How to Fill Text with an Image in PowerPoint
Have you ever seen a text with an image fill, like this one, and said to yourself, “I wish I could do that”? Well, I have some good news. If you have PowerPoint, you can! Just follow the six simple steps below. 1. Add Combine Shapes Tool to Your PowerPoint Ribbon If you haven’t already, the first thing you’ll need to do is add the Combine Shapes tool to your PowerPoint ribbon. Check out this tutorial to see how to do that. 2. Insert a Background Image The next thing you’ll need to do is find and insert the image you want to use as the fill for your text. For this kind of project, it’s best to choose an image that’s easily recognizable. 3. Insert & Format Your Text The third step is to insert your text. Once your text is inserted, you’ll need to choose a font. I recommend using a bold font so that more of the image is visible. Then, increase the size and boldness of the font as desired. Finally, position your text on the part of the image you want to appear as the fill. In this example, I’m going to move the text over a little so that no green shows through. 4. Insert a Rectangle Next, insert a rectangle that’s the same size as the image. In my case, the rectangle covers the whole slide. Then, right-click on the rectangle, select Send to Back, and choose Send Backward. Your text should now appear on top of the rectangle. 5. Combine Your Rectangle and Your Text Now select your text, followed by your rectangle, click on Merge Shapes, and select Combine. At this point, your rectangle should have taken on the color of your text, and the place where the text was should be transparent. If you try and move your text, you’ll notice that the rectangle is still independent of the image, like in the screenshot below. If you don’t like the part of the image that’s showing through, move the rectangle around until you’re satisfied with the result. If you don’t need the image and the text to be a single object, then you can stop here. If you do, then move on to step 6. 6. Subtract the Image from the Text Select both the image and the rectangle, and then click on Merge Shapes and select Subtract. The image and text should now be combined in one object, like in the screenshot below. If you’re following these steps and the result doesn’t look quite right, try selecting your objects in the reverse order. Now you can go ahead and add any other text or images around it to finish off the look you’re going for. And you’re all set! Want to learn more tips and tricks for creating graphics in PowerPoint? Check out the tutorials below: Guide to Creating Illustrations in PowerPoint for People Who Don’t Know How to Draw Creating Custom Shapes in PowerPoint How I Created These Handy People Icons in PowerPoint And if you’re on the lookout for beautiful images, be sure to check out Content Library 360, the library of 10.3+ million assets that comes with an Articulate 360 subscription. Click here to start your 30-day free trial. 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).GIFs 101: How to Use, Find, and Make Them
Aside from—you know—the ability to access any information you need in seconds, GIFs are the best thing about the internet. In this post, we’ll talk about what GIFs are, when to use them in your e-learning, where to find them, and how to create your own. You’ll learn everything you need to know about GIFs. (Except for how to pronounce it. We’re staying out of that debate!) What are GIFs? Basically, GIFs are image files that include animation. GIF stands for Graphic Interface Format. And, unlike JPEGs and PNGs, GIF files support animated images. Early GIFs were super basic. They were composed of just a couple of alternating frames, for example: In the 30 years that GIFs have been around, the art form has evolved. Now it’s super easy to find high-quality clips from TV shows and movies, quick clips of cats doing funny things, fun custom artwork, and much more! How can I use GIFs in my e-learning courses? GIFs are also great for your e-learning projects. They offer an easy way to delight your learners with some unexpected movement. And you don’t have to embed a full video or build an animation into your course. Making your learners laugh or expressing an emotion with a GIF can make your e-learning more relatable and more fun. Plus, they’re handy for demonstrating a process or system. Instead of having learners click from one slide to the next to see how a process works, you can use a GIF to give learners that helpful context. GIFs look particularly at home in Rise courses, which are web-based. Check out this example on hurricane preparedness and this one on cardiology observations to see what we mean. Where can I find GIFs? GIFs are abundant online. Some popular places to find great ones include: GIPHY, the most popular search engine for GIFs, allows you to browse for images by category or search to find exactly what you need. Educational GIFs, though it hasn’t been updated recently, has a ton of GIFs on processes, history, how-tos, and more. Imgur is a place for people to share images. A lot of these images are GIFs, and a lot of the GIFs are great. Social media sites such as Twitter are great places to find GIFs. How do I make my own GIFs? There are a couple of ways to make an animated GIF, depending on how involved you want to get. The old-school way provides you with the most control over the process. Here’s a tutorial that shows you how to put together a GIF from several static panels in Photoshop. There are also several widgets that can help you make GIFs quickly and easily. You build them from video snippets using GIPHY’s own GIF Maker App. You can create a GIF from images on GIFMaker.org. Or you can make and style your own reaction GIFs on sites like And I Was Like and GifCam. Get your GIF on! You now have all the knowledge and tools you need to find and use GIFs in your projects. If you have any other questions about when and how to use GIFs in your e-learning (or if you’re just looking for the perfect one for your project), let us know in the comments. And be sure to follow us on Twitter and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.How to Troubleshoot Your LMS with SCORM Cloud
