I was on the phone with someone who had problems with her elearning course.  It seemed that nothing was working right.  As I dug a little deeper, it turned out that she was deleting some of her files.  She told me she did so to keep her files organized.  Apparently the folders were looking a bit messy.  What she didn’t realize was that all of those files she was moving and deleting actually broke her course.

My advice to her was to leave the published folders alone.  In addition, we had a great conversation about file management in general.  And I shared with her a few ideas so that she didn’t feel like her folders were disorganized.

Part of what I shared was that there are many ways to organize your folders and manage the elearning content.  It all depends on your personal work preference, what you need to do with the files, and if you share your work with others. 

Create Separate Master Folders

I like to start with a project folder that has all of my notes, resources, and production files.  For example, the folder includes all PowerPoint, Quizmaker, and Engage files.  I also include all of the original material from my subject matter experts.

However, I like to keep the assets (like videos and images) in separate master folders.  The master folders hold all of the assets regardless of the projects they belong to.  I do the same for my published courses.  I like to have all of my assets and published courses in master folders so it’s easy for me to find them.

I do this because I do a lot of product and course demos.  I need quick access to course assets and the published output.  I don’t work with my production folders as frequently.  I also don’t share my files much, so this workflow works fine for me.

But what works for me, probably doesn’t work for most people.  So here’s another idea.

Keep All of the Files Together

This next approach is one that probably works best for most people.  Create a single folder for each project.  And inside that folder, place all of the files needed for your course.  This includes your assets and published output.

With this approach, everything’s in one place, making it easy to manage and share files.  In addition, products like Picasa and Windows Live Gallery allow you to tag and search for the media assets on your computer.  You can also tag files in Windows Explorer.  So my goal of keeping similar assets in a master folder is no longer relevant.  I can just tag the assets and do a search of the tags.

Create a Generic Folder Structure

Regardless of the approach you use, it’s important to be consistent.  This is especially true if you share your files with others.  In fact, in a recent team meeting with the Articulate community team, we had a conversation about how we want to manage our production folders going forward since we share our files.

We opted for the all-in-one option above because it’s easier to manage and share files.  We also decided on using a generic folder structure like the image above.  We start with a pre-built folder structure that includes all of the key folders.  When we start a project, we copy the generic folder structure, rename it, and then add our project files. 

Using a consistent process means that as we collaborate and share files, we’ll always know where things are.  Below is a quick tutorial that walks through the basic process we’ll be using.

Click here to view the elearning demo.

If you want additional ideas, check out Kevin Thorn’s post where he shares six tips for managing elearning courses.  He covers how he manages his elearning courses and includes a quick tutorial.

Keep in mind that there’s not a right or wrong way to manage your course files.  So you have the freedom to do what’s best for you.  However, there are things you want to consider. 

The main thing is who else gets to see and work with your files?  If it’s just you, then whatever works for you is probably fine.  But if you make the files available to others, then you need to consider a workflow that has more universal appeal.  Not everyone can bear with our idiosyncrasies.  Personally, I like a simple structure that’s not so rigid that I spend more time managing workflow than building courses. 

How do you structure your folders and files?  Do you have a generic folder structure to start?  Share your thoughts and any tips by clicking on the comments link.

Tidbits:

• Just a final reminder, the special discount code made available to the blog readers for the Baton Rouge session expires September 3rd.  If you plan on going, now’s the time to sign up.  Discount code RAPIDBLOG.
• My son’s Lego supplies hinge on Articulate’s success.  If you’re a fan, please let others know.

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In the late ‘90s the company I worked for was installing a new network in anticipation of the Y2K bug.  I was responsible for training how to use the computers on the network.

Back then most people didn’t have computers.  So before we could teach them how to use the computers, we had to teach simple things like using a mouse.  I recall a few people who actually waved the mouse in front of the monitor hoping to get it to work.

E-learning has a similar history.  Because it was new and there wasn’t a lot of consistency around interface design, most courses started with a “how to navigate this course” course.  It made sense back then.

I’m not sure if it makes much sense today because most people are familiar with computers; so figuring out how to click a play button or forward arrow isn’t too hard.  And besides, many elearning courses use a similar layout which makes it easy to know what to do.  Because of this, it’s probably not necessary to have a mini course on how to navigate the course within your course.

With that said, the majority of the courses I see do offer the mini course.  I think that in most cases they can be eliminated or at least simplified.  Here’s an example from a recent course I previewed:

This is the volume button.  Some slides may or may not have audio.  Those that do have audio can be adjusted using the volume control button.  If you want to increase the volume, place your mouse over the volume control.  To turn the volume up, drag the mouse to the right.  To turn the volume down, drag the mouse to the left.  Find a volume level that is comfortable for you.

Do I really need a thirty second explanation of the volume control?  This same course continued through explanations of all of the player features.  They even went on to explain the logo panel.  It probably took about 5 minutes just to get through the user interface.  I’m not sure exactly, because I fell asleep.

Obviously, you want to let the user know how to get around the course.  However, in many instances the navigation is obvious and needs no instruction, or just something real simple.  They definitely don’t need a full course on how to navigate the course.

The goal is to create a frictionless experience.  A mini course on navigation impedes the flow and pacing of your course.  So here are a few tips:

• Get rid of the navigation instructions. When you watched your first YouTube video, did you have problems figuring out how to get it to play?  If your course player follows convention, then it’s usually not hard to figure out what’s a play button and what’s a back arrow.
• Follow conventions and don’t customize every course you build.  It’s more fun to create a custom look and feel for your elearning courses.  But, there’s a lot of value in having a consistent player structure.  It means people know where things are and where to look for help.  This lets them focus on the content and not how to navigate the course.
• Provide clear instructions if you do have unconventional navigation. Ideally, the interface should be comfortable and intuitive…and shouldn’t require a lot of instruction.  But if you do violate some conventions, then be sure to provide clear instructions.  Something to keep in mind is that if you have to offer a lot of navigation tips, you may want to rethink how you built the interface.
• Offer just-in-time prompts.  Instead of throwing all of the navigation tips out at once, just offer them at the point where they need to be used.  For example, the first time you want them to click play, just add a “click play now” prompt.  After the first time, they should get it.  This is a better approach than offering 30 navigation tips and a long, boring tour of the interface upfront.  Most people won’t even remember all of that stuff, anyway.
• Create a “voluntary” player tour.  You may not be comfortable offering no navigation tips.  And some clients will demand it anyway.  So instead of forcing everyone to go through the tour at the front end, just add a help section where they can get some tips if they’re stuck. Many people who use Articulate Engage will create a drop down tab with detailed instructions for those who need them.
• Consider your audience.  Personally, my choice is to avoid building the “how to take the course” tour.  But I still have to think about the audience needs.  If you work with a pool of people who are not familiar with computers or seem intimidated by taking a course online, then you want to do everything you can to make it easy for them.  This is where convention and just in time prompts are valuable.
• Don’t hire people who can’t figure out how to press a play button.  It’s one thing if the elearning course has some novel interface that is a bit confusing.  But most elearning courses have the same basic structure.  If the person can’t figure out how to advance the screen without help, they might not be the right person for the job.

Below is a quick demo with a few different ideas on how you can approach the slide navigation instructions.

Click here to view the tutorial.

There are a lot of ways to build navigation tips and prompts into your elearning course.  There’s really no right or wrong way.  In fact, in reviewing the recent Articulate Guru Awards, it’s interesting to see some of the ways this is dealt with.  I’ll share more later.

How do you deal with this in your elearning courses?  Share your thoughts by clicking on the comments link.

Tidbits:

• I did a PowerPoint session for Training Magazine.  You can find the session information here.  I also included a page with the links I used in the session.
• The ASTD group in Baton Rouge extended the discount for blog readers to September 3rd.  Even without the discount, a full day session for $129 (with lunch) is a deal.  To register, click here.  Discount code is RAPIDBLOG and saves you $30.

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In last week’s post, I offered some tips for building rapid elearning courses when you’re short on time and resources.  In today’s post, I’ll discuss some of the production techniques we used.  I especially got a lot of emails about how we used Engage, so I’ll cover that as well as discuss how to do a quick pilot test and rework your objectives list. 

Here’s a link to the original course, if you haven’t seen it yet.  Check it out and then read the rest of the post.

Step Away from the Default Solution

Software companies build software with specific features.  You’re not required to use the software as prescribed.  The trick is to understand what you can do with the software and then find your own uses. 

For example, we chose to build all of the technology pieces in Engage because it’s a form-based elearning tool.  They’re easy to create and maintain.  But we didn’t want the built-in title bar that’s part of the Engage player design.  And we wanted to give the learners freedom in choosing the interaction they wanted to see and not have to go through them one slide at a time.

Our Solution

We were able to use PowerPoint’s hyperlinking for the free navigation.  However, when you publish Engage using the default method, the interactions sits on the top layer and blocks the hyperlinks.

Our solution was to publish Engage outside of the course.  Then insert the engage.swf as a Flash file on the slide.  After doing that, we moved the .swf up and uncovered the PowerPoint hyperlinks.

• After you publish the course, you need to move the engage contents folder over to the same location as the inserted .swf.  Here are some screencasts that explain how to add Engage as a Flash file and working with multiple Engage files.
• To keep the .swfs aligned, figure out how far up you need to move it.  Then add a visual stopper on your master slide.  This way to don’t need to worry about alignment issues across multiple slides.  Here’s a quick tutorial that shows how to do so.
• David has a detailed thread in the community on how we created the hyperlinked menu bar on the bottom of the slide.  You can check it out here.

