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Scenario-Based E-Learning

Tracy Carroll
In Articulate Challenges, Blog Posts, Home, Scenario-Based E-Learning

Back to the Office

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, lifestyles have changed. Many former office workers now work remotely, from their homes. At this point, some organizations are demanding that workers return to the office. Check out the demo by clicking the image above!

Back to the Office is an Articulate Rise interaction based on this situation. I created this demo as a response to Articulate’s eLearning Heroes Challenge #371,  Using Labeled Graphics to Create Interactive Pictures in E-Learning.

I decided to use a comic book theme, and use labeled graphics to advance the scenario. Users click on the markers to reveal the graphics, which serve as speech bubbles for the characters.

I used several authoring tools to create this presentation:

  • Freepik
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • PowerPoint
  • Articulate Rise

I found the images I wanted to use by exploring pop art images on the Freepik site. I picked images that would be easy for me to manipulate using Adobe Illustrator and/or PowerPoint.

Vector mages downloaded from Freepik are easily edited in Illustrator. For each image I used, I removed the backgrounds by simply turning off the background layer in Illustrator, and exporting the image as a transparent png image.

Working with PowerPoint, I was able to compose new images by combining graphics, inserting new backgrounds, increasing color saturation and changing the expression on a character’s face by adding colored shapes strategically.

Tracy Carroll
In Animation, Articulate Challenges, Blog Posts, Scenario-Based E-Learning

ChatGPT as SME, Part 3

Creating images with Artificial Intelligence (AI)

In the lesson below, the video script and the questions were written by me; the question feedback was written by ChatGPT. I used the Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications Microsoft Designer & Adobe Firefly to create the video images. This blog post is another response to Articulate eLearning Challenge #416: Using AI to Build Online Training.

Click the image below to view the Rise microlesson: Homicide Investigation, Part I.

Working with Microsoft Designer & Adobe Firefly

What sets both Designer and Firefly apart from other design tools is that they are types of AI applications that allow you to create images and artwork simply by entering a text description of what you want.

Designer is part of Microsoft Office 365, while Firefly is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of tools. As of this writing, Designer has been available for several months, while Firefly has only been available for a few weeks.

Both tools are easy to use, and are quite addicting! I used each tool to produce images for my video. Below you can see how each tool produced different versions of two of the characters in the video.

Three Hands?

One glitch I noticed is that both tools frequently produced images of humans with added arms, hands, and/or legs. This might be a plus for anyone writing science fiction, but it was slightly irritating for me.

Another issue was that it was difficult to produce an image with an authentic old-fashioned typywriter.

I used PowerPoint to edit the images and create the video. In PowerPoint, I would remove the background around the characters and replace it with another image, or change the colors, soften the focus, etc. Since it’s part of the MS Office suite of tools, most people already have access to the tool. In my experience, organizations funded by local government, such as police departments, frequently operate on a shoestring budget.

Authoring Tools:

  • ChatGPT
  • Microsoft Designer
  • Adobe Firefly
  • PowerPoint
  • Articulate Rise – Microlesson format

In Part 2, I asked ChatGPT to create a course outline with learning objectives for this course.

Tracy Carroll
In Articulate Challenges, Blog Posts, Free Templates, Scenario-Based E-Learning

Managing Pain

This demo is in response to Articulate’s E-Learning Heroes Challenge #322: Creating Visual Stories with Interactive Photo Collages

Select the image below to view the demo.

The Needs of Chronic Pain Patients

Patients struggling with chronic pain need relief. At the same time, medical personnel are charged with the task of preventing the illegal or harmful use of opioids. These challenges can be difficult to reconcile.

In this photo collage demo, Jonathan tells his story about the chronic pain that he lives with. For more information about Pain Management Best Practices, see https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/pmtf-final-report-2019-05-23.pdf.

Cool Tool

To create the comic book effect with the images I used, I employed the use of a tool new to me: Colorcinch. This online photo editor & cartoonizer is very easy to use. Below is a quick example that shows how the tool can quickly create cartoon versions of a photo. (The image below is not shown in the demo.)

Freebie

Download the story file.

Authoring Tools

Storyline 396, the Articulate Content Library, and Colorcinch.

Tracy Carroll
In Articulate Challenges, Blog Posts, Gamification, Scenario-Based E-Learning

Holiday Office Party

The Holiday Office Party is another submission to Using Interactive Video Quizzes and Scenarios in E-Learning, Articulate’s E-Learning Challenge #258. Click the image below to view the comic book-themed gamified demo.

The boss is pretty strict! Can you meet her unwritten dress code standards and win prizes at the office holiday party?!

Authoring Tools: Camtasia, PowerPoint & Storyline 360.

Tracy Carroll
In Articulate Challenges, Blog Posts, Free Templates, Scenario-Based E-Learning

Leadership Training Template

E-Learning Heroes Challenge #230 is: Course Starters: E-Learning Templates for Leadership Training. This week’s challenge from Articulate is to share a course starter template for leadership training.

Click the image below to view the Storyline version of my comic book style demo.

