Lights, Camera, Handcuffs: My First 360-Degree Learning Experience

So, picture this: I finally dove headfirst into building our company’s very first interactive 360-degree course—and let me tell you, it was everything I hoped for and more (plus a few unexpected bruises along the way).

I’ve been itching to bring immersive media into our training catalog for a while now. When I’m not designing eLearning by day, I’ve been moonlighting as a full-blown 360 media nerd, testing cameras, mapping out storyboards, and imagining what it would look like to drop learners right in the middle of real-world scenarios. This course? It’s the first official leap—and hopefully the first of many.

Designed with law enforcement officers in mind, the course gives users a front-row, in-your-face perspective on what goes down during arrests and search and seizure operations. It’s not just sit-and-click content—it’s engagement you can look around in. Every turn of the camera puts learners inside the scene, encouraging sharper observation, smarter decision-making, and a whole new level of situational awareness.

To bring it to life, I partnered with the stellar team at the Little Elm Police Department, who were game to let me film on-site and in action. Using my trusty Insta360 X4, we captured high-intensity scenes straight from the streets—complete with flashing lights, real procedures, and yes, yours truly playing the bad guy. (Let’s be honest, I nailed it. There may be a future in villainy for me yet.)

This project marks a turning point in how we’re thinking about instructional design at Lexipol—blending immersive technology with real-world training needs in a way that’s not just effective, but actually memorable.

Stay tuned for a behind-the-scenes breakdown of the shoot, design decisions, and maybe a blooper reel or two (being a villain is harder than it looks).