Pascale Swanson

Category: eLearning heroes challenges

  • 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!

  • Prison break (#198)

    Prison break (#198)

    This portfolio piece was created for the eLearning Heroes Challenge #198 (designing escape the room puzzle games in eLearning). This was the first eLearning Heroes Challenge that I attempted; however, it took me a whole month to complete, so I worked on other challenges in the meantime. I wanted to really push my development skills with this challenge, so I included animations from Adobe Animator and Adobe Character Animator, I included a countdown timer across multiple slides, I included several GoAnimate/Vyond videos based on the prison break outcome, and I threw in more states, triggers, and conditions than I had ever used before.

  • Icelandic soccer team (#200)

    Icelandic soccer team (#200)

    This portfolio piece was created for the eLearning Heroes Challenge #200 (how are you using lightbox slides in eLearning?). With the World Cup coming up, I was caught up in the soccer fever and decided to design an interaction based on the Icelandic soccer team. Since Icelandic names are difficult to pronounce for those who do not speak the language, I thought it would be a nice touch to add in the audio (using Storyline’s text-to-speech) so that everyone can cheer for them this summer!