If you’re like many e-learning developers, your LMS has prompted numerous head-scratching (or head-banging) moments. Perhaps your course won’t play or resume in your LMS, or it isn’t tracking properly. Job number one: identify the problem. And to do that, we recommend a handy tool called SCORM Cloud. SCORM Cloud is an industry-standard testing engine developed by Rustici Software, an organization that knows a lot about SCORM and helped develop its successor (xAPI/Tin Can API). It supports all LMS specs—AICC, SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, xAPI, and cmi5—and it’s free, making it an ideal LMS troubleshooting superhero. (You can create an account here.) In this article, we’ll show you how to use SCORM Cloud to test your project, from zipping your content to verifying tracking. Here we go! Step 1: Zip Your Content First, publish your course for LMS and create a zipped file of the published output. If you’re using Storyline 360, Presenter 360, Quizmaker 360, or Engage 360, you can do this by clicking on the Zip button in the Publish Successful window. If you’re using Rise 360, export your Rise 360 course as a cmi5, xAPI, SCORM, or AICC package and save it to your computer. If you’re testing AICC content, see this article for special instructions. Step 2: Upload Your Published Output Log in to SCORM Cloud, then click Add Content and select Import a SCORM, AICC, xAPI, or cmi5 package. Then click Browse, find your Zip file, and click Open. Finally, click on Import Course. SCORM Cloud will upload your course and take you to the course home page. Step 3: Create an Invitation It’s possible to launch your course directly from the course home page, but opening it that way doesn’t mimic a true learner experience and results won’t show in LMS reports. That’s why we recommend clicking Share and then Invite. That will open up another window. Here, click on Create Invitation. This will generate an unguessable URL that you can use yourself or share with others. For an extra layer of security, you could also choose the Private Invitation option. Step 4: Test Your Course Copy the URL into the address bar of a new browser window. Enter your email address and name. Your results will be tracked under these credentials. Then, click on Ok. Now take me to my training. At this point, test your course and attempt to reproduce the problems that prevented it from behaving as expected in your LMS. Watch for display problems of any kind, make sure your content suspends and resumes as you’d expect, and keep an eye out for unexpected behavior in general. When you’re done testing, exit the course and confirm that your score and status are displayed correctly. Step 5: Verify Tracking Now that you’ve tested your course as a learner would experience it, you can review the SCORM Cloud reports for accuracy. To do so, return to the course details page, click Reportage, then drill down into the available reporting data. Tip: If your course details page is no longer open, just return to your course library and click the course name. What’s Next? If your course works properly in SCORM Cloud but not in your LMS, open a support case with your LMS provider to troubleshoot the issue. They’ll know how best to help with LMS-specific problems. If your Articulate content doesn’t play, resume, or track correctly in SCORM Cloud, submit a case to our support team so we can take a closer look. Be sure to include a copy of your project file so we can try to reproduce the problem. Need more help troubleshooting? Check out these other resources: The Secret to LMS Debugging Learning More About Your LMS: Suspend Data and Resume Behavior If you have any other troubleshooting suggestions, share your thoughts with us and other community members in the comments below. And if you’re tired of spending time troubleshooting your LMS, try Reach 360. Our frictionless LMS is integrated with Articulate 360 apps, so you can publish directly and be confident that everything will work as expected. It’s fast and hassle-free!How to Easily Create Branching Scenarios in Rise 360
Scenarios are one of my favorite ways to immerse learners and give them a safe space to practice applying a new process, or to explore the nuances of performing their jobs. You’ll see two types of scenarios: linear or branched. I use linear scenarios when I need to help learners explore a series of sequential steps or practice applying a simple process. But when I really want my learners to practice decision-making and fine-tune their performance, I lean on branching scenarios. Creating scenarios, particularly branching scenarios, used to require a lot of time. But now, whether I need a linear or a branched scenario, creating one is quicker and easier than ever with the new scenario block in Rise 360. Using the scenario block, I was able to create the following interactive branching scenario in just a few minutes’ time! In this scenario, I give restaurant servers an engrossing way to practice upselling