Six scenarios, built in an animation tool instead of a course tool

Step by step, which is harder than it sounds

Konnect Labs wanted participants taught nursing methodology step by step.

Step by step is the phrase every clinical client uses and it hides the difficulty. A sequence written down is a list. A sequence performed is a set of judgements about timing, order and what to do when the previous step did not go as described.

A list teaches the first. Only a scenario teaches the second.

So we did not build slides

The six scenarios were produced in Adobe After Effects.

That is a production decision worth being explicit about, because it is unusual and it costs more than the alternative. Standard authoring tools assemble screens. They are very good at that. They are not good at showing a hand moving, a sequence unfolding, or a moment where timing is the entire point.

Animating the scenarios meant the motion could carry the teaching instead of a caption describing the motion. For a methodology course, that is the difference between a learner who can recite the steps and one who recognises the step they are in.

Each scenario was followed by a quiz or an activity, so the judgement was tested immediately after it was shown rather than at the end of everything.

The build

Gamified throughout, to Konnect Labs' own branding and colour scheme. Interactivity and animation used where they earned their place rather than everywhere.

Self-paced, with voiceover instruction, and every slide replayable as many times as a learner wants, which matters on procedural content where the second viewing is where the detail lands.

A menu showing progress through the module, a help function, SCORM compliant and responsive.

What happened

Konnect Labs saw participation and involvement increase. The modules were challenging enough that people took the quizzes as something to prove rather than something to endure, and Konnect Labs were satisfied with what was delivered and reached the outcomes they wanted.

We are not quoting a knowledge-gain figure here. The published version of this case study carried a results line borrowed from a different client's food safety project. It was wrong, it has been removed, and nothing has been put in its place that we cannot source.

What we would tell someone in the same position

What we would tell someone teaching a procedure

Ask whether the thing you are teaching is a list or a judgement. If it is a list, an ordinary authoring tool is the right answer and anything fancier is money wasted. If it is a judgement, you need to show the moment, and showing the moment usually means animation or video rather than a screen with a numbered list on it. Most clinical training is judgement dressed as a list.