Pascale Swanson

Category: eLearning

  • Busy as a bee (#390 and #347)

    When I recently re-started blogging I thought I should also resume the eLearning Heroes Challenges. I’ve yet to actually submit an entry and I don’t plan on submitting this one either. However, it’s always fun to brush up on some skills and to play around with new ideas.

    For this challenge, I combined two challenges:

    • Custom Bookmarking and Conditional Navigation in eLearning (390)
    • Using 3D Models in eLearning (347)

    You might notice this demo is light on content. But that’s okay – this challenge has more to do with features than it does with content.

    I started with the challenge #390, which was about locking down navigation. While I am typically not a fan of locked navigation, I used this as the basis for my demo.

    I kept things simple with only 4 areas of content to be viewed in order. I locked the main table of contents page using simple Boolean variables. When learners visit one section, it unlocks the next section by triggering a switch from False to True in the appropriate variable. The hover effect works in the same way.

    In the end, I decided not to lock the navigation in each section to prevent learners from going back to the table of contents without viewing the section content. This could have been achieved using a similar Boolean variable approach, but it seemed like overkill. There I would have triggered the change in variable following a final interaction (specifically: the end of the video, the end of the animation, the final click of the anatomy piece, and the selection of a choice for the ‘truth, truth, myth’ game.

    After creating the table of contents, I needed some content. I recalled there was a 3D model challenge in 2021 so I decided that would be one of the content pieces. I used the same approach as described by Tom Kulmann in his blog to create the interactive 3D animation model.

    Finally, I added continuous audio playback on the main screens by creating a single slide for the introduction and the table of contents by placing the table of contents on a slide layer. I then set it to resume previous state so that the music continues, and progress is kept each time the learner returns to the table of contents.

    I hope you enjoy it!

    References

    Kuhlmann, T. (2018, Feb.) How to Create Interactive Videos with 3D Models in Storyline. Retrieved from https://blogs.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/how-to-create-interactive-videos-with-3d-models-in-storyline/

  • Getting Back Into It (#242 and #329)

    Getting Back Into It (#242 and #329)

    Well, 2020 was a tough year and so far 2021 has been more of the same. Hopefully we will soon be looking at covid-19 in the rear-view mirror.

    During this time I’ve dealt with several other major life hurdles, but I’m back again – hopefully I will be able to blog more regularly going forward.

    Today I thought I’d create something for the eLearning Heroes Challenge. This piece marks my (second) return to completing the eLearning Heroes Challenges after a long hiatus.

    I combined two challenges:

    • Use Audio, Music, and Sound Effects in eLearning (242)
    • Using Video Backgrounds in eLearning (329)

    I originally planned on creating something only for #329, but I felt the finished project needed a little something extra. After adding in the audio, I thought it would be a nice little piece for challenge #242 as well.

    I wanted to make use of video for two purposes.

    1. To set the scene: this was accomplished with the introductory video.
    2. To add a bit of interest to the background of the main content: I chose something that was interesting but not so interesting that it distracted from the content or caused cognitive overload.

    Additionally, I chose an inductive style of content presentation. Although typically this would include more detailed feedback, I wanted to keep this quite simple for the challenge.

    When it comes to technical challenges, I addressed the continuous video and audio playback by creating a single layer course, with different visibility settings for each layer to ensure the background video and audio continued to play while new content was presented.

    I hope you enjoy it!

  • Celebrating Bianca Andreescu (#249)

    Celebrating Bianca Andreescu (#249)

    After a long hiatus from eLearning Heroes Challenges, this is my second one in a row. I’d forgotten how much I love doing these. For this challenge, I thought I’d do a project on Bianca Andreescu – I am Canadian after all!

    This portfolio piece was created for the eLearning Heroes Challenge #249 (Creating light and dark versions of eLearning templates), which required the creation of light and dark versions of a set of slides. Instead of having two separate series of slides, I decided to add a slider so each slide could be compared directly, light and dark.

    I found this very helpful to identify the types of slides that look good dark and those that look good light. For example, slides with lots of writing look good on a light background because it is easier to read, while quotes or short bits of writing look good on a dark background which gives a bit of emphasis.

    p.s. These are not actual photos of Bianca, they are just stock images.

  • How to be happy like a child (#248)

    How to be happy like a child (#248)

    This portfolio piece marks my return to completing the eLearning Heroes Challenges. It has been over a year since my last project and I wanted to return with a bang, so I chose this particularly unstructured – yet challenging – topic as my first project in 2019.

    This portfolio piece was created for the eLearning Heroes Challenge #248 (Choose your own eLearning challenge, extreme edition), which required the combination of three previous challenges into one entry. I chose #186 (Create an eLearning template using Pantone’s 2018 color of the year), #242 (Use audio, music, and sound effects in eLearning), and #247 (Using eLearning characters to engage and connect with learners).

