Do You Like Scary Movies?
Hello! Although I submitted a Halloween-themed demo for last week's challenge, I couldn't resist the opportunity to practice with cut scenes and interactive video elements, Definitely wouldn't do anything like this for a work project. But I would absolutely use the same branching logic and decision mechanics, so it's all good practice. Do you like scary movies? https://bit.ly/elhc572Working at Height
Hi everyone! We recently finished an interactive video project called Working at Height, so I thought I'd share it here. We wanted to explore how video could do more than just present information. The learner follows a construction worker through different safety situations. At key moments, the video pauses, and the learner needs to decide what happens next. Each choice leads to a short video showing the consequences, followed by feedback. We also added a final challenge where learners explore a construction site and identify potential hazards. The 3D-style videos were AI-generated, and we built the interactions in Articulate Storyline 360. It's an independent portfolio concept, not validated operational safety training. Would love to hear what you think! 🙂 Try it here: Working at Height - DEMO https://360.articulate.com/review/content/cdc1510a-5b5d-4433-a2db-b7f3bb7b330e/reviewFootball Basics: Click the Pitch to Learn the Game
DEMO LINK For this week’s challenge, I created a simple interactive football basics activity for new fans, casual viewers and beginners who want to understand the game without feeling overwhelmed. The idea is built around a top-down football pitch with numbered clickable markers. Each marker opens a short explanation of one key football concept, such as the goal, players, positions, the ball, passing, dribbling, shooting, defending, set pieces and offside. I wanted the interaction to feel like the learner is reading the game from the pitch itself rather than moving through a traditional slide deck. The pitch acts as the main navigation screen, and the markers guide learners through the basics in a clear, visual way. How I approached the design I used a clean football pitch as the central visual so that the learning stayed connected to the game environment. The numbered markers are deliberately large and easy to spot, so learners know where to click without needing long instructions. Each pop-up includes: Element Purpose Short explanation Introduces the football term in plain English Quick example Helps the learner understand how it appears in a real match Visual support Shows the concept rather than only describing it Learner takeaway Gives the learner one simple point to remember Design rationale The design is intentionally simple because the audience is new to football. I avoided too much technical detail at the start and focused on helping learners build confidence. For example, the offside section ( Marker 10) uses a visual comparison of not offside and offside, showing what the situation looks like before and after the pass. The key message is: Freeze the picture at the moment the ball is passed. That one sentence gives beginners a practical way to understand a rule that many people find confusing. Interaction idea The learner clicks each marker on the pitch to reveal a short learning point. This could easily be expanded with: Possible addition How it could improve the activity Progress tracking Shows how many basics the learner has completed Audio narration Supports learners who prefer listening Short quiz questions Checks understanding after each topic Match scenario cards Lets learners apply each rule in context Final recap jingle Helps learners remember the key basics Reflection This was a fun way to turn football rules into a small exploratory learning experience. Instead of explaining the game as a long list of rules, I tried to make the learner feel as if they are standing above the pitch, clicking into the parts of the game they want to understand. I look forward to your input and feedback. Best Nadia :-) Here is my example: DEMO LINK2025: The Year AI Landed
If you're hearing this message, the machines have won, and Instructional Design is dead as we know it... Hello! For this week's #ELearningChallenge I've created an interactive video portfolio to highlight four projects I built this year with the help of artificial intelligence. Despite the apocalyptic tone, I'm excited about the creative possibilities of generative AI. I certainly couldn't have made this last year. Videos created using Powtoon's AI Text to Video feature and edited with Camtasia. And just like my recent coffee-making demo, this is also fully accessible from the keyboard. Anywhere you see an underlined letter in a button, that key will perform its function. If you're wondering how I changed the colour of the captions from white to black, and back again, to improve legibility during the intro... Code to change captions to white // Stop any existing observer first if (window.captionObserver) { window.captionObserver.disconnect(); } // Monitor for caption changes and force white color window.captionObserver = new MutationObserver(function() { var allCaptionElements = document.querySelectorAll('[class*="caption"], [class*="acc-"]'); allCaptionElements.forEach(function(element) { element.style.setProperty('color', 'white', 'important'); var children = element.querySelectorAll('*'); children.forEach(function(child) { child.style.setProperty('color', 'white', 'important'); }); }); }); window.captionObserver.observe(document.body, { childList: true, subtree: true, attributes: true }); Code to change captions back to black // Stop the white observer if (window.captionObserver) { window.captionObserver.disconnect(); } // Apply black once var allCaptionElements = document.querySelectorAll('[class*="caption"], [class*="acc-"]'); allCaptionElements.forEach(function(element) { element.style.setProperty('color', 'black', 'important'); var children = element.querySelectorAll('*'); children.forEach(function(child) { child.style.setProperty('color', 'black', 'important'); }); }); And yes, AI helped me do this! Sift through the wreckage of my career here: https://bit.ly/elhc534 Oh, and shout out to any fans of SILO.
