Great information from this week's reading

Is E-Learning a New Concept for Schools?
Moving Instructor-led Training Online
iPad, iPhone, iPod touch Issues for Schools
Technology for teachers: what do you wish for?
Creating a “zoom in” effect in Powerpoint
E-Learning Vs. Classroom Learning
E-Learning modules are not the complete replacement
Rapid Authoring – Freeform vs. Template Based
Liven up eLearning course to engage learners with funny quiz
Projects are how we change the world
e-Learning’s Gender Factor
Podcasting as part of training programs
Answers to Frequent questions about Rapid e-Learning
AMA Handbook of e-learning
Designing eLearning online
Top eLearning sites?
Getting Into Your Training Groove (even when you don’t dig your topic)
How to design elearning that’s memorable and budget-friendly

Replacement for Classroom Learning

So often when I talk to people about eLearning I am asked if it is going to replace classroom learning.  My reply is always the same...no, and here is why I believe that to be true.  People learn through different ways, some are visual learners, some are auditory, some are kinesthetic and for this reason I think that there will always be a place for different ways of presenting material. 

As a classroom trainer and eLearning designer I also think that there are ways these two methods can compliment each other.  For example, a person attends a classroom session and learns material and isn't able to put it into practice for several months after the class.  When it is time for them to apply what they learned the material may have been forgotten.  An eLearning module that complements the classroom session can provide that just in time refresher that they need to apply all the material and achieve the desired training results.

Here are a couple of blogs I read this morning that provide further illustration of my belief:

E-Learning vs. Classroom Learning
E-Learning modules are not the complete replacement

What would have been helpful for you??

I'm working on a presentation that I am giving in April regarding implementation of eLearning programs.  I've got facts, figures, my experiences, case studies, etc. etc. etc.  What I don't have is your input. 

As professionals who are at various stages of eLearning what questions did you have when you were first starting down this road?  What would have been helpful for you to know? 

Great Reading for the Week

Obviously my focus has been on social media this week.  I didn't really realize it until I looked at the list.

Social Learning: all talk and no action?

What got you started with social media?

Social networking in the workplace

How to gain buy-in for learning with social media

 Encourage the use of social media at work

Audio awareness

Have you ever noticed how music can tell a story without ever saying a word?  The scary music starts in the movie and you are instantly on edge and ready for the bad guy to jump out.  You can almost predict the path of the story based on the music that is being played.  As I was researching various music files for several video projects I'm working on I starting thinking about this aspect of music and sound.  Listing to short demo files for audio I was able to envision a project that it would be applicable for.  The right music can bring your project together...or be such a distraction it completely tears your project apart.  Since music can convey a message or feeling we as designers need to make sure that the music we choose for our projects conveys the same message and feeling that the actual project intends to, otherwise the disconnect creates disaster.

This week's reading

Here is my list of interesting reads for the week:

10 Stages of Social Media Integration in Business
Tips for Effective Webinars

Elearning Graphics – They make a huge impact!
How to Navigate Social Media (and Avoid Information Overload)
The learning professional’s guide to Social Media, 101
Create online puzzles and educational games for kids
Make a Comic Strip Online
5 reasons to declare war on e-learning
eLearner’s Bill of rights
6 tips for creating audio for e-learning podcasts, screencasts and online presentations
Social Media is a Waste of Time
Social Media Prezi

Game Making for Learning
Social Media – What’s the Impact
The Three Words Your Customer must know

Better Beginnings: How to Capture your Audience in 30 seconds

Should everyone get involved in social media?
Social Media Marketing: How Pepsi Got It Right

I want to be an Instructional Designer

Cammy Bean posted a question in her post "When I grow up I want to be an Instructional Designer" that I thought was great and really hit home.  I am definitely one of those that accidentally became an Instructional Designer.  This was definitely not something I thought of or geared my career towards.  In all truth technology and I don't really get along on a regular basis - just ask my IT folks!

So how did this happen?  Part of it was being at the right place at the right time.  I was tasked with coming up with a solution to help reduce costs while still maintaining training opportunities.  I was a natural choice for leading this team due to my experience with distance learning in my own education.  The other part of my "success" in becoming an Instructional Designer is the fact that for some unknown reason I can figure out and use the appropriate technological solutions to make effective e-learning presentations (a phenomena I still don't understand).

