New Interactive Flash Templates for eLearning!

We’d like to announce our latest interactive Flash template set: iStyle.

Have you ever wanted to have a library of pre-made Flash interactions and activities? Templates that look great and could be easily integrated with your eLearning authoring software? (i.e. Articulate, Captivate, Unison, Lectora, etc.) Do you also want the source files so you can edit anything that you’d like? Now you can! The eLearning Flash templates are easy to edit, look amazing, and provide the source files.

How to use the templates:
1. Purchase and download the Flash source files.
2. Open the Flash file and copy/paste your text into the movie clips. (or change anything…you have the source file and can edit every part of the interaction).
3. Publish the .swf file.
4. Insert the .swf file into your authoring tool.

eLearning Activities and Interactions

Everyone is always looking for ways to make their eLearning more interactive. There are many ways to do this. Here are just a few:

1. Interactions
There are many times when you have various concepts or “chunks” of information on a page. You could break it into multiple pages or divide it into sections. For example use tabs and dividers so that the user only sees small parts at a time. Here are some tabs and dividers.

You could also use some type of simple flash memory cards or drag and drop.

2. Scenarios
If you have a lot of information to share you could package it into a scenario. This is a good way to make it “real”. It also helps the user understand how it relates to them and why they should pay attention. Scenarios don’t need to be complex. They nay just be a simple setup page and a question or two.

Here are some scenario examples:
”The company has recently opened 3 new offices and a launched a new website. What products might help this company process customers’ payments?”
“You see a customer at the counter complaining about their cold food. The customer is visibly angry. As a manager what should you do?”

Here is a simple eLearning scenario template.

3. Case Studies
There are times when your scenario needs to be more in-depth. I like to use case studies when a scenario is too simple. A case study would be more intense and could include background information, bios on persons involved, current setup/date/time, multiple phases/steps, twists along the way, and decision points. Case studies take some time to create but can be very engaging.

4. Quizzes
Knowledge checks can keep a learner’s attention. You could even do quizzes before the course content is presented. This might be a good way to help the learner start thinking about the content and to give them a preview of what’s to come. Theses quizzes could be combined to create the final test. Here are some fun quiz templates and games.

5. Hands-On Demos
Many people learn by actually trying out the system (hands-on approach). Online training is a great way to give learners a way to try out a system without being live. You can recreate a series of steps in a software transaction and package it as a simulation. Learners could have three options:

• Sit back and watch a demonstration of how the software works.
• Be prompted where to click and how to navigate the software.
• Be tested to see if they can use the software without any help.

It is basically the “Tell them, Show Them, Let Them Do It” approach. Simulations are a great way to let learners practice in a safe environment.

6. Learning Games
Is there a way to make your course fun and still educational? There are many types of game ideas from word puzzles, Jeopardy, and Millionaire to more complex, immersive games.

There are tons of ways to create interactive content. Most of the time it just takes a little extra thought.

Related articles:
Check out this past article on brainstorming.
Awesome eLearning Do’s and Don’ts.

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Visit our other sites: eLearning Activities, eLearning Games, Articulate Skins.

Using Wireframes to Design eLearning

Here’s another article that I ran across. I think that this is a good idea to do some wireframe sketches of various course elements before adding fonts, colors, and other visual elements. This might help during early review periods to focus on the content instead of the look/feel. It could also help the graphic designers to more quickly develop. Have a read below.

E-learning Development – Is It Time You Started Using Wireframes in Your E-learning Design Process?
By L Scott Hewitt

Wireframes are used as part of the design process is a range of industries. For many people they are most closely associated with 3D design, however an increasing number of e-learning designers are using wireframes as part of their design process.

If you come across people involved in a creative industry such as e-learning design, website design or graphics they will tell you about the time when they showed a design to a client and the first thing that they focussed on was the thing that they didn’t like! After many years working in e-learning and website design I’ve been involved in client meetings where designs have been shown to the client and the whole focus has been how it looks and not how it works. It is not unreasonable to think that if you show someone a visual design that you will get this reaction but does it help you during the elearning design process?

Personally I’m an advocate of the use of wireframes in the design process; they are a fantastic aid for the instructional designer, the client and the graphic design. They provide a focus for how the elearning course will work and how the leaner will interact with the design.

It is not unusual for an elearning designer to get a brief and start straight away creating the visuals and hoping that this is going to be exactly what the client wants. We all know that planning is critical to the success of a project so what not do some planning and build a wireframe?

You can think of a wireframe like an architects plan for a building. Your wireframe should be a simple outline of all of the objects that you are going to place on the page. It doesn’t matter if you are using a development tool like articulate or you are designing from scratch the wireframe can help to define how your elearning course is going to work.

Website designers have been using wireframes for some time with magazines such as .net including the use of wireframes in design articles. There are a number of parallels between elearning design and website design so perhaps its time to add wireframes to your development process?

A well thought out wireframe will map out the structure of a page and breakout the individual functions. Critically they can help the client understand what the page purpose is. If you provide a lavishly illustrated graphic this can often be a distraction and the focus turns to colour, font, size and images. Graphic design is integral to the success of an elearning project but try doing a wireframe first. Initially you may experience some resistance to using wireframes, especially if the client is expecting lavishly detailed design boards!

When talking to the client explain the purpose of the wireframe and how it will help them, explain how they are used to map out how the actual page will work and what the page proportions are. The wireframe can be easily changed and gradually you’ll move away form the “can we have that in blue” comments that are a distraction at this stage.

