5 Ways to Get the Most Value From AI Tools
There’s lots of buzz in the e-learning world about generative AI's potential to speed up our workflows and extend our abilities to create exciting new projects. And even though we’re only in the early days of this technology, people are already finding ways it can help them—including summarizing content, refining written text, brainstorming ideas, speeding up development processes, writing code, and taking tedious tasks off their plates. But there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for everyone’s needs. We don’t all work the same way, create the same content, have the same pain points, or even want the same kinds of assistance. So, to get the most value from any AI tool or feature, you’ll want to go beyond the general ways it can help anyone and dig into the specific ways it can help you. As you’re checking out an AI tool or feature, try these five techniques to zero in on how you personally can get the most from it. 1. Dig into how your AI tool works As with any technology, every AI tool or feature has its own strengths—and the more you play to them, the better results you’ll get. So start your journey by investigating what the particular AI tool you’re using is especially good at and how you can get the best results from it. That way, you can set your own expectations around when and how it makes the most sense to include it in your workflow. Official documentation and tutorials are a helpful place to begin. They’ll outline what the tool does and the standard processes for using it. But also keep an eye out for what other users are saying. They can help you separate hype from reality. And they’ll likely have advice on strategic ways to weave the tool into your processes or how to push the boundaries of what it can do. 2. Build in time for experimentation There’s rarely just one “best” way to use an AI tool. Many are flexible, allowing them to play a part in your work in a variety of ways. That flexibility gives these tools more ways to cater to your needs. But it also means that it might take some experimentation to determine how—or if—they fit into different design and development steps. That’s why you can get more from your AI tools and features by simply setting aside time to play with them before you start putting them to work. For instance, try exploring questions like: how do different AI features contribute to the kinds of learning experiences you create? which prompt phrasing gets you the best results in the shortest amount of time? Does changing the order in which you use different AI features together change the results you get? how much do you enjoy using each feature? This up-front play may slow down your productivity in the short run. But in the long run, it’s one of the best ways to refine how each tool fits into your world and discover how to use it skillfully. 3. Look for the overlap between AI strengths and tasks you want off your plate When it comes to getting real value from AI, you don’t just want it to take on any task it’s good at. You want AI to take on the tasks you enjoy the least. Maybe your subject matter experts tend to give you dense info dumps of content. Having AI sift through it all and summarize the main points could make the experience less draining. Perhaps you need to liven up some old courses but don’t love rewriting boring copy. Getting AI to take the first crack at adjusting the copy’s tone could make the rewriting process less tedious. Or maybe you’re tired of refilming the same training video because a few company terms keep changing. By switching to an AI presenter, those changes would take a few minutes at your computer instead of hours of reshooting and editing. If you don’t love doing something and AI can competently take on some of the work for you, you’ll appreciate it all the more. And the flip side applies as well. Is there a task AI is good at that you honestly enjoy? Then don’t feel pressured to give it up. You’re not going to find AI tools valuable if they’re taking away the work that fuels you. Instead, use them to free up time so you can give your most-enjoyed tasks your full attention. 4. Know how to check AI’s work AI tools can be helpful. But, just like any resource or person, they’re not perfect. To get the best results, you need to know where this technology can make mistakes so it’s easier to find and correct them. The first area to keep an eye on is information accuracy. AI-generated content is often accurate. But because AI tools don’t actually understand the material they’ve been trained on and instead work by recognizing patterns, mistakes can creep in. Referred to as hallucination, these tools can accidentally invent facts or content. To catch these occasional errors, build in a content review pass into your development plan—something you or a subject matter expert may already be doing. It’s also helpful to include a bias check in that review process. Since AI tools are typically trained on massive amounts of information, biases around gender, race, age, religion, and more can sometimes sneak into the data set. Because of that, it’s important to review ai-generated or altered work to search for these specific issues—just like you might do today with stock photos or external research. Need ideas on what to look for? Want to consider how to avoid bias in both AI and human-generated content? Check out this article on four ways to make courses more inclusive. 