Advances in Physiology Education
Open access journal with a number of articles on active learning, blended learning, problem based learning, etc. (My sister-in-law is the copy editor.)
Lectures Aren't Just Boring, They're Ineffective, Too, Study Finds | Science/AAAS | News
Break up lectures every 10 minutes with active teaching techniques to improve student outcomes.
Flipping the conversation at ElNet Workplace Learning Congress | Explorations in learning
Tanya Lau's detailed explanation of her presentation on "Flipping the conversation" to performance and performance support rather than focusing only on formal training content. Includes notes on how she recorded and edited video on her smartphone for the presentation. She gives credit to my post on "Selling Storytelling" as part of the inspiration for her presentation because of how I scripted conversation around business objectives and measurement.
How storytelling in training changes people. 5 elements of an effective story. | Training x Design
5 elements of a story structure: a beginning, middle, and end; a main character; the main character faces a challenge, the main character struggles, and the main character changes.
My review of Adobe Captivate 8 - dbr-Training EN
Review of Cp8, focusing on the interface changes and new features for mobile learning
The ALL NEW Adobe Captivate 8 Blends Authoring Ease with Game-Changing Mobile Support « Rapid eLearning | Adobe Captivate Blog
Adobe's summary of new features in Captivate 8, including responsive design for mobile learning and a major user interface change
13 Questions to Ask When Scoping a Learning Development Engagement
A solid list of questions for prospective clients to help develop a proposal and determine the scope.
Online Course Development: What Does It Cost? -- Campus Technology
Time and cost estimates for online higher ed. The article and research are from 2004, and I expect these ratios have gone down in the last 10 years. The estimates here say it's a 10:1 ratio for faculty time and about $25K per credit hour.
Given the current campus infrastructure, personal knowledge tools, and the availability of digital content such as course cartridges, online cyber problems, and test banks, a recommended planning number today for experienced faculty is 10 hours per hour of instruction.
Simulation Tools for Every Budget
Tools for branching scenarios, from free and simple to expensive and complex. PDF, PowerPoint, BranchTrack, Inklewriter, Twine, Storyline, and SimWriter.
Totara vs Moodle - Moodle For BusinesseseLearning Experts | Paradiso Solutions
Screenshots and overview of Totara's features that can make it a better fit for businesses than default Moodle.
Storyline Templates – WorkBright eLearning
Free Articulate Storyline templates including games and a scrolling timline
Timid Instructional Designers Deserve What They Get
When clients ask for crappy e-learning or provide unreasonable deadlines that don't allow for quality development, we need to push back. Being timid doesn't makes us team players, just pushovers. This is one of the benefits of freelance work for me--I can set boundaries and turn down the crappy jobs to focus on more rewarding work.
Understanding the Many Different Roles of an Instructional Designer
Description of instructional design roles: engineer, manufacturer, craftsperson, architect, artist. One person may fill multiple roles.
The 50 Most Socially-Shared Learning & Development Blogs
I'm on the list for being one of the L&D blogs most often shared on social media. #41 of 50, but that's still on the list. :)
How to Share Your E-learning Course for Free With Google Drive - E-Learning Heroes
Step by step directions on sharing Articulate courses in Google Drive. This would be great for a portfolio. I haven't tested it, but the directions probably work for Captivate or other tools as well. An alternate (slightly simpler) set of directions for getting the hosting URL are here: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2881970?hl=en
Answers To Instructional Design Career Questions
Connie Malamed shares her answers to a number of ID career questions she's received from readers, including transitioning from teaching, getting a second master's degree or certificate, and getting a first job in ID.
BranchTrack
Free tool for creating branching scenarios. See a sample course by Cathy Moore here. http://blog.djangolabs.com/scenarios/autoloon-ethics-training/
The Top 20 Most Popular LMS Software Solutions powered by Capterra
Capterra's analysis of top LMSs by customers, users, and social media popularity. Many people only review 2-3 LMSs before making a decision. This list gives people some additional choices to review while still being a manageable list. The explanation of their research is linked below the infographic.
Free Open Source LMSs are like Puzzles « E-Learning 24/7 Blog
Nice metaphor for working with free LMSs. Moodle can work "out of the box" for some small instances with limited needs but this description is a fairly typical experience of customization.
Learning CSI: Learning Needs Investigation | Learning Rebels
Approaching needs analysis as an "investigation" without assuming that a course is always the right solution
Gantter - web-based project scheduling made easy
Web-based project management tool. Can import/export to MS Project. Integrated with Google Drive.
Five free Microsoft Project alternatives - TechRepublic
Free options for managing projects. Some are open source. I've had mixed results with GanttProject in the past, but I may try some of these others.
I Came, I Saw, I Learned...: eLearning: Determining the Best Size for Today's Lessons
recommendations for Captivate screen sizes including for YouTube
eLearning on WordPress: Comparing WP Courseware and LearnDash
Comparison of two Wordpress LMS/course management solutions: WP Courseware and LearnDash
Sensei | A Learning Managment System for WordPress | WooThemes
Wrodpress plugin with some basic LMS functionality. User registration, course and lesson creation, quizzes, tuition, analytics. No SCORM compatibility (although that's planned for the future).
What is SCORM? | Infographic
Visual introduction to SCORM
Totara Product Subscriptions
Subscription prices for Totara (customized Moodle). The cheapest option is $2950/year for up to 500 users.
LMS Setup Pricing
Latitude Learning's pricing for LMS setup. Good for comparison
eLearning Guild Research: Gender Issues in Pay, or What You Don't Know Does Hurt You by Patti Shank : Learning Solutions Magazine
Patti Shank on the gender gap in e-learning pay (almost 10% lower on average). Educate yourself and do a better job negotiating your own salary, at least as one way to improve the issue.
The Best Add-Ons for Google Drive
Lifehacker's list of add ons for Google Docs and Sheets. HelloFax lets you fax documents (HelloSign lets you sign them). UberConference adds an audio conference call to a Google Doc so you can talk while collaborating. There's also an option to track changes like in Word