What’s New in Articulate 360: Practical Updates for West College Scotland Lecturers

Digital learning supports blended delivery, flexible study routes, and inclusive practice. The updates to Articulate 360 introduces several practical improvements, with Rise 360 offering particularly useful enhancements that align well with everyday FE teaching needs.

Below are the key updates, with a particular focus on enhancements within Rise 360

Manage Blocks — Faster Updates and Smarter Reuse

Updating online learning materials can be time-consuming, especially when courses need adapted for different cohorts or delivery modes. The new Manage Blocks feature allows you to select, move, duplicate, or reorganise multiple content blocks in one action, rather than editing content block by block.

This makes it easier to keep materials up to date while maintaining consistency across courses.

Try this in Rise:

Open a lesson, select Manage Blocks, highlight several blocks, and drag them into a new order or copy them into another lesson.

AI-Generated Captions — Currently Unavailable, but One to Watch

You may notice that Rise 360 now includes AI-generated captioning tools designed to automatically create captions for video content. At present, these AI features are not yet available to use.

Once accessible, this functionality has strong potential to:

• Reduce the time required to caption videos

• Support accessibility expectations more efficiently

• Improve consistency across digital learning materials

  
  

For now, captions will continue to be created using existing methods. However, this update signals a positive direction for future accessibility support.

AI Image Generation — Currently Unavailable, but Promising

Rise 360 also includes enhanced AI image generation tools, allowing authors to create subject-specific visuals directly within the platform. At present, we’re not able to use these AI image generation features within our institutional setup.

In the future, this could support FE staff by:

• Creating contextualised visuals for vocational subjects

• Reducing reliance on generic stock imagery

• Quickly tailoring visuals to learner cohorts and subject areas

  
  

Although unavailable at the moment, this feature highlights how AI could support more relevant and engaging learning design.

 AI in Articulate 360 — Not Available Yet, but Worth Watching

Articulate is increasingly embedding AI across its tools. At present, AI functionality is not yet available.

As these features become available, they could:

• Speed up content creation and updating

• Support accessibility and inclusive design

• Help adapt materials for different learner needs

  
  

For now, this is best viewed as a future opportunity rather than a current capability.

In Summary

The latest Rise 360 updates focus on saving time, improving flexibility, and strengthening accessibility — These enhancements offer realistic, practical ways to improve digital learning design without increasing lecturer workload.

As we continue to develop digital learning across West College Scotland, it’s worth keeping in mind that accessibility is essential for some, but useful for all.