Why do I keep doing this?  I like the creative side of being an Instructional Designer especially with e-Learning.  It is fun to figure out ways to present information in interesting and enaging formats so the learner not only learns but also can have some fun in the process. 

So what started as a chance assignment ended up as something I really enjoy doing and have become engaged in and truely enjoy. 

Video use in eLearning

I've been seeing a lot of blog posts recently about using video in your projects. One I particularly liked was from Jennifer Wrigley entitled "Top ten tips for using video effectively in e-learning" she makes some excellent points. I've been using video in the e-learning presentations that I've created when it seems appropriate and that it would add value. Different ways that I've used it is to add some humor to a dry presentation or to give a real life example of what is being discussed in the e-learning presentation. For example showing a video of a terrible meeting during an "Effective Meetings" training. Sometimes showing is better than saying and can provide a great deal more impact for your learner.

I also think that as the designer you have to use good judgement in deciding whether to use video at all and also what video is appropriate to use. You also have to make the decision if you want to use pre-made video which has become readily available through YouTube, Hulu, etc. or if you want to create the video yourself. The eLearning Brothers discussed this issue recently in their article "Instructional Design for Videos" and again provided some great information for those thinking about using videos in their presentations.

When creating your e-Learning presentations you have many different options and resources available to you. As with anything too much of a good thing can be bad so you have to maintain that balance. That balance provides for better courses, it also allows you as the designer to have more credibility as you are being smart and strategic in your use of the various resources to create the greatest impact. If you just throw everything available into a course it becomes a jumbled mess. Through the strategic and at times frugal use of your resources, especially video, you can leave your learners looking forward to taking more courses you create because they know that they will be interesting and informative and not a waste of their time.

Great Projects, High Energy

Every once in a while you get those projects that you love to work on. These are the projects that really get the creativity flowing. There is just something about the project maybe it is the subject, maybe not but there is just something that makes you want to keep working on it regardless of the time or how many hours it will take. You loose all sense of time and get excited each time you pick it up. You know that you'll be sad when you complete the project because it will be over.

I'm working on one of those projects now and it is perfect timing. With the holiday's and all that they involve it is wonderful to be able to loose myself in a great project and get that wonderful energy and creativity flowing.

I've been thinking how to transfer some of this energy and excitement into other projects. I've come up with a few ideas but am also wondering what ideas you might have?

A different way of looking at things.

I really enjoyed this post "Are we thinking differently?" that I read the other day and thought it illustrated well what I'm talking about. I've come to believe that those of us who are instructional designers look at things differently. We approach problems from a different angle and find unique solutions. That is what makes us good at what we do. I don't believe that there is a box to think outside of when it comes to instructional design. In fact, the less constraint we place on ourselves the better the product we create.

Getting things going

So many times when I talk with people about creating web-based training or other types of non-traditional training opportunities I can see the "wheels" turning and the ideas coming forth about all the things that they can do with the resources available. Unfortunately those wheels can tend to come to a screeching halt when it comes time to put the ideas into practice.

It is a great thing to be able to see the potential and possibilities but I think that at times that might be the easy part. The hard part is actually getting things going. Picking a project and starting, that's tough. Sometimes it is difficult because there are so many projects it is tough to pick on, sometimes it is difficult because formulating the actual product from the idea can be overwhelming, and sometimes it is difficult to just start when you aren't sure how it will turn out.

Right now I've got one project in particular that is a challenge but one that I'm excited to take on and see if I can make it work, however, I've also got others that are more "routine" and less exciting that have to be completed first so I'm allowing myself time to work on the exciting project only after I've completed one of the other ones (my own reward system). As I look at the growing list of projects that I've got in the works and trying to prioritize what I'll work on next I wonder what some of you do to keep yourself motivated and your ideas fresh.

Mixed Messages

I've recently seen a lot of posts in blogs and on twitter about mixed messages. One I saw this morning on Twitter was "What message does it send if your co has a Facebook page and YouTube channel but you're blocked from it at work? (via @moehlert) " and it made me think about the various mixed messages that get sent in pur eLearning efforts.

One such mixed message is that we want our learners to be independent thinkers and adopters of knowledge and technology and then we "dumb" down our courses so much that we are insulting our learners.