The wireframe should be carried out at the start of the design process; they should explain how the elearning design will work. For example: when you press a button, what will be the outcome. You can expand your wireframes to all of the page types that you have and you can then create your site map from the wireframes.

Once the wireframe structure has been agreed you can pass this to the graphic designer who can then focus on the visual design and make sure that the interactive design is realised. The first design that you pass to the client can then focus on the visuals and hopefully you’ll avoid the “can you just move this and this and this”. It is much easier to move and manipulate the page at wireframe stage than at the design stage. My own experience is that the wireframe makes the design task easier for the graphic designer and interactive designers can get their ideas across in much more effective manner.

Copyright 2009 – Scott Hewitt
Real Projects – creative e-learning solutions
http://www.realprojects.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=L_Scott_Hewitt

http://EzineArticles.com/?E-learning-Development—Is-It-Time-You-Started-Using-Wireframes-in-Your-E-learning-Design-Process?&id=2901563

Here are some great eLearning templates and online course interactions.

10 Design Standards to Create Better eLearning!

If you’re thinking about creating eLearning courses you’ve probably started to think about standards. eLearning content needs to follow standards just like classroom manuals and material. When content is standardized it makes it easier for the learner to understand and quickly process the content. They stop noticing inconsistencies and focus on what you’d really like them to – the meat!

Once you’ve come up with your own list of standards, make sure that everyone on the team has them (and lives by them). Don’t be soft. Enforce the standards and maybe even create some templates that are already “standardized”. You could also implement a final Q/A checklist that makes the designer complete a checklist that they followed each standard. After awhile following the standards will just become second nature.

Here is my list of 10 things that I’d include in my list of “standardized items”:
1. Bolding: Decide how to use bolding. To emphasize, as headings, for sections, to indicate actions?
2. Italics: Are hyperlinks italicized? What about names of documents, screens and systems?
3. Fonts: Choose 2-3 fonts and decide which one is for headings, body text, and possibly image design.
4. Colors: Find colors that contrast well. There are many different websites that help create color schemes and check contrast. Just a tip…stay away from lime and purple text.
5. Layout: Design 5-10 different layouts and let the team use them. This saves time because each page doesn’t have to be custom designed each time. It also trains the learner to know how to understand your pages. Consider using e Learning templates.
6. Grammar and tense: Are you talking directly to the learner? Past tense or present tense (maybe future)? Should you be formal or informal?
7. Images: Will your images have shadows, rounded corners, feathering, borders, reflections, be square?
8. Buttons: What buttons will you always use? You might need buttons for next, back, jobaids, exit, simulation, more info, tips, play, course evaluation, get help, FAQs, feedback, and replay.
9. Logos: What logos will you have displayed? Company, department, none?
10. Text Size: What size are the headings? How about the body text?

Bonus List:
- File types: What types of files are allowed and function in the course? (.mov, .swf, .avi, .png, .wmv, etc.)
- Icons: Create a library of standard icons such as: caution, checkmarks, notes, numbers, arrows, etc.
- Interactivity: How do you tell the user to do something? Click the XXXXX button or Click XXXX? Do you bold what action the user should take?
- Bullets: What shape of bullets will you use?
- Course player/GUI: Create a standard interface for all courses. This allows the user to get used to how to navigation and use the courses.

Even More Tips from the Comments Section…Thanks! (view comments below)
- Component names: What do you call parts of the screen? Drop-down menu or List box? How to you tell them to access these components? Select, click, choose, enter, type, etc.

- Capitalization: Make it consistent throughout. For instance, are you capitalizing button names (on the buttons and in instructional references — all lowercase, all caps, title case)? What about certain terms (and if so, which ones)?

Here’s a nice article on Legibility from Adobe Magazine.

I know that I’ve missed a bunch. What others would you include?

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

Best Practices for Creating Online Courses

eLearning Template Site is Momma Approved!

I know that that entire eLearning World has been waiting on the edge of their chairs for this announcement…

Brother Shawn has officially launched the e-LearningTemplates.com site! After many rolls of internal red tape and endless hoops to jump through, it has also been certified “Momma Approved“.

The site offers games:

• Course Style Kits – Everything you need to create an awsome course!  These kits include graphic layouts, the board game challenge, multiple color themes, people, quizzes and many flash interactions.
• Games – Right now we have 4 games to choose from. (Millionaire, Pyramid, Jeopardy and Board Game.
• People – Need some people that are cut-out and ready to drop into your course? Need multiple poses of the same person? We have multiple business and casual pictures.

These templates work with most rapid development tools (Articulate, PPT, Presenter, Captivate, HTML)

 Remember that an online course may be well written but if the learner isn’t visually attracted to the course, they will never read it.

The $10,000 Pyramid Challenge Template

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This new rapid elearning flash template features ten easy to update questions. Best used to test participants knowledge of particular topics or definitions.  Like all our templates, this is super easy to update in Flash.

This template is for sell on e-LearningTemplates.com.  (A company powered by eLearningBrothers.)

Jeopardy Challenge Flash Template

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have recently developed some very sweet new rapid elearning flash templates. They are super easy to update in Flash. Basically open the file in Flash, open the library, and then edit text in a handful of movie clips…very easy. 

This is the Jeopardy Challenge. It features nine questions with a point counter. Based on the users score end feedback will be given. We’d love to hear what you think…let us know.

This template is for sell on e-LearningTemplates.com. (A company powered by eLearningBrothers.)