History and Progression of Cyber Threats
For this week’s challenge, we redesigned an existing cyber-awareness project and developed an interactive slide called “History and Progression of Cyber Threats.” Instead of presenting all information at once, we shifted to a click-and-reveal format, allowing learners to explore key developments in cybersecurity step by step. This approach increases engagement, supports retention and makes the topic more immersive and memorable. Take a look and let us know your feedback. https://www.swiftelearningservices.com/cyber-threat-awareness-elearning-sample-for-employees/Storyline 360: Adding Audio
In this user guide, we'll explore several ways to add audio to Storyline 360 courses. Choosing Default Playback and Recording Devices Importing Audio Files Recording Narration Converting Text to Speech Adding Background Audio Controlling Background Audio With Triggers Using the Background Audio Volume Variable Importing Slides from Other Content Sources Making Audio Accessible Create Sound Effects with AI Assistant Add a layer of realism to your audio content with AI-generated sound effects. Learn how to use AI Assistant to level up your course authoring game. Choosing Default Playback and Recording Devices Before you import or record narration, you'll want to choose your default playback and recording devices. Go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and choose Options. Select a speaker for your default playback device. Select a microphone for your default recording device and set your recording volume. Click OK to save your changes. Importing Audio Files First, do either of the following: In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library. Or, simply drag an audio file from your computer and drop it on your course slide. In Form View, go to the Question tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library. Browse to the audio file you want to insert and click Open. Storyline 360 supports these file formats: AAC AIF AIFF M4A MP3 OGG WAV WMA Tip: If you import an audio file without captions, AI Assistant prompts you to generate them automatically. Click Generate Captions to create captions for your audio. To generate captions automatically next time, check the box to Remember my choice for future imports. You can adjust this preference anytime from the Features tab on the Storyline Options window. Recording Narration First, do either of the following: In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Record Mic. In Form View, go to the Question tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Record Mic. The Record Microphone window opens. If you have a script you want to use, click the Narration Script button, which reveals the text from the Notes panel. (Learn more about adding slide notes.) When you're ready to begin recording, click the red Record button. When you've finished recording, click the Stop recording button. You can preview your recording using the Play/Pause and Rewind buttons. If you need to record your narration again, just click the Record button to start over. If you want to delete your narration altogether, click the Delete button. Tip: Generate captions for your audio recordings with AI Assistant to boost accessibility. If you change your mind about recording narration and would prefer to import audio instead, click the Import audio file button. Browse to the audio file you want to insert and click Open. If you want to edit the audio you just recorded, click the Edit audio button to launch the built-in audio editor. Learn more about editing audio. Click the Save button to add the newly recorded audio to your project. (Also, be sure to save your overall project file to retain the changes you just made.) Converting Text to Speech Speed up course development by converting text to speech right in Storyline 360. For example, use the text-to-speech feature to quickly narrate a course for stakeholder review or to localize narration in different languages. You can even choose the voice and language to make sure every word sounds right. In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and choose Text-to-Speech. When the Insert Text-to-Speech window appears, select a Language from the first drop-down list. This ensures that your words are spoken with the correct pronunciations. Then choose a Voice from the second drop-down list. You can hear what a voice sounds like by clicking the Preview Voice button next to the list. Type or paste your script into the text-entry field. Or, if you want to use your slide notes as your script, just click the Copy from Slide Notes button. Tip: You can convert up to 10,000 characters at a time. If your script is longer than that, break it into smaller