Peer Pod Coming Soon: “New to Instructional Design” — Who’s Joining Us?
We’re kicking off a brand-new Peer Pod for anyone who’s new to instructional design and you’re invited! 🎉 Peer Pods are 4-week learning groups where community members explore a topic together through weekly prompts, curated resources, and shared discussion. Whether you’re a few days or several months into your role, this is your chance to connect with peers, reflect on key topics, and build confidence together. Here’s what we’ll explore: ✨ What to focus on as you get started 📦 Intro to Articulate 360 + course design best practices 🤝 Tips for working with SMEs 💻 Best practices for incorporating AI By the end, you’ll walk away with a stronger foundation and a group of peers cheering you on. 🗓 Start Date: Monday, January 12, 2026 Participants will be added to the private Peer Pod group about a week before we begin. 👉 Want to join? Fill out the registration form. 💬 Your turn: What Peer Pod topics do you want to see next? If you could join a focused 4-week learning group, what topic would you choose? Drop your ideas below so we can build pods around what you want most. 🙌Welcome to Week 1 of the E-Learning Heroes Passport Challenge!
🌍 Welcome to the Passport Challenge Hub! Your one-stop spot for all things E-Learning Heroes Passport Challenge. Each week, we’ll share a new update celebrating badge earners, Globetrotter progress, and community highlights. Check out the Passport Challenge post to learn how to join, earn badges, and see all the rewards you can unlock! ✈️ Getting Started Here’s how to start filling your passport this week: Post a new discussion or comment on a post that caught your eye. Jump into the Welcome Center and greet a new member. Like a few posts that inspired you. 💡 Weekly Pro Tip You can earn two badges in one! Complete the Weekly Challenge to earn your Challenger stamp, then post your project (with details!) in the Share Examples Hub to unlock your Showcase stamp. 💬 Join the Conversation How are you hoping to grow, learn, or stretch your skills during the Passport Challenge? Drop your goals in the comments — we’d love to cheer you on!Passport Challenge: Badge Updates, Highlights & Upcoming Events
Great news, travelers! ✈️ All badges earned so far (except Voyager — those will be added at the end) should now appear on your profiles. If anything looks off, just let me know, and I’ll get it sorted. Remember, the Passport Challenge runs through January 5th, so there’s still plenty of time to level up and earn those badges! 🎉 This Week’s Highlights A huge shout-out to our badge earners so far! Tier 1 Members who’ve earned 3+ badges: JudyNollet Nedim Silverfire Seb_Daubert elizabeth ThierryEMMANUEL JHauglie HillaSchlegel jveedubs SandyMyers LeeMillardButlr Kate_Golomshtok KayleneWance ClaireBogue-155 Stephanie BarryHollembeak SMcNicol FelixFranke DanThornton ChelseaYoung-6f samxuan Caitlin_B jeremykelley78 Emily02 BorgCube RonPrice JodiSansone larryvanwave-ff HoneyTurner JenniferThom012 BenjiLukas Mb06 hannahrad22 DaisyWoods-2947 RamonTalavera-0 CydWalker_mwh RehanTT JulieBaker-ad32 RhondaRolf-1090 TamaraCraft-62f RomanieRoach-e9 SyedAmjad-Ali Tier 2 Members who’ve earned 5+ badges: Emmanuel_Kegler Lori_Morgan GolfPrincess AbigailVettese PaSchl Jonathan_Hill Michelle_Brooks MrugeshJani Marie-Pierre701 DanBoylandUK Ekaterina_V MeeraLynn-UK VickyAttridge 🌟 Most Badges Earned (so far!) Emmanuel_Kegler is leading the way with 7 badges — just one more to reach Globetrotter status! 🎁 Prize Reminder Tier 2 = Entry into our Articulate swag drawing Tier 3 (Globetrotter) = A chance to win our Grand Prize: a Fujifilm Instant Film Camera! 🚀 Keep the Momentum Going Here are a few ways to earn more badges this week: Weekly Challenge: Share Your 2025 E-Learning Challenge Highlights Upcoming Webinars: Overview of AI Assistant in Rise - Dec 16 Edit AI Images Using Free Windows Tools - Dec 16 Quick Tips & Tricks: Episode 120 - Dec 18 Join the Conversation - Jump into these recent discussions and share your insights: How does your organization support different ways of thinking and working? by smous Help with multiple packages that make up one course by RachelDavis-7dd Welcome Center: Say hi to a new member! Share Examples Hub: Post a project — and remember, sharing your challenge submissions is a great way to earn badges and contribute to the community! 💡 Weekly Pro Tip: Check out the latest Made by Members featuring portfolio examples. Participating in the Passport Challenge is a great way to sharpen your portfolio and showcase your skills! 💬 Join the Conversation What’s one badge you haven’t earned yet but plan to tackle this week?Designing Immersive Phone Conversations in Storyline