their customers to more expensive menu items. Check it out! View my scenario block in action Want to see how easy it is to create a branched scenario like mine with the scenario block? Keep reading. I’ll give you a quick walk-through of the process I followed. Spoiler alert: it’s super-simple—and fun! Overview of the Process Creating a branched scenario boils down to just four steps: Add a scenario block to your lesson. Add a scene or scenes to your scenario block (I’ll explain more about those below). Customize your scenes with Content Library 360 characters and background images. Add content text and branching. Let’s do a quick walk-through of each step. Add a Scenario Block to Your Lesson Scenario block is an interactive block type, so you’ll find it under the interactive blocks menu. Here’s how to navigate to it. Select All Blocks from the blocks shortcut bar. Or, click the insert block icon (+) that appears when you mouse-over a boundary between blocks. Scroll down and choose the interactive category in the block library, and select Scenario. This animated .GIF should point you in the right direction: Add a Scene or Scenes to Your Scenario Block Scenarios are made up of scenes that are, in turn, made up of content. If you’re planning to build a linear scenario, you might find you only need one scene for your project. But if you want to build a branching scenario, you’ll want to add more scenes to your project so you can change characters and backgrounds and branch to other content based on the learner’s choices. For example, in my project, I used three scenes to align with the three skills I needed my learners to practice. To add a scene, just mouse-over your scenario block and click the Edit button that appears. Here’s an animated .GIF to demonstrate how to add a scene to your scenario block: Customize Your Scene(s) Now you’re ready to customize your scenes with Content Library 360 characters and a background image. To customize your scene, click either Edit Background or Edit Character. I found the perfect backdrop for my scene right in Content Library 360, but you can upload an image of your own if you’d like. I also found the perfect character for my scene, Ammon, right in Content Library 360. Here are two more animated .GIFs of these steps. Add Content, Text, and Branching With your scenario block inserted and your scenes customized with the perfect characters and background, you’re ready to add content, pop in text, and add some branching. 1. Start by clicking the Add Content button. From there, you can choose between dialogues and informative text content. Whichever option you choose, you can still offer learners multiple paths to take through the scenario. In my example I used a mix of both types; dialogues to simulate a conversation and informative text content to reinforce feedback. To add dialogue to a scene, just choose dialogue from the content type drop-down menu in the upper right of the title bar. Here’s a .GIF showing you where to find that drop-down menu: 2. Now you can type or copy in text content for your dialogues or informative text. You can also type or copy in text for answer options and feedback. 3. With all of your content in place, you’re ready to add branching by using the Go to menu to specify where you’d like the learner to go next. By default, learners are taken to the next piece of content in the scene. To change that, just link to a different piece of content or to another scene. This gives you loads of flexibility, so you can do things like loop learners through a scene until they select the correct answer option, as I did. Or, you could gradually lead them down a path until they reach the end of the scenario. The choice is yours and the creative options are endless. Pro Tip: I like to preview my scenario from the beginning just to make sure everything is flowing the way I want it to. Here’s how you can do that, right in the scenario block: And when my scenario block is perfect, I like to save it as a block template so I can quickly reuse it in my current course or in future courses. I feel like I’m doing my future self a big favor and saving even more design time! I’m convinced that creating branched scenarios just doesn’t get much faster or easier than with scenario block. Ready to learn more about scenario block? Don’t miss Tom Kuhlmann’s awesome, step-by-step video tutorial on working with scenario blocks in Rise 360. Want to see more scenario blocks in action? Check out my full course example, 3 Techniques for Successful Upselling. And if you haven’t already, jump on over to Rise 360 and take a few minutes to play around and explore all the exciting new possibilities with scenario block. Then swing back by and let me know: what will you create with the new scenario block? Share your ideas in the comments, 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.Storyboard Templates for E-Learning #48
