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This week’s Articulate challenge is to use toys to help tell a story in e-learning. My toys were game, so we went for it.
It’s Just a Meeting
The Idea
The toys I grabbed for the challenge were a little funny-looking, so for contrast I put them into a perfectly serious staff meeting.
I exploited what might be their challenges if they really worked in an office, then built the learning points around that.
Over-the-Shoulder Shot
Issues in the Office
Image Production
I took still shots of each character and had to work at getting the right angles, lighting, images sizes, etc. It took a few tries, but I eventually got what I wanted. I especially like the over-the-shoulder and head-on shots.
Audio Production
Though I wrote the script, I decided to ask Dan Sweigert if he’d do the voices. Lucky for me, he did – and I recorded it directly into Storyline.
The Benefit of Using Toys
Even in a quick demo like this it’s easy to see that using toys to mimic real-life touchy situations makes it easier to address them, and adding humor never seems to hurt.
Time to Play!
Ready to see how this meeting went? You can attend it right here.
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Jackie, thank you for sharing it! I really enjoy it watching it :). It’s clean, simple and has a direct message.
Thank you, Angela! I’m so glad you liked it. :)
That is amazing, Jackie! You always have such great ideas for those challenges.
Thank you, Steffanie!!
Jackie, this is a great example of the power of good design and a great story. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Jackie! I’m glad you liked it! :)
It’s great! So much fun to take things out of their usual context and use them in unexpected ways.
Thanks so much, Gail! I agree: It’s always great to try a fresh perspective – even if it’s with gummi finger puppets and a toy alligator. :)
I really like your example, Jackie. The multiple photo shots could be its own tutorial and challenge.
Quick question on your decision not to include chat boxes. Did you have any internal conversations around whether to include callouts?
The recap’s been updated to include your demo. Sorry it took me so long on this one.
Thanks, David! Yes, I agree the multiple-shots approach could be its own challenge. I’ve wanted to write about that for a long time. This could be a good example.
Funnily enough there were a number of conversations about whether to include callouts in this demo.
This is how it went down: My entire internal team, meeting at a secluded high-security area inside of my head, agreed that it simply looked slicker and more video-like to skip the callouts and go with voiceover alone. I also wanted the focus to be on the expressiveness of the voices (which Dan pulled off at least as well as I’d envisioned them) and my stellar cast of visual characters rather than any clunky callouts I could add. I tried them briefly – hated them – and went callout-free from there.
Would you like to see a called-out version? It can be arranged…
I appreciate the insights, Jackie. Clearly your e-learning thinktank considered all the options. I feel good with the direction you chose.
You know, that would be a good discussion: To caption or not to caption. Alternatively, “Caption falls down” could work.
I agree! As soon as I posted my answer to you I realized I was overlooking the captioned-vs-not comparison opportunity. It’s a good topic!
I don’t have to tell you that “caption falls down” went over BIG around here. Works every time.
Hi there Jackie,
I love reading your work and you have inspired me to venture on elearning. You shown how fun and creative learning can be. Thank you so much for sharing.
Nurul – Melbourne
Oh my goodness, Narul – thank you so much! Nothing could make me happier than hearing that. Your blog is fascinating, by the way! I hope you’ll get a chance to write about your new adventures in e-learning, too. Thank you again! :)
Jackie,
Your project was shared in our course on Advanced Design of Instructional Media at the American College of Education. I smiled the whole time and laughed a bunch! Most importantly though, it taught me a lot! I watched your explanation/thought process inclusion first, then watched the demo. I loved your sense of humor about it all, the toys, the voices, and especially the shots where the employee just stares. Those were my favorite. Through all the fun, you got me to pay attention to the message that was coming which is the point of a training. I will be tucking this in my brain for the future as a reminder that certain topics would go over so much better with this kind of concept and that having fun and being creative is possible even with basic or potentially boring topics. Really great work, and I am grateful to you for sharing this eLearning challenge!
Julie
Hi Julie!
Thank you so much for your wonderful comments – and for letting me know that your class is getting to enjoy my work, too!
This is absolutely one of my favorite pieces, and I love it as much today as I did when I designed and built it. Any time I can’t stop laughing while creating something, I know it’s going to be good. I’m so glad you love it as much as I do!
I’ve always said that if I’m not having fun creating it, the learner is not going to have fun taking it – and that is always true. It’s because the fun version is inspired, while the not-so-fun version is from a place of I-have-to-get-this-done.
The funny thing is, I’ve learned that if I refuse to let myself work on something until I’m genuinely inspired and can’t wait to get started, it not only turns out beautifully, it also always gets done on time. It’s the best of both worlds. Just takes a bit of patience and a bit of practice.
Thanks again, Julie – it sounds like you’re on a great path!