Articulate Tip – Lock the Browser Size

Have you ever published your Articulate course and the images and flash are fuzzy and look terrible? Well, if so it might be caused by your course content resizing in the browser.

There is a setting within each Player Template in Articulate Presenter that allows your to either allow the course to expand/shrink as the user’s browser window changes size or to lock the content as the “optimal” size. If you don’t lock the presentation then if your user has a large browser window your images/flash might look as though they’ve be “zoomed in”. They could start to get that pixelated look.

Here’s how to lock your presentation size in Articulate Presenter:

1. Click Publish

2. Open the Player Template (the button with 3 dots to the right of the Player Template drop-down)

3. Click the Other tab and choose Lock presenation at optimal size.

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Articulate eLearning games and interactive flash templates that you can insert into PowerPoint and Articulate.

ASTD TechKnowledge 2010 – Visit our Booth for a HUGE Discount!

I posted last week that we are exhibiting this week at ASTD TechKnowledge in Las Vegas.

We have a HUGE discount on our BIGGEST eLearning template bundle. (to get the discount you must purchase the bundle at our booth.) Here’s our booth location.

And don’t forget…you can also enter to win some free templates.

eLearner’s Bill of Rights

A recent article on eLearn Magazine talked about how to make eLearning stick. At the end of the article Susan Doctoroff Landay posts her “eLearner’s Bill of Rights“. Her point is that we need to remember our eLearner’s expectations when creating courses. Every learner has expectations but the challenge with eLearning is that we can’t see the participants and they have many different tools/ways to access our content.

Here is Susan’s eLearner’s Bill of Rights:

I. Freedom of speech. E-learners have the right to be heard. Learning is a two-way street.

II. The right to bare arms. There is no stated dress code for online learning.

III. No imposition of unreasonable quarters. Online learners shall not be forced to remain seated in front of their computer for the duration of a learning experience. They should be invited to stand and stretch to keep the blood flowing and their attention focused.

IV. No unreasonable searches and seizures. While facilitators may search for a right answer on online survey questions, learners have the right to make mistakes. If one is unable to answer a question correctly, the instructor will not cause embarrassment.

V. Exemption from self-incrimination. If you didn’t do a pre-session assignment and can get away with it, good for you. But you may pay the price later!

VI. The right to a speedy trial. You have the right to try new things and put learning to use as quickly as possible either in online simulations or real-life situations.

VII. The right to a jury of peers. You are entitled access to a group of peers who have experienced the same online learning module. Among this group, you will not be judged, but will be supported when faced with new challenges that require input or discussion.

VIII. No cruel and unusual punishment. E-learners shall not be subjected to interminable lectures, excessive homework nor scorn by the instructor or fellow students. Poor attempts at humor, deemed painful to some, shall be exempt.

IX. Equal treatment of all. All should be treated respectfully regardless of computer speed or size of monitor.

X. The right to have fun. E-learners have the right to laugh, play, and enjoy the learning experience in an interesting, stress-free environment.

My thoughts:

I – Even though many of our courses are self-paced, it sure would be great to tie in ways for the learners to send feedback. This could be feedback directly to the course SME/author or it could be some type of discussion board/forum where everyone could post thoughts.

III – TRUE!  Let’s keep courses short and offer easy ways to jump directly to the topics that we need.

VI – This is one of the greatest beauties of online training … we can try out systems that are fake. Think of ways to build in simulations and give everyone hands-on practice.

IX – This is a hard one. Sometimes is hard to accomadate the person that is still using IE version 1 and a 640 x 480 monitor. By the time you show the navigation buttons and course outline their isn’t much room for content.

X – eLearning is a safe place for people to learn. Nobody is watching and you don’t have to worry about the teacher calling on you.

Susan … Thanks for your Bill of Rights!

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eLearning games and interactive flash templates

eLearning Graphics – They Make a Huge Impact!