Storyboard Templates for E-Learning #48: Challenge | Recap Challenge of the week This week your challenge is to share an example of your preferred e-learning storyboard, blueprint, or scripting template. We want to see what you use and learn how you use it! Tools You can use Articulate Storyline, Articulate Studio, or PowerPoint to create your e-learning storyboard examples. Resources Here are a few resources to get you thinking about storyboards. Storyboard templates: Check out the free templates in our downloads gallery Blog posts: Elearning Storyboarding 101 6 Tips for Managing & Developing Your E-Learning Projects Forum discussions: Storyboarding vs. rapid prototyping e-learning projects Storyboarding e-learning courses in Storyline E-Learning Storyboards and Examples Time-Lapse Demo: A Very Basic Storyboard Template Word vs. PowerPoint: Which do you use to storyboard your courses? Storyboarding a serious comic Using Storyline to storyboard projects Estimating storyboard development times Tips for working with e-learning storyboards Share your e-learning work Comments: Use the comments section below to share a link to your e-learning storyboard and blog post. Forums: Create your own thread in our E-Learning Heroes forums and share a link to your e-learning storyboard. Personal blog: If you have a blog, please consider writing about your e-learning storyboard process. We’ll link back to your posts so the great work you’re sharing gets even more exposure. Twitter: If you share your e-learning storyboards on Twitter, try using #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can track your e-learning coolness. Facebook: Reply to this Facebook post with a screenshot of your e-learning storyboard and a link to your template or blog post. Last week’s challenge Before you storyboard this week’s challenge, take a moment to check out the e-learning call center demos your fellow community members shared in last week’s challenge: E-Learning Challenge #47: Call Center Training in Online Learning 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. Even if you’re using a trial version of Studio ’13 or Storyline, you can absolutely publish your challenge files. Just sign up for a fully functional, free 30-day trial, and have at it. And remember to post your questions and comments in the forums; we're here to help.5 Ideas for Turning Boring Bullets Into Engaging Interactions
Bullet points. They’re one of the easiest ways to break up lots of content and highlight important information. But the trade-off you make when you rely too heavily on bullet points in e-learning is a critical lack of learner engagement. After all, a slide full of bulleted text doesn’t really invite learners to think deeply, internalize the information you’re sharing, or interact with it— all activities that spark learning. So, how do you go about reimagining bullet points into something more inviting and interactive? And what are some creative ideas for presenting content that’s better than bullets? Keep on reading for answers to both of those questions. How to Reimagine Bullet Points One mainstay of presentation design is the good ol’ 50/50 slide layout. You know the one I’m talking about … where half the slide is a bulleted text box, and the other half is an image—often decorative? That slide layout can work well for presentations because a presenter can give the audience some context for those bullet points. But that same approach doesn’t work as well for an entire e-learning course. Screen after screen of bulleted text—no matter how compelling the audio narration or animations accompanying it—can be tedious and difficult for people to absorb and retain. To break out of that pattern, start by reframing those bullet points. Here are two techniques to try: Transform the bullets into a content outline. Start by morphing your bullet points into steps or top-level topics, and then bucket the other bullet points that support ideas underneath. From there, you look for information gaps and brainstorm questions learners might have. If you have speaker's notes or scripts to work from, you might find some of the answers you're looking for in there, but others might require further investigation. No matter how much work is in store, going through this process helps you organize the material, flesh out the content, and surface some creative ways to morph it into almost any of the interactions we’ll explore in this article. Imagine the “big picture” story behind the bullets. Another great technique is to piece together a narrative from your existing bullet points based on the topic or theme of the source material. For example, try creating some characters who embody bulleted dos and don’ts (a hero and a bully, for instance), or draft a quick backstory where applying the information in the bullet points would come in handy. Both of these ideas can be especially helpful when you want to design a branching scenario to make your content more relatable and interactive. 5 Ideas for Engaging Interactions With your bullet points organized, it’s time to start thinking about ways of using them as the foundation for a more interactive experience. Let’s take a look at five ideas for doing just that! 1. Use a Clickable Image Clickable images are one of the easiest ways to leave bullet points behind and invite learners to interact. Instead of giving learners a bunch of bulleted text next to a static picture, isn’t it much more inviting to urge them to explore that image in detail? See for yourself how much better that kind of learning experience can be with this super-cool example from Richard Hill, built with the labeled graphic block in Rise 360. With the labeled graphic block in Rise 360, you can easily add an animated GIF and some markers full of all the helpful information and resources you want to share with learners. That’s certainly more stimulating than a list of bullet points, don’t you think? 2. Create a Tabs Interaction Another easy way to reimagine bullet points is as a tabbed interaction, as you can see in this brilliant and beautiful Storyline 360 download from Montse. Creating a tabs interaction from a bulleted list is so easy to do. In Rise 360, just add an interactive tab block and pop in your content. Or, to quickly build a more custom tabbed interaction in Storyline 360, save some time and grab this free, easily customized Storyline 360 download. 