Regardless of the software you use, the key point is to not limit yourself to the default use of the tool.  By stepping away from the prescribed solution, you open the doors to more creativity and customization.

Pilot Test Your Course BEFORE Final Production

Between David and me, we’ve built hundreds of hours of elearning.  With that type of experience, we have a sense for what works and what doesn’t.  And for the most part, we’re right. 

However, it’s easy to get comfortable to the point that you lose the user’s perspective.  What seems obvious and intuitive to you may not be the case for those who go through the actual elearning.  This is especially true for people who are less tech-savvy and not familiar with taking online courses.

Because of this, it’s a good idea to build a simple prototype that is the essence of your course.  Then run it through a quick review by the types of people who will use the course.  Just sit back and watch them navigate it.  Observe how they interact with the screen and what they do.  Also, time how long it takes them.  You may think a screen is simple and only requires a minute or so; but when observing the learner, you find that it takes much longer for them to get past the information.

Our Solution

We didn’t have a lot of time, so our pilot test was conducted in my family room with my wife as the volunteer (in between commercials during Top Chef).  She’s actually a good candidate because she had no vested interest in the course and doesn’t come with a lot of preconceived ideas about the way elearning courses should be designed.

As she made her way through the course, I watched what she read and where she was clicking.  There were a few places where she didn’t do what she was supposed to do. Or she kind of froze looking over the screen, not sure what to do next.

What’s funny is that to me everything seemed clear.  So my initial response to her was a bit condescending (as if the problem was hers and not the course design).  The reality though was that our instructions weren’t always clear and that caused some confusion.

We went back to the course and made some modifications.  We added better instructions.  Made sure the visual elements and how they were used was consistent.  And we compressed some of the screen content.

The key point here is that even if all you have is one person review the course, you’re better off than no one reviewing it.  A few tips:

• Build a quick prototype and get it tested.  Rapid elearning tools are great because you can build a course close to the final version quickly.
• Recruit people who are like the learners.  Pull in people who have no vested interest in your course.  They’ll give good feedback from a different perspective.
• Don’t recruit the subject matter experts (or IT people who think they know usability design).  They tend to overplay minor issues and focus on the wrong things.

Lose the Bullet Point Objectives

One thing many elearning courses have in common is the bullet-point list of objectives.  We wanted to step away from a list of objectives.  Besides, most people just click the next button when they see a list of objectives.   

Ultimately the goal is to connect the learner to the course.  It’s to help them see how the course content is relevant to what they do. To accomplish this, you don’t need a bullet-point list of objectives.

Our Solution

Our objectives list could have looked like this:

Instead, we dropped the list and offered a simple statement that tied the objective of the course to the organization’s mission.  It told them what the course covers and why.  They’ll get the rest of the details as they go through the course.

Even if you’re forced to create a bullet-point list of objectives, there’s no reason why you can’t offer a more compelling screen up front that invites them to learn more.  Start with a scenario that reveals a gap in understanding.  Or show an example of what happens without the course information. 

I like the way e-Mersion states the objectives in this CPR demo.  It’s starts with a little drama and then reveals the objectives.  It’s a simple way to offer a compelling reason why the course is important and what is being covered.   

Like many courses, there’s a lot more to share from what we learned during this project.  I haven’t even covered how to work with virtual teams or what we did to quickly implement changes.  I’ll work some of that into future conference presentations.

When you’re under pressure to deliver a good course with limited time and resources, what tips do you have?  Feel free to share your ideas by clicking on the comments link.

Tidbits:

• I’m presenting on PowerPoint on August 18.  You can get more details here.
• I’m doing a full day session in Baton Rouge on October 12.  Early bird registration ends August 23rd.  $99 for a full day workshop is a deal.  You’ll walk away with a lot of practical tips and tricks.  The discount code is RAPIDBLOG.
• I’m doing a half-day session in Vermont on September 17.  Here’s a link with more details.
• A few weeks ago, I mentioned freelancers and have had a few people looking for Articulate freelancers.  If you want to throw your hat into the ring, send me your contact info and a portfolio.

Download your free 46-page ebook: The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro

In December, LINGOs announced the first global giveback campaign, which paired elearning developers with humanitarian organizations that needed some elearning courses produced.  Like many of you, David Anderson and I took up the challenge and volunteered to create a course for Christian Aid.

For this project, we had no budget with limited time and resources.  So I thought I’d share a little about how we built the course and some of the decisions we made because they’re common to many rapid elearning courses.

Check out the course we built and then look at my notes below.

Click here to view the Christian Aid demo.

Course Structure

We only had a couple of weeks to work on the course.  This didn’t leave a lot of time for production.  Typically this type of constraint dictates a simple course like a linear, click-and-read.  But we wanted to have some interactivity.  The approach we took was to offer two tracks.  One was information specific, and the other was a bit more interactive and learner-centric.

• Information track: Some people just want information and prefer a linear flow.  So on one track we offered the core information.  But we freed it up so they only had to click on the information they needed and not go through each piece.
• Interactive track: This track was designed to present the information technology through some simple interactive decision-making scenarios.  The choices they had to make were similar to the choices they’d make at the organization.  It didn’t require that the person know anything about the technology.  We gave them the additional information as feedback.  To take away some risk, we also provided an option of reviewing the technology before making a choice.  

Essentially both tracks were the same; they just presented the information in slightly different ways, giving the learner some options and freedom in navigation.

Tip: Give the learner as much control as possible in how they get their information.  On top of that, the approach we used is a good one if you want an interactive course, but your client wants an information dump.

Dry Content?

Our course content was about communication technology and probably not that interesting in comparison to Christian Aid’s core mission of humanitarian aid.  We felt that it was important to tie the course into the organization’s larger mission.

So the course we designed was less about technology and more about making cost-effective choices that impacted the mission in the field.  In between the communication technology pieces, we added Christian Aid success stories.  It was an easy way to humanize the technology focus.

Tip: It’s important that the courses you build connect the learner to the overall mission or objectives.  It’s a reminder that they’re part of something bigger and a celebration of the organization’s accomplishments.

Reusability & Maintenance

One concern for us was how the client would maintain and edit the course after we were out of the picture. So we focused on easy maintenance and re-use of the content.  Here are a few things we did:

• The course was built in a PowerPoint-based rapid elearning tool.  This meant that long after we were gone, they could easily update & repurpose the course.  To help them, we built a clean and easy-to-use template.

• All of the technology information pieces were built in Engage.  Engage is a form-based tool and requires no programming at all.  That makes them easy to maintain and edit.  In addition, all of the interactions could be pulled from the course and added to other web sites within the organization.

• The interactive track is a simple template structure that cycles through two core slides on the master layout, even though it looks more complex. That means if they wanted to add additional content, they could do so in minutes.

Tip: Create templates and models that can be reused.  It makes editing and maintaining the course easy.  It also makes your client feel empowered.  The more the client can do on their own later, the more time you save.  Also, don’t spend time building custom Flash pieces if a form-based tool can do the job faster.

Visual Design Ideas

Clean look and feel.  One concern is that many elearning courses get crowded out with too much visual data.  There are logos, buttons, boxes and instructions all over the place.  We had two goals with the visual design: lots of whitespace and non-technology look.

• We wanted a course that was clean and aesthetically appealing.  Definitely didn’t want anything that looked like a PowerPoint slide.  So we went with a lot of open space and white background.
• We also didn’t want the course to look like a typical technology course.  We actually had one design treatment where everything was outside in a field.  It looked cool, but probably was a little too “out there” for this course.  We opted for a simple floor and wall background with nice clean icons.  It gives the screen depth, a consistent look, and seems richer than just a flat background.

Integrate the organization’s brand.  Branding is one of those frustrating parts of elearning design.  But it’s hard to get around it.  The temptation is to create screens with logos and branded elements plastered all over the place.  But the trick is to incorporate the brand ideas without having to look like you’re entering the course in a NASCAR race.

We chose a color scheme and design elements that integrated with Christian Aid’s brand.  For example, the orange and red colors come from the branded web site.  You’ll even notice that our direction arrow is tied to the Christian Aid logo.

Tip: Branding doesn’t mean you have to have a logo on every screen.  Instead, it’s more about associating the course with the organization’s visual identity.  Find ways to incorporate colors, fonts, and design elements into the course interface.

Course Navigation

Navigation.  The published course comes with the default player.  But there are times where we ask the learners to navigate by clicking on the screen instead.  Since it was different than the default player, we used animation to accentuate the navigation option.  We also clarified what the learner should do on the screen with explicit instructions.

Tip: Make sure the navigation is clear and that you are consistent in how you use the screen elements.

The Christian Aid course is a good example course for us because of the tight timeline and lack of budget.  Are there things we could have done differently?  Probably.  But given the constraints, it demonstrates that you can still build effective and interactive elearning courses with limited resources and time.  And we actually learned some new production techniques which I’ll share in an upcoming post.

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Had a great time last week in Indianapolis presenting to the Central Indiana ASTD chapter.  David and I met some nice people and got to do some research to support a recent blog post.  we also discovered that Indianapolis has two airport terminals.  One is new and looks great.  The other one is shuttered with grass overtaking the parking lot.  Guess which one the PGS lead us to?  We felt like the Griswolds when they got to Wally World.

