Learning to Articulate

Before I started this degree program, most of the e-learning content I had created was made within my institution's Moodle platform. We typically create a course to cover 15 weeks and 6-ECTS of content, usually divided up either by topic or by the weeks of the semester. The video below is an example of a typical course structure. I use my courses to distribute the PowerPoint slides I used in class for anyone who wasn't there or wants to look at them again, to provide audio, video or reading material, and for interactive activities like polls, uploading assignments or self-assessment quizzes.

Typical Moodle Course (Own illustration)

My own experience of being trained for previous jobs and preparing teaching material myself already showed me that training and education are two different things, but I had never really considered the theoretical differences between the two. This article at keydifferences.com gave me a good overview of the differences and included the summary in the table below:

Source: Surbhi S, keydifferences.com

For my assignment in module EL6072 Interactive Courseware Workshop I decided it made most sense to create a smaller, more self-contained training module than the types of learning material I usually create. I chose to create a module which should prepare incoming students for an exchange semester at our institution, and therefore had a very specific and limited purpose. I had never used a program like Articulate Storyline before, but the fact it could import PowerPoint slides made it much easier to use than it first appeared. Just starting at the blank canvas of an empty project is quite intimidating. Once I had decided on the five sections I wanted to include, I set about creating the content and designing the slides I wanted to make it possible to dip in and out of the module in any order and to make it more personal by including a function to enter your name at the beginning of the course. This was then used in feedback throughout.

Slideshow of Articulate Storyline Course (Own illustration)

Through reading some online help and watching tutorial videos, after a short time (and two 30-day Articulate trial periods) I was able to create a module which included:

• checklists
• embedded audio and video
• multiple choice quiz
• external links
• user feedback

I was impressed by how simple and powerful Articulate is, but from watching the tutorials and looking at some examples, it is obvious how much more could be done with the software. The only drawback is the price, but I have managed to persuade my employer to pay for a licence, so I look forward to using Storyline more in the future. Even if I am just creating elearning in our Moodle platform - doing this module and using Articulate has given me an insight into different forms of elearning and will definitely influence how I think about my creative process. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to create more standalone elearning courses again soon to really explore all the possibilities!

Sources

Surbhi S. (2017) Difference between Education and Training. https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-training-and-education.html [Accessed 14.03.2023]