SHIFT's eLearning Blog

Our blog provides the best practices, tips, and inspiration for corporate training, instructional design, eLearning and mLearning.

To visit the Spanish blog, click here
    All Posts

    Flexibility and Fun in your eLearning courses

    This morning I had to give a ½ hour "class" on my son's Pre-K class.  I had planned to talk about Volcanoes, one of my son's favorite topics.  After some Google search, I decided to create a baking soda and vinegar volcanic eruption.  Last night, after buying all materials and some testing, the experiment didn't work as expected.  No big eruption, nothing that would capture their attention in class.
    So it's 9pm, 11 hours before class, tired and clueless.  Then it flashed on me:  why not create a mini eLearning course for the kids, show some animations, some videos, some games.  Something fun.   After some experimentation, the eLearning course looks like:

    eLearning games
      1. Intro screen: Robot avatar greets the kids:  I had him say all their names, so kids we're amazed that the robot actually new all of them.
      2. Preloaded screen cat: explains we're going to play a game,  my 8 year old helps me record the audio before breakfast this morning.
      3. Butterfly metamorphosis game:  three kids volunteer to help the cocoon become a butterfly.  They're successful.
      4. Preloaded screen dog:  introduces the next game. 
      5. Card discovery game:  they have to help the animal "mother" find their missing animal "babies".  All the kids want to play.  Three of them flip the cards and win. 
      6. Rescue the princess game:  two more kids help the knight rescue the princess, answering some questions on the physical states of water
      7. Scenario builder:  I have my 8 year old's daughter's "avatar" take the kids from her bedroom, getting ready for class, breakfast, class and finally a "sing along" counting game.  6 or 7 scenes.
      8. Rally game:  the red team and the blue team compete to win the gold cup.  The blue team wins by a wide margin.
      9. The cat closes up the session.  My 6 year old records the audio this time.
    In the end, a 25 minute class, run by the kids and the computer.  Takes me 2.5 hours last night and 10 minutes recording with my daughters this morning.

    Once more, SHIFT's eLearning courses promise of rich media, interactive, highly engaging yet very quick eLearning development holds true.

    I leave the mini eLearning course at school, the kids want to play again…
    Karla Gutierrez
    Karla Gutierrez
    Karla is an Inbound Marketer @Aura Interactiva, the developers of SHIFT. ES:Karla is an Inbound Marketer @Aura Interactiva, the developers of SHIFT.

    Related Posts

    Want Your eLearning Courses to Deliver Results? Avoid These Mistakes

    Feeling overwhelmed with AI shaking up the eLearning scene? As L&D leaders, you've been nailing it, smoothly running your training programs and adapting as tech evolves. But now, with AI's rapid rise, it's as if the game board has been flipped over. It's a common, yet dangerous assumption to think that just by integrating AI, all of our training challenges are solved. Beware—this overreliance is a trap! Here's the hard truth: AI, while transformative, is not a silver bullet. In the rush to embrace these new tools, many well-intentioned L&D leaders are making critical mistakes that could cripple the effectiveness of their eLearning initiatives. I totally get the frustration—it’s like suddenly, everyone expects you to have all the answers just because you've got the latest tech at your fingertips. But remember, it’s not all about AI. In the rush to integrate this new tech, I’ve seen too many skilled teams slip up in areas that have always been crucial—like course design, content relevance, and learner engagement. Let’s get real about these common pitfalls, ensuring you’re not just relying on AI but are also paying attention to the foundational elements of effective eLearning. This is your heads-up to keep your game tight, making sure your training programs are as powerful as ever, with or without the extra tech boost.

    The New Rules of Instructional Design in an AI-Driven World

    It’s no longer a question of whether artificial intelligence (AI) will change the way we work—it already has, and instructional design is no exception. What was once a futuristic concept is now a daily reality, reshaping how we approach learning and development at every level.

    The Future of Instructional Design in the AI Era

    Instructional design is at a crossroads. The rapid rise of AI is reshaping the field faster than many of us ever imagined, and it’s not just an incremental shift—it’s an industry-wide transformation. Entire workflows are being redefined, roles are evolving, and the expectations placed on L&D teams are skyrocketing.