It really didn’t matter that we were detoured because thunderstorms in Chicago grounded my flight for the evening.  So I had time to kill and decided to pull together a free elearning template for the blog readers.

Here’s an example of the template with some placeholder content.  You can find the tutorials and source files below.

Click here to view the elearning template

Notes on Creating the Template

Some people have innate design skills.  Most of us don’t.  It takes some practice.  If you want to succeed at rapid elearning, you have to develop your PowerPoint skills.  And there’s no better way than to find an inspiring design, then practice recreating it.

The first step is to replicate the design.  See what you can do with PowerPoint.  You’ll be surprised to find that PowerPoint’s a pretty capable graphics tool.  That’s how I created the envelope and television icons below.

Once you have the steps down, start to play with the layout.  When it comes to elearning templates, I usually create a few core screens.  The first is a title or section screen, the second is one where I might combine text and graphics, and then I like an open screen with maximum real estate for multimedia.

There really are no rules, though.  You can create as many derivatives of the screen as you like.

PowerPoint Tips

• Create in PowerPoint and then save the images as graphic files.  This way they’re easier to work with in your course.
• Play around with the backgrounds.  I like to use the default color theme so I can easily apply a new theme.  But adding an image, like a wood panel in this demo, looks really nice.
• Incorporate some animated elements.  What would it look like to have the note slide out from the bottom?  Or have the cards animate in?
• Try to get as many of the elements on the master slide as you can.  This saves time in production and speeds up publishing.

Here are some tutorials that show how I created the template with some additional tips.  You can view them via the Screenr links or in the course below.

Click here to view the template tutorials.

Screenr tutorials:

• Inspiration for the PowerPoint template.
• Create the basic paper layout.
• Add holes and ring to the paper.
• Additional design ideas for the elearning template.

Click here to download the PowerPoint files in pptx and ppt versions.

How would you modify the template?  Feel free to download it and make your own changes.  Share what you create by clicking on the comments link.

Tidbits:

• I’ll be in Wisconsin this week and doing an informal Articulate jam session on August 4 from 9-12.  You can get the details here.  Stop by if you have time.  Otherwise, you can swing by the Articulate booth if you’re at the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning in Madison.
• The early bird special for the Baton Rouge conference expires on Aug 23.  It’s a great deal, $99 for an all day session where you’re going to get some good practical tips that you can use right away.  Sign up and use RAPIDBLOG to get the discount.

Download your free 46-page ebook: The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro

Many of you are either working alone or on very small teams with limited resources.  With some creativity, you can do quite a bit.  In fact, many of my tips and tricks came from working in a similar situation.  It’s amazing what can be done do with a computer and a little duct tape.

With that said, working solo has some drawbacks.  One of the biggest is not having peers (or a more experienced person) who can help you brainstorm and think through the process of building a course.  You really are left to fend for yourself.  Or so it seems.

In the past we looked at how to navigate social media and manage all of the streams of information.  We also discussed ways that being part of the community can help make you an elearning superstar.  With today’s Internet and social media, you can redefine who’s a peer.  And that’s a good thing. 

I get a lot of emails about how to get started with elearning or how to learn more.  One of my first suggestions is to jump into the community forums and start asking for help.  It’s good for help and for your career.  In today’s post, I want to highlight a recent interaction in the community that shows how you can become better in your elearning design. 

A Quick Note about Communities

Communities typically work like the image below.  Most people aren’t active participants.  They kind of lurk at the edges looking for a quick tip here or there and following the threads.  Only a handful is active in real conversation. 

Lurking isn’t bad.  There’s nothing wrong with looking for the quick tips and tricks.  Who really has the time to hang out in communities chatting about elearning?

If all you want is a quick tip or fast help, then it’s fine to be on the outside.  Just jump in, get some help, and go back to work.  However, there is a lot of practical value in becoming part of your user community.  Let me share a few ways:

• Real people get real help.  No one knows the lurkers who quietly observe and pull out the help they need.  When you ask questions and engage in conversation, you become a real person.  And people who are in the community want to help real people.  Become part of the 5%.
• Become an expert.  What’s common to the community is that everyone is developing expertise in some capacity.  Sure we all come to it from different angles and levels of experience, but ultimately what binds us together is our pursuit to become better at what we do.  Share what you know and try to help others, too.  You’ll feel better and your goodwill pays dividends when you need help.
• Virtual brainstorming.  If you’re working solo, odds are that you don’t have a place to think out loud or bounce around ideas.  The community offers that.  Are you working on a course and trying to figure out how to do something?  Do you want some feedback from others?  Jump into the community and ask.

A Practical, Real-World Example

It’s one thing to talk about learning communities.  But it’s another to make it a practical reality.  The truth is most of us don’t have time to hang out in online communities.  We have work to do and can’t spend every waking hour checking links in Twitter, following threads in forums, and updating Facebook pages.

Because of this, most people don’t fully participate in community activities.  That’s fine.  However, here’s a recent community interaction that is both practical and a great example of how the community offers real valuable help and not just good discussion.

Joe Deegan is a recent Articulate customer.  And he’s quickly learned to get his value out of the community.  A while back he posted a question looking for ideas on building an interactive sales course.  My guess is that he got at least ten good ideas to play around with.

Just the other day, he posted another question in the forums:

I am working on a project where I am creating a slide that looks like the inside of a store that my users work in. I am having a hard time adding perspective to the floor so that it looks 3D as if I am inside the room. I’ve seen many of you do a great job of this so I wanted to get your ideas on how I can make my scene look better.

He uploaded a quick screencast of what he wanted to do; and then asked for some help.

You can follow what happened in the community by clicking this link.  But I’ll give you a quick rundown.

His question generated a good conversation and some advice which compounded as others jumped in.  It produced a few screencasts, some quick prototypes, and a great discussion.  By the end of it, Joe interacted with six others and came away with some good ideas.  His one-person team sure did grow.

I especially like the way Bruno took the essence of the conversation and created a quick screencast that not only addressed the original question, but also shows some great PowerPoint tips.  Check it out, below.

 

Click here to view Bruno’s tutorial.

Think about the value Joe brings to his workplace.  When they hired him, in a sense they also hired a team because Joe comes bundled with his network of resources.  So if you’re a Joe Deegan and want to learn more (or just need help with your courses) don’t be afraid to jump into the community.  You’ll find it a great experience and get the tips and tricks to help you grow as an elearning developer.

Tidbits:

• If you want to stay on top of the Articulate community, be sure to subscribe to Jeanette’s weekly update.  She posts every Monday and pulls in great discussions, tweets, and many of the practical tutorials shared by the elearning community.
• I’ll be in Madison, WI on August 4-6 at the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning. Since I’m in town, I’m free to do an informal Articulate jam session where I can answer questions and offer tips & tricks. Contact me if you’re interested and I’ll provide some details.
• Don’t forget the Baton Rouge conference on October 12. Sign up here & use RAPIDBLOG code to save $30.  It’s a great value and you’ll get all of the files we create.  I’ll be arranging an informal jam session for that one, too.

Download your free 46-page ebook: The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro

I get emails all the time from freelancers or elearning vendors asking how to get more work or exposure.  I also have quite a few managers ask for ways to get their staff up-to-speed building better elearning courses.  So, I’m going to take this opportunity to plug the Articulate Guru Awards and show how you can use the awards as a way to grow your business and rapid elearning skills.

Get Lots of Exposure & Free Marketing of Your Services

The past few weeks, as people have been reaching out to me looking for work, I’ve told them about the Articulate Guru Awards and recommended that they submit something.  Almost as if scripted, they most say, “I would but I’m too busy,” or “I don’t have any courses to enter.”  I have to chuckle at the first response considering that they’re contacting me looking for work.

Running a small business always creates this tension between doing revenue-generating projects and spending time looking for it.  So for many people it’s feast or famine.  I have to think that if I were trying to make a name for myself, contests like the Articulate Guru Awards and the eLearning Global Giveback Competition would be my first priority.  It’s free advertising.  And most likely one of the most important courses you’ll ever create.

Here’s the deal, there are very few elearning awards out there, especially ones that are free.  So why not take advantage of the opportunities that exist?  And these elearning awards are a great way to do this.

While it’s cool to win, that’s not the only benefit.  If you build a good course, you’ll get featured in other ways that give you exposure and will help you out.  In fact, it’s exactly what eVision said.  Entering the Articulate Guru Awards “was one of the best things for marketing their services.” 

Build Your Personal Portfolio

With the way things are going, you never know when you’ll be looking for work.  So you want to be prepared, which I discussed in a previous post on why you need an elearning portfolio. 

One of the challenges with compiling elearning portfolios is that many organizations have you build the same courses over and over again; and most of them are probably pretty simple or not very interesting.  It’s hard to show off your skills if you company is happy with basic PowerPoint-to-Flash courses.

With the guru awards you aren’t limited to submitting work-based courses.  You can choose to submit whatever you want.  The CPR course eMersion created wasn’t a real course.  It was just a proof of concept to show off what they can do.  And the Evernote demo that Chris did was something he chose because he is a fan of the product. 

Take advantage of the opportunity to create the type of course you want to build and show off what you can do.  You can create a course on any subject.  Here are some examples from the previous competition.  As you can see they don’t have to be corporate-type projects.