There is no doubt that graphics and images greatly improve online training content. The question is how to properly use them. I’ve come across some good articles lately and thought that I’d compile and list them here.  (the list also includes some posts on graphics that we’ve done in the past.)

Realistic Graphics and Learning: What’s most effective? (The eLearning Coach)

Really…Were These the Best Images We Could Find? (eLearning Brothers)

Don’t use Gratuitous Images in eLearning (eLearning Brothers)

Graphics: Adding Reflections (eLearning Brothers)

5 Common Visual Design Mistakes (The Rapid eLearning Blog)

Visual Design for Instructional Content (eLearning Post)

If you have some more good articles please let me know.

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(Check out amazing eLearning Games, Flash Interactions, PowerPoint Backgrounds, and e Learning Templates)

Instructional Design for Videos

A lot of training is using video and it’s becoming very easy to create and distribute. As things become easier and cheaper we often see the quality decrease. For example, if you had to spend $10,000 to hire a camera crew to come out and do a video shoot then you’d probably have all of the scripts and talent well prepared. However, if you can quickly create a video on your handheld camera and upload it to YouTube then you might be tempted to just “wing-it”.

Here is a great article by Jeremy Vest on things to keep in mind when doing instructional design for video.

7 Sins of Online Video Instructional Design
April 30, 2009
By Jeremy Vest (Chief learning officer of Splash Media and author of “Exploring Web Design.” )

(Post from SalesMarketing.com)

With the popularity of video sites such as YouTube, which now accounts for 25 percent of all searches on the Web, the consumption of video training is now a reality in most organizations and colleges.  This accessible forum has made it easier for organizations to produce and provide online training videos.  While this technology is available to anyone, companies do need to take time to consider the quality of the online training videos they are producing and providing.  The following will give you a perspective of common, yet avoidable, mistakes most companies make when creating online training videos:

1. Not connected to learners
Have the subject matter expert (SME) address the camera, and do not just show screen shots. Change up shots; do not keep static too long. The more impersonal you make your training videos, the less likely your learners will feel a connection to the SME.  This will cause a less engaged overall learning experience. Click here for an example of a connected online video.

2. Poor planning before the shoot
More…

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Fun Learning Games.

Microsoft Office Game – Ribbon Hero

I ran across this post on the Microsoft Office Labs blog and thought that it was a great idea. They have created an Office Software add-in that allows your to earn points by completing challenges and using the software. You can even tie to Facebook.

(Jennifer Michelstein, a Program Manager at Office Labs)

“Games for learning is an increasingly popular field that’s quickly gaining ground. When we started this project, we wondered if there was a place for games in Office. “

There are two ways to earn points. The first is simple – just by using the app. As you start using basic commands, like bold, italic, and underline, you’ll start earning a small number of points. As you use more complex features, like Styles or Style Sets, or combinations of features, you’ll earn even more points. But that’s just the beginning.

There’s a second way to earn points, and that’s by playing challenges. Ribbon Hero watches what features you do and don’t use, and then it recommends challenges for you to play, to hopefully expose you to new features.

Check out Ribbon Hero

Also, take a look at our eLearning games and interactive flash templates.

Visit Us @ ASTD TechKnowledge in Vegas

We are exhibiting at ASTD TechKnowledge in Las Vegas (Jan 27-29, 2010).

We’d love to meet you…stop by and visit! (Come enter to win some free templates.)

Here’s our booth location.

Information about ASTD TechKnowledge:

“ASTD TechKnowledge is the training industry’s leading event dedicated to the latest in learning technologies. The conference features close to 100 informative sessions and countless opportunities to network with like-minded colleagues.”

Awesome Quizzes – Tips to Use Articulate Quizmaker

I really like Articulate’s Quizmaker ‘09. It allows me to do some pretty powerful stuff quickly. Here is a list of how do make your quizzes awesome in Quizmaker.

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There are times when you need to group questions to ensure that they flow in a certain order. (Especially if you want to randomize the order of some and not others.) I’ve also found this helpful if I want to present a scenario and then have specific questions after.