    To add in an even bigger challenge, I also used this as an opportunity to practice some photoshopping skills. In this case I took 6 images and turned each individual image into a mini-movie. These mini-movies were made without the addition of any extra elements or backgrounds.

    For example, I took an image of a child playing soccer and animated the boy and the ball. To make this work, I had to fill in the background of where the boy and the ball originally were placed so that there wasn’t a hole in the background when they moved out of their original locations.

    I am really pleased with how this project turned out. I believe strongly in the project’s message and the experts’ words of wisdom. I hope you enjoy it!

  • Learning for Learning’s Sake

    Learning for Learning’s Sake

    Girl answering math problems on the chalkboard.

    I’m here… don’t send out a search party! I’m not dead, just haven’t had time to write any posts recently.

    Since I’ve been so busy, I’ve also noticed that I haven’t really had much time for my own learning. L&D professionals know better than anyone else how important learning is, so I’ve felt like I’ve been a bit short-sighted by getting involved in other projects at the expense of my own learning. So, I figured today I should carve out some time for myself, to learn something new.

    When I graduated from my Master’s program back in December, I had a whole plan laid out over two years into the future of what I planned to learn, week-by-week. All of that has fallen by the wayside. Today I picked up where I left off – with some fun Photoshop skills.

    These days when I use Photoshop, I tend to use the same skills over and over. I never really try out anything new. This means my courses might be missing out on great graphics that I simply don’t even know I can make. Everything I use in my courses work, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be even better.

    To ease back in to my own learning plan, I decided to play around with something simple (and fun) – Photoshop filters. Filters can dramatically change the look and feel of a photo. They can also draw attention to certain areas or aspects of the photo.

    Despite being something a beginner could use, in my odd, round-about way of learning Photoshop, I always skipped over them, because they seemed a bit too childish or cheesy. Well, as it turns out, some of the filters are neither childish nor cheesy. And you know what, some of the ones that are can still be useful when used in a fun, up-beat way.

    After spending some time playing around with the filters, I thought I should create something to remind myself of what I’d learned… enter Super Rodney!

    I wanted to create a comic (or at least a very small portion of one). Unfortunately, I didn’t have any story in mind. So, I just made up something silly. In the end, it’s the skills that I’m learning that matter, right?

    I hope you enjoy it! (because I have a feeling that you’ll be seeing more of Super Rodney in the future)

  • Canadian eLearning Conference 2019

    Canadian eLearning Conference 2019

    The conference

    Next Friday is a very exciting day for me because I will be presenting my instructional design and eLearning development work at a conference for the first time. The conference is the Canadian eLearning Conference and it will be held in Toronto on July 18 and 19. For more information, check out their website or follow their Twitter account (@cdnelearning).

    If you’re thinking of going, but haven’t decided for sure, maybe this will convince you: the keynote will be presented by none other than The eLearning Coach herself, Connie Malamed! To learn more about this impressive woman, check out her website.

    My passion for presenting

    While completing my graduate degree in Medical Sciences, I presented my work at conferences around the world. I loved every single one of those experiences (yes, even that one time when I completely choked!). In fact, giving talks at conferences was probably one of my favourite things about my graduate student experience.

    After switching careers and becoming a teacher, I kept up my habit of giving talks – sometimes at smaller professional development events, and other times at large conferences. In fact, I gave my first education talk was while I was still a Bachelor of Education student. That experience was quite intimidating because the audience was a room filled with the principals of the schools in my region. Luckily, the talk went well and I had multiple principals offer to give me a future job on the day I graduated.

    I’ve now been firmly planted in the field of learning experience design for a little over two years and I am looking to get back into the practice of speaking at conferences. I got my feet wet by presenting my instructional design graduate work at an online showcase for exemplary work in January 2018. And now I’m really looking forward to giving my first conference talk at the Canadian eLearning Conference.

    The presentation

    I’ll be presenting in the Show and Share portion of the conference. This event is a rapid-fire set of presentations that each describe an instructional design problem and how it was solved using eLearning and technology.

    My talk is called ‘Opening Up Confined Space Training’. This is how I’ve described the talk in the conference app: ‘Imagine your learner analysis showed that some of your learners are already experts, while others know next-to-nothing about the topic. Yet you are told to create only a single course, and everyone must take it. What do you do? That was the problem solved with this Confined Space Pre-entry course. Constructed using a concept attainment strategy, the course personalized the content delivered to the learners based on their success navigating through an interactive video-based activity that tested their prior knowledge. Not only did the course give learners credit for what they already knew, but the interactive videos delighted learners and kept them engaged.’

    For a taste of the experience that the learners had, click the image below to check out the demo.

    Come to the conference

    If you’re interested in finding out how successful my strategy was in dealing with a varied audience of learners, come to the conference. You’ll also learn about topics such as xAPI, UX/UI, visual design, branching scenarios, live online learning, learner personas, and more. See you there!