• Beer Brewing Process
• Machu Picchu 101
• Avoid Death by E-Learning

Become an Award-Winning Team

Lots of managers ask me how to get their staff up-to-speed or train them to become better at building courses.  One good way is to have the team go through a book together, something like E-Learning & the Science of Instruction or E-Learning by Design.  Discuss the key points and then practice applying them to projects or small prototypes.  You can also use these prototypes as examples that you can share with your clients.

Another way to build your team’s skills is to challenge them to create an award-winning elearning course.  They don’t need to build an entire course.  Keep it short.  Pick a generic subject, like planting a garden or building a birdhouse.  Find something with lots of content so you don’t have to spend a lot of time on that and can focus mostly on the course design.

While it didn’t win, one of my personal favorites from a previous contest is this sexual harassment course from Cognizant.  Here’s why I like it:

• It was built in just four days—from script to final product.  That’s pretty impressive.
• It’s not an information dump.  With that quick turn-around, it’s easy to build a simple, linear PowerPoint-to-Flash course. They didn’t.
• They used lots of video and included some interactive scenarios.

Click here to view Cognizant’s Sexual Harassment Course.

The course received high marks and rave reviews from their peers.  And my guess is that as a team, they had a lot of fun creating it.

Are You Really an E-Learning Pro?

This is a challenge to all of the elearning gurus out there.  I see all sorts of opinions and criticism of rapid elearning from many in the industry.  But most of the critics do not offer examples of how they’d build the courses with rapid elearning tools. 

But I know that many of them do build courses with the tools.  In fact, when I ask some of the critics for examples of their own work, I typically get the “I’d love to show you, but it’s all proprietary” answer.  I’m not sure I buy that.  It seems to me that you should be able to offer more than just your opinion.

Many of you more experienced elearning developers are building rapid elearning courses.  So take this opportunity to show off your skills (and your potential clients why they should choose your services rather than build their courses in-house). 

The reality is that a good instructional designer should be able to build a good course regardless of authoring tools.  So if you’re in the industry and are known for giving advice on building courses, why not show us all what you can do?  In addition, your examples are good inspiration for all of those up and coming developers who want to learn from you.

Tips to Get Started

• David and Jeanette put together a series of blog posts with some good tips and links to relevant tutorials.  Even if you don’t enter any contests, the information is good.
  • 6 Ideas for Building Guru-Quality E-Learning Content
  • 10 Visual Design Ideas for Designing Guru-Style E-learning
  • 4 Ways to Build Interactive Courses Like an E-Learning Guru
  • Using Your Articulate Tools Like an E-learning Guru
• You don’t need to submit a real course (or the entire course if you have one ready to go).  I’d make a list of certain things you want to feature, like the tools, interactivity, graphic design, etc.  Then pull together a really tight example rather than a full 60 minute course where the really great stuff might be swallowed by the not-so-great.
• Check out other rapid elearning examples for some inspiration.  Here’s a list from a recent conference.  There’s the community showcase. And of course, previous guru award winners.  There are also a bunch of great examples in the community and on Screenr.
• Want to partner with someone, contact me and I’ll see if I can get you connected with someone else.  Also, if you are creating a course for the LINGOs competition you can also submit that for the Articulate Guru Awards.

I’ll close with this, good fortune sits at the crossroads between opportunity and action.  You have the opportunity, now just take action.  Besides, this stuff’s so easy, even a monkey can do it.

Tidbits:

• Speaking of freelancers, if you do freelance work with Articulate, contact me and include a link to your portfolio. 
• I’ll be in Indianapolis, this week.  You’re always welcome to join us.
• Baton Rouge is coming up in October.
• I’m working on a trip to the northeast, something on the east coast, and possibly Wisconsin in August.  More details to follow.

Download your free 46-page ebook: The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro

Did you know that Portland, Oregon has more than 30 breweries?  That is the most breweries per capita in the US.  Being from the Pacific Northwest, I’m kind of partial to craft beers.  I might not like every beer that I taste, but I do enjoy the diversity in flavor.

The thing with beer is that there’s not a right or wrong beer.  It would be foolish to argue that a stout is better than a pilsner.  They’re different beers for different tastes and occasions.  The same can be said for elearning.  In fact, I like to use beer as a way to look at elearning courses.  Let me explain.

The Many Levels of E-Learning

Often elearning courses are presented in a hierarchy.  You may see them described as levels, where level one is information only and level five may be highly interactive.  Or you’ll see elearning qualified by the tool used.  For example, if the course is created in PowerPoint, then by default it’s low.

While there’s nothing wrong with creating a model like this to describe the different types of elearning, there are a few things I don’t like about it.  First, because we assign a number to the levels it implies value without regard to purpose.  We tend to view low level as less effective.  Or as often is the case, we’ll deride an information-based course as a mere “page turner.”  

In fact, at a recent conference an elearning vendor came by the Articulate booth looking to pawn off what she labeled level one courses.  She told me that she couldn’t find anyone on her staff that was willing to do “those types of courses.”  Apparently, times are good for them.

On the surface a highly interactive, branched scenario might appear to be a better elearning than a very simple linear course.  But that may not be the case.  It all depends on the purpose of the course. 

Something else I see in these models is that PowerPoint authored courses are typically placed at a low level. They’re usually identified as information-only courses.  However, by now we all know that’s not necessarily true.  PowerPoint’s just a software application and content neutral.  You can create either simple, information-only courses or much more sophisticated learning interactions.  It just depends on your needs.

Build a Course to Meet Your Objectives

The ultimate goal for elearning is to build a course that meets your client’s needs and learning objectives and that can mean any type of course.  Let’s place a flight simulator course at level five and a simple annual compliance review at level one.  If I wanted to train pilots to fly the new Boeing 787, I sure wouldn’t want them going through a simple, information-only series of screens.  With the people’s lives at stake, they need to be trained in the most sophisticated manner possible.  In the same sense, building a complex simulation for a simple compliance course is also the wrong approach. 

There’s a place for all types of courses and sometimes what we think of low level is actually the best course.  That’s why it’s important to not to get too dogmatic about how a course is built and whether or not it’s interactive.  That’s why I like to think of them less in terms of levels and more like beer.

On a hot day, after mowing the lawn, a cold pilsner is more satisfying than a heavier stout.  But when I go out to have a beer, I typically prefer the richer flavors of a porter over something lighter.  There’s no right or wrong beer where one is of higher value than the other.  Beers are just different.  So here’s my beer-based elearning meter:

• Is the objective to share information or change performance?
• What level of interactivity do you need in your course?
• What should the course look like?

You’re either viewing or doing.  There are plenty of compliance and annual review type courses that are mostly informational.  While we could argue that all all courses need to be performance-based, that’s not going to happen.  Besides, the course is just one part of the learning process and sometimes all you need is information.

It’s kind of like a text book.  Some you just read and reflect.  But some are workbooks that provide exercises for you to practice what you’re learning.  They all have their place in the learning process; just like elearning courses.

Not all courses require interactivity.  While it may be shocking to hear, some people like a bullet point list and don’t want to go through an interactive scenario.  On the other hand, one of the valuable elements of elearning is being able to create interactivity that is cost-effective and can be tailored to the learner’s needs.

Don’t bore your learners with bullet point screens, when they’d be better off working through a problem-solving scenario.  In the same sense, don’t offer a complex scenario, when all they need is a few key points.  Create the interactivity that is appropriate to your objectives.

We don’t want to underestimate the power of good visual design.  Graphic design and visual communication are important parts of the learning process.  That includes everything from the graphics, the user interface, and how the graphics contribute to the learning objectives.

With that said, there’s no reason to overbuild the graphics either.  A first rule is to keep it simple and guide the learner’s attention.  You’re better off with a simple line of text on a white screen if it helps the learner focus and understand what you’re trying to teach.

On the other hand, the visual design of your course plays an important role in what you’re communicating.  People are drawn to good graphic design.  Plus, good design implies value that tells the learner this is worth exploring.  It can contribute to an immersive experience that draws the learner in.

I like the beer model because it’s flexible and acknowledges that elearning courses have differences and some are richer than others.  However, it also recognizes that the value of the course isn’t based on where it sits in the model but more on the objectives of the course.  And that’s the key, you’re building an elearning course to meet specific objectives and you need to build the right course to do so.

Tidbits:

• Don’t forget to start working on that Articulate Guru Awards project. Use it as a way to push your skills.
• Here are two good opportunities for you to learn more about elearning at a decent price.  I’ll be in Indianapolis on July 23 and Baton Rouge on October 12 ($30 code: RAPIDBLOG). For what you get and the free resources we’ll provide it’s a great deal.
• I’m working on a few other presentations and events, so stay tuned.

Download your free 46-page ebook: The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro

 

I love all of the web apps and cool sites that pop up on the Internet.  Many of them are cool in a gadgety way but not always practical; but they are fun to play with.  And then there are some that are practical.  For example, I use the social bookmarking tool, Diigo, quite a bit.  At my last place, the internal network was so lame that I used Diigo to bookmark and manage all of my internal links.  It made my life a lot easier and more productive.  Currently, we use Diigo’s linkroll feature to track our community tutorials. 

