12 ID Books
Connie Malamed's list of books, with everything from quick reads to graduate level textbooks. Several of these books are new to me.
How Do You Show Conversations in E-Learning?
Samples of different styles for conversations (comic book, text message, interactive conversations, pull quotes, etc.) Read the comments for additional examples. Most of the samples are in Storyline, but you could do similar actions in any tool.
Update: Where to Find Freelance Instructional Design Gigs - Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed
Ashley explains how her methods for finding clients