Create Branched Learning Scenarios with ThingLink’s New Simulation Template

Kyla Ball September 27, 2023

ThingLink’s new Scenario Builder Templates are the newest arrival in our ever-growing set of assistant tools to help you build your own bespoke training and learning content – with interactivity baked-in! In this blog we focus one of the templates in particular: the Simulation Scenario and show how it can be used to create powerful learning experiences.

Why have we developed these templates?

Crafting the ideal scenario for your learners’ or organisation’s specific training requisites can sometimes present a challenge. So we’ve introduced a diverse range of scenario templates that offer the flexibility to duplicate, modify, and tailor them to your unique e-learning or training content.

As you embark on creating your scenario, you’ll encounter four distinct model options. Effortlessly substitute our placeholder content with your preferred text, queries, branching paths, and multimedia elements. But if you prefer to start from scratch, you can still fashion a completely customized scenario without our templates.

For a summary of the 4 new models: Linear, Escape Room, Simulation Scenario and Self-Exploratory, download this PDF of the new Scenario Templates which gives you full written guidance. Or why not catch up with our comprehensive webinar where we build a scenario from scratch! You’ll find it on our dedicated Scenario Builder playlist on YouTube.

When combined with ThingLink’s innovative built-in AI content creation tools, these scenario builder templates streamline the process of constructing either straightforward or multi-branching scenarios. These templates prove invaluable for crafting a spectrum of employee training materials, whether your primary training objectives involve acquiring new skills, refining existing ones, or boosting employee engagement and retention.

Why Use ThingLink’s Scenario Builder to create elearning and training?

To see why Scenario Builder is considered such a useful authoring tool for building immersive learning experiences, watch this short video intro:

Want to know more about Scenario based Learning (SBL)?

Read more on the fundamentals of Scenario-based instructional design in our introductory blog: What is Scenario Based Learning?

Focus on: The Simulation Scenario Model

This multi-branched template provides learners with a realistic depiction of the ultimate or collective outcome resulting from their decisions or choices – all within a safe environment. Perfect to reinforce compliance training or for real-life situations where safety is a concern.

For instance, when used in medical training, students engage in diagnosing virtual patients by assessing the symptoms presented. The patient’s condition dynamically evolves, either deteriorating or improving in response to the student’s decisions, thereby offering a true-to-life simulation of real-world medical practice.

The branching types of scenario all incorporate soft skills such as decision-making, problem-solving and critical thinking which replicate real-life situations. However in contrast to the Escape Room model, in this scenario template, learners continue to progress whatever choices they make. Unlike the escape room model, there are no categorically “wrong” answers that force learners to backtrack and try again for the correct answer during the intermediate phases. Instead, learners encounter choices, each with distinct consequences, steering them along diverse paths as they advance. It is the closest to the “choose your own adventure” concept from which Scenario Builder was conceived!

The examples are just a basic starting skeleton for all the different model types. 

• In all of the templates we have created for you, you can add as many media items as you want. Remember these can be any type of ThingLink! An interactive image, video, 360 image/video or 3D model. Your media can also be an entire virtual tour of an environment or place! Explore the media block and the 5 other Scenario Builder blocks in this handy ThingLink!
• Create a virtual learning environment: Use 360 tours of different rooms/areas/environments to introduce each in sequence. Great for onboarding! no 360 camera? No problem! Simply use our free tool Pano to 360 to instantly turn any panoramic image into an immersive photosphere.
• In the branching models, you can add as many or as few branching levels as you require.
• Need an extra helping hand with planning your scenario? Why not use our super useful free Canva whiteboard – here’s the link to the template!

See it in action!

To see the Simulation Scenario model in action, below you can explore an example we have built to demonstrate. This very short corporate training elearning course (sometimes called microlearning) demonstrates how a learner can find our what sort of leadership style they tend towards. In this example, they also have the choice to move back and see what different outcome they would have reached if they had made different choices.

If you would like to recreate the style of base media we have used in this course below, you can download the free Canva template to copy!

What other outcomes can you use in this model?

There are three primary variations that can be implemented with this model:

1. Range of Outcomes: In this variation, each final outcome presents a distinct scenario.
2. Binary Result: Alternatively, you can opt for a binary outcome, for example pass or fail, or the patient recovers or they do not – simplifying the end result.
3. Point Accumulation: Another approach involves assigning points to each choice made at every decision point. This adds an element of gamification for learners. The cumulative points can then determine the overall outcome. For instance, the points accrued may result in passing or failing, choosing between a refresher or repetition, or moving on to the next module. Interestingly, in this scenario, it’s possible for two learners taking different paths to accumulate the same number of points.

What other scenario templates can you use?

• Take a look at another of the templates: the Linear model at this blog.
• The Escape Room template – as demonstrated in this linked blog.
• The Self-Exploratory template – which we explore in this blog post here.

Why do training content creators use Scenario Builder to build courses?

1. Tailored Training Solutions: Scenario Builder offers a hassle-free way to tailor your training content. You can effortlessly tweak, duplicate, or refine it all in-house. This means you can cater to the unique training needs of each department or even individual employees by swiftly adapting to their competencies and skill gaps. Pinpoint those knowledge gaps and swiftly bridge them with fully customized scenario-based learning content that’s updatable in mere minutes.

2. Versatile Training Methods: ThingLink empowers you to craft online training courses and learning materials that accommodate a variety of training methods. Plus, you can seamlessly integrate a vast array of apps and tools into your ThingLink training content, instantly expanding the possibilities of content delivery.

3. Flexible Scheduling: With ThingLink, you have the flexibility to create training schedules that align with your employees’ other commitments. Our online learning packages can be completed from the comfort of home or during the daily commute to and from work.

4. Insights into Learner Progress: Harness the power of built-in analytics to monitor and assess individual learner engagement and progress. Keep a keen eye on their performance and milestones, enabling you to set training goals, measure outcomes, and fine-tune the training process as needed.

Your helping hand in training content creation

We wanted to design Scenario Builder to be the easiest method of crafting immersive and captivating training materials and online courses in a real-world context. And we developed our new templates to further streamlined the process, making it even more straightforward to develop highly effective employee training programs – whatever your training and learning outcomes!

Connect with and inspire your fellow creators!

For more ideas, use cases and inspiration on content creation, join our communities on social media! Twitter / X ThingLink or ThingLink Education, LinkedIn Community and ThingLink Education Facebook Group.