I’m also a big Dropbox fan.  It’s one of my favorite tools because it makes team collaboration and file syncing so easy.  I also use Clusterurl quite a bit.  I like to create clusters when I’m doing research. Here’s a screencast I did to show how that works.

Those are just a few of the types of sites that can make your life and work easier.  In today’s post, I thought I’d share a few that work well with this blog and allow you to access the blog posts in a different format.

Listen to a Podcast of the Rapid E-Learning Blog 

Hear a Blog offers a free service where they convert the blog posts to a podcast.  So if you’re a fan of this blog, then you can always download and listen to the blog posts rather than read them.  It’s a great way to share all of this elearning goodness with your friends and family (especially children on long road trips). 

Of course, lost in the podcast are the graphics and links to examples.  So you may think that it could make the podcast irrelevant, but that’s not the case.  Let me tell you why and how it relates to elearning design.

When we access information the same way all the time, the familiarity could produce a certain level of complacency.  For example, I have hundreds of RSS feeds in my feed reader.  I’ve gotten used to quickly scanning headlines, images, and bold text for pertinent information.  I can quickly get the gist of the posts, but I definitely don’t get all of the details, and many times miss important points in the posts.

The post as a podcast makes me stop and listen.  It changes how I focus on the information and possibly helps something different stand out.  This is something to consider when you build courses. 

Are there ways to change up the info or structure of the elearning course so that it forces the elearner out of a complacent mindset?  Find ways to keep your learners looking for the next button.

Seth Godin had an interesting post about doing a 200 slide presentation to change up the pace of your presentation.  It’s similar to what I’m suggesting.  With multimedia communication it’s as much about the content as it is about the flow and pacing.

As a side note, if you’re looking for a voiceover career, Hear a Blog may be a great place to start.  It looks like there are opportunities to record podcasts to pad your portfolio.

Convert the Rapid E-Learning Blog to PDF

Many blog readers ask how to print the blog posts so they can read them offline or share the posts with others.  Web2PDF offers an easy way to create a PDF of any blog post.

Here’s what you do:

• Copy the blog post’s address
• Then go to Web2PDF and paste the address into the form to create a PDF
• Now you have a PDF version of the post with comments included. This is good because sometimes there are a lot of nuggets in the comments section. It looks like all of the links work, as well. 

While this is a cool site to use with the Rapid E-Learning Blog posts, you’re not limited to creating PDFs from this blog alone.  Use it anytime you find a post you like. 

The other day I was going through a folder of web links that I’ve collected over the years.  They have all sorts of content from meeting with clients to Photoshop tips.  Unfortunately, about 60% of the links no longer work.  The content was gone.  Now, when I find a post or site that has information I want to preserve, I just save it as a PDF.  Even if the site no longer exists, I’ll always have the content and source for reference.

Web2PDF offers some browser tools that make it super simple to save the page as a PDF.  Here’s what it looks like if I right-click on a blog post while in the Firefox browser.

 

Those are two good sites that let you get the blog posts in a different format.  What are some of the sites you use that help make your life easier?  Feel free to share them in the comments section.

Tidbits:

Here are two great learning opportunities.  You’ll learn more about rapid elearning and any templates of resources we show in the session, we’ll give away for free.  That should pay for the sessions themselves.

• Central Indiana ASTD, Indianapolis, IN: Jul7 23. Sign up here.
• Baton Rouge ASTD, Baton Rouge, LA: October 12. Sign up here & use RAPIDBLOG code to save $30.

Don’t forget to submit something for the Articulate Guru Awards.  It’s a great way to show off your skills and possibly get some new clients.

Download your free 46-page ebook: The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro

I was moving some files around the other day and found a tabbed PowerPoint template I started working on about a year ago.  So I finished it up and am giving it away today.  Feel free to use it as you wish.

I like making these PowerPoint templates because it’s a good way to practice production techniques.  They can make you more efficient when building your elearning courses.  I also added some tips and tutorials below.

First, here’s a quick mock up of the template in action.

Click here to view the demo.

PowerPoint Tips

• Keep graphics development separate from the elearning course.  It’s a good idea to have one PowerPoint file to build the graphics.  And then have another for the actual course.  The advantage is that the course file will have fewer objects on the screen and make publishing faster.  It’s also a good idea to keep the graphics production separate from the course file.
• Use colors you can modify.  PowerPoint 2007 has a color scheme feature.  I design my templates with the default color scheme and then if I want a unique color applied, I just create my own scheme.  Get used to building your template for quick editing and reusability.
• Create multiple masters.  You can have as many master slides as you like.  If I have four slides or more with mostly the same content, I’ll create a master slide.  It makes it easier to edit and publishing is also a bit faster because a lot of the redundancy is removed.
• Build navigation in your masters.  You can add hyperlinks to the master slide and they will work across all of the slides.  That’s how the tabs work in the demo above.  In addition, if you add something like a next arrow to a master (and you don’t want it to show on your slide), create a box that covers it up.
• Use slide masters as a repository for items you’re not using, but want access to.  Sometimes I’ll create shapes or objects that work with the template but am not currently using.  I create an extra master layout and dump those objects on the screen.  They remain in the file, but don’t end up in the final publish.
• Keep hyperlinks separate from the objects.  Create a rectangle shape and add the hyperlinks to that.  Then place the link shape on top of the place where you want the link to be.  This makes it easier to work with the links when you want to do edits or move the links around.  Prior to publishing, I make the link boxes completely transparent.
• Rename your objects.  Starting with PowerPoint 2007, working with layered objects is a lot easier. You can move them around; and show/hide them, too.  Because of this, it’s a good habit to rename the objects so it’s much easier to work with them as layers.

I did a series of quick tutorials to show these tips in action.  You can view them below.

Click here to view the tutorials.

You can download the PowerPoint templates here.  I also included the demo file so you can see how I pulled it together.  Feel free to use the template as you wish for your elearning projects.

Want to take a stab at creating your own tabbed template?  I’d love to see what you come up with.  Feel free to add a link to the comments section.  Or better yet, create a template that you can share with the community.

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Tidbits

 

Don’t forget to start working on your Articulate Guru Awards project.  It’s a great way to practice your skills and show off what you can do.  You can learn more here. 

Jeanette and David also did a few blog posts with some great ideas on getting started.  The tips they offer are good whether or not you enter the guru awards.

• Why You Need to Enter the Articulate Guru Awards & How to Win

• 6 Ideas for Building Guru-Quality E-Learning Content

• 10 Visual Design Ideas for Designing Guru-Style E-learning

• 4 Ways to Build Interactive Courses Like an E-Learning Guru

• Using Your Articulate Tools Like an E-learning Guru

Download your free 46-page ebook: The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro

I’m intrigued by some of the reality television shows.  I don’t care much for the trashy ones, but the ones where there are skilled people competing are interesting.  I usually catch snippets of Project Runway or Top Chef since those are two of my wife’s favorites.

As can be expected, these shows typically have colorful characters that produce the drama.  And some of the people can be arrogant and ruthless.  The other day my kids were watching a cooking competition.  I used the show as a teaching moment.  We talked a bit about humility and being kind to others. 

Not only are there teaching moments for the kids, there’s really a lot that can be applied to elearning.  So here are five things that we can learn from reality television.

There’s never just one way to do something. 

In many of the shows, the contestants are all given the same task and same materials.  Then they’re asked to put their personal stamp on it.  It’s interesting to see the different perspectives and creativity. 

What strikes me is that even though they all start at the same place, how they approach the challenge is usually different and unique. 

Key points:

• There’s more than one way to approach the course design.  Don’t spend all your time trying to find the “right” approach.  Besides, those who end up taking the course aren’t privy to the alternatives, anyway.
• Try to brainstorm and get feedback from others.  Everyone has a unique perspective and something to add.  On top of that, others see things we don’t.  Most likely your project designs will be more diverse and better constructed if you can bring in an extra set of eyes.

Grow thick skin and learn to take criticism. 

Most reality shows have some sort of judging component where a panel of experts critiques the contestants’ work.  That part of the show is usually the most entertaining, especially if you have a judge like Simon Cowell.

It never fails that as soon as a judge offers some criticism, one of the contestants will get defensive and offer a long-winded explanation of what they were trying to do.  You know what?  In most cases, no one really cares.  Take the feedback, make the changes, and move on.

It’s natural to get defensive when their hard work is being torn apart.  However, in most cases the judges are right on and offer the type of criticism that is fair and will only help the people get better.

Key points:

• Your job is to please the client.  Listen to what they say.  Avoid being defensive, even if you don’t agree.  Humility goes a long way. Not only will you satisfy the client, you’ll also build a stronger relationship.
• Just to be sure, ask clarifying questions so that you find out exactly what it is they didn’t like and what recommendations they have to make it better.  That’s different than being defensive.

Learn to give constructive feedback.

My kids were watching the Next Food Network Star.  The goal of the show is to not just be a good cook, but to be a good cook who connects with people on TV.  Some of them didn’t meet that goal. 

What impressed me was the feedback given by Bob Tuschman, the VP of Programming.  While he might have come off a bit insensitive because of his matter-of-fact manner, he got straight to the point and made sure that his critique was centered on meeting the ultimate objectives.

Because we’re so sensitive to not offend, it can seem harsh to give any type of corrective feedback.  Some people take any criticism as a personal assault.  However, in our industry it’s important to be able to give good, constructive feedback.

