Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase 2026

Is your elearning course due for a refresh? This session explores how to transform outdated, text-heavy content into visually engaging and interactive learning experiences using Articulate Storyline 360. You will learn modern design principles that improve layout, typography, color use, and white space to create cleaner, more effective courses.

The session also focuses on building meaningful interactivity that encourages learner engagement and exploration. Learn how to use layers, states, triggers, and variables to create user-driven navigation, scenario-based learning, and responsive feedback.

Through real-world makeover examples, you will discover how small design changes can significantly improve the learner experience. The session includes practical tips, creative techniques, and reusable templates that can be applied immediately to current projects.

Ideal for instructional designers, elearning developers, and training professionals, this session provides tools and inspiration for creating modern Storyline 360 courses that look better, engage learners more effectively, and improve overall learning performance.

By the end of this session, you will be able to

• Redesign an elearning course by applying modern visual design principles.
• Develop interactive course elements to support learner-driven navigation.
• Transform text-heavy content into visually engaging slides by incorporating appropriate multimedia and interactive components.
• Evaluate real-world examples of a course makeover.

In this session, learn how to leverage Articulate 360’s Rise to create an ebook accessible from a learning management system. In the context of a case study, Chris Zahn and Lauren Hamm will discuss the pros and cons of various document formats. They will also describe how they arrived at the decision to use Rise to solve a particular publishing problem for their organization. They will demonstrate the ebook they created and explain how to design and implement an ebook in Rise.

By the end of this session, you will be able to

• State the pros and cons of various publishing formats.
• Decide on the correct format to address a particular problem.
• Use Rise to implement an ebook.

Learning teams want better elearning experiences, but many instructional designers get stuck between rigid authoring tools and full custom development. In this session, Destery Hildenbrand will show you how to build lightweight interactive experiences faster using a practical prompt-and-revise workflow.

You will move from problem to prototype and explore where AI helps most with repetitive build work, basic layout, and rough first drafts. Destery will also demonstrate where the learning designer brings the most value, through structure, setup, organization, flow, and final design decisions. You will leave with a practical process that you can use right away.

By the end of this session, you will be able to

• Define a practical workflow for building interactive experiences.

• Evaluate which parts of the work are best supported by AI.

• Refine prototypes using strong instructional design decisions.

In this workshop, Ron Price will lead you in exploring several simple yet creative ways to bring your slides to life through animation. Animation remains a challenge for many elearning developers. Some overuse it or apply it in ways that distract learners, while others avoid it altogether. In this session, you will examine creative techniques for using animation with purpose, clarity, and impact.

By the end of this session, you will be able to

• Use cue points and syncing.

• Create consistency with an animation painter tool.

• Design motion paths and emphasis animations.

• Create more complex effects by combining animations.