5 Ways to Use Animated GIFs in Your E-Learning
Animated GIFs—or image files that act like a short video that loops endlessly—are everywhere these days, on social media, in blogs, and even in e-learning courses! That’s right, instructional designers are using these eye-catching multimedia assets to grab their learners’ attention—and you can too. Check out these ideas to get inspiration on how to incorporate animated GIFs in your courses. 1. As Course Header Images If your learners have a ton of courses in their dashboard and you want yours to stand out, try using an animated GIF in the course header, like in this example: Mars Curiosity Rover. It’s a surefire way to get your course noticed. 2. As Attention Getters GIFs are eye-catching. Have you noticed how hard it is to look away even when you’ve already seen the same animation loop 10 times over? That’s what’s so great about them. Their movement naturally draws your learners in and incites them to pay attention. Not convinced? Take a look at this Rise 360 course: Space Travel–Themed Interactive Infographic See how the GIFs draw you in and make you want to click on the interactive parts? I thought so. 3. To Illustrate Key Messages But GIFs can do more than just catch your learners’ eye. They can actually help learners better understand the concepts you’re teaching them. Check out the GIFs in this course, for example: An American’s Guide to Driving in France. See how the GIFs support the key messages? 4. To Lay Out the Steps in a Process If you’re creating a how-to course, you might be tempted to make a video. And that’s definitely one way of doing it! But if people need to replicate the steps one by one, they might need to rewind each step and watch it over and over again. What a pain! Instead of creating a lengthy video or screencast, why not create a GIF of each step, making it easy for people to rewatch the steps as needed, like in this article on how to make coffee? 5. For Comic Relief If the topic of your course is particularly dry, it might be a good idea to work in some humor to make sure your learners don’t fall asleep. GIFs are a great way to do that! However, be careful to not overdo it. A humorous GIF here and there is one thing; peppering every section of your course with them is another.Here's an example that uses humorous GIFs effectively. Another thing to keep in mind with humor is that it’s subjective. Test your course out on a trusted coworker or two and make sure they find the GIFs to be both work-appropriate and funny. The Bottom Line As with anything, it’s important to keep in mind that too much of a good thing is bad. When using animated GIFs, make sure they’re helping and not hindering the learning process. After all, the goal is to get your learners to focus on the content and retain the key messages. If you’re sold on using animated GIFs in your courses but aren’t sure how to go about creating your own, check out this tutorial. 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 X (Formerly Twitter).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.Raise Awareness About Black History in 2024 With This Free Content
More and more organizations today understand the true value of diversity. Not only is creating a diverse and equitable workplace the right thing to do, but research shows that companies that demonstrate an authentic commitment to these values tend to be more successful. As a learning and development professional, you can contribute to your organization’s diversity efforts by facilitating meaningful educational opportunities for employees. February is officially recognized as Black History Month in the United States. That makes it a perfect time to share a course that honors the courage and sacrifices of Black Americans throughout history while celebrating the groups and individuals who have made America what it is today with your learners. The theme for this year’s Black History Month is “African Americans and the Arts,” shining a spotlight on the many contributions Black artists have made in music, film, literature, and more. Don’t have time to research and create a course? No worries! Simply grab these professionally designed pieces of content and roll them out as is, completely free of charge. Or, if you’re an Articulate 360 subscriber or trialer, just choose the content from our Rise 360 real content templates. Then you can adapt it to fit your organization’s needs and brand guidelines before you share it with learners. Here’s more about what you can expect. What’s in these courses? This year, we’re releasing two microlearning courses and one full-length course that can help your learners get connected with Black History Month in a snap. What is Black History Month? (Microlearning course) Use this bite-size overview to help learners understand how February became Black History Month and why we continue the tradition. 11 Ways to Honor Black History Month in 2024 (Microlearning course) This microlearning features a variety of accessible ways you and your team can honor this year’s theme: African Americans and the Arts Black History Month (full-length course) Want to give your learners a deeper dive into the background and significance of Black history? This full-length course includes a discussion of language use, a detailed history of Black activism, and a celebration of Black excellence. Wrap-Up Any study of Black history in America presents an enormous but worthwhile challenge. The groups, individuals, and key moments covered in these courses represent just a small segment of a rich historical tapestry. It’s impossible to cover everything, but in that reality lies a unique opportunity. If you’re already an Articulate 360 subscriber—or if you sign up for a free trial—you have the option to customize this course to fit your organization’s unique learning and development needs. Just go to your Rise 360 dashboard, click +Create New, and select the course you want to use. Reinforce your organization’s commitment to diversity and inclusion by sharing this one-of-kind educational content you can easily tailor to speak more directly to your employees.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.Using Interactive Calculators in E-Learning #430