Creation Process

I started creating this demo by leveraging Paul Alders’ PowerPoint template, which you can download for free on the Articulate E-Learning Heroes website: https://community.articulate.com/download/powerpoint-comic-strip-template

Original template

My template

To make the template my own, I changed the colors on the slide master backgrounds, using PowerPoint’s picture tools. I like bolder colors for comic books, so I darkened and increased the color saturation and color contrast on most of the background images. (I thought it would be quicker and easier than it was, because I thought the backgrounds were shapes rather than images! So, I’m not sure I actually saved myself much time in this process!)

I replaced the existing fonts with some I already had on my computer (Bangers & Back Issues BB – both can be downloaded for free), and decided to go with photographic images, rather than cartoons, for the characters in the scenario. I altered the photographic characters by using PowerPoint’s artistic effects. Then, I included some office backgrounds, again altered by using PowerPoint’s artistic effects tools.

PowerPoint Versatility

I like creating in PowerPoint when I want to manipulate images extensively, using PowerPoint’s image-editing tools. It makes for a smoother workflow for me, rather than uploading images into Photoshop, editing them, then downloading them from Photoshop and uploading them to an eLearning application. When I’ve edited all the images in the PowerPoint to my satisfaction, I can upload the PowerPoint to Storyline, or use Articulate Presenter, to finish my eLearning course and add interactivity. Sometimes I export the PowerPoint to video, and use Camtasia’s video-editing tools and quiz capability, too.

Free PowerPoint Template Download!

Download my version of the comic book template here.

Authoring Tools

PowerPoint, Storyline 360

Tracy Carroll
In Animation, Articulate Challenges, Blog Posts, Scenario-Based E-Learning

Anti-Bias Training

Widget World Presents: Interpersonal Skills Training is another submission to Articulate’s Creating Animated Characters in E-Learning Challenge #163.

Anti-Bias Training in the News

Workplace anti-bias trainings have proliferated in recent years, culminating with the Starbucks chain closing more than 8,000 company-owned stores in the United States on May 29, 2018 to conduct racial-bias training for all employees. Although Starbucks chose to focus almost exclusively on racial bias in their recent training, biased behavior in the workplace is not limited to racial bias.

Such workplace training programs often focus on getting people to own up to their implicit biases. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that getting people to acknowledge their implicit biases alters their behavior in the workplace. In fact, a meta-analysis of 494 anti-bias studies (with 80,356 participants) found no evidence that getting people to come to terms with their implicit biases alters behavior. (A Meta-Analysis of Procedures to Change Implicit Measures)

What’s the Goal?

The goal of workplace training should be to see some measurable, desirable change in employees’ behavior on the job. One approach that can be effective in producing behavior change is scenario-based training that aligns with the behaviors learners are expected master once the training is complete.

During the scenario-based training, learners are plunged into situations where they are allowed to practice skills and develop relevant behavior strategies. In this way, they can safely learn from their mistakes and acquire beneficial experience.

Interpersonal Skills Training Demo

In the short animated example demo, the learner must make a decision about how to react to a workplace interaction. The learner experiences consequences, and has the opportunity to correct any mistakes made.
Animation & Video Editing Tools

The animated video scenario in the demo was created with the Plotagon animation application, then edited with Camtasia video editing software, and imported into Articulate Storyline 360 to add learner feedback.

Tracy Carroll
In Animation, Articulate Challenges, Scenario-Based E-Learning

Glasgow Coma Scale

The Glasgow Coma Scale

This week’s Articulate E-Learning Heroes challenge is to share an example of an interactive video quiz.

Click the image above to see the short demo. I created the video scenario in GoAnimate, used Camtasia and PowerPoint to do some editing, and imported the video into Storyline 360 to add the quiz questions.

Authoring Tools: GoAnimate, Storyline 360, Camtasia, PowerPoint 16

Updated 6/3/18

Tracy Carroll
In Animation, Articulate Challenges, Blog Posts, Scenario-Based E-Learning

Storyline Blocks in Rise

Articulate E-Learning Heroes Challenge #193 asks the question: How Are You Using Storyline Blocks in Rise?

Click the image below to view the demo.

Responsive Courses

Rise is one of the apps in the Articulate 360 suite of eLearning applications. It allows eLearning developers to quickly create responsive courses that look great when viewed on desktops, laptops, tablets, or phones. The best part is, as an eLearning designer you don’t have to make layout adjustments manually; the program does that for you automatically.

The course on a desktop computer:

The course on mobile devices:
Why include Storyline blocks in a Rise course?

The Storyline block feature in Rise allows course designers to include custom multimedia interactions. In this case, I created animated video scenarios using Plotagon animation, and edited the videos with Camtasia. I used Storyline to include quiz questions superimposed on top of the videos at the end of each scenario.

Creating Animated Scenarios Using Plotagon

Plotagon is a fun and easy-to-use application for creating animated videos. In the application, you are limited to two characters who can participate in a dialogue for any given scene. I get around this by creating separate scenes set in the same location, with new characters and camera angles. Then, I edit the separate scenes in Camtasia, and voilà! I can have as many characters as I like interact with one another. In the bar scene in this demo, I had 5 characters interact in one scene.

Authoring tools for this presentation: Storyline 360, Articulate Rise, Plotagon for creating animated videos, Camtasia for video editing