Key points:

• Understand your goals and give feedback targeted to meeting them.  Don’t focus on the person; instead focus on the objectives and whether or not they were met.  And why.
• Provide direction in your feedback.  It’s not enough to point out that something’s good or bad.  Be specific and focus on the desired action and result.  For example, “The course seems slow,” doesn’t say much.  What does “slow” mean?  Something like this could be better.  “Most screens had over 30 seconds of audio narration and there wasn’t much happening on the screen.  Perhaps we need to trim the audio and change up the screen content a bit more.”

Design for others.

Most of the people who make it to the television competitions already have some sort of creative talent.  Otherwise they wouldn’t be on the show.  The challenge for them is to focus on how others can benefit from their skills and less on how they’re a gift to humanity.

This is really evident in a show like Project Runway.  Often the fashion designers flounder because they place so much emphasis on their creativity that they lose sight of the objective to please someone else.  The ultimate goal is to marry their creative skills with a marketable product.

Key points:

• Your success hinges on the success of others.  Focus on the customer’s needs and deliver a course that helps them succeed.
• When it comes to elearning, the more learner-centric your course is the more likely it is that you’ll succeed.

Be flexible and willing to learn.

There’s usually some contestant who struggles early on, but in each round makes adjustments to get better.  It’s impressive when a person can dismiss the need to justify their work and instead incorporate the criticism from the judges to give it a better go the next time.

Success in life is less about getting it perfect and more about the adjustments you make along the way.  My guess is that successful people can probably list a lot more failures than they can successes.

Key points:

• Put yourself in a position to be critiqued.  Find a mentor who can give you good counsel.  Or have regular team meetings where you review each other’s work.  If you don’t have a team, jump into the user community and ask for feedback.
• Try something new.  Don’t create twenty courses that are all essentially the same.  Play around with ideas and try to incorporate them into your courses. 

Granted a lot of the activity is staged and edited for entertainment value, but what makes reality television intriguing is that they place people in circumstances that stress them.  We might not be on television, but we definitely face similar issues as we create elearning courses.  Have a thick skin; be humble; and focus on others.  That’s a winning combination that can only make your courses and relationships better.

Download your free 46-page ebook: The Insider's Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro

I had a blog reader ask about the best way to animate a table in her rapid elearning course.  Like a lot of things, it’s usually less about the best way and more about understanding the many ways that you can do something.  Once you know what you can do, it’s easier to choose the best option that meets your objectives.

Her question did cause me to think about some of the different ways you can use tables in an elearning course.  So I put together ten ideas that may help the next time you need to add a table to your course.  Below is a quick demo that shows them in action.  I explain more below.

Click here to view the table demo.

The No Frills Approach

Just add the table and do nothing else.  Add some narration that explains the table.  If you want to make it a bit more interactive, ask the learner to look for information.  One challenge with this approach is that there are no visual cues.  The learner could easily lose track of the narration and where it’s at on the table.

Simple PowerPoint Animations

Use PowerPoint shapes or images to point out things on the table.  Add on-click animations to the objects and you can sync the animations to your audio.   This provides good visual cues and helps direct the learner’s focus.

A downside to this approach is the time it takes to build the animations and get them just right.  Also, if you want to print out the PowerPoint files, you have to remove all of the animations from the slide.  Otherwise, they’ll cover up the content.

Progressive Reveal Animations

Another way to use on-click animations is to cover the table with rectangles.  Set them to fade out on mouse click.  Then as you talk and click the animation, the box fades away.  It looks like the table is actually fading in.

This looks nice and is a bit easier to build and manage than the other types of PowerPoint animations.  You still have to remove the objects if you want to print the slides.

Just-in-Time Annotations

Articulate Presenter has that cool annotations feature.  They look great and can be added on the fly.  So there’s no building of animations or cluttering your slides with content you have to remove prior to printing.

Annotations are probably my favorite solution.  I just like the way they look and using them is really no different than how you might use a laser pointer.  Of all the solutions it’s probably the easiest.

Duplicate Slides & Hyperlinks in PowerPoint

If you want to get a little trickier and add more content than just audio narration, then this approach may work for you.  Essentially you make a duplicate slide for each category.  Then add hyperlinks to those slides.

The benefit to this approach is that it makes the entire slide area open to you as you focus on a single point of information.  In the demo, I show a few different ideas.  The negative to this approach is that it requires a lot more work.  But if you have the right type of table and content it is a neat way to do it.

Create a HTML Table

Sometimes the table content is dynamic and can change more frequently than you choose to publish the course.  Using the web object feature is a great way to avoid a bunch of extra work.

What you do is create the table as a HTML file; then place it on a server.  Insert the URL as a web object and publish your course.  You can update the table on the server and it’s automatically updated in the course.

Adding Interactive Multimedia

Sometimes, tables are just boring.  It’s cool when you can augment the table’s information with audio, images, and videos.  So I played around with a few ideas in Articulate Engage.  What I like about this approach is that you can make the information more interesting and relevant to the learner.

For example, what if each cell included a video of a subject matter explaining how the information impacts the organization in a real way?  That could be impactful.  It definitely would make the table more engaging and possibly help the learner connect it to the real world.

Add Interactive Multimedia Labels

The labeled graphics interaction lets you insert an image of the table.  From there, you can add labels on top of the image.  The labels can contain audio, images, and video or Flash files.

What I like about this approach is that I can add a label over each cell.  It allows the learner to explore and click on only the area of interest.  Combine that with an interactive Flash file (such as the one in my demo) and you have a pretty dynamic multimedia table.

Use a Guided Image with Multimedia

The guided image interaction is similar to the labeled graphic because you can add text, audio, and multimedia.  However, it’s more of a linear presentation of the information.  Personally, I like to give the learners more control so I’d probably go for the labeled graphic over the guided image.

You do have the option of having the arrows come from the top, bottom, or either side.  While the guided tour isn’t as interactive as the labeled graphic, it does look nice and much easier to work with than a PowerPoint slide if you want to augment the information with some multimedia.

Let the Media Tour Progressively Reveal

This one’s similar to the progressive reveal in PowerPoint.  However, instead of adding the rectangles and having them exit on click, you insert multiple images.  When the learner advances, the table builds.

The media tour lets you add an image (or other media) and some audio.  You also get the text are on the bottom.  For this example, it’s probably not the option I’d select, but it is a different way to display the table in your course.  And that’s the main thing.

Understand the tools you have and what they can do.  Then look at all of your options and match the best option to what you hope to accomplish in your course.  My favorites are the annotations (because of ease) and the labeled graphics (because I like to give the learners control).

Can you think of other ways to add table to your elearning courses? If so, add your ideas by clicking on the comments link.

Tidbits

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the Articulate Guru Awards.  The other day I wrote a post for the Word of Mouth blog to help answer some question.  The guru awards are a great opportunity to create a portfolio project.  Get your team to take the challenge and create a course.

I’m hitting the road soon.  Here are some of the places I’ll be:

• Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning in Madison, WI: August 4-6
• Baton Rouge ASTD, Baton Rouge, LA: October 12. Sign up here & use RAPIDBLOG code to save $30.
• DevLearn in San Francisco, CA: November 3-5

I’ve also got a few other trips planned.  I’ll update you as they’re settled. You can always take a look at the Articulate calendar to keep tabs on what we’re doing and where we’ll be at.

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It would be great to have a graphics artist on staff who could build the graphics you need for your elearning courses.  But the reality for many of us is that’s not going to happen.  So you’re left to fend for yourself.

In previous posts, I shared a lot about how to customize your clip art so that you have some flexibility when building your elearning courses in PowerPoint.  In today’s post I want to expand on that a bit by showing you how you can use a single clip art style to create your basic elearning template.

Find a Style You Like

Look over the clip art that you have and locate a style that you like.  For this post, I’m using Style 802.  What I like about it is the hand drawn look and simplicity of the style.  I also like that there’s a lot of variety.

A few things that I look for:

• Characters:  What type of people, poses, and variations exist?  I look for heads that can be removed and matched to other bodies.  This way I can create the same character in multiple settings.

• Objects: What objects are available that I can pull out and use?  I look for rectangular shapes that could become boards or pieces of paper.  Computers are another hot item for elearning.

• Lines and shapes:  Are there some shapes or lines that I can pull from the clip art and use in other places?  Style 802 is a good example for this.  The images have a hand drawn look.  Adding a PowerPoint shape or line really stands out.  So I want to find lines and other shapes I can pull from the clip art and apply elsewhere.

Play Around with Ideas

Try to build a template structure using elements from the clip art.  For example, you probably need some content boxes.  Perhaps you’ll want sections or menu options.  You might even offer a little resource section with clickable icons.

You might also change up the look.  Many times, the images are all sized the same way.  Try something new.  Make your images real big.  Or, make them real small.  Flip them.  Crop them.  Bring them in at different angles.  Try bold colors.  Make a comic book panel.

Once you start moving the images around, you might find some interesting layouts.

I created a quick mockup using the Style 802 clip art.  Hopefully, it gives you some ideas for your next elearning course.

I also included the PowerPoint files so you can see what I did.  Feel free to break them apart and build your own ideas.  Download the PowerPoint files used in this post.

Click here to view the demo.

There’s a lot more that you can do with these clip art styles.  Then main thing is to train your eyes to recognize usable shapes and lines, as well as which characters work.   