Ever have two characters talk in a training module, but it still feels flat; even with speech bubbles, audio, and triggers? This (FREE) Storyline phone conversation template changes that. Whether you're designing for sales, compliance, healthcare, or support, it creates real, layered convos that feel like you're eavesdropping on a call. Animated phone effects Realistic voiceover dialogue Transparent APNG waveforms (way better than GIFs!) Custom triggers for pick-up/end call Clean, modern layout with animated text Watch how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMpUcYJRNnE Preview the demo: https://www.redesignedminds.com/Discuss/story.html Download it free: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19AvmE7q3PAUbXoNKIViQtPNqCwUoFDQW/view?usp=sharing If your training includes a conversation, this is how you bring it to life.How are you approaching learning creation in your organization beyond “traditional” L&D use cases?
Hey ELH community 👋, We know that learning creation doesn’t live solely within L&D or instructional design teams. In large organizations especially, managers, training, enablement teams, and other departments are increasingly creating their own learning to meet team and business needs. We’re curious how that’s playing out in your organization. If you’re in L&D, what’s holding you back from bringing on more teams create courses in Articulate? Are there particular challenges—technical, process-related, or cultural—that make it harder to open things up? And if you have scaled and democratized course creation with Articulate beyond L&D, what’s helped it work well? We’d love to learn from your experiences; what’s working, what’s not, and what would make it easier. ~ The Articulate Research TeamDo you create training for Sales Enablement or Customer Service teams? Join our Template Creation Guild pilot program!
💁 Are you a trainer in either the Sales Enablement or Customer Service Training spaces? 🤝 Do you love co-creating content and networking with others in your training niche? ✍️ Do you want to build authority and credibility in your training niche with an Articulate by-line, all while helping others in your space? We’re launching a new community program just for you! Introducing: Template Creation Guilds 🎉 These four-week co-working programs will bring together 15-25 creators from specific training niches to collaborate on creating a “core template hub” for that niche. Gain connections and skills with peers in your niche while working together to produce valuable additions to your portfolio, supported by Articulate’s team. Interested in learning more? We put together an article here with all the details about: Program schedule Time commitment Who’s a fit How to join 💬 Your turn: what was the last training you created? If you work in the Customer Service Training or Sales Enablement spaces, what was the last training you created for this niche? Was it new agent onboarding, a quarterly product launch overview, a QA assessment training, or something completely different? Let us know in the comments.Expert Insight Needed!
Hi Everyone! I am a graduate student in an Instructional Design and Performance Technology program. In my Distance Learning Policy and Planning course, we are conducting an informal research investigation on current use of technology in our field. We are tasked with finding out what practitioners are using out in the real world, and how they feel about those technologies. Can you please share the platforms you use and your own personal feelings about these technologies (what works well, what is challenging, etc.) for purposes such as: Delivering instruction or training (such as an LMS) Communication and collaboration Assessments or testing Analytics Thank you so much for helping me learn from your experience!❓What Is an LMS… Really? And How Do LRS and LCMS Fit In?