5. Stay on top of how this technology evolves AI tools are evolving fast. So what’s true about their capabilities today might only be part of the picture tomorrow. If you’re excited about the possibilities, this is great news. But it also means that to get the full value from the AI tools you’re using now, you’ll want to actively pursue product updates and news so you don’t miss out on valuable new features. And as you’re planning for future projects, knowing what features and tools will be on the market soon can help you make informed purchasing decisions now. Wrap-up AI tools have a lot to offer our industry. But when it comes to deciding which aspects of them are the most useful, there’s no universal right answer. Instead, it often varies from person to person, company to company, and sometimes even project to project. That’s why the five approaches in this article can be so handy. They’ll help you explore your AI options and determine where they offer the most value for you and your work. Interested in the ways AI and eLearning can intersect? Check out these articles: 4 AI Basics Every E-Learning Creator Needs To Know in 2024 Why AI Could Turbocharge L&D Professionals How E-Learning Experts Shaped Articulate AI Want even more insights on the technologies and approaches that can help you create effective e-learning? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest e-learning inspiration and insights directly in your inbox. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X. And if you have questions, please share them in the comments.5 Common Questions About How Storyline 360 Courses Work with Screen Readers
Raise your hand if the first time you used a screen reader was when you wanted to test an accessible course you created with Storyline 360. Ok, now raise your hand if you ran into some trouble navigating but were unsure whether it was a problem with the course itself, with the screen reader, or simply user error. If you’re still reading this article, I’m going to guess you raised your hand for both of those statements. Know this: you’re not alone! We get questions about how Storyline 360 content should work on screen readers all the time. And it makes sense! If you’ve never used a screen reader before, how are you supposed to know what’s normal and what isn’t? In this article, we’ll give you the answers to the top 5 most frequently asked questions we get from Storyline 360 users about how content should work on screen readers. Let’s take a look! 1. Why doesn’t my screen reader read slide content automatically? With most websites, screen readers start reading visual content as soon as it appears on screen. However, Storyline 360 courses are handled a little differently. That’s because e-learning courses often contain audio or video that autoplays when you arrive on a slide. This means that if the screen reader starts reading on-screen text immediately, the screen reader audio competes with the course audio—making it impossible for the learner to hear and understand either one. When your learner arrives on a slide, if they’re using a screen reader it will read the slide title and wait for the learner to explore the rest of the content. You can learn more about why and how this works in our article Screen Readers Don’t Auto-Read Content. 2. Why does the screen reader say things that aren’t written on the screen, like “heading” and “navigation”? Since most people using screen readers have visual impairments, screen readers try to provide them with as much context as possible to help them understand what’s going on. For this reason, you’ll notice that the screen reader will say things like “heading” before reading a title, or “navigation” before reading the names of the buttons. Some screen readers read punctuation out loud (“dash,” “comma,” etc.) by default, and others don’t. Screen readers control the way this works, not Storyline 360 course settings. You might be able to customize some of these options directly in your screen reader, but there’s no way to ensure that every learner’s settings are the same. 3. Why does the screen reader sometimes stop reading the on-screen text before the end? Some screen readers (like NVDA and JAWS) stop reading after a certain number of characters (for example, 100 or 150). If you’d like it to continue, you can customize this setting or use the down arrow to continue reading. To find out how to do this, refer to your screen reader’s user guide. 4. How does the screen reader decide the order in which to read my slide content? By default, objects are read from left to right, starting at the top of the slide. However, thanks to the focus order feature in Storyline 360, you can personalize the order to fit your needs. Here’s a tutorial that walks you through how to do that, step by step: Customizing the Focus Order of Slide Objects. 5. Why doesn’t keyboard navigation work the same for screen reader users and keyboard-only users? Both types of users use their keyboards to navigate the course, but not for the same reason. So we tailored the navigation to their specific needs. Here’s a table that lays out the differences: Who are the learners? What are their needs? How does keyboard navigation work? How does the navigation fit their needs? Screen Reader Users Primarily people with visual impairments—like partial sight, low vision, color blindness, legal blindness, and total blindness. These users can’t rely on their vision to interact with content, so they need the content to be read aloud to them or displayed in braille on a refreshable braille display. Learners move through all the objects on the slide (static and interactive) using the screen reader navigation keys, listening to (or reading via their refreshable braille display) the descriptions as they go. If they want to skip over static content, they can press Shift and Tab at the same time. Learners can decide whether they want to move through every item on