thing about the Content Library 360 templates is thatthey’re built using theme colors and fonts, so it’s easy to adapt them to your brand guidelines. You can choose another of the pre-built themes or match your branding exactly by creating a custom theme with your brandcolorsand fonts. Choose your new theme and the templates will be automatically updated. It’s that easy. 4. Insert Your Content Now all that’s left to do is swap out the filler content with your course content. To replace a picture, just right-click and choose Change Picture. To replace the text, simply copy and paste your text in the text box. Thanks to Content Library 360, you can create beautiful, engaging courses that fit your brand in minuteswithout any graphic design skills. So you can get back to thinking aboutyour course content!16Views0likes8Comments3 Timesaving Tips for Customizing Content Library 360 Templates
It’s Friday afternoon and your creative e-learning powers are starting to ebb. After all, you’ve been killing it this week. Friday afternoons are all about coasting into the weekend, right? But then a familiar notification pops up on your screen. It’s an email from one of your project stakeholders telling you to add an entirely new section to the course that’s supposed to be in final review for launch next week. It’s enough to make you go … No matter how meticulous you are about nailing down content scope early on, late-breakingadditions happen and, let’s face it, you’ll probably go out of your way to try to accommodate them. But, thankfully, being accommodating doesn’t mean sacrificing your weekend plans or even burning the midnight oil. With the timesaving tips I’m sharing here, you can avoid a heavy design lift by customizing Content Library 360 templates instead of designing slides from scratch. Tip #1: Filter Your Search for the Perfect Layout For starters, I like toadd a new scene to my Storyline 360 project and then insert my Content Library 360 slides there. That way I don’t interfere with my existing project slides and I can take advantage of custom design themes and any assets already in my project (more on that in a moment!). Then, with the first slide in my new scene selected, I’ll navigate up to the slides menu and select Content Library to open up the Content Library 360 template browser. Here’s how I filter my options down to layouts that will work best for my project: The filters on the left make it easier to find what you need. For instance, I knewmy new contentneeded an interaction, so instead of scrolling through every single slide in each template set, I clicked on Interactions (under Type) just to see layouts that are more interactive, like timeline, tabs, and process layouts.With all the layers and triggers built for me, using one of these layouts was going to be an easy design win. And since I also wanted to see slides only in a dark theme, I also clicked on Dark under the theme filter. I find that keeping within the same color tones (e.g., replacing dark with dark or light with light) makes the work of unifying the look of my new and old slides a lot easier. Once I’ve narrowed down the options, I just click to select the layout I need and then hit the Insert Slide button to add it to my project. Pro Tip: Need to insert multiple slides? Just hold down the shift key while you click on the slide layouts. Then click on the button labeled Insert (X) Slides. Tip #2: Quickly Customize Colors and Fonts Once you’ve found the layouts you need and added them to your project, you can shift your focus to visually blending your new slides into your existing slides. The easiest way to unify slide design is to use the same design theme. Design themes in Storyline 360 encompass both colors and fonts, so let’s walk through each of these. Customizing Theme Colors On a newly inserted slide template navigate to the design ribbon and select the colors drop-down. At this point, you can click on any of the prebuilt color themes or create a custom color theme based on the colors used in your existing project slides. If you apply an existing color theme to your slides, the colors will update automatically. To create a new color theme, click on Create New Theme Colors at the bottom of the drop-down list. Once you’ve specified all of the theme colors, they’ll be automatically applied to your selected slides. This support article details all the theme colors used in Content Library 360 slides so you can anticipate how changing color themes will impact them. Never used theme colors before? Here’s an article that goes over what they are and how to work with them. Customizing Theme Fonts Another quick way to change up the design of Content Library 360 slides is to unify the fonts between your existing project and your newly inserted slide layouts. For instance, my original project uses Open Sans, but my newly inserted Content Library 360 slides are using the Lato Light theme. Here’s how to change that. On newly inserted slide templates, navigate to the design ribbon and select the fonts drop-down. Now you can select from any of the font themes already in use in your project file, any of the built-in themes, or you can create new theme fonts. For my example, I just clicked on the built-in Open Sans theme to apply it to my slides. Again, if you’ve never used theme fonts before, here’s an article that will walk you through them. Pro Tip: Notice how there wasn’t a huge difference in the appearance after I changed fonts from Lato to Open Sans? That’s because they’re very similar in size. However, if you choose a font theme that’s significantly larger or smaller than the template theme, keep in mind you might have to makesome adjustments to line-wrapping in textboxes. Tip #3: Swap and Add Images One more super-quick change you can make is to swap out placeholder images. Let’s walk through a few options to consider. Want to change out a placeholder image for a new one from Content Library 360? Easy peasy. Just right-click your mouse and choose Replace Picture and then From Content Library 360. Here’s a quick GIF of this action. Want to change out a placeholder image or character foranother one you’ve already used in your project? This is the perfect time to take advantage of Media Library. That's because Media Libraryhelps youkeep track of images, characters, audio clips, and videos in your course, so you can easily add, remove, replace, reuse, and export them. Let's say you need to swap out a character. Just right-click your mouse on the character you want to replace and select Replace Pose and then Media Library. Then, click on the down arrow to the left of your existing character to see the poses you’re already using. Click on a pose to select it and then click on the Replace Character button. The new character will maintain the cropping and dimensions of the character pose it’s replacing, which makes your job that much easier. Want to replace a placeholder image with a brand-new image, not previously used in your project? Again, Media Library is a nice timesaver here. From Media Library, just click onthe (import icon) in the upper right corner and select Picture from File. Navigate to the folder with the images you want to import and select them. Click Open. Now you can quickly replace placeholder images with the images you just imported into Media Library. So there you have it! Three timesavers for customizing Content Library 360 templates during crunch time—and without burning the midnight oil. How do you save yourself some time with Content Library 360 templates? What are your clever workarounds for tackling last-minute change requests? Share your thoughts with us in a comment. Want to try something you learned here, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial, and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.15Views0likes2Comments