Here’s a link to some clip art styles that might work for this.  What clip art style do you think work best?  Add your favorite by clicking on the comments link.

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I’m no audio engineer.  And odds are that neither are you.  So I won’t get into all of the nitty gritty details of audio editing.  If you want more details, one of the community MVPs shared some tips on how to improve your audio quality.  It’s a good post and worthy reading.

Today I want to share some free or inexpensive ways to work with the audio in your elearning courses.  Let’s start with narration.

Do the Basics Right

Your audio quality is never going to be better than what you originally recorded.  So you need to do the best you can to record good quality audio from the start.  The two best things you can do are:

• Invest in a good microphone.  I’m surprised that organizations will invest hundreds of dollars in software, pay someone thousands of dollars to build courses, and then only let them buy a cheap microphone for $20.  Makes no sense. Even if you’re on a limited budget, you can get a good microphone for about $50.   
• Control your recording environment.  If you record in a conference room next to the copy machine or at your office cubicle, odds are that you’ll have sub-par audio.  Try to find a consistent place to record audio so that you can better control your environment.

You can find some additional tips in these posts on recording high quality audio and recording narration like a pro.

Audacity

I’ve mentioned Audacity before.  It’s an audio editor that is free and easy to use for beginners.  But if you want to do more than basic editing, you have a lot of features to work with.  So it’s a tool that you can grow into.

Here’s a good tutorial from Brian that shows how to clean up your audio starting with those “little itty bitty” wave forms.

Click here to view the screencast.

If you want a little bit more detail, David did a few tutorials that show how to edit your narration for greater impact.

• Use bass boost to add warmth
• Reduce background & ambient noise
• Equalize to add warmth and presence
• Clean up your audio (good tip from Brian)

Myna

Aviary’s Myna is an online audio editor.  It’s easy to use; and as long as you have a decent Internet connection, it’s a practical tool.  It’s also free, which is a big plus.  What I like about Myna is the library of assets available to you.

I did a quick screencast to show how it works.  If you want to learn more, go to the site and check out the demo and tutorials.

Click here to view the screencast.

Levelator

Levelator is a really simple way to make some improvements to your audio narration.  I can’t think of any easier way to adjust your audio.  Basically, all you do is drag and drop you audio files onto the desktop shortcut and the application does the rest.  Levelator does its magic and provides edited copies right inside the same folder.

Below is a quick tutorial that shows just how easy it is to use.  I’ve also added a before and after audio file to hear the difference.  It’s a little richer and louder.  You can also see the differences in the wave forms below. 

Click here to view the tutorial.

 

Levelator – before

Levelator – after

  Creative Commons Audio

The tools above are free and help you get better sounding audio.  But sometimes our audio needs aren’t just for narration.  Sometimes we need background music or sound effects. 

If you have some money you can always buy background music and sound effects on CD.  When I did video production, we had a CD binder that held about 200 disks full of just about any music style you would need.  It was a great resource.

Even if you don’t have money, there are some free resources available to you.  Here are a few sites that offer sound effects and free music.  Be sure to check out their Creative Commons License agreements before using them.

• CCMixter.  Loved this song, Making Me Nervous, which I heard in a Tech Crunch video. 
• The Freesound Project: I even included one. Do a search for “elearning.”
• OpSound
• Free Music Archive
• Jamendo

Another option is to buy stock sounds.  I’ve used Soundsnap before.  iStockphoto also sells stock audio.  They have a good library and the prices are decent.

Another idea is to contact an independent artist who may give you permission to use some music.  It never hurts to ask.  Of course, even a good song can’t make a bad course enjoyable. 

Create Your Own Audio

When all else fails you can create your own audio files.  If you want simple sound effects, record your own.  Need ambient office noise?  Just set up a mic in a busy area and record the audio.  Or go to the cafeteria.  That’s what Chris Kelly did to get the busy pub sound for his Beer Brewing Overview.  Love the tips on sustainable brewing.

You can even create your own music.  You can create everything from a hip hop beat to softer background audio. Musicshake and TuneAround are free tools that let you easily create your own music and soundtracks.  Be careful, though.  You can end up spending hours playing around and creating your own music.  As an example, I used Musicshake to create Dr. Werner’s SMART Goals: The Musical. 

You can always download and use Microsoft’s Songsmith and create brilliant stuff like this.  The video kind of reminds of all of the lame training programs I’ve been in where we had to write and perform songs based on what we learned.

 

Click here to watch the Songsmith video.

I’m not sure why anyone would pay $30 for it considering the alternatives above, but Songsmith is available for free to educators.  Based on how my kids have played with it, I can see where this could be a good tool to use in class as part of a creative exercise.  For example, write a song about something you learned.

So those are some simple tools that you can use when including audio in your rapid elearning courses.  Have any other free audio tools to recommend?  Feel free to share them in the comments link. 

Tidbits:

• I had a blast at the ASTD conference and got to meet quite a few blog readers.  At the conference, we did a bunch of mini sessions.  For those who couldn’t go, this link shares the 50 elearning tutorials that made up the sessions.
• Right on the heels of President Obama’s visit to the gulf states, I’ll be doing a rapid elearning event in Baton Rouge on October 12.  Use this code RAPIDBLOG to save $30.  Tell your boss that you want $99 for a 6-hour practical elearning conference.

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At the recent ASTD conference, I was asked how to create engaging elearning.  If you’ve been reading the Rapid E-Learning Blog for a while, then you know I’ve tackled this subject before.  I decided to pull ten ideas that are fundamental to building good elearning courses.

Rule 1: Don’t Create the Course

This is probably not the advice your client wants to hear.  But let’s face it; there’s quite a bit of elearning that’s just a big waste of time.  If the course isn’t tied to real performance improvements, it might not be worth building.  During the initial project meetings, I try to get the client to tie the course to real performance goals.  If they can’t, then I suggest that a course might not be the best option.

Besides, many of the courses we create are just sharing information that’s already available in other places like the organization’s intranet or via job aids. Why build an elearning course that rehashes information available elsewhere?  If anything, build a course that teaches people how to find the resources already available to them.

Rule 2: The Course Needs to be Relevant to the Learner

Most boring courses are the result of the content not being relevant to the learner.  Even if you build simple compliance training, there’s a way to make it relevant.  Talk to your learners and find out how they use the compliance information.  Then place the course in a context where it makes sense for the learner.

Also, consider that not all learners are created equal.  They come to the courses with different levels of experience and knowledge.  By creating a learner-centric course, you can accommodate their diverse needs.

The key to interactive courses is not multimedia, rollovers, or drag-and-drop interactions.  Instead, it’s how the learner will interact with the content.  Create courses where the learner doesn’t just passively receive information.  Instead give them opportunities to reflect on and use the information to make decisions and get feedback.

Rule 3: Understand Your Objectives

If all you’re trying to do is share information and track completion before December 31, then build a course that’s appropriate for those objectives.  The best bet might be to make it easy for the learners to find the information, complete the course, and get back to productive work.

On the other hand, if you’re building a course where you desire to change behaviors, an information dump is not going to work.  In that case, you want a course that builds the skills the learner will need to meet the performance goals.

Rule 4: Free Up the Navigation

In a recent article on iPad usability, Jakob Nielsen had this to say:

Using the Web has given people an appreciation for freedom and control, and they’re unlikely to happily revert to a linear experience.

In the same sense, people like the freedom to review and scan information in the elearning course.  Nothing is more frustrating than locked navigation where control is stripped from the person who’s supposed to be doing the learning.

Here are a few things that bug the learners:

• People like to explore and experiment.  It helps them build context.  Locked navigation doesn’t allow this.
• We can read faster than the narration.  Don’t make people wait for the narrator to advance if you give them the option to read. 
• You have a screen that’s 5 minutes long.  At 4:18, the learner misses a key point.  Because the navigation is locked he can’t rewind a few seconds.  Instead he has to go back (if he can) and repeat the first four minutes.

Many times the navigation is locked for fear the learner will just click through the course.  If that’s the case, see Rules 2 and 5.  Instead of locking the navigation, control their movement through the course via decision-making.  This gives them the freedom to move around and odds are you make the course more engaging.

Rule 5: Don’t Push, Let the Learner Pull

Many courses are designed to push information out.  But that’s not best for learning.  You’re better off if you can create an environment where the learner has to pull information in.

Instead of a series of click-and-read screens, give the learner a problem to solve.  Then provide all of the information that you would normally have pushed by creating access to additional, just-in-time resources.  As the learner attempts to solve the problem, she’ll pull the information she needs.

Rule 6: Consider the Pacing & Flow

Learning is like eating.  You don’t just shovel spoonful after spoonful of food into your mouth, at least not normally (unless it involves Nutella).  Instead, you take in a spoonful of food; chew it up to break it into smaller pieces; and then swallow it so that it can be processed further down the digestive tract.

In the same way, you can’t expect to shovel new information on top of new information in the brain.  You have to pace it.  Take in new information; reflect on it (maybe practice using it); and then send it to other parts of the brain for processing.

Avoid shoveling too much information by working on the pacing and flow of the course.  With new information provide opportunities to use it.  On a side note, I don’t advocate the classic 5 screens of information and then a knowledge check approach.  Try something more creative.