the screen or only the interactive items. That way, they can access the full course content if they’d like, or skip over to quickly access the interactive parts if they’re reviewing content they’ve already consumed, for example. Keyboard-Only Users People who can see, but can’t or prefer not to use a mouse, often because of pain or a physical disability. These users can see the course content, so they don’t need it read aloud to them. They just need to be able to navigate using their keyboard instead of their mouse. Learners move through interactive objects only (skipping static objects like text and images) by pressing on Tab and Shift+Tab. It allows learners to navigate the course quickly, skipping over static objects, since they can see them for themselves. Find out more about how navigation differs for these two types of users here: Navigation Is Easier. More Resources Hopefully you found the answers to these questions helpful! What other questions do you have about how Storyline 360 courses work with screen readers? Drop them in the comments below and we’ll do our best to answer them! Want to learn more about creating accessible e-learning? Check out these helpful resources: All About Accessibility 6 Best Practices for Designing Accessible E-Learning Articulate 360 FAQs: Accessibility Storyline 360: How to Design an Accessible Course How to Test Your Storyline 360 Course with a Screen Reader A Checklist for QA Testing Courses with a Screen Reader Want to try building an accessible e-learning course in Storyline 360, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial, and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning. If you have any questions, please share them in the comments.Coming Soon: A New and Improved E-Learning Heroes
We’re excited to announce that E-Learning Heroes is moving to a new platform! We think you’ll love our new home with its enhanced streamlined interface, improved search, and added features. And don’t worry! We’re bringing everything you love from the current E-Learning Heroes with us. That means those helpful articles you have bookmarked, the discussion posts you reference, and our E-Learning Challenges are all coming with us. We’re still unpacking and getting the place ready for you, but in the meantime, check out this short video to see what’s in store for you on the revamped community site. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates about this exciting move. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter). And if you have questions, please share them in the comments.Choosing the Right Publishing Option for Your Storyline 360 Project
As you’re putting the finishing touches on your first Storyline 360 course and getting ready to hit Publish, you might be wondering: which publishing option should I choose? Great question! The answer can vary based on where you’re at in the course creation process and how you plan to give learners access to your course. In this article, we’ll take a look at all the possibilities and how to decide which one to choose. Review 360 This publishing option will upload your course to Review 360, the handy web-based review app that’s included in your Articulate 360 subscription. Choose this option when you want to share your course with your stakeholders to get their feedback and approval. Head on over to the tutorial to walk through how to publish to Review 360 step by step: Publishing a Course to Review 360. If you’ve never used Review 360 before, definitely give it a whirl! It makes the whole review process run so much more smoothly. You can learn even more about Review 360 and how it saves you time and hassle in these articles: 3 Ways Review 360 Is a Big Gift for Course Developers. 4 Time-Saving Ways to Use Review 360 Web If you’d like your learners to access your course via your company’s intranet or a website and you don’t need to keep track of their progress or record a quiz score, this is the option for you. If you do need to track learner progress or results, check out the LMS/LRS publish option below. For more details on publishing your course for the web, check out our tutorial Publishing a Course for Web Distribution. And once you’ve published a web version of your course, learn more about uploading it to your website: How to Share an E-Learning Course on Your Intranet or Internet Website. Wondering about mobile? Don’t worry! Our web output works on mobile devices automatically. Learn more here: Publishing a Course for Mobile Devices. Video If you want to upload your project to a video hosting site like YouTube or embed it in a Rise 360 course as a video, this is the publishing option you’ll want to choose. This option can be super useful if you’ve used Storyline 360’s animation features to create a short explainer or a course teaser to entice your learners, for example. When you choose to publish your project as a video, you’ll end up with an .MP4 file that you can upload anywhere that file type is supported. But keep in mind that the .MP4 format doesn’t support interactivity, so you’ll want to design your project accordingly. Check out this step-by-step tutorial for more information: Publishing a Course to a Video File. LMS/LRS If you’re using a learning management system (LMS) to deliver and track your courses, this is the publishing option you’ll want to choose. It’ll allow you to create a SCORM, AICC, API, or CMI5 package that you can then upload to your LMS. It also gives you the option to track your courses with alearning record store (LRS)—perfect for when you have xAPI-enabled learning experiences. Check out this article for all the publishing details: Publishing a Course for LMS/LRS Distribution. And, of