Additional Projects

Articulate Storyline Course: Thompson's Bagging Basics NEW!!

I found this design challenge on the eLearning Designer's Academy website and I just couldn't resist! I began by adding the "subject matter expert" information into NotebookLM. I used that tool to determine the basics of bagging groceries and then to help begin designing the outline and flow of the course. With the design structure in place, I built the course in Articulate Storyline, supplementing with other tools to generate custom graphics, images, and voiceover.

Tools Used in Development
Articulate Storyline, Canva, elevenlabs.io, Gemini Nano Banana, NotebookLM

7taps Microlearning: Lifeguarding Lake Wren NEW!!

This project was created for a design challenge posted in the IDLance instructional design community:

"Camp Whispering Pines’ lifeguard training materials are wildly outdated, and leadership needs your help before summer kicks off. Using the provided materials, your job is to identify the most important day-one lifeguard training priorities and transform them into a 7taps course that feels engaging, practical, and actually useful for today’s camp staff. Your course should be 8-12 cards total"

The only resource given was a thorough, but outdated handbook, and a style guide. Using NotebookLM as an AI partner, I teased out the most important information that was unique to the fictional Camp Whispering Pines, then developed an outline which I adapted to fit a 12-card layout. NotebookLM helped me generate ideas for scripts and quiz questions, as well as a couple of infographics. I used the other tools for creating voiceovers, images, videos, and graphics which I imported into 7taps.

The genius of 7taps is actually in its limitations, forcing the instructional designer to work within constraints in order to create something short and engaging which the learner will actually complete and retain.

Tools Used in Development
7taps, elevenlabs.io, Gemini Nano Banana, NotebookLM, Canva

Articulate Rise Course: Meet NotebookLM NEW!!

This course, developed in Articulate Rise, helps newcomers to NotebookLM discover how this amazing tool can become their own personal learning superpower. To design the course, I started with Articulate's AI course creation tool, feeding it six NotebookLM how-to web articles with varied focus areas in order to get started. That was an OK starting point, but I had a lot more work to do! The AI output was often redundant and flat. So, I adjusted the learning objectives, and revised the course outline, flow, and content, making stylistic adjustments along the way and adding more visual elements.

Because I really wanted to give learners a feel for what NotebookLM can do, I actually used it to create elements that would enhance the course, like infographics and audio and video overviews. To get the learner really hands-on, I built a NotebookLM software simulation with Articulate Storyline and then embedded that into the Rise course as well.

Tools Used in Development
Articulate Rise, Articulate Storyline, NotebookLM

Instructional Video: The SOAR Method

In creating this video for the IDOL Academy Camtasia course, I got some super helpful feedback from my evaluator, Ian. The assignment was to take an existing voiceover and then create the accompanying video in Camtasia. Ian challenged me to really find the dynamic shifts in the script and to then follow a character's story in the video while emphasizing those shifts visually. Of course he was so right, and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

A good development tool should allow the creator to develop their ideas within the tool as effortlessly as possible, and I think Camtasia does a really good job in that regard.

Tools Used in Development
Camtasia, Canva

Animated Video: IDOL Academy - What to Expect

This video was my final project for the IDOL Academy Vyond course. The assignment was to take an existing voiceover and then create the animation and add the additional audio of our choice. It was a ton of fun to create a visual story that supported the script of the voiceover.

Tools Used in Development
Vyond

Microlearning: A/V Basics

The sanctuary at Meadows Christian Fellowship sees regular use each Sunday, but it also is a space where numerous other events take place. While there is a Tech Team in place on Sunday mornings, other ministries often have basic A/V needs that they can handle themselves. They just need to know how! To meet this need, I created a microlearning aid in Genially so that those ministry leaders and volunteers would have a clear and simple walkthrough at their fingertips. I posted a QR code next to the soundboard for quick and easy access.

Tools Used in Development
Phone camera, Genially

Job Aid: Using the Targus Remote

Sunday services at Meadows Christian Fellowship always have a visual presentation element which is run by a member of the Tech Team. Occasionally, though, a speaker will want to control the presentation themselves with remote. Because this is infrequent and there are several members on the Tech Team, it was necessary to create this job aid so Tech Team members could quickly access a guide for getting the remote ready to use. This asset was printed and put with the remote so it was always there and ready to use.

Tools Used in Development
Phone camera, Canva

Tutorial Video: Scheduling YouTube Livestreams

With a staff transition causing some shifting of duties, there was a need to create a tutorial for church staff and volunteers at Meadows Christian Fellowship to learn how to schedule the Sunday livestreams in advance. I created this quick tutorial video on Loom to walk people through the process step by step. (And yes, I do often have dozens of tabs open in Chrome. Don't judge!)

Tools Used in Development
Loom, Laptop

Total Time in Development
30 minutes

© 2026 Mark Allen Hoffman. All rights reserved.