Financial Calculators in E-Learning#430: Challenge | Recap Using variables to capture and display a learner’s name is one of the most common ways to practice working with text variables. When you’re learning number variables, there’s no better way to work with basic operations than to build a simple calculator. With Storyline variables, you can easily build simple or complex equations right into your project. And that’s what this week’s challenge is all about! Calculator Example Check out David Charney’s calculator, which lets learners perform math and calculations right in your project. View the example | Download Square Root Calculator Check out three ways to calculate square roots in Storyline in this dynamic example by Alphonso Hendricks. View the example | Download Simple Calculator Go old school with a classic example by Dave Mozealous. It’s the first fully-functional calculator created in Storyline, and shows you that the sky’s the limit with variables! View the example | Download Resources Storyline 360: Working with Variables Storyline 360: Adding Variable References Storyline: What "Object Loses Focus" Means E-Learning Challenges Use Learner's Name in E-Learning Course #222: Challenge | Recap Using True/False Variables in E-Learning #271: Challenge | Recap Using Variables to Compare Learner's Answers #292: Challenge | Recap Random Number Variables in E-Learning #278: Challenge | Recap On-Demand Training Getting Started with Variables in Storyline 360 Using Number Variables in Storyline 360 Challenge of the Week This week, your challenge is to build a simple calculator that can be used in e-learning. New to variables? Try starting with one of the free calculator templates below. Depending on your comfort level, you can redesign one of the calculator templates or use it as a guide for creating your example. Comfortable working with variables? Try adding multiple variables, sliders, and interactive elements to create a more advanced calculator. Share Your E-Learning Work Comments: Use the comments section below to link your published example and blog post. Forums: Start a new thread and share a link to your published example. Personal blog: If you have a blog, please consider writing about your challenges. We'll link to your posts so your great work gets even more exposure. Social media: If you share your demos on Twitter or LinkedIn, try using #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can follow your e-learning coolness. Last Week’s Challenge: Before you budget time for this week’s challenge, check out the alt text examples your fellow community members shared over the past week: Using Alt Text in E-Learning RECAP #429: Challenge | Recap New to the E-Learning Challenges? The weekly e-learning challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of the previous challengesanytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos. Learn more about the challenges in this Q&A post and why and how to participate in this helpful article. Next Week’s Challenge Next week's challenge (9/8/23): Bullet Point Makeovers or Making Bullet Points More Engaging. Got an idea for a challenge? Are you interested in doing a webinar showcasing how you made one or more challenge demos? Or do you have some comments for your humble challenge host? Use this anonymous form to share your feedback:https://bit.ly/ElearningChallengeForm.Show How You're Using AI to Create E-Learning Courses #452
Using AI in E-Learning Design #452: Challenge | Recap When it comes to e-learning,today's authoring appsmake it easier than ever to build interactive training. But here's the thing, even with today's modern apps and rich feature sets, building great learning experiences still takes time and expertise. You've got to juggle mastering new content, nailing the visual design, and doing it all under tight or unrealistic deadlines. Sounds familiar, right? Now, this is where AI apps can be game changers by helping you do more with less. So, whether you'regenerating quiz questions and feedback,animating characters, or transformingtext into captivating images,there's likely an AI-based app that can help speed up production. And that's what this week's challenge is all about. Challenge of the Week This week, your challenge is to share an example that shows how AI can be used to create e-learning. When you post your example, please briefly describe the app(s) you used to create your demo. ✨ Share Your E-Learning Work Comments: Use the comments section below to link your published example and blog post. Forums: Start a new thread and share a link to your published example. Personal blog: If you have a blog, please consider writing about your challenges. We'll link to your posts so your great work gets even more exposure. Social media: If you share your demos on Twitter or LinkedIn, try using #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can follow your e-learning coolness. 🙌 Last Week’s Challenge: Before you add your new AI demo to your e-learning resume, check out the creative portfolio ideas your fellow challengers shared over the past week: E-Learning Portfolios for 2024 RECAP #451: Challenge | Recap 👋 New to the E-Learning Challenges? The weekly e-learning challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of the previous challengesanytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos. Learn more about the challenges in this Q&A post and why and how to participate in this helpful article. 