course, our LMS/LRS output also works on mobile devices automatically. Find out more here: Publishing a Course for Mobile Devices. Word If you need a printable version of your course—to distribute as a handout or provide a transcript for accessibility purposes, for example—this is the option for you. In the past, some people used this option to share content with reviewers, but now that we’ve got Review 360, we hope that’s a thing of the past! If it’s still your present, you might want to read this article: Still Publishing to Word for Your SME Reviews? Here’s How & Why to Transition to Review 360. And for more information about publishing to Word, head on over to the tutorial Publishing a Course to Microsoft Word. Wrap-Up Hopefully this article has helped you identify the publishing options that make the most sense for your Storyline 360 project. Still have questions? Please share them in the comments below. And be sure to follow us on Twitter and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.How I Made This Digital Board Game in Storyline 360
When a company needed to quickly pivot its in-person board game to an online digital version, Storyline 360 came to the rescue. And the result won DemoFest’s Best in Show: Vendor award at Learning Solutions 2023! In this behind-the-scenes project tour from creator Kai Dean, you’ll discover creative ways to use Storyline 360 features—like dials, question banks, states, triggers, and variables—to replicate common aspects of board games. If you want to play the game, check it out here. Want to try creating something similar in Storyline 360, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial. And subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest e-learning examples.From E-Learning Newbie to Super (Hero) Success Story on E-Learning Heroes
As an independent instructional designer, I’ve benefitted enormously from the Articulate E-Learning Heroes community. I’m always encouraging freelancers and newbies to get involved, but have never shared how the community helped me successfully transition to e-learning. I’ve never even shared my best tips for getting the most out of it! It’s time to fix that. Here’s how I ended up making ELH my online professional home. Step 1: I Learned the Software I discovered Articulate software in 2010 when another tool failed shortly before my very first e-learning project was due. I had to download Articulate Studio, learn it, and be instantly productive. If it hadn’t been for the fantastic step-by-step tutorials and tips (for Studio and now for Articulate Storyline), I’d never have recovered so seamlessly. The client loved the course and Articulate had a devoted new fan. Downloading and using free templates and course assets helped me learn even more. Step 2: I Learned About the Field I was already an experienced instructional designer for ILT, but Tom Kuhlmann’s blog helped me find my center as I learned about e-learning. His Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro was perfect to steer me in the right direction to learn more. Spending time in the ELH forums was quite helpful, but getting to lurk and learn from others’ experiences was a game-changer. I knew I was on the right track when I started going to e-learning conferences and felt perfectly fluent and at home in the field. Step 3: I Gained Practice, Visibility, and Portfolio Pieces David Anderson started the weekly challenges in August of 2013, but it took me a good five months to make the time (and get up the courage!) to put in an entry. Once I realized the result was encouragement and support (rather than public humiliation), I was hooked and have completed nearly every challenge since. The challenges were a HUGE key to reaching the next level for me. They provided me with real-world, regular practice in the software and in instructional and visual design. I gained greater confidence in my skills, scads of usable portfolio pieces, and greater visibility in a wider network of my peers. Step 4: I Started Connecting with Others The benefits of reading forum discussions or tossing in challenge entries now and then are great, but I quickly realized that unless I took the time to meaningfully connect with others, I wasn’t going to get the full benefit of the community. As soon as I started answering forum questions and finding other ways to help, I became truly invested. Step 5: I Started Giving Back I wrote blog posts about my challenge entries to share my ideas, how I made them, what inspired me, and links to resources that might be helpful. Then I started sharing templates and other course assets. When people started contacting me for offline help and advice I did my best to help them, too. Finding the time to give back feels like a stretch, but when you see how you can make a difference in someone else’s success, it keeps you going. My (Super)-Secret E-Learning Heroes Tips Here are some ELH success factors I’ve learned along the way. No one taught them to me, but I’m happy to share them with you. Find Your Place I found a natural fit in the challenges, but that may not be a place that you love or feel you can shine in, learn from, or offer the most. Others feel most at home in the Building Better Courses discussions or the more technical Storyline or Studio ones. Find your footing and go from there. Focus You can’t do it all. You can’t be everywhere doing everything and helping everybody all the time. It’s not sustainable. Once you’ve found your place, give it your full attention. Commit I’m busy and could easily say I don’t have the time to stay involved, but I’ve promised myself that I’ll keep up with the challenges and help others when I can. No one forces me to do