Top tips on developing training material with Storyline 360

Storyline 360 is an e-learning authoring tool from Articulate.  The authoring software is robust and intuitive. It provides users with the flexibility to create content without being limited to templates. It also allows users to publish course materials in a variety of formats, including SCORM and web-accessible versions.
Articulate provides Storyline as part of their Articulate 360 suite. The cost runs from $499 annually (Personal Academic Plan) to $1,299 (Company Teams Plan) for the suite. Storyline must be purchased with the suite—it is not available as a standalone component.

I have been using Storyline since 2018. During my initial work with it, I converted courses from Microsoft PowerPoint or OneNote using very basic features of the program. Over time, I have challenged myself to get more creative in course design. I have added in videos, closed-captioning, and quizzes with multiple different question types. My designs now include questions throughout the training to reinforce the objectives (see a course I designed in 2020 regarding HIPAA compliance).

The format for my course design has changed over time as well. My company previously used Litmos, which gave me great flexibility in course delivery. The company now uses a LMS built into our Human Resource Information System (HRIS) that has less flexibility. Courses must be formatted in SCORM 2004 vs. SCORM 1.2 format. Articulate allows authors to easily switch between the format of the published project.

Read more on the Colleague 2 Colleague Digital Magazine, Spring/Summer 2021 edition here.