See examples of 10 multimedia approaches in USA Today’s Interactive Bag of Tricks (from Multimedia Learning). The short presentation includes many links to examples, and you can download a PDF with the key points.

A timely example for people in the US is the Candidate Match Game. Answer questions that gauge your opinion on key issues, and the candidates that most closely match your views rise above the others.

If you like the examples from USA Today, visit the elearning examples page in this blog to see several more from other producers.

Here’s another alternative to the Next button: fast-paced interactive conversations from the makers of “You Don’t Know Jack.”

In a comment on the elearning samples page, MM pointed to these examples by Jellyvision. Wow. Quick, lively, occasionally snarky, and always richly human. As Jellyvision says, “It’s conversation rather than presentation.”

What can we learn from them? (more…)

The elearning samples page lists more than 35 inspiring interactions. Why did so few corporate courses make the final list?

One reason: The people who designed the interactions knew the following 3 Secrets of Shortness.

1. Forget the intro

Typical course: “Welcome to the Widget Functionality course! Widgets are undoubtedly an important part of our lives, and understanding how they function will help you gain the most benefit from their use. In this course, you will learn how widgets work.”

Interactive: “How Widgets Work”

2. Show, don’t tell (more…)

The latest addition to the elearning samples page is a collection of activities from the National Museum of Australia.

Some of the activities show a “mystery object” and have you figure out what it is. This activity has you enter your first guess and then revise it later after you’ve gotten more information.

The Flash has a leisurely start, probably to accommodate loading over dial-up. But once you’re in it, you’ll have fun with the mystery.

Looking for ideas? Check the new elearning samples page. It links to more than 35 online interactions that could give you good ideas for your own materials.

The list includes everything from interactive infographics to full-blown, movie-like simulations.

I’ve included only materials that I think have good ideas to emulate, and I’ll keep adding to the list.

Know of something good? Please add it to the comments on the samples page or send it to me using the email address in the about page.

For more examples, see the responses to the Learning Circuits Blog Big Question for June.