📅 Next Week’s Challenge Challenge #453(03.08): Using dials in e-learning. If you're new to dials, you should check out next week'sdials webinarto get an overview of dials and how they work. Challenge #454(03.15): Using variables in e-learning. This variables challenge will be different because you'll be asked to share a demo that uses all three variables. 🚨 Contact Information Just a quick heads up – if you want your blog, website, or LinkedIn included in our recap posts, could you do me a favor and add or update those links onto your ELH profile sometime this week? I found some broken links last week when I pulled the recap together. You spend a lot of time building creative examples, and your work deserves all the attention it can get. If you make changes, please let me know in the comments below. Thanks!How I Made This Digital Board Game in Storyline 360
When a company needed to quickly pivot its in-person board game to an online digital version, Storyline 360 came to the rescue. And the result won DemoFest’s Best in Show: Vendor award at Learning Solutions 2023! In this behind-the-scenes project tour from creator Kai Dean, you’ll discover creative ways to use Storyline 360 features—like dials, question banks, states, triggers, and variables—to replicate common aspects of board games. If you want to play the game, check it out here. Want to try creating something similar in Storyline 360, 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 e-learning examples.5 Mental Health Resources You Can Share With Your Learners Today
Did you know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month? Individuals aren’t the only ones impacted by mental health challenges—businesses can feel the effects, too. Polling from Gallup indicates that employees with mental health challenges miss four times more work than those who rate their mental health positively. This lost productivity costs the economy some $47.6 billion annually. As an e-learning designer, you can help employees feel supported by providing resources that raise awareness of the importance of mental health and outline helpful tips for improving it. If you’re an Articulate 360 subscriber or trialer, you can get the ball rolling quickly by using the ready-to-use mental health training materials in Rise 360—just in time for Mental Health Awareness Month. Curious what’s available? Check out some of the new releases below. You can learn how to customize these templates for your own company and training needs at the end of this article. 1. Stress Busters Microlearning Course Encourage employees to feel more relaxed with the 9 Simple Stress Busters You Can Do Today microlearning course. Moving through this quick learning exercise reveals proven strategies for relieving stress and activating feel-good endorphins. 2. Breathing Exercises Microlearning Course Anyone feeling tense can benefit from the Melt Away Stress With a 3-Minute Breathing Exercise microlearning course. With each successive swipe through a guided breathing exercise and accompanying graphics, learners will feel more peaceful and serene. 3. Feel Your Feelings Microlearning Course Reinforce the message that it’s OK not to be OK with the Feel Your Feelings microlearning course. This quick activity helps people process difficult emotions by prompting them to name and explore their feelings from a place of compassion and understanding. 4. Get Grounded Microlearning Course Support employees through worry spirals and mental fog with the Escape Anxiety With a 5-Minute Grounding Practice microlearning course. Moving through this 5-minute practice roots learners in the here and now as they engage their senses of taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing. 5. Day-by-Day Challenge Course To offer access to a more in-depth daily challenge, check out the 5-Day Challenge To Improve Mental Health course. Each day, learners can refer to this course, explore a different facet of mental health, and follow simple exercises for putting concepts into practice. Wrap-Up Providing mental health resources as part of your business training is a win-win. Employees have access to support at work, and businesses benefit from employees who are less stressed and anxious. The examples above can help you get started, but the sky’s the limit for how you can use Articulate’s creator tools to achieve your business training objectives. Interested in sharing one of the supportive resources with your team? If you’re an Articulate 360 subscriber or trialer, you can access and edit all the examples linked throughout this post directly fromyour Rise 360 dashboard. Simply click Create New, choose Microlearning and select the template you want to use, as shown in the video below: Looking for even more ready-to-use, customizable mental health content? You'll find those in your Rise 360 dashboard too. Just click Create New, choose Course, and then select Mix & Match Lessons. Here are some relevant topic categories to check out: Stress Management: covers stress management fundamentals, stress and work performance, and strategies to relieve stress. Health and Wellness: includes dealing with difficult emotions and life events, exercise, forming healthy habits, mental health awareness in the workplace, positive psychology fundamentals, and positive psychology in the workplace. Resilience: features content on resilience fundamentals, building career resilience, leadership and resilience, emotional and physical resilience, and thriving through challenges. Be sure to also follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn and come back to E-Learning Heroes for more advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.Honor AAPI Heritage Month With These Free Resources
Research shows that a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion helps organizations adapt better to challenges–and makes them more likely to innovate. With more change than ever happening in and around the workplace, diversity-focused training can help boost outcomes, improve agility, and make your organization a better place to work. May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, making it a great opportunity to affirm your commitment to diversity. This spring, we’re bringing you content that you can use to grow your team’s cultural awareness, collaborative skills, and ability to innovate. We hope this content will spark curiosity and encourage larger conversations that lead to more emotional and creative intelligence among your employees. 1. Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (full-length course) Use this course to educate your team and expand their cultural knowledge, opening up more avenues for collaboration and creativity. Teams will get a simple introduction to AAPI history, meet leaders in art, food, science, and other major industries, and explore accessible ways they can honor AAPI Heritage Month. 2. 9 Ways To Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month (microlearning course) Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month is a great way to demonstrate your commitment to diversity and bring your team together for a good cause. This microlearning summarizes nine easy ways you can celebrate as a team–and encourages employees to grow their own knowledge individually, too. 3. From Draves to Kim: A Celebration of AAPI Athletes (microlearning course) Want a quick, engaging way to inspire and motivate your team? Set them up for success with this simple, accessible microlearning. Employees will meet snowboarder Chloe Kim, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and Vicki Draves, the first Asian American to win an Olympic medal and the first woman to ever sweep the diving events. Wrap-Up Packed with timely, engaging content, these resources can help improve your team culture, leading to even better collaboration and innovation. Add them to your e-learning strategy and watch as your team grows stronger and more agile. Remember, with an Articulate 360 subscription you can also tailor this content to best fit your audience and your organization–consider, for example, adding quotes and stories from AAPI figures in your field. To share and customize these resources, go to your Rise 360 dashboard, click +Create New, and select the course you want to use. Need other courses for your diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts? There are plenty of other options to choose from in the Content Library, including: Power and Pride: The Origins of Pride Month What Is Black History Month? Diversity Basics: Taking Action Honoring Herstory During Women’s History Month 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 get the latest product updates, e-learning examples, and expert advice sent directly to your inbox. If you have questions, please share them in the comments.Mix and Match Your Own E-Learning Challenges #457
Mix-and-Match E-Learning Challenge Examples#457: Challenge | Recap Challenge of the Week This week, your challenge is to combine three or more e-learning challenge topics in a single entry. When you post your examples, please mention the challenges you combined to create your demo. Here's the list of allprevious challenge topics. Here are a few ideas to get you started: Using plain language placed over video backgrounds to help learners escape the room. Create a learning journal of fashion dos and don'ts with background audio. Simulate real-world activities by integrating 3D objects into virtual tours. ✨ Share Your E-Learning Work Comments: Use the comments section below to link your published example and blog post. Forums: Start a newthreadand share a link to your published example. Personal blog: If you have a blog, please consider writing about your challenges. We'll link to your posts so your great work gets even more exposure. Social media: If you share your demos on Twitter or LinkedIn, try using#ELHChallengeso your tweeps can follow your e-learning coolness. 🙌 Last Week’s Challenge: Before you share your challenge trifecta, check out the big and bold font examples your fellow community members shared over the past week: Using Bold Typography in E-LearningRECAP#456:Challenge|Recap 👋 New to the E-Learning Challenges? Theweekly e-learning challengesare ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of theprevious challenges anytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos. Learn more about the challenges in thisQ&A postand why and how to participate in thishelpful article. 📅 Next Week’s Challenge Challenge #458(04.19): Roulette games. Inspired by arecent community discussion, this would be an excellent challenge topic to practice working with dials and random number variables. 🚨 Contact Information Just a quick heads up – if you want your blog, website, or LinkedIn included in our recap posts, could you do me a favor and add or update those links onto your ELH profile sometime this week? I found some broken links last week when I pulled the recap together. You spend a lot of time building creative examples, and your work deserves all the attention it can get. If you make changes, please let me know in the comments below. Thanks!