3. Make an Interactive Video Adding hotspots to a short video is another great way to turn passive bullets into a more active, engaging experience for learners. Check out this Storyline 360 download that features three ways you can use interactive video for some design inspiration. Think video is too expensive or time-consuming? Think again. With Content Library 360 videos—like the ones featured in the example above—right at your fingertips, you have countless creative options for using video in your projects. Want to create your own video? Nowadays, almost anyone can shoot good quality instructional videos with the camera on their smartphone and edit them just as quickly using free or low-cost apps—or the built-in video editing feature in Storyline 360. To learn more about creating your own images and video, check out the pointers in this article, 4 Tips for Taking Your Own Pictures for E-Learning. 4. Design a Scenario One super-engaging way to rework static bullet points is to incorporate them into feedback for learners. Scenarios are a great way to give learners a chance to explore, practice, and learn through their choices—like in this Rise 360 example. This project uses a scenario block to branch to different outcomes depending on the learner’s choices. It illustrates one way you can use scenarios to help learners practice their upselling skills. And it’s a whole lot more engaging than a lengthy list of do’s and don’ts. Looking for some more inspiring examples of scenarios in action? Grab this handy Storyline 360 scenario template for prioritizing tasks or this Storyline 360 law enforcement-themed scenario starter to begin playing around with the possibilities. 5. Build an Immersive 360° Experience With the 360° images feature in Storyline 360, you’ll find you have all sorts of clever new ways to share text content. Add your 360° image and some interactive markers that entice learners to explore and interact. Or give learners a guided tour experience with navigational nudges that help move them through the experience. For some creative inspiration, check out one way you can combine audio, video, a scenario, AND 360° images in this brilliant, interactive storytelling example from Bianca Woods. Ready to get started with building your own immersive 360° interaction? Dive into this super helpful article from Sarah Hodge for some pro tips. Summing it Up Swapping boring bullets for enticing interactions doesn’t necessarily take a lot of time—just a little creativity. I hope the examples I’ve shared spark your imagination and inspire you to think of new ways of presenting information. What’s your favorite creative alternative to a bulleted list? Have an inspiring e-learning example to share? We’d love to see it! Leave me a comment below, or better yet, share your great ideas in our Building Better Courses forum. 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.How to Create One Storyline 360 Course with Multiple Languages
One of the most powerful benefits of e-learning is the ability to reach learners wherever they are—anywhere in the world. But that perk also presents an additional question: How do you create and manage e-learning content when your audience speaks different languages? Many organizations tackle this challenge by building multiple courses—one for each language they support. While that approach works, it often increases production time and costs. And it can lead to frustrating reporting headaches if you’re tracking completions. Instead, why not streamline development by creating one course for everyone? Thanks to the power of layers, variables, states, and triggers, you can quickly fulfill this linguistic feat of e-learning awesomeness all within a single Storyline 360 course! Not only that, Storyline 360 offers multiple ways to make this work. So let’s take a closer look at three of the most popular methods you can try. The Branching Method Many folks use the branching method to create different scenes in their projects, one for each language. When the course begins, learners choose from one of several language options. That choice then prompts a “jump to scene” trigger that directs them to the appropriate scene. Watch this short video to see how this method works. Pros: Branching is probably the simplest way to provide learners with language-specific content. This method also allows you to use layers and states to create a more interactive experience. Storyline 360 can now track multiple quizzes, so you can create an assessment for each language branch. No matter which one a learner takes, the course will send its completion data and results to your LMS. Cons: This approach may significantly increase your project’s file size if your course has a lot of audio, video, or animations. Branching is also useful for creating interactive stories, scenarios, and content. But using it for both content choices and supporting multiple languages can make development complex. In those situations, the two techniques below are often a better fit. The Layers Method When branching isn’t the best option, you can instead add layers on your course slides—one for each language you support. Similar to the previous process, learners select their preferred language at the start. But instead of branching to a different scene, this approach uses true/false variables and a few simple timeline triggers to show the appropriate layer throughout the course. Watch this short video to see how this method works. Pros: All your content is streamlined across one set of slides. You can use custom states to keep things from feeling too static. Cons: Typically, layers are used to add interactivity to your course. But this gets complicated when you also have multiple layers on each slide for different languages. Because of that, this method works best when you can create the course interactivity you need without additional layers. The States and Triggers Method The states and triggers technique is similar to the previous one, but it uses object states instead of layers to display content in each language. It begins much like the others—with learners choosing their preferred language on the title slide. Thanks to true/false variables and triggers, each slide in the course then automatically shows the correct object states. This one’s a bit easier to see than to explain, so here’s a video demonstrating how it works. Pros: Much like the layers approach, with states all your content is streamlined across one set of slides. This technique leaves your layers free, making it easier to create interactive content. Once you’ve built an object with all the correct states and triggers, it’s quick and easy to copy and paste and carry over the triggers. Cons: Adding translated text to object states can be a bit tedious. Changing object states means using more triggers as well—more than the other two methods. This approach tends to get in the way of using object states for other interactivity functions, such as adding a hover effect to your translated buttons. Additional Considerations Regardless of which method you choose, here are a few more things to keep in mind when creating a single Storyline 360 course with multiple languages: Course Player Labels: You can only choose one language for the course player text labels (the menu, the resources tab, the navigation buttons, etc.), which can be a challenge if some of your learners don’t understand that language. In those cases, try these workarounds: Create a navigation primer in your course for each language. Check out this article to see some examples and learn more. Skip the built-in course player menu altogether. Instead, build a custom menu on your slides with navigation buttons for each language your course supports. Check out this free download for some custom menu design inspiration. If you’re comfortable working with Javascript, this forum thread offers codes you can use to change the course player button labels on a slide-by-slide basis. Text Expansion: Content in one language may take up more or less layout space when translated to another. For instance, German copy can take up as much as 35% more space than the same information in English. So when planning your layout, base it around the lengthiest language to ensure each translation will fit. Production Schedule: Even with the help of these time-saving approaches, a multi-language course will always take more effort to create than a monolingual one. So make sure your timeline takes the additional steps into account. For example, consider the time it takes to get translations, hire voice talent for each language, and have fluent speakers review your translated storyboards and scripts. When Separate Files Are More Efficient: The methods in this article work best if you plan to include up to three languages in a single course. If you need to support more than three languages, separate project files may be the more efficient option. Summary Thanks to the flexibility of Storyline 360, you’ve got several options for creating content in multiple languages—each with its own strengths and drawbacks. So before you start building your course, consider which one is the best fit for you and your learners’ needs. Want to learn more about translating and localizing content? Browse through these articles for even more tips: Planning Your Localized E-Learning Projects Top 10 Writing Tips for E-Learning Localization The Hidden Project within Your Project: Translating Your E-Learning Materials Storyline 360: Translating Courses 4 Tips for Optimizing the Translation of Your Storyline 360 Courses Rise 360: Translate Your Course What’s your preferred method for working with multiple languages? Any tips or tricks you’d like to share with others? Leave them 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.Gamification Techniques: How To Apply Them To E-Learning
If you’re in the e-learning industry, you’ve heard the term by now: gamification. Sounds fun, right? But true gamification is more than throwing together some badges and a leaderboard. E-learning gamification is the application of game elements and gaming techniques to online learning content in an effort to make it fun and engaging. In other words, using game mechanics to encourage learners to explore and learn. What are some of these gamification techniques, and how can you apply them to e-learning? Let’s take a closer look at some examples. Narrative A key part of many games is the narrative, or the story, behind them. These stories often incorporate a protagonist (a relatable character), an antagonist (a challenge the protagonist faces) and a plot (a sequence of events). If you’ve never designed a scenario-based course before, hop on over to this article for some tips: Writing Effective E-Learning Scenarios. Rules Rules are a critical part of any game to set expectations and parameters. They let players know what they can and cannot do. When you’re incorporating game elements, it’s important to provide learners with specific and concise instructions. Clear communication about what you expect learners to do at every turn will