Building E-Learning Games: Concept & Storyboard #470
Game Show Design: Storyboards #470: Challenge | Recap How in the world did you build that? A common challenge for new course designers is seeing polished e-learning projects and having no clue how they came together. I hear from folks all the time that they want to do the weekly challenges, but it feels too advanced for beginners. So, for this challenge, we're going to pump the brakes and spread the build over four weeks. We’ll follow a linear development model so we can really dig into and focus on common development steps. I realize experienced designers will prefer a more iterative approach for real-world projects. And that's fair. But using a progressive, step-by-step approach should help new users follow the evolution of an e-learning challenge project from concept to deliverable. Plus, it gives us something tangible to show each week. Week 1: The Concept & Visual Storyboard This first week, we’ll focus on the initial game show theme or concept. Your task will be to create a wireframe, flowchart, or visual storyboard that captures the flow of your game. For new users, this helps you work intentionally through your ideas before jumping into development. And for you pros, this might seem like extra work, but slowing it down will help others visualize how polished interactions come together. Here’s a breakdown of the four-week schedule: Week 1: Concept & Storyboarding Week 2: Prototype Development Week 3: Development & Review Week 4: Final Testing & Project Submission 🏆 Challenge of the Week This week, your challenge is to develop an e-learning game show concept and present a visual, non-interactive storyboard or flowchart of your game’s mechanics and visual elements. You can either create something new or take an old project and break it down with us over the four weeks. This way, everyone can see how it all comes together. Week 1: Concept & Storyboarding Goal: Choose a game show concept and design theme Deliverables: Choose a game show concept, theme and design style Create a visual storyboard, flowchart, or static mock-up of the game Share a link to your static design concept Week 2: Design & Prototyping Week 3: Production & Development Week 4: Final Testing & Project Submission ✨ 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 get started on this week’s design concept, check out last week’s examples to see what e-learning designers do and how they got started in the industry. What Instructional Designers Do RECAP #469: 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 challenges anytime 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. 📆 Upcoming Challenges Challenge #471 (07.26): Week 2: Prototype Development Challenge #472 (08.02): Week 3: Production & Development Challenge #473 (08.09): Week 4: Final Testing & Project SubmissionConverting Classroom Activities to Interactive E-Learning #465
This week, your challenge is to either rework an everyday classroom activity into an e-learning interaction, convert static content into an engaging e-learning experience, or share a tip or technique to help teachers transition from traditional classrooms to e-learning.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.How I Became an E-Learning Instructional Designer #469
What Instructional Designers Do #469: Challenge | Recap Have you ever tried explaining your job to friends or family, and all you get are those confused looks? Even though our industry is booming, titles like “Instructional Designer” or “E-Learning Designer” are still pretty much a mystery to most folks. It usually leads to a bunch of questions: What kind of education did you need? What exactly do you do? What technologies do you use? Do you build those compliance courses I have to take? And, of course, what do you love about your job? Now, explaining all that can be a bit of a challenge, but it’s also a great way to show off the wide range of skills we bring to the table. And demystifying our profession is what this week’s challenge is all about. 🏆 Challenge of the Week This week, your challenge is to share an example that explains what you do as an e-learning or instructional designer. Your example can be anything from a simple static graphic to a complex interaction. ✨ 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 share your e-learning origin story, check out the drag-and-drop interactions your fellow challengers shared: Drag-and-Drop in E-Learning RECAP #468: 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 challenges anytime 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.Building a Working Prototype for Your E-Learning Game Concept #471
Interactive Prototypes in E-Learning #471: Challenge | Recap Welcome back to part two of our e-learning game design challenge. Last week, you laid the groundwork with your design concepts and visual storyboards. Now, it’s time to bring those ideas to life with functional prototypes. This week, you’ll build a working model to test your game’s functionalities and interactive components. Your example should give us a clear preview of your game's key features and gameplay interactions. 🏆 Challenge of the Week This week, your challenge is to build an interactive prototype to test specific functionalities or components. The goal is to create a functional version of your game that you can test and refine over the next two weeks. Think of this as the halfway point between the design concepts you created last week and the final version of your project. Don’t worry about making this version of your game perfect. You’re only creating a working model of your project. Keep it simple, focus on the essentials, and let us know if you need help or have any issues. Week 1: Concept & Storyboarding Week 2: Prototype Development Goal: Build a working prototype of your game Deliverables: Create a rough prototype of the game with basic interactions and navigation Build the basic game functionality with questions, scoring, and feedback Focus on core interactions and basic navigation Submit to Review 360 to gather initial feedback (optional) Week 3: Development & Review Week 4: Final Testing & Project Submission ✨ 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 move from concept to prototype, check out the storyboard ideas your fellow challengers shared over the past week: Game Show Design: Storyboards RECAP #470: 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 challenges anytime 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. 📆 Upcoming Challenges Challenge #472 (08.02): Week 3: Production & Development Challenge #473 (08.09): Week 4: Final Testing & Project Submission