it. No one expects me to do it. It’s a personal commitment that keeps me going. Connect Meaningfully There’s a difference between responding to someone and thoughtfully connecting with them. As an example, when I want to support someone’s efforts, I find out if they have a blog, encourage them to write and share, and comment on their posts. I’m not trying to get attention for myself; I’m trying to encourage them in a thoughtful way because I’m excited about their success. Even when people contact me via LinkedIn, Twitter, or my blog, I check to see if they are ELH members so I can see what they are working on or contributing to so I can say something personal to them. Is it above and beyond? Yes. Is it an effective way to genuinely support others and build a strong network of peers? Yes. Challenge Yourself Pushing yourself to learn from ELH posts—from peers who know the software inside and out, terrific designers, and others who actively share in our community—will pay off. Your skills and knowledge will increase, your expertise will become more widely known, and it will be easier to reach your goals and stay relevant in the field well into the future. Aren’t we lucky to have such a great community?How to Copy Blocks from One Lesson to Another in Rise 360
Have you ever built a course in Rise 360 and realized, later on, that some of the content in one lesson would work great in a different lesson? Or maybe you want to reuse the same content structure? I’ve been there! Luckily, it’s super easy to copy blocks from one Rise lesson to another, thanks to the blocks template feature. Here’s how it works. 1. Open the Blocks Library The first thing you’ll want to do is navigate to the lesson that contains the block you want to copy and open up the block library. You can do that either by clicking the plus sign (+) between two blocks … … or by clicking All Blocks in the blocks shortcut bar. 2. Create a New Template Next, select the templates tab in the block library and click the New Template button. 3. Select the Blocks to Copy Then, select the block or blocks you want to copy by clicking the checkmark for each one. 4. Save Your Template Next, click Save, name your template, and click Save once again. 5. Insert Your Template Finally, navigate to the lesson where you’d like your copied block to go, open up the blocks library, and select your template. Wrap-Up Et voilà! It’s that easy. With blocks templates, you can copy blocks from one lesson to another within the same course and copy blocks to lessons in other courses; you can even share your blocks with members of your team if you have an Articulate 360 Teams subscription. It’s super handy! Want to try block templates out, but don’t have Rise 360? Start a free 30-day trial of Articulate 360. And subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest e-learning inspiration and insights directly in your inbox. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X (Formerly Twitter).Everything You Need to Know About Articulate Super Heroes
Maybe you’ve noticed it next to the name of the author of a particularly inspiring example on E-Learning Heroes. Or perhaps when someone gave you a helpful answer in the discussion boards. The red Hero label definitely stands out. But what does it mean when a member of the E-Learning Heroes community has this label next to their name? That’s what you’ll find out in this article. Meet the Super Heroes When you’re on the E-Learning Heroes site, that red label is the quickest way to know someone is a part of the Articulate Super Heroes program. This elite group is made up of community members who go above and beyond in two key areas. E-Learning Expertise: Super Heroes have lots of valuable insights about Articulate apps and e-learning in general—and they’re happy to share them. A Passion for Helping Others: When tricky e-learning questions arise, Super Heroes come running to the rescue. They’re delighted to lend a hand. And they do so in an empathetic, kind, and supportive way. Each of those areas is helpful on its own. But it’s that power boost from combining them together that gives the Super Heroes the ability to make a huge difference in the E-Learning Heroes community. How Do Members Become Super Heroes? We handpick Super Heroes based on their extraordinary contributions to the community—and we’re always scouting for new members. We keep an eye out for people who: Have earned the respect of the E-Learning Heroes community through a long history of high-quality contributions. Share technical know-how, career tips, and helpful examples. Stand out by setting the positive, empowering tone that people love about our community. Already embody the spirit of the Super Heroes values and guidelines. As you can see, the program doesn’t turn people into Super Heroes. Instead, it’s a recognition of the valued work they’re already doing. The Hero Code of Honor When Super Heroes join the program, they agree to follow a few simple guidelines: Help others in the E-Learning Heroes forums. Super Heroes regularly jump into the discussion forums to answer questions, point people to the resources they need, and provide feedback to community members who ask for it. Be kind and supportive. Super Heroes interact with others in a constructive, gentle, and kind way. Their positive contributions inspire others to be helpful and generous in turn. Stay in the know. We constantly release new e-learning features. Super Heroes stay on top of the latest and greatest updates so they can help other community members. Share and demonstrate. Super Heroes share their knowledge freely, with no hidden agenda. They empower others and nurture the community by sharing