E-Learning Challenge

First – Hats off to David for not doing this sooner! – I can only imagine how tiring it can be to come up with challenges and examples for challenges each week.

The Concept

This week’s challenge was to choose your own e-learning challenge topic and create an example for that topic, with the caveat that it must be an original challenge (a feat when you consider there have been 129 challenges – go, David!).

The Method

I had a dream about this last night…well. More specifically, I had a dream about colour palettes and one of my favourite websites, Coolors.co. I love the colour generator feature of this website because it makes my life a whole heck of a lot easier when my creativity is waning and I need some colour inspiration for my e-learning projects.

With that, my e-learning challenge topic is: App-Inspired E-Learning Resources. The challenge will be to create an e-learning resource inspired by one of your favourite, existing, applications.

To achieve a coolors-inspired resource, I tossed 5 rectangles on a slide, changed the colours for each rectangle, added the hex code to the bottom of the shape, and modified the player to appear as desired. After duplicating each slide and adjusting colours and hex codes appropriately, I added a trigger that would jump to the next slide when the user presses the Space key.

While this coolers-inspired resource is not as all-encompassing as the actual app itself, I feel like it’s a pretty good representation and it can definitely be expanded upon with an infinite number of slides/colour palettes.

The Result

To view the full interaction, Click Here.

To download the .story file, Click Here.

The Concept

The idea behind this challenge was to use a custom background, coupled with a visual design tip from Tom Kuhlmann, that illustrates how to use a visual echo technique in e-learning design.

The Method

Smashing Magazine recently posted a freebie download for some super cute barista and coffee lover icons. I downloaded them, but hadn’t found the opportunity to use them, so they were my muse.

I selected one of the icons from the set (the coffee sign), applied some transparency, made it into a background image for the main slide, and then set about creating a tabbed-style interaction on the left-hand side, with the same coffee image (with no transparency) as a logo of sorts.

Using several of the other barista icons, I created appropriately labeled tabs, and added layers for each of these items. Within the layers, I added a larger image of the tab icon and an explanation for how to make that type of beverage.

Finally, I customized the player by removing the navigational elements and adjusting some of the base colours.

The Result

Click here to view the full interaction.

Last year I completed many more e-learning heroes challenges than I thought I had, and I’m surprising myself early in 2016 by completing my first challenge of the year!

The Concept

This challenge was to ‘awaken’ our e-learning force by creating a Star Wars themed interaction…this was a tall order for me because I had never seen an entire Star Wars movie. I know. I know.

The Method

When thinking about this challenge, I knew I wanted to do something with the iconic intro crawl, and I knew I wanted to build the interaction in Storyline, which was limited in terms of being able to adjust the perspective of my text.

So, here’s what I did instead:

• Went into PhotoShop and created a transparent canvas the width of my Storyline design, and double the height;
• Then, I added a text box around the entire canvas, chose a Star-Warsy font, changed the font colour to a shade of yellow, and wrote out my crawl;
• Once I was finished writing the crawl, I right-clicked the text layer, and selected Rasterize Type;
• Then, I chose Transform > Perspective from the Edit menu, and adjusted the top of the text box to become a smaller width with the bottom of the text box remaining the same;
• I added a drop shadow and saved the image.

Then…

• I went back to my Storyline file where I had applied a background fill of a Star-Warsy looking pattern;
• Then, I added a scroll panel to the entire width (and majority of height) of my project, with the scroll bar extending past the slide so you couldn’t see it;
• Next, I added the image I had created in PhotoShop and applied a line motion path, changing the direction to up, changing the easing to none, and I dragged the end point of the motion path to the desired location;
• I added some Star Wars theme music (attribution under the Resources link), and moved on to the next slide, and set a trigger to jump to the next slide when the motion path animation completed;
• The next slide was a simple click and reveal interaction that employed buttons to trigger layers.

Result

To view the full interaction, Click Here.

So, the folks at Articulate have done it again! One of the plaguing issues for e-learning developers is how to curate a beautiful portfolio of their e-learning interactions.

Now, you can easily do this within your E-Learning Heroes Community profile! Now you really have no reason not to have a portfolio!

The Concept

This week’s challenge was to build up your E-Learning Heroes profile by adding course samples!

The Method

To add course samples, you will need to access your profile by either clicking your avatar on E-Learning Heroes, hovering over your avatar and selecting My Profile, or by creating a new profile.

Once you have accessed your portfolio, you will select Add a Course:

Once selected, you will fill in the Course URL, Title, include an optional Description, and upload an image to associate with the course. Once completed, select Add Course, and your course will be added to your profile page.

The Result

Click Here to view my E-Learning Heroes Community profile.

The Concept

The goal of this challenge was to take an existing, static, content slide and convert it to an interactive knowledge check using the convert to freeform functionality in Articulate Storyline.

The Method

First, I came up with a quick ‘static’ slide (there were some animations to jazz it up a bit, but nothing the user had to interact with aside from the next button, with some general information about three types of triangles.

Then, I added a custom next button using a rectangle shape.

Next, I added a slide featuring the three triangles, converted this slide to freeform and selected the Pick One option. I also customized the feedback to keep the visual aesthetic in check.

Finally, I modified the player (player background and bored colour, no menu/resources/volume) and published.

The Result

Click Here to view the full interaction.

A rainy weekend is the perfect time to catch up on some e-learning challenges, and I’m really digging deep into the archives for this one!

The Concept

This challenge was to develop a gate screen for course content. It was specifically requested to develop two slides, but I feel like the gate screen is pretty self-explanatory, so I opted out of the second slide.

The Method

I knew I wanted an elegant looking gate screen, so I chose a background image relevant to my content (in this case, driver training tips – specifically, tips for driving in the rain). I then added shapes to create a sleep looking ‘popup’ box with second shape at the top, posing the question.

Some of the best gate screens I’ve seen operate as knowledge checks, so that’s the style I chose. I created a multi-response question with two layers. One layer for correct (with a green banner and a continue link) and one layer for incorrect (with a red banner and a continue link).

For the multi-response question, I used checkboxes so the user could see which selections they made when the feedback appears. I then added triggers to show the correct layer if Checkbox 1, 2, and 3 are selected IF Checkbox 4 is not equal to Selected, and a trigger to show the incorrect layer if Checkbox 4 is selected.

The Result

Click Here to view the full interaction.