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 TeamExpert 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!Animating Engaging Quiz Questions in Storyline
A cool way to turn your standard Storyline quizzes into interactive, engaging, and immersive learning experiences. Watch "how to" tutorial here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wB1_HWTZeU Preview slide here: https://www.redesignedminds.com/Submit/story.html Preview animations here: https://www.redesignedminds.com/Submit%20Previews/Submit%20APNGs%20Previews.gifPowerPoint Meets AI: Testing 5 Motion Models
When it comes to adding AI motion, many designers bounce from one model to the next, often frustrated by strange results. Some eLearning apps don’t give the motion we want natively, and others take too long to configure, making it hard to know where to start. So, I tested 5 AI models on the same slide with the same prompt to see how each performed. The results were surprising: one nailed the physics, another went off into odd morphs, and a few missed the mark entirely. The lesson? Every model has strengths, but the right fit depends on your design goals and willingness to experiment. Watch the full tutorial: https://youtu.be/Udtg1X81mow Download the AI Models for Motion – Comparisons chart: [AI Models for Motion - Comparisons.pdf - Google Drive]Best Certification for Breaking into Instructional Design field
I am mentoring an Educator (with a Master's in Teaching) and 15 years of teaching fifth-grade science as well as pre-school. This educator wants to transfer her skills to break into the Instructional Design field. What are the best certifications programs for this type of professional?