chunks and generate more than one text-to-speech audio clip. Then place the audio clips back to back on the timeline so they play in sequential order. If you'd like to add closed captions to your text-to-speech narration, mark the Generate Closed Captions box in the upper right corner. Learn more about text-to-speech closed captions. Click Insert to complete the process. Storyline 360 will convert your text to narration, and it'll appear as an audio clip on the slide's timeline. The conversion process is fast, but lengthy scripts will take longer to convert. Learn more about working with text-to-speech narration. Adding Background Audio Set the right tone for your course with a background playlist that keeps learners engaged. Learners can toggle background audio on and off as they prefer. Here's how to add background audio to your course. Go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon and click the Audio drop-down arrow. Then hover over Background Audio and choose Create Playlist. When the Background Playlist window appears, click the plus sign drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library to upload your audio. Learn more about background audio. Controlling Background Audio With Triggers As of November 2023, you can control the background audio for each slide using triggers to play, pause, or stop the playlist. For example, you might want the audio to play when learners click a button. Here's how to create a background audio trigger. After you've added background audio, click the Create a new trigger icon in the Triggers panel, or go to the Insert tab on the ribbon and click Trigger. Select a media action (play, pause, or stop), then fill in the related parameters, such as the playlist and object. Choose when you want the action to happen. Optional: You can add conditions to your trigger so it only occurs in certain circumstances. Note: If you pause or stop the background audio and then jump to another slide, the background audio won't play on that slide. If you want the background audio to play on another slide, create a trigger that plays the background audio when that specific slide's timeline starts. Using the Background Audio Volume Variable As of November 2023, you can customize the background audio experience even further. Fine-tune the volume with this built-in percentage-based variable: Player.BackgroundAudioVolume : The volume of the background playlist in percentage Using the background audio volume variable is easy—it works like any other variable in Storyline 360. Learn more about working with variables. Importing Slides from Other Content Sources When you import slides into Storyline from Microsoft PowerPoint, Quizmaker, or other Storyline projects, audio resources from the external content are also imported and available for editing. You can also import Engage interactions, but their audio resources can't be edited in Storyline 360. Making Audio Accessible Audio accessibility helps make learning inclusive and understandable for everyone—especially for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, have cognitive disabilities, or don’t speak the course language fluently. The following tips can boost your audio accessibility: Enable playback speed control. Let learners explore content at their own pace with an adjustable playback speed. They should be able to slow down or speed up audio as needed. (1.4.2 Audio Control). Use closed captions. More learners can fully engage with and comprehend audio content when you provide closed captions. And in Storyline 360, you have options! You can import captions, create your own, or let AI Assistant generate them for you automatically. Position captions at the top or bottom of your slides and customize the foreground and background colors to maximize readability. (1.2.2 Captions [Prerecorded]). Provide text transcripts for audio content. Include spoken dialogue, speaker identification, and meaningful non-speech sounds so all learners can fully access and understand the audio. To display transcripts, you can use text boxes, layers, markers, or slide notes (1.2.1 Audio-only [Prerecorded]). Keep your language simple. Use plain language in your audio content and descriptions. Straightforward and clear language helps your audience easily read and understand the information. Reduce distractions. Enable the background audio toggle to give learners the option to mute any background tracks. This helps learners stay focused and lets assistive technologies navigate content more effectively. The “Lower background audio volume when slide audio plays” setting is enabled by default to support accessibility. (1.4.2 Audio Control) You Might Also Want to Explore: Editing Audio Using the Audio Tools