Another such mixed message is when we advertise our courses as engaging and interactive and they are really just page turners with no opportunity for interaction or engagement.

I think it is important that our messages to our learners are consistent one way or another. There may be times when a page turner course is appropriate, we should advertise it in a manner that accurately represents what it is. If we don't we loose the trust of our learners. If we loose their trust we loose their participation.

Walk in their shoes

With Halloween tomorrow many (myself included) of the people in my office have dressed up in their costumed alter ego's. As much fun as it is it also made me think about putting yourself into the shoes of others...more specifically our learners. If we don't take the time and put ourselves into the place of our learners and see the training through their eyes we risk missing some information. We also risk missing the point which is to make the training interesting and engaging for our learners so they will use them.

"Dress Up" as your learner and then take a look at your presentation and see what you think...it will be an interesting experience and help you create better eLearning!

Happy Halloween!

"Why do I get out of bed and go to work?"

Have you ever looked at a job description and wonder "What makes the person in that job get out of bed in the morning and come to work?" What about those days when you hit the brick wall and wonder "Why do I want to get out of bed this morning and go to work?" We've all been there, we've all had days where we are just warming the chair and not being our most productive selves. We still carry on through meetings, webinars, training, etc. but on these days are we learning? How do we as designers engage our learners on these days?

I don't know about you, but when these days are around for me if something doesn't catch my attention within the first 5 seconds I'm gone and on to something else that might provoke my interest and engage my attention. So there is an answer for designing, it needs to grab your attention immediately, no big long lead in about what you're going to learn, no pages of text telling you what is coming next, you need to get the attention of the learner NOW or you won't get to later.

There is a lot of information out there about designing attention grabbing graphics and those are great but they also need to be followed up with continued attention grabbing content. In this fast paced world, were it is admitted that most people don't read past the first three lines of an email, if our learners aren't interested and engaged they are gone and our work has been for nought and we begin to wonder "why do I get out of bed this morning to go to work?". It is up to us to get our learners engaged and then keep them that way so we ourselves can stay motivated and know why we get out of bed in the morning.

Great Blog Posts

Here are some great blog posts that I found useful from my reading last week:

Elearner Motivation & Support - [[http://newmiddle-earth.blogspot.com/2009/09/elearner-motivation-and-support.html]]
10 Sites to Learn Something New in 10 Minutes a Day - http://mashable.com/2009/09/24/learning-resources/
What’s the Difference: Learning Designer vs Instructional Designer? http://learningvisions.blogspot.com/2009/09/whats-difference-learning-designer-vs.html
What makes online learning effective? http://alearning.wordpress.com/2009/09/30/what-makes-online-learning-effective/
Top five tips for managing resources.
http://www.saffroninteractive.com/2009/blog/top-five-tips-for-managing-resources/
It's not the tool that’s boring, it’s you. http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog/2009/09/its-not-the-tool-thats-boring-its-you.html

What is good eLearning?

I've read several blog posts lately that all tie together in my mind to help us define what constitutes good eLearning programs. As we all know there are many things that work together when we are creating our programs to produce something that the learners will actually want to take part in so lets take a look at a few areas.

Content - Content is vital to any eLearning (or any learning) presentation. If there isn't quality content being presented, then what is the point? All you are doing is wasting your time and the learners time and creating frustration in the process. Ellen posts about this in her blog "What makes online learning effective?" and I completely agree with her.

Resources - With so many tools that are available to us to create our programs it is important that we manage the resources we use and don't just throw in more tools and techniques than we need to. Sometimes it is more appropriate for focusing on one or two techniques and resources to create a better program rather than a more confusing one with several techniques and methods. Here is a blog posting with "Top Five Tips for Managing Resources." that provides helpful tips and tricks.

People - With the technological advancements that make eLearning such a real and useful possibility I think that we can often forget that we are ultimately designing our programs for people to use and learn from. With the distance from the learner we get caught up with the resources and tools and forget what learners what and need and that whatever we provide them with has to be interesting in order for them to be engaged and using the programs. Not only did I like the title of Michele Martin's blog post "It's not the tool that's boring, it's you." I also like what she said. We can't just throw something out there and expect learners to accept and love it, if I wouldn't enjoy participating in the program presented like that then why would my learners?

