One of my favorite aspects of e-learning design is finding the right images to go with my content. Time spent finding relevant images is worthwhile because it makes learning content more convincing.
There was a course I once created where I needed to portray a character contemplating a decision in two different poses. I also needed to show the same character jubilant. Finding copyright-free images that were realistic and visually appealing was challenging.
I knew I could find images on Unsplash, but I wasn’t certain I would find exactly what I wanted.
Search with short phrases
I searched Unsplash using phrases like – woman confused, and happy woman, etc. until I found the images I needed. After I found the picture, I clicked the author’s name and discovered the photographer’s collection of pictures.
Fortunately for me and my design, the pictures in the collection were exactly what I needed.
Images 1 & 3 show the character contemplating a decision.
Image 2 shows the character happy.
Image 4 shows the character triumphant.
I even included it as a bonus image in the course I created because it looked so cool.
Imagine how delighted I was to find images where the character was striking the poses in the same clothes and hairstyle. I really think it added to the realisticness of the learning object.
If I had used the images in the picture below to create the same scenario, they would have jolted the learner out of the learning experience.
In this picture,
images 1 & 3 show two different characters contemplating a decision. Image 2 shows a different character happy, while image 4 shows another character triumphant.
The characters are four different women with different hair colors, styles, and clothes. As a result, they lack the congruence necessary for creating a scenario.
Look for collections…
When I search for images to use in learning objects, I like to see what else the image creator has in his or her collection. And when I find images of the same character striking different poses, I file them for future e-learning objects.
The alternative is making do with incongruent images, and that’s …
