Reviving Interactive Learning: A Walk Down Memory Lane and a Look Ahead
Welcome back!
I’m Chris Richter from ricoshae.com.au and today, I want to take you on a bit of a journey—a walk down memory lane and a peek into the future of interactive content for education.
The Flash Era: Where It All Began
Many years ago, I was heavily involved in developing educational content using a technology you might remember: Adobe Flash.
Remember those early interactive games and puzzles you could play on your phone or computer? Flash was the engine behind a lot of that magic, especially in educational resources where interaction was key to engagement.
Back then, we were able to create rich, interactive experiences—students could manipulate elements, solve puzzles, and be truly involved in their learning, rather than just consuming static text or video.
Unfortunately, Flash faded away, first on iPhones, then across almost all platforms, leaving a noticeable void in how interactive educational content was delivered.
Some Classics from the Past
Let me share a few projects we worked on that I’m still proud of today:
Apparel Merchandising Simulator (2013)
We created a web-based program to teach students about apparel merchandising.
They could drag and drop clothing items, organize them by color, order, and layout, and actively test their understanding in a visual, hands-on way. Designed for iPads and mobile devices, it gave students immediate feedback and a much more engaging experience than plain text.
Mayhem Island (2012 and earlier)
Another project was Mayhem Island, a virtual island built inside the Google Earth player to teach eco-tourism.
Students could explore the island’s buildings, wildlife, and ecosystems, all based on real-world data off the east coast of Australia. Although it’s no longer available, it was a groundbreaking way to immerse students in an environmental learning experience.
Real-Time Video Conferencing (Pre-2009)
Before Zoom and Teams were household names, we experimented with real-time video conferencing across Australia.
Using Flash (later converted to HTML5), we connected 12 webcams across the country, complete with whiteboards and live PowerPoint sharing. It was primitive by today’s standards but incredibly innovative for the time.
The Void After Flash
When Flash disappeared, it felt like a lot of that creativity and hands-on engagement went with it.
For a while, educational content became more about passive videos and endless paragraphs of text. Practical, interactive learning seemed to fade away.
But now, we’re starting to see a slow resurgence of interactivity—and we’ve been experimenting again.
New Approaches to Interactive Education
Here are a few recent examples of how we’re bringing interactivity back:
Interactive Engine Cycle Animation
Instead of just showing a static animation, we built an interactive engine cycle where students can control the speed, stop the cycle, and examine each step carefully.
Built with Illustrator and made mobile-friendly, it allows students to learn at their own pace.
Parallel Circuit Demonstrator
To teach electrical circuits, we created an interactive animation showing how parallel circuits behave when different bulbs fail.
Students can toggle switches to see what happens instantly, making complex concepts far easier to understand.
Interactive Image Selection
In a safety training module, students are asked to select the most dangerous area of a construction site image.
Their choice triggers instant feedback—correct or try again—adding an element of decision-making to the learning process.
3D Model Exploration: Dog Anatomy
Using Sketchfab and some custom scripting, we developed a 3D dog model where users can zoom, rotate, and use a slider to peel away layers (skin, muscles, bones) to study anatomy interactively.
This kind of layered exploration makes complex biological structures much easier to grasp.
Why Interactive Content Matters
So why put all this effort into making content interactive?
- Active learning: Students retain more when they are involved in the material.
- Immediate feedback: Mistakes become learning opportunities, not dead ends.
- Higher engagement: Students are naturally more interested when they can manipulate and explore.
- Practical understanding: Complex systems (like electrical circuits or anatomy) are easier to understand through simulation than description.
Looking Ahead: Your Thoughts?
I’m really curious to hear what you think:
- Should education invest more in interactive content rather than relying heavily on video and text?
- Are simple animations and basic interactivity enough, or should we be pushing further into gamification, simulations, and virtual environments?
Advertising and media have certainly embraced interactivity—polls, quizzes, choose-your-own-adventure ads—should education be doing more of the same?
Let me know your thoughts!
I’m Chris Richter, and as always, thanks for reading. Looking forward to hearing your ideas and experiences with interactive learning.
Talk soon!