feedback, examples, and expertise. Don’t disparage Articulate software or staff. Of course, explaining what our apps can and can’t do is fine! But Super Heroes avoid making negative comments if they’re not helpful or constructive. And they’re always empathetic and respectful when they communicate with Articulate staff and other community members. Avoid activities conflicting with their Super Heroes role. Super Heroes don’t develop business relationships with Articulate competitors. We want E-Learning Heroes to remain a friendly, welcoming space for e-learning professionals to learn and grow, so it’s important that our Super Heroes embody those values. Wrap-Up When looking for help on the E-Learning Heroes site, that red Hero label is a sign of someone knowledgeable and willing to lend a hand. But you don’t have to be a Super Hero to act like one. You can always follow their lead and look for ways you can assist others in the community too. Have additional questions about the Super Heroes program? Reach out to the community team for more information at community@articulate.com. Looking for tips on crafting great e-learning? Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest inspiration and insights directly in your inbox. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter). And if you have questions, please share them in the comments.5 Ways You Can Advocate for Your Value to the Business as a Course Creator
In an ideal world, leadership would always have a clear view of the impact of your e-learning projects and your unique value to the organization. But that view can be much foggier in real life than we’d like it to be. When our company or leadership doesn’t get what course creators like us do or how it benefits them, we can end up on shaky ground. That lack of understanding makes it hard for us to push back against training cuts. It makes it tricky to get budget increases for tech investments or team expansion. And it can even lead to the mistaken belief that we can easily be replaced by new technology or people without e-learning expertise. Thankfully, many of these issues stem from an easy-to-address source—a lack of awareness. Tipping the balance back in your favor is often as easy as advocating for your work and yourself. Not sure how to do that? Here are a few good places to start. 1. Find your champions It’s possible to do this self-advocacy work on your own. But you’ll probably reach more ears and shift perceptions faster if other people are talking up your work too. Think of it like how you might decide where to eat when traveling to a new city. Intriguing social media posts from a restaurant might get your attention. But chances are a trusted friend telling you about their favorite dining spot in town is more likely to influence your decision. Who might step up to champion your work or team? Consider tapping into people like: Subject matter experts (SMEs) that you have a strong working relationship with. Learners who’ve given your e-learning glowing reviews. Stakeholders who’ve seen the impact your past projects made on the business. Trusted coworkers who know how great your work is—and why it should matter to others. If you’re feeling awkward about asking people to praise your work, just keep your requests small at first. For instance, if an SME emails you a compliment about how easy you’ve been to work with, ask them to forward it to your manager as well. 2. Be loud and proud about your successes We sometimes get siloed off in learning and development. As a result, other teams may have no idea what we’re working on and why it’s so important to the company. If you’re feeling a bit invisible, a good solution is to put on your marketing hat and pursue opportunities to share what you’re doing. This is a great time to tap into your manager and champions to help you find ways to share your work. Large-scale efforts—like presenting at a department meeting, sharing an eye-catching infographic about the impact of a course, or making a year-in-review video highlighting your team’s biggest wins—can all help. But even smaller actions—like asking someone who gave a glowing review of your course to tell their team why they should take it too—can get the word out there. While you’re doing this promo work, don’t just focus on the final project. Also talk up the unique skills and ideas you and your team contributed to make it succeed. That way people don’t just get excited about the finished content—they’ll also get excited about what you and your team bring to the table. 3. Share how what you do connects to broader business goals The people we work with may have a vague sense that e-learning benefits the company in some way. But they may not know precisely how. Or sometimes they understand the surface benefits of our e-learning—like how compliance training checks off a legal requirement—but may not see the deeper, more meaningful impacts it makes in the long run. The best way to turn this situation around is to help these colleagues make those connections. Look for opportunities to call out the specific ways your projects contribute to key company goals. For instance, maybe that compliance course also helped reduce workplace injuries or prevented costly fines. And be sure to be direct about these links so there’s no ambiguity about the impact of your work. 4. Talk to your audience in terms they care about While you’re talking up what you do, also think about how you’re framing that information. When you’re chatting with other learning professionals, eyes will often light up when you share how a project met your learning objectives, used a development tool in a creative way, or tied into learning research. But that likely won’t mean as much—or sometimes anything—to people outside our field. Instead, promote your work in ways that will speak to your audience. For instance, if they’ve complained to you about the boring and useless e-learning at their last job, tell them about all the ways you're making your courses interesting and practical. If your project can help with their team’s goals, tell them how it does that. Or, if you know they’re constantly feeling crunched for time, play up the key ways you’re streamlining your projects. That way, they’ll know you’re making a difference on things that matter to them personally. 5. Do the math to connect your successes to the bottom line Want a measure of success that’s easy to get people excited about? Focus on money. In some cases, financial numbers are easy to uncover—for instance, if you launched training on upselling a new product and the sales numbers immediately went up. Other times, though, you might need to break out your calculator to convert one kind of win into a financial one. For example, if you shaved ten minutes off of your company’s annual compliance training, that may not initially sound like a big deal. But if you have 60,000 employees that have to take it, that’s 10,000 hours of saved work time. If your company’s average hourly salary is $25, that ten-minute trim saved the company $250,000. And those are numbers that can impress! Have a situation where your training wasn’t the only factor at play? You can still frame the final savings or profits as something your work contributed to. That way, you’re acknowledging the other factors but not downplaying that your work had an important part to play in the mix. Wrap-Up Advocating for yourself and your work may not solve all the challenges you face in your professional life. But it’s a good first step toward boosting your visibility and ensuring your organization knows just how much you have to offer. Not only that, but it can even open doors for your career that you didn’t know were possible. Want more ideas on building buy-in for you and your work? Check out these articles: 2 Ways To Show the Value of Online Training Here’s How To Prove the Value of Training to Your Organization Use KPIs To Demonstrate the Value of E-Learning Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest e-learning inspiration and insights directly in your inbox. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter). And if you have questions, please share them in the comments.Put Learners to the Test With These Quizzing Examples
When designing an e-learning course, it’s important to not just teach information to learners but also to test their understanding with knowledge checks and quizzes. Rather than a standard exam, get creative with the features in Rise 360 and Storyline 360 to design quizzes that engage learners and get them thinking deeply about the course content. To give you a jump start on your next quiz—or just to see what’s possible—we’ve gathered some inspiring examples created by the E-Learning Heroes community. Read on to see their unique approaches to testing learners! Storyline 360: Pre-Test Template Guide learners to specific course content based on how they perform with this customizable project by Nicole Legault. Rise 360: Phishing 101—What You Need to Know Check out this information security course by Trina Rimmer to see how you can incorporate knowledge checks, sorting activities, and an embedded quiz from the web. Storyline 360: Flashback Quiz Go back in time with this themed quiz by Sarah Hodge to see how you can use a simple click and reveal to test learners’ knowledge. Rise 360: 1912 Anatomy Quiz See how to transform a hundred-year-old exam into a fresh drag-and-drop experience like Rema Merrick does in this modernized quiz. Storyline: Course Template with Pre-Check and Final Evaluation Give learners the option to take the course or test out of it with this customizable template by Allison LaMotte. Rise 360: A Quiz to Build Buy-in for More Learning This employee engagement course by Trina Rimmer guides learners to additional content that fits their needs based on their quiz scores. Storyline: Unconscious Bias Quiz Get inspired by Steve Andrews’s game-like quiz that uses a playful approach to testing learners’ knowledge. Rise 360: Workplace Safety 101 Ensure learners complete all required content—including the final quiz—like Nicole Legault does in this injury prevention course. Storyline: Gamified Quiz Template With Timer Insert a healthy dose of competition by having learners race against the clock with this colorful template by Sarah Hodge. Rise 360: Food Allergy Awareness Before diving into course content, why not start with a pre-test to see what learners already know, like Allison LaMotte does in this attention-grabbing course. Wrap-Up Hopefully, these community-created examples inspire you to put your own quizzing skills to the test! With so many creative ideas, the possibilities for evaluating learners’ knowledge are truly endless. And if you’re looking for even more inspiring projects, check out our weekly challenges, downloads, and examples—you’ll be sure to find fresh ideas and resources you can incorporate into your next course. What are your favorite ways to test learners’ knowledge? Share your thoughts in a comment below. For more information on creating quizzes, take a look at these articles: How to Quiz Your Learners at the Right Time How to Write Good E-Learning Quiz Questions How to Match Question Types with the Skills You’re Testing Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest e-learning inspiration and insights directly in your inbox. You can also find us on LinkedIn and X (Formerly Twitter).