Grouping Questions

Here are the steps:

1. Create your questions

2. Click Question Group

3. Drag the questions into that group

Randomizing Question Order A lot of times you want to randomize the sequence of questions. In Quizmaker you add randomization to groups of questions. So you could have 10 questions randomized and then have the next 10 stay in order. While grouping questions (above steps) think about which ones might be randomized.

Steps:

1. Select on a group of questions

2. Click Randomize Group

Using a Pool of Questions Sometimes you create a pool of 50 questions but only want to have 30 randomly presented.

Steps:

1. Select the group of questions

2. Click Randomize Group

3. Click the Include drop-down

4. Select the number of questions you’d like to include

Shuffling Answers Want to not only randomize the question order but also the possible answers?

Steps:

1. Open Quiz Properties

2. Select Question Defaults

3. Check Shuffle answers

Branching Users that Pass vs. Fail Many times I’d like to send participants that pass the test to a congratulations page. However I’d like to send the participants that fail to a review page.

Steps:

1. Insert the quiz into PowerPoint (done with Articulate Presenter)

2. Quizzes and Interactions window appears

3. In the Quiz Properties area, where a user goes when they Pass and Fail

Adding Flash Videos There could be a time where you’d like the user to view an animation or video vignette prior to answering a question. You could insert a flash movie on the question page.

Steps:

1. Open the question that you’re editing

2. Click Media/Flash Movie

3. Browse to find your flash file

Submitting Questions All at Once There are two ways to have a user submit questions: All at once or One at a time. If a user submits questions one at a time it is nice because they know right away if they got it correct. However it also takes more time to submit each question individually.

Steps:

1. Click Player Templates

2. Choose the Submit all at once template (or you can make your own template … continue to next step)

3. Click New and give your template a name

4. From the Navigation tab select Submit all at once

Using a Timeline You may want to have content on the slide appear in stages. Maybe you are building up to the question. (an animation build)

Steps:

1. Open the question you’re editing

2. Click Slide View

3. Open the Timeline at the bottom of the window

4. Move your text boxes/image to different time markers on the timeline

5. Grab and move the red play bar right and left to see the content appear/disappear

I hope that these tips help. Are there anymore things you’d like to see?

Also, check out our eLearning games and interactive flash templates.

Portfolio: Intranet Walkthrough Course

The company did a total redo of their intranet site and wanted to introduce it to their employees. It’s designed to give a short general overview and then let them choose parts to explore.

View the course

A Look Inside eLearning Brothers

We often get asked about our company name, “eLearning Brothers”. Usually it’s, “Are you really brothers?”.

Well…the answer is Yes! We are brothers and have both working for years in the eLearning industry.

We have had the desire to work together for many years and have both done various “side projects” along the way. However just over a year ago we found ourselves in a moment of time where it was actually possible to start a company together and to give it the love and attention it would need.

Advantages of working with your brother:

• Makes parents proud that we’ve stopped beating each other up (at least that’s what they think)
• Keep friends close, keep enemies closer
• Nothing ever gets embarrassing. We already know everything about each other
• Can get away with teasing and mean words without worries of a law suit
• Enjoy long discussions about who’s smarter and/or more handsome
• Debates about if being older or taller is more important

Latest company off-site meeting:
Mountain biking and Jeeping in Moab Utah. (Taking the eLearning Sisters to Cancun soon.)

Company motto:
“Brothers don’t shake hands…Brothers gotta hug!” (Tommy Boy)

eLearning Brother Clan:

• 10 loud kids
• 2 wonderful, sweet, thoughtful, considerate, selfless, dedicated, loving wives. (just in case one of them is reading this we would have included more but text on a screen just wouldn’t do it justice.)

Official Company Goal:
Build awesome eLearning courses and templates for the world.

Personal Company Goal:
Build a company that allows us to “be there” for our families.

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