Rule 7: Look for Inspiration Outside of E-Learning

Sometimes in the elearning industry we tend to become so idealistic about what real elearning is or isn’t that all we do is complain or force all sorts of instructional design rules that diminish creativity.  There’s a good chance that if you listen to elearning people you’ll end up with a course that does a great job avoiding cognitive load but little to engage the learner.

Seth Godin made an interesting point about finding good ideas.

The best ideas come out of the corner of our eye, the edge of our consciousness, in a flash. They are the result of misdirection and random collisions, not a grinding corporate onslaught. And yet we waste billions of dollars in time looking for them where they’re not.

Put yourself in a position where things can randomly collide.  Media Journalism is a field that is similar to elearning.  Every day they have to crank out all sorts of interactive multimedia.  Why not be inspired by that industry?  Follow David Anderson in Twitter.  He does a great job collecting good examples.

Personally, I like to review design sites and the advertising industry.  I focus on how they structure the message and layout the screens.  Those are ideas I can use in my courses.

Rule 8: Create a Course That is Visually Appealing

Unless you’re doing a sleep study with a group of insomniacs, most likely a white screen full of bullet points won’t attract their attention.  People are attracted to things that look interesting.  Compare the two images below.  Which one gets your attention?

If you want to engage learners, start by crafting a visual theme that is visually interesting, relevant to the content, and immerses the learner into the course.

Rule 9: There’s a Place for Novelty

While we don’t want to go overboard with superfluous navigation or rollovers, there is a place for novel design.  There are times I’ll think a game or some whiz bang effect in a course is lame.  But I’ll debrief some of the learners and they’ll mention how much they liked it (or appreciated that the course didn’t look like the rest of the courses).  Thus, a novel approach or design to your course can be critical to engaging the learner.

Here’s a mock up I did for creating a course that looks like an email exchange for a previous post on mimicking the real world in your courses.  Something like this is different than a typical course and could be a fun. 

Just remember that what’s novel at the beginning of a course can quickly become annoying.  So you want to balance it with good design and probably look at giving the learner an alternative, or a more traditional, means of getting information.

Rule 10: Commit to Engaging E-Learning

It’s easy to rant and rave about PowerPoint and rapid elearning, and then place the blame for bad elearning on those tools.  But the real reason that a lot of elearning is no good is that there’s no real commitment to make it more engaging.  And that falls on the shoulders of those who build the courses, whether the client, subject matter expert, or instructional designer.

Regardless of the tools you use, you can create effective elearning.  Step away from the information dump and focus on the learner.  Then find creative ways to place the course content in a context that is relevant to the learner.  If you do these two things, you’re on your way to creating effective and engaging elearning.

There are more than enough resources out there to help you build better elearning.  In addition to this blog, I like what Cathy Moore has to share.  Her action mapping is a straightforward approach to building effective courses.

As far as books, I usually recommend the standards that cover everything from graphic design to presentations to elearning.  Here are a few that I think are worth owning if you don’t already own them:

• The Non-Designer’s Design Book: covers basic design principles
• Slideology: lots of good examples and overview of presentation design concepts
• Beyond Bullet Points: learn to structure content that is very relevant to instructional design; plus it includes the essentials regarding cognitive load
• Don’t Make Me Think: web usability and navigation; good examples and relevant to moving the learner through a screen
• E-Learning by Design: probably the best book that covers the most ground

Those are ten rules to help you get started.  Your next step is to start applying them.  What else would you add to the rapid elearning developer who’s just getting started?  Any other books that you’d recommend?

Share your thoughts by clicking on the comments link.

Tidbits:

• Now’s the time to show off you elearning skills.  Enter the 2010 Articulate Guru Awards.  You can enter as an individual or as a team. 

• If you’re in Austin this week, David Anderson’s in town so he’s going to do an informal Articulate jam session on Thursday, May 27.  It’s free and a great way to learn some practical tips and tricks. Click here for more details.

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Many of the blog’s subscribers are new to elearning.  Because of this I get a lot of questions and many of them are similar.  So today I’m going to do a recap of a few of the more common questions.

What mic I use is the most frequent question I get.  There are all sorts of good mics out there.  I can’t speak to all of them, but I can share my experiences.  I used to use a headset mic, but I didn’t like that it was more susceptible to picking up the “popping p” sound.  So I switched to a desktop mic and haven’t looked back. 

I’ve been using a Samson CO1U for the past three years.  But I just bought a Samson Go Mic from Amazon for about $50 (about half of what I paid for the CO1U).  I really like it.  I’ll probably make it my default microphone because it’s much smaller, sounds great, and it gives me three audio recording modes.

Here’s what I like about desktop microphones.  They tend to produce a richer sound; and you can share them.  I don’t know how you feel about this, but I don’t want someone else’s spit on my mic.  You also have more control over recording because you can position the microphone where you want for the best sound.

Some people run their audio through a mixer.  Not me.  I just plug the mics into my computer and record.  In fact, here’s my audio set up.  Pretty simple, huh?  Fortunately, the Essential Articulate Studio ‘09 is such a well-documented book, because its size makes the perfect portable mic stand.

For those who want to hear the difference, here’s a test I did of the Go Mic.  And here are a couple of demos that show the difference between a headset and desktop mic.  There are also a few community members who also shared what they use and recorded some demos. 

I like my Samson mics, but there are a lot of other affordable options.  The key point is that your audio should sound good.  And you really hurt your elearning course it if looks great but sounds bad.  If you do a lot of narration, then a desktop mic is the way to go.

Related links:

• 4 Simple Tips for Recording High-Quality Audio
• 13 More Tips to Help You Record Narration Like the Pros
• When It Makes Sense to Pay for Professional Narration

There are a few common issues when working with rapid elearning tools.  A form-based application makes creating your course real easy.  But since it’s a form, you’re locked into a distinct look.  Think of it like a Jell-O mold.  You get what the mold is designed to give you.

Typically, with a form-based tool, you have limited customizations outside of changing the template colors and fonts.  But, with some creativity you can make the output appear different.  For example, in the LINGOs course we built, we inserted the Engage interactions as Flash files and then moved the .SWF up to hide the black title bar.  If you use Quizmaker ‘09, make sure to take advantage of the Slide View feature.  This lets you break the standard form look and create a product that can be very rich-looking, like the example below.  This lets you be as creative as possible.

 Click here to view demo.

Another issue is when working with PowerPoint.  We tend to gravitate towards the templates and placeholder structure that PowerPoint provides.  While it’s fast to assemble content, the trade off is that you get stuck in that dreaded “PowerPoint” look. 

The first thing I recommend is to get rid of the templates and placeholders, and start with a blank slide.  Then I suggest getting inspiration from web design sites.  These are great places to get ideas for color schemes and page layout.  That’s where I got the ideas for these free PowerPoint templates.

After you do a few of these types of designs, you’ll start to get a better feel for how to move past bullet-point elearning and start to work on something more creative.

Related links:

• Inspiring Designs to Keep Your E-Learning Courses Looking Fresh

• Here’s How to Get Past a Screen Full of Bullet Points

• Get Creative and Build Better E-Learning Courses

Screenr’s a great product for quick tutorials.  In fact, since it launched a few months ago there are already a few hundred free elearning-related tutorials that cover all sorts of topics.  While it’s not an option for everybody, if you can use Screenr videos for your training here are a few ideas: 

• You can insert the Screenr video in PowerPoint using the developer tab and inserting the .SWF link from the embed code.  Here’s a tutorial that shows how.  This works fine if you are working in PowerPoint only.  If you’re publishing your course to Flash, follow the steps below.
• Insert the tutorial as a web object.  Screenr gives you an embed code.  Use that embed code to insert the video as a web object.  Here’s an example of what it looks like.  This tutorial explains the two ways to use the web object feature with Screenr. 
• Download the video as an .MP4.  The first two options require that the learners have Internet access.  By downloading the .MP4 video file and inserting the video into the slide, the learner won’t need Internet access.  Screenr has some preset record options.  720×540 is the 4:3 ratio of PowerPoint slides.  You can also record at 980×560 and insert the video using the no sidebar option in Articulate Presenter.  That’s what I did in this demo.

Concerned about the 5 minute limit and lack of editing in Screenr?  That’s easy enough to fix.  Just record your video in chunks.  Don’t worry about edits or the time limit.  Then download the .MP4s and edit them in Microsoft MovieMaker.  It’s free and easy.  Plus you get all of the advantages of editing video applications like cool transitions, inserting additional audio, and adding titles and captions.  Here’s a tutorial that show you how to edit the Screenr videos in MovieMaker.  

Related links:

• How to Use This Free Screencasting Tool for E-Learning
• How to Create Screencasts You Can Be Proud Of
• Here Are Some Time Saving Tips for Your Next Software Demo

 

Good question.  We just announced the 2010 Articulate Guru Awards.  It’s a great way to show off your rapid elearning skills.  If you don’t have a real course to work on, create a fake one.  Do one on setting goals or how to make toast.  The content really doesn’t matter.

Now’s the time to show the world what you can do.  As I tell some of my friends, “Quit your belly achin’ about what’s wrong with elearning! And show me what YOU can do.”

If you have any specific questions or things you’d like to see covered in the blog, let me know.  I’ll see if I can work them in.

Tidbits:

• If you’re at the ASTD conference in Chicago, swing by the booth and say “Hi.” Or check out one of our free tutorial sessions.
• On May 20th, I’ll be doing a webinar for the Phoenix area ASTD.

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