Operation breathe easy
by Myles Jenkins
Audience: Construction Crew Members
Responsibilities: Instructional Design, eLearning Development, Visual Design, Storyboarding, Action Mapping
Tools Used: Articulate Storyline 360, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, MindMeister, Canva
Overview
This eLearning experience, titled “Operation Breathe Easy” provided construction crew members with the necessary (and regulatory) information in order to demonstrate safe practices around construction sites that utilize propane heaters during the winter months.
The Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) in this project were looking for an cohesive learning solution that would result in behavior change with the crew members working on active construction sites.
Our goal was to increase propane safety by providing crew members with a risk-free environment to make choices and experience consequences. This helped the learner connect their choices with the real-world consequences.
Learning Objectives
Using source information provided by our Subject Matter Experts (SME’s), we identified learning objectives that outlined what information a crew member should retain after completing this learning experience. The learning objectives were as follows:
Describe what a propane heater is, what it does, and where you might see one
Recognize the basic anatomy of different types of propane heaters
Consistently carry out proper propane tank storage practices
Recognize and respond to the warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning
Text-Based Storyboard
Once the learning objectives were approved, I created a text-based storyboard so that these larger ideas could be broken down into a cohesive narrative.
One of the crucial functions of this project was to create an immersive and interactive experience. This was achieved, in part, through the use of scenario branching where learners were able to immediately apply the concepts they learned and receive instant feedback.
Selecting an incorrect choice would require the learner to try again. This was accompanied with an explanation that outlined the consequence of their errors. This approach highlights a variety of realistic outcomes, all centered around construction site safety.
Full Development
Once the storyboard was approved by the project stakeholders, I began developing the eLearning solution in Articulate Storyline. For the project, I sourced vector assets from an image repository and edited them using Adobe Illustrator to maintain a cohesive look. This included resizing, editing layers, recoloring individual elements, and merging assets.
In order to give this learning experience a true interactive feel, I had to use triggers and variables to make the experience responsive. The video on the right is an example of this. When the learner answer the question incorrectly, a variable would activate prompting the user to try again. Additionally, the “Help“ button in the bottom-right corner served as an additional layer to help the learner. Aside from it’s use here, we mimicked how a construction worker might seek help in the field (via text/call to their field manager).
