Stephanie Karaolis

Learning and development in the retail industry brings its own unique set of challenges: this is a workforce that is not desk-based, often with complex and changing shift patterns, and includes temporary staff. But that workforce still needs training – let’s see how elearning can be the answer. Whether we’re talking about customer service employees […]

The learning management system, or LMS, used to be an integral part of most organizations’ learning ecosystem, and for good reason. But times change, business needs and user expectations change, and of course, technology changes too. The traditional solution is no longer the default answer in all situations, so let’s explore the LMS alternatives now […]

Compliance training has a bad reputation, and that’s on us as learning designers or commissioners. For too long, people have focused on the need to tick a box to say training has been delivered. But that ticked box is of little consequence in the face of the huge and long-lasting consequences of a compliance breach. […]

Descriptive paintings in caves from prehistoric times. Lyric poetry passed down orally through generations. Novels, theatre, TV soap operas…and elearning scenarios. It’s human nature to share wisdom, knowledge, information and life lessons through storytelling. So why wouldn’t you tap into that when it comes to designing elearning courses that needs to change behaviour, improve performance […]

The SME relationship can make or break an elearning project. As your gateway to the content, audience and organisation, the subject matter expert has the potential to either derail development or keep you on track and steaming towards the end goal. As an instructional designer, learning consultant or elearning project manager, your job is to […]

Onboarding is about so much more than a years-old marketing video from the CEO and a building tour to point out the fire exits! Well-designed onboarding elearning improves employee retention, engagement and loyalty, as well as compliance and speed-to-competence – all really important business metrics. Would you believe that one third of people leave a […]

Gamification; gamified learning; serious games. Whatever term you prefer, games and elearning have something of a chequered history! Once the thing everyone was talking about, then something most people were only talking about (and not really doing), and more recently a bit of an abandoned bandwagon. But gamification in learning is absolutely something you should […]

How much thought do you give your elearning endings? We are (thankfully) past the days of a pop-up, printable “certificate” and thank you message. But are you doing as much as you could be to make sure you close out your elearning programme with impact? Read on for some practical tips and inspiring examples. First, […]

The words “compliance training” often draw a collective groan, but it doesn’t have to be boring and ineffectual! Read on for online compliance training examples that are engaging and make a difference. Too many compliance courses are designed with the main goal of ticking a box to say the business has trained its employees. But […]

Gamification is a word with a lot of baggage! Maybe you hear it, roll your eyes and think “buzzword”? Or perhaps it sounds a bit daunting to you? The truth is, there are loads of ways to incorporate games and gaming elements into your elearning. Read on for a few inspiring examples of gamification in […]

Designing content to work seamlessly across different devices is a basic requirement these days. Need some inspiration for how to do that? Here are six responsive elearning design examples that get it right. Responsive design is no longer a nice-to-have. If you want to reach your learners, you need to deliver content to all the […]

Scenarios can be an effective way to engage your learners and really change their behavior. Here are five scenario-based training examples to inspire your next project. There are lots of ways to include scenarios in your elearning design, from quick and simple to longer-form and intricately designed. Whichever approach you choose, adding some kind of […]

When it comes to online learning experiences, branching can be a great way to help learners practice, keep things interesting and relevant, and improve retention. Get ideas for how you could better engage your audience with these five branching examples. Branching simply means designing different routes through the content, depending on input from the user. […]

We’ve rounded up 10 of our favourite elearning examples and picked out some key features and themes to inspire your projects over the next 12 months. From low-cost audio and simple infographics to immersive scenarios, adaptive content and social polling: there’s bound to be something in this list that whets your appetite to do something […]

From cave paintings to tales round the campfire, from lyric poetry recited through the generations to the mass-produced novels of today, humans have always told stories: orally, in print, on film and now online. So why – if storytelling comes so naturally to us – wouldn’t we use it when designing elearning content?

A robust QA process means less work for your reviewers and stakeholders, quicker sign-off, and more time to focus on enhancing the experience rather than fixing mistakes. More importantly, the lack of good QA risks causing your audience to (at best) lose interest or (at worst) cast your content aside in frustration.

Video for learning isn’t new. Training videos have been around for decades, and video within online learning for almost as long. But what is possible – and expected – has changed, and is continuing to challenge expectations.