About This Project

As my first project in Articulate 360 I was very eager to leverage its reputation for interactivity. I kept this course short and sweet, pushing learners through three stages of progressively complex exercises to develop their awareness and skills with question-asking.

The course is based on a VILT I did a few years ago. I was tasked with helping librarians at a major library system improve their capacity to work with the English Learner community. The  necessity to balance customer service efficiency with positive results for these patrons was the crux of the training. Librarians are challenged to fill a customer service role while educating their patrons who need more support with available systems and resources. 

I served as my own SME for the VILT, since I had been an Adult Education Teacher working for an organization that specializes in Adult Education for the past few years. I delivered a VILT, job aids, and microlearning videos for the library system. This VILT project served as a great springboard for my first foray into Articulate 360.

To make this course work, I used authentic examples of patrons that visit the library for varied reasons and with varied language and communication skills. The course includes examples of English Language Learners with different levels of English skills as well as native speakers with varied levels of communication skills. I ask course participants to be aware of and identify different questions types, then consider how they can be used to steer conversations efficiently with patrons.

In terms of design, I matched or sampled visual elements from the Seattle Public Library (SPL) in the course design. The blue sky motif and orange leaf pattern are SPL website elements. I also used publicly available photos of the Seattle Public Library in the course. I tried to match the look and feel of the SPL website in some aspects to give the hypothetical participants a branded experience. 

I was excited to develop a branching scenario for this course that would give participants a challenge and genuine chance to try their skill at choosing the right types of questions at the right time. I accompanied this with drop and drag and a 'pick many' mini-scenario to round out the skill practice in the course.