Baby Steps to Instructional Design

The following just in from Jamey:

"I have not dug in to Articulate Storyline yet, and I hope I will have an opportunity to learn this tool well through the duration of this certificate program. However, I have been able to dip my toe into designing e-Learning through two easy-to-use tools.

The first is Nearpod. Nearpod has built-in lessons that can be modified, but I always design lessons from scratch. It is easy to import Google Slides, and then add interactivity such as open-ended questions, multiple-choice questions, and collaboration boards. There is even a tool to gamify learning. You can easily embed Google Forms and YouTube videos (and add embedded questions to the videos.) Students get a join link, and then the trainer/teacher can get a report of each students' work in the course.  

The second is Articulate Rise. This is a web-based version of the Articulate, and while it takes a little time to learn this program, you can be off to the races in terms of making an eLearning module pretty quickly! It includes the scenarios from Storyline which are really great. The major downside I've found in Rise is that there is no option for open-ended answers. This limits its potential. There have been many requests to Articulate HelpDesk over many years to add this feature, but they seem disinterested in doing this. 

If you are new to eLearning design, I hope you try out one of these tools. Nearpod does have a free version, while Rise does not (beyond a 30-day trial)."