Rapid design tools for eLearning are center stage in L&D, creating the ability for organizations to get online training delivered faster than ever before. So, where does a learning organization go when it needs rapid design and an immersive eLearning experience? Enter eko.
Originally founded in 2011 to create interactive music videos, eko is currently taking the world by storm as “an interactive storytelling platform that lets you control the story” that’s creating an interesting value proposition for L&D. Here’s a fun sample from the eko creator page that tells the story of how eko brings branching to life.
Corporations have started investing in eko as a product marketing and customer engagement platform.
Eko studio is eko’s rapid design tool, and the site includes a sandbox for the creation of test files.
Are you curious about what Eko creation looks like for a project team? As is true for any branching scenario eLearning project, the answer depends on a few things:
- How much decision-making do you want to bake into the learning?
- What resources and skillsets do you have on hand to bring your project to life?
- What is your timeline?
For example, here are some questions to consider during project intake (not necessarily in this order):
- Does the learner need to know the consequences of incorrect choices or just the outcomes of correct answers?
- Does the learner need to be able to choose between one scenario and another at the start of the experience?
- Do scenarios need to intersect to teach the full concept or desired behavior?
With eko, the possibilities are endless, which means project management can be as simple or as complicated as the scenario you need to build.
A full project team could include:
- Project Manager
- Instructional Designer
- Video Production team
- Graphic designer
- Motion designer
- Eko Developer
At a minimum, you’ll need someone who can create a branching script and build using the drag-and-drop components available in Eko Studio. Check out this blog interview with eko producer Lauren Gerber discussing how she easily created interactive videos at home for her series Quarantine Kitchen.
More likely, you’ll need an instructional designer who is skilled at designing branching scenarios for learning outcomes and an eLearning developer who is proficient with audio and video editing and eLearning development. If you’re thinking about custom video, especially for a complex branching scenario, a production team or motion designer may be needed, as well as an instructional designer who can map detailed decision trees.
If you haven’t already read our blog post 5 Great Reasons Why You Need to Build eLearning Prototypes, it’s a great read and directly applicable to any kind of eko build for your organization. Also, you may be curious about the difference between eko and Twine. After exploring eko studio, check out Quick Skills: 15 Minutes (or less) to Developing Better Branching Scenarios Using Twine.