Bringing all three of these things together and remembering them as I am preparing my presentations helps me to produce programs that people are using and learning from. I think it's a good thing though to remind myself of the basics every once in a while as well and these are the building blocks for quality programs.

Lights, Camera, Action

In several recent posts I have discussed video production projects that I'm working on. I find it interesting that I have come to a point in my career where I spend so much time taking and editing video into quality projects that are used for a variety of purposes. To give credit where credit is due the only reason that I am able to easily produce quality work is through the Camtasia Studio program that I use. Thankfully it is easy to use and provides me with the ability to combine my video, still pictures, audio and other sound files with transitions and closed captioning to create professional looking projects. We've been able to update our websites and provide a more "real" feeling to the jobs that we do which has been received well by both our employees and our customers. The other nice thing that I like is that there wasn't a large financial investment to get these types of projects off the ground. We bought a video camera, a microphone and the software and were ready to get to work. That's my kind of budget and my kind of timeline.

Video production - what works?

Ever have one of those days where you feel like for each forward step you take you end up taking about 12 backward? I've been stuck in that cycle for the last month or so with a project I'm working on and I look to you for input and advice.

I'm working on publishing video to the web and finding the right combination of file type, size, encryption, etc. has been rather elusive. These video's are approximately 1 minute in length and are high motion. We have tried a variety of frame sizes and as a result of course gotten a variety of file sizes. I've done some research but cannot find that there are "standards" to make this a bit easier and not being a technically minded person this hasn't been an easy task so any input would be appreciated. Have you found something that works?

Specific Tools for Specific Jobs

I feel like I fell off the face of the earth with not having been in the office or near a computer for over a week. Good news is I'm back and beginning to un-bury myself from emails and other things that came in while I was gone. Before I left I posted about some of the tools that I use in my eLearning creation process and I wanted to go into a bit more depth on some of the tools and how I use them and what I like about them.

The first one I'll talk about is the one which I use the most often and that is Articulate. This was the program that started it all for me with regard to elearning. I immediately liked the program because it was easy for me to use and followed an intuitive path for rapid creation of programs. I liked that I could use all the powerpoint creations that I've already put so much time and effort into creating and convert them with little difficulty into a web-based training program.

Now that I've been using it for over a year I find myself in a position where I am constantly challenging myself to think outside of the box and use the tool in new and creative ways to make engaging and fun programs. There are many tools that are part of the studio and they can be used in a variety of ways to meet your needs. There is also great support within the Articulate website and blog posts constantly come out to give you new and creative ways to do things.

All things being said, I cannot say enough about Articulate. I really enjoy using the project and although my current projects have not allowed me to utilize it much I look forward to getting back to using it in the very near future.

Tools of My Trade

I've been thinking recently about all of the tools that are used in creating elearning courses. Each tool of course has it's own purpose and when you are able to use them correctly they can help you create something fantastic. I thought I'd share the tools of my trade that I use and how I use them.

Articulate Studio is what started me on the path for eLearning creation. It is one of my standard tools and the more I use it the more flexible I'm able to be with presentation creation. I've had some of my co-workers use this tool to create their own elearning courses with much success.

Camtasia Studio has become my best friend and constant companion recently. I'm in the middle of working on several different video projects so this has been the tool sitting on the top of my tool box for a while.

Audacity is a tool that I've used for audio recording and editing for many different projects. It is very easy to use and I've published podcasts with it as well as used the audio files I've created from it with my video files in Camtasia (I love it when things work together).

Adobe Flash CS4 this tool has been by far the most difficult one for me to learn how to use. I'm not a computer expert and my technological expertise is non-existent. With that being said, I am proud to say that I've taken some on-line courses and learned how to use it and my first eLearning presentation using this tool will be published shortly. I can see many possible uses for it in the future.

Cartoon Solutions is a tool that I love. It enables me to add additional interesting elements to my presentations whether I'm utilizing PowerPoint or Flash. These characters really help bring the presentations to life.

Then of course there are various other tools I use to incorporate pictures and music into presentations but they are too numerous to list.

As I have used these tools I've learned some shortcuts and easier (for me at least) ways to work with them and those are what I'll be sharing in future posts.