I’ve noticed a surprising lack of consensus around this in the industry so I thought it might be useful to do deep dive and ask: 🕵️What is a Learning Management System (LMS)? Is there an official checklist that a piece of software has to meet to earn that title? And what about a Learning Record Store (LRS)? Or a Learning Content Management System (LCMS)? The answer? There isn’t actually a universal, enforceable definition that says, “This is an LMS!” Instead, the industry’s largely settled into a “call it what we want” model, where marketing often defines classification more than behavior. 🤷 But from a practical engineering and standards-based perspective, I think we can be a little more precise—especially because specs like AICC, SCORM, xAPI, and cmi5 clearly define the roles and responsibilities of LMSs compared to other components. 💡Here’s how I define an LMS at the functional level If a piece of software does all three of the following, I consider it an LMS: Hosts eLearning content built to a standard (like AICC, SCORM, xAPI, or cmi5) and makes it accessible via a portal or interface Provides user/learner management (logins, assignments, access controls, etc.) Records user/learner data and makes that data available for analysis or reporting Why those three? Because every major eLearning specification includes a section titled “LMS Responsibilities”—and when you distill that down to a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), these are the pieces that remain consistent. All other features—dashboards, UX bells and whistles, analytics layers—are useful but not required for a system to be an LMS by role. Many elements of an LMS are actually outside the scope of eLearning specifications! 🔍What About an LRS? A Learning Record Store (LRS) is similar in some ways, but with a few key differences: It doesn’t need to host the content (though it can) It can treat events or content as "experiences" tracked through xAPI It identifies users, but doesn’t typically manage roles or course permissions It records structured learning data, but doesn’t always offer built-in analytics In essence, LRSs are structured databases designed for learning data. Because of their database-like nature, they’re often paired with LMSs in what I’d call "LMS/LRS hybrids"—systems that handle frontend access and user roles while leveraging xAPI data for deeper analysis. Fun fact: cmi5 itself is a kind of an LMS/LRS hybrid by design. It was created specifically to fill the gap left by xAPI’s lack of LMS-like mechanisms, such as content launching and attempt tracking. 📚And an LCMS? An LCMS (Learning Content Management System) is the fusion of two worlds: A content authoring tool An LMS While it’s not a spec-defined term, it’s useful for describing platforms that allow you to both create and deploy learning content in one place. These systems can really streamline workflows and help teams consolidate tools. There are a few LCMSs out there on the market—and depending on your use case, some may even straddle the LRS category too! 🤔Is that all there is to it? Maybe! But it's a huge world out there and the number of LMS and LRS platforms grows and shrinks almost daily. Each one brings its own nuances and minor differences, so I wouldn't be surprised if there's a type of system out there I haven't encountered yet! Your turn: Which platform(s) do you use and how would you classify them—LMS, LRS, LCMS, or a hybrid? Or, are there other criteria you’d add to the list when deciding what qualifies as an LMS? It's a big world out there, and I can't explore all of it alone, so I look forward to hearing others' thoughts and ideas!How I Built This: I Developed an Award-Winning Ethics Course
Why I Built This: When I first learned about branching scenarios, something clicked for me that I hadn’t seen other eLearning developers execute: visually compelling, philosophically rich thought experiments. I studied Moral Philosophy in my undergrad and became obsessed with ethical dilemmas. Naturally, I decided to build an ethics course about technology. Think The Trolley Problem, only I wanted to pose questions about the growing reliance on AI and its implications by employing Instructional Design strategies. An opportunity came up through my Master’s program to attend DevLearn and compete in DemoFest, so it was time to start building my concept. I designed and developed a course in Storyline called The Agency Algorithm that confronts learners with issues regarding three main topics: algorithmic warfare (The Armory), AI assisted resource allocation (The Triage Garden), and surveillance (The Mask Archive). The Experience & Design Intent: A quick walkthrough of the multi-room experience. The Agency Algorithm is a multi-room interactive learning experience that blends instructional design, game-like mechanics, and philosophical inquiry. It immerses learners in ethically complex scenarios by leveraging branching logic, and integrating experiential aesthetics with conceptual depth. My primary goal with this project was to encourage critical reflection on the role of technology on human agency and autonomous choice. The concept itself was pretty clear to me, but I wanted to push the limits of Storyline visually, so I acquired a number of 3D assets from Adobe Stock, some of which I further modified in Adobe Dimension. I wanted the visuals to anchor the learner in a unique environment that did not feel reminiscent of traditional eLearning, and rather create space to explore and feel like a participant in something unfolding. There aren’t often black and white answers to ethical questions, and branching scenarios are an excellent way to illustrate this while offering learners a safe place to experiment and think through various outcomes based on their decision making. Visual Worldbuilding/Making It Not Feel Like eLearning: Initially, I intended to hand draw assets myself to really hone in on the human vs AI dynamic, but quickly realized the time I’d have to accomplish this was dwindling. While I drafted a few loose concepts in my journal, I ultimately decided to stick with digital assets. While I landed on 3D assets largely due to time constraints, the outcome is reminiscent of an old experimental video game or some sort of immersive idea gallery. As an artist, I often approach my work from a minimalist lens so this project was a fun way to really add some artistry that corporate training often doesn’t have room for. Variables, Multi-state objects, Cue points, and other mechanics: I relied heavily on multi-state objects to create hover states, “tip” cards, text labels, and more, for example in the circuits with definition reveals. I enjoyed building the “loading” effect in the Mask Archive, although it was a bit clunky and took a lot of trial and error! I learned a lot along the way and used a cue point on an orb with a glow effect beneath the mask and used triggers to cause the effect to work. The course overall has a few hundred triggers (slide, object, and variable triggers) and somewhere around 40 variables (mostly T/F variables). What I learned: I think it is important that we don’t hand-hold learners through every learning experience. I want users to think through complex challenges and autonomously choose and feel like a true agent in the process of acquiring knowledge. A lot of eLearning makes it too easy for the learner and we lose engagement when we undermine the intelligence of our audience. I learned SO much about how to leverage Storyline in new ways. I am still a relatively new user to the tool, so this project allowed me to freely explore and be guided by curiosity. Link to my portfolio: https://www.abigailvettese.com/Redesigning Under Constraints: Condensing 8 Hours of Training into a 1-Hour eLearning Module
In most projects, SMEs provide slides, facilitator guides, or at least some documentation. In this case, I received none. The request was to convert a full-day (7–8 hour) onboarding workshop into a 1-hour e-learning course. Instead of materials, I was invited to attend the live session as if I were a new hire. The onboarding itself was highly activity-based (discussions, reflections, group exercises...). As a training workshop, it worked well, but that's exactly what made the conversion harder. The real challenge was this: How do you compress a full day of experiential learning into one interactive hour without simply digitizing the activities? That alone would have been enough to deal with. But then another constraint surfaced. The original workshop had been designed by an external consulting firm. Leadership later raised concerns about copyright and ownership. I was instructed not to replicate or closely resemble any of the original activities, even the ones that had consistently received the best feedback. That meant redesigning everything from first principles. How I decided what to keep from the 8-hour workshop Rather than starting with the activities themselves, I focused on understanding what the workshop was really trying to achieve. Observing the learning intent behind each activity While attending the workshop, I paid close attention to several things: * What the company expected learners to gain from each activity * What learning goals those activities were meant to support * How participants reacted during the session and what feedback they shared After the workshop, I asked the HR what they had observed from employees who previously completed the onboarding? Which behaviors seemed to reflect the intended outcomes, and where they still noticed gaps? One question I specifically asked was: What behaviors or thinking patterns do you expect a new hire to demonstrate after this training? Once I understood what the training was really trying to do, it became much easier to decide what to keep and what to cut. Have you ever had to redesign training under similar constraints? I'd love to hear how you handled it. And if there's interest in the design side of this project, drop a comment. I'm happy to share more.