ensure they’re never left guessing about what to do. Player Control Having control over the journey and the outcome is a common element of many games. Players love to feel in control of their potential for success. One way to give learners control is to let them choose an avatar or character that appears in the course. Another way is to open up navigation to give learners control over how they progress through the content. For example, you could let learners access content from a main menu with several possible choices, instead of forcing them down a linear path. Discovery Games often encourage discovery and exploration; for example, people love to “hunt” for a hidden treasure. One way to incorporate this technique in your course would be to ask learners to search for hidden nuggets of information to score some extra points. If you decide to implement this technique, keep in mind that while looking for extra information is a fun add-on, you should never make a learner dig for a critical piece of information. Rather, hidden information should be “nice to know” information that’ll help learners deepen their understanding. Also, be sure to provide learners with clear instructions about what they’re looking for. There’s nothing worse than clicking aimlessly without knowing what or where to look. Interactivity How many games have you played that required you to do nothing? None! Games are all about stimulation and engagement, whether mental or physical, and making a move is part of the process. Adding interactivity doesn’t simply mean asking the user to “click” more often. The key is to craft meaningful interactions that require learners to think and make decisions. Instead of telling them the information outright, make them select the correct choice from a list and drag it into place. Instead of presenting them with the steps of a linear process, get them to order the steps themselves. For more information about adding interactivity in a meaningful way, check out this article: 3 Things to Consider Before You Add Interactivity. Feedback Feedback is a key part of gaming. It lets users know their action has been registered or recognized, and it provides a cue to players about how they are progressing. Feedback doesn’t have to be text. “Unlocking” new features, for example, is a type of feedback that lets players know they’re doing well. Badges or checkpoints are a way to show feedback and achievement. Progress bars are also great for providing ongoing feedback and letting learners know how they’re doing. Time Constraints Games use time constraints to create a sense of urgency, which pressures the gamer to think and act quickly. To simulate a real-life constraint, consider using a countdown or a timer on your quiz. For example, if your call center expects calls to be completed in less than five minutes, give your scenario a time limit of five minutes for the learner to pass. Loss Aversion Loss aversion refers to the tendency of humans to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Studies have demonstrated that a loss is twice as powerful as a gain, and this mental propensity is used by many game developers. Use a points system in your course to let learners know where they stand, and let them know points can be taken away for incorrect answers. You could also use a visual progress meter, such as a map with checkpoints, to show learners whether they’re moving forward or backward as they progress through the content. Continuous Play Continuous play is the ability for gamers to pick up where they left off and continue the game. This means that even gamers who “lose” the game can start over and try again as many times as they want. When you design your content, consider giving learners the opportunity to keep going! It’s a great sign when learners want to retry or revisit content. It means they’re interested and intrigued. Remember: you want to encourage your learners to remember the content, so if they want to revisit it, why not let them? One way to incorporate continuous play into your courses is to allow learners to retake a quiz or assessment if they fail. Another way is to give them a second chance if they answer a question incorrectly. Rewards Bonus points or rewards make people feel good, and are used extensively in many different games. Consider giving learners “bonus points” for more difficult questions, or providing them with an ability to earn extra rewards based on good choices. Levels Achieving different levels, goals, or challenges is a common theme among games. Instead of having chapters or modules, organize your content into “levels” and “unlock” the levels when learners answer choices correctly or hit a certain number of points. Competition Leaderboards are one of the most popular ways to encourage competition in the gaming world. Leaderboards rank players and their scores, and people love them because they like to get recognition for their skills and effort. Use a corporate intranet page or your LMS to let learners see how their coworkers are progressing. However, be mindful of the information you share. Making low scores public could be embarrassing for learners, for example. It might be a better idea to focus only on high scores. The Bottom Line In order for gamification to truly add value to your courses, the game elements need to be well thought out and support the learning objectives. Want to learn more about gamification? Check out these resources: Gamification: How and Why Does It Relate to E-Learning? A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How I Designed This Gamified Quiz 5 Visual Design Tips for Gamified E-Learning And if you’re looking for some game templates, be sure to check these out: Storyline: Countdown Quiz Game Randomized Board Game Dice Quiz Game E-Learning Battleship Game Crossword Puzzle Game We’d love to hear from you in the comments! Which of these gamification techniques have you incorporated in your courses? What did that look like? Are there any gaming techniques we didn’t mention? Please share your experience and insights in the comments below. Follow us on Twitter and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.3 Steps for Creating Your First Rise 360 Course
