By now, you may have heard of Articulate Storyline being mentioned around the University. Alternatively, perhaps you know a colleague who has access to the software. If not then Articulate Storyline is authoring software used to build interactive content to support online learning.
How easy is Articulate Storyline to use?
As with all new software, the learning curve may initially appear steep. However, as you gain confidence you will find that the tools available on this software enable you to push the boundaries further to create some amazing learning objects.
The type of content you can create ranges from simple slideshow presentations right through to quizzes and complex interactivities. (The level of complexity will depend on your experience). In addition, Articulate Storyline supports media content: videos hosted on servers and from YouTube as well as audio files. It also has in-built quizzes containing 11 commonly used graded question types.
Here are a couple of examples I’ve created: Callista and Fish Farm.
What are some benefits of this software?
Published Articulate files can be hosted on Blackboard. In addition, as Articulate Storyline is SCORM compliant it can store students’ quiz results in the grade centre. Alternatively, you can upload Storyline files onto a server or embed them on a WordPress site or a web page using the iFrame source code.
One of the highlights is the trigger functionality, this makes your project come alive; without triggers, your slides would just be static. Trigger functions are needed to perform simple tasks such as navigation, through to more complex processes such as applying variables to perform more advanced interactions.
There are plenty of examples on the internet to help and inspire you; ‘Articulate eLearning Heroes Community’ will be the first item on Google search. There you will find lots of Articulate Storyline related items. If you should encounter any problems/questions/issues you can direct your question to the forum page. Storyline has a large community, consequently, there is always someone on there ready to help.
I have been using Articulate Storyline to create interactive content for many years now. I have slowly grown to know and like the software. Here are my 2 top tips for getting started.
1. Design and plan
As with all projects, it is best to design and plan before you start. The most important thing is to determine the slide size before you start populating it with content. If you change the slide size after you have placed your content, Articulate resizes the content. As a result, you could end up with formatting problems.
2. Create a live project
Step by step video tutorials are often helpful to get you started. However, I found that the best way to learn Storyline is to apply this knowledge to an actual project. This way you encounter problems that you will not necessarily come across on video tutorials. Although it is frustrating at first not having the answer to hand, believe me, when you find a solution or workaround, it is the best feeling in the world!
If you would like to try out this software you can download a free 30-day trial. We will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Further reading
- Accessibility for Articulate storyline – Are you WCAG compliant?
- Embedding Storyline content in Blackboard
