Cropped Shadow with Pop Out Character
I like the look of the avatars in this dribble account and the way the shadows were inside the box while the character popped out. See the example here. About Me I love helping people learn to use the Articulate software to meet their needs at work. I especially like to help those new instructional designers who are trying their best to get a handle on things. I regularly contribute to the training team's blog where we assemble all sorts of tips and tricks. Follow it to stay up to date. I post every Wednesday to Articulate's company blogwhere I share more general instructional design tips. I used to write the Rapid E-learning Blog. Still lots of good tips & tricks in there. Connect with me on LinkedIn and follow my YouTube for more tips & tricks.20+ Examples of Interactive Comparisons in E-Learning #1
Interactive Comparisons RECAP #1: Challenge | Recap This week’s e-learning challenge asked course designers to build interactive graphics to demonstrate the relative size differences in the world’s largest aircraft. Ose Ndebbio Example | Ose Ndebbio | Website Emma Sajben Example | Emma Sajben Sharon Gan Example | Sharon Gan Paul Alders View project | Download | Paul Alders | Website | @paulalders Anuradha Gopu View project | Anuradha Gopu | Website | @AnuradhaGopu Alex Colburn View project | Alex Colburn Montse Anderson View demo | Montse Anderson | Learn more | @mLearning Jackie Van Nice View Demo | Learn more | Jackie Van Nice | @jackietrains Matt Guyan View demo | Matt Guyan | Website | @MattGuyan Dana Dutiel View demo | Learn more | Dana Dutiel | Website | @danadutiel Deanna Brigman View demo | Deanna Brigman | Website | @DMBrigman Johar Singh View project | Johar Singh | Website | @joharsinghs Maxwell Dziku View project | Maxwell Dziku Alexander Salas View project | Alexander Salas | Website | @stylelearn More About the E-Learning Challenges: The weekly challenges are ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of the previous challenges anytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos. Share Your Interactive Comparisons! The e-learning comparisons challenge is still open! If you have one or more ideas you'd like to share, please jump over to the original challenge and post your links in the comments section. I'll update this recap page to include your examples.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).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 apps make 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're generating quiz questions and feedback, animating characters, or transforming text 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's dials webinar to 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!Kick-Start Open Enrollment With These Employee Resources
Open enrollment season is coming—and with it, the annual scramble as employees struggle to decode confusing insurance terms and evaluate benefit options. As a learning and development professional, you can do your part to help them make the best choices for themselves and their families—and save your HR team from answering the same questions over and over—by providing everyone with educational resources. The following customizable templates and ready-to-use courses can give you a head start on developing on-demand open enrollment resources. Click on the links below to preview them or skip to the video at the end of the article to learn how to add these examples to your Rise 360 dashboard for editing. Full-Length Courses 1. Understanding Your Health Care Benefits Create a one-stop resource for employees about their plan options using this full-length course template. It includes placeholder sections for medical, vision, dental, life, disability, FSA, HSA, and wellness benefit information—and you can always add your own sections for other perks you offer. 2. Choosing Health Insurance: Traditional vs. High-Deductible Plans (PPO vs. HDHP) For extra support comparing the differences between traditional and high-deductible health plans, this course provides employees with descriptions, advantages, disadvantages, and sample cost-of-care scenarios of each. You can ship the course as is—or customize it with details specific to your plan options. Microlearning Courses 1. A Quick Guide to Open Enrollment A perfect follow-up summary to a live information session, this microlearning template circumvents “open enrollment overload.” Brief, editable text explains what open enrollment is, when it starts and ends, how to make elections, and where employees can find more information. 2. Key Terms for Comparing Health Insurance Plans A must-have resource for open enrollment season, this micro-glossary helps employees understand the terminology health insurers use. That knowledge will allow them to make informed decisions about their health care costs and coverage. 3. Health Insurance Cost-of-Care Scenarios Beyond a list of plan details and definitions, employees need help putting this information in context. What do these costs and benefits actually mean when an employee needs to see a doctor or specialist, get surgery, stay at a hospital, etc.? Make it easy for employees to compare out-of-pocket medical costs for common health care scenarios by filling in this template. How to Use and Customize These Examples If you’re an Articulate 360 subscriber or trialer, you can access and edit all the examples linked throughout this post directly from your Rise 360 dashboard. Simply click Create New, choose Course or Microlearning, and search for and select the template you want to use, as shown in the video below: Wrap-Up Open enrollment is a busy time—but your efforts as a learning and development professional can make a real impact. By developing training resources for employees, you not only make it easy for them to find information and choose the plan that best fits their needs, you also save your HR team time by providing answers to common questions. This frees them up to help employees who need more in-depth support. 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. And if you have questions, please share them in the comments.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 from your 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.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 out this 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.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.