Everything you need to create modern, engaging e-learning is at your fingertips with Rise 360. Not sure where to start? This handy guide will help you create your very first microlearning or full-length course in three easy steps. Let’s get started! 1. Choose the type of learning experience you want to create: microlearning or a full-length course Start by choosing whether you want microlearning or a full-length course. Your choice will depend on the content you want to share with learners. Microlearning courses aren’t just short courses. They’re bite-size pieces of content focused on a single learning objective. They’re approachable, bingeable, and easy for users to review and apply. Microlearning courses are also great for learners on the go because they’re easy to consume on phones or tablets. Full-length courses give you the opportunity to go in-depth on a certain topic. Made up of multiple lessons and knowledge checks, courses may include multiple learning objectives and, as a result, take longer for the learner to experience. Learners almost always use a computer to access full-length courses. So how do you know which format to use for your course? When choosing between the two, ask yourself: How many learning objectives do I have? If you only have one, a microlearning course is the clear option. If you have more than one, could each one stand alone or are they interdependent? If they could be split up, you could create a series of microlearning courses. If they’re interdependent, then a full-length course is the best option. Once you’ve made your decision, go to your Rise 360 dashboard. Click Create New and choose Course or Microlearning. 2. Search for a template or start from scratch It's always a good idea to look at templates and see if there’s already material you can use or adapt to your learning objectives. Articulate offers two types of templates: placeholder and real content: Placeholder templates include guidance and ideas to help you create a fully customized course. Real content templates have pre-written content you can adapt to fit your learning objectives. After choosing the type of e-learning you’d like to develop, you’ll see all available templates. Select Preview to explore a template before you choose it. You can use the search bar to find templates by keyword. And for full-length courses, you can use the left-hand panel to explore templates by category. When you’re ready to use a template, click Select This Course. If you don’t find exactly what you need, don’t worry: You can always customize a template or even start from scratch. Just click +Blank Course/Microlearning to begin. 3. Add your content Once you’ve chosen a template or started from scratch, you can add in your content using blocks. Blocks give you different ways of formatting your content in a lesson or microlesson. There are many types of blocks: text blocks, image blocks, interactive blocks, knowledge check blocks, and more. You can use different block types to make your content unique and engaging. Clicking All Blocks or the + sign in your lesson or microlesson will open a list of block types in a left-hand panel. If you change your mind about the type of block, you can easily choose a different block from the same category by clicking the dropdown menu in the top-left corner of the block. For example, the paragraph block gives you the option of reformatting your content into different types of paragraphs, headings, statements, and a note. Not sure how to pick the right block? Think about what your learner needs. For example, if you have a lot of content that may be overwhelming as a text block, consider using a tabs block to break up the text. Or, if you want learners to compare and contrast different chunks of information, consider using an accordion or flashcard block. As the course author, this is your opportunity to get creative! Here are some articles for inspiration: 6 Rise 360 Blocks to Use Instead of Bullet Points 7 Creative Ways to Use Images in Rise 360 Courses 6 Rise 360 Block Types to Use to Compare and Contrast Concepts 5 Different Ways to Create Scenarios in Rise 360 3 Creative Ways to Incorporate Your Logo into a Rise 360 Course More Resources Creating microlearning or full-length courses in Rise 360 is superfast and easy. In just three steps, you’ve already started putting together an elegant course customized for your learners. And when you’re done drafting your course, you can share and review your content with stakeholders easily thanks to Review 360. Here’s more information on how to use Review 360: Getting Started with Review 360 Rise 360: Publish Content to Review 360 Your Most Asked Review 360 Questions Once they’ve been approved, you can easily publish from your Articulate 360 dashboard. Here are some guides to get you started: Rise 360: Share Content with Learners How to Share E-Learning Courses with Learners Want to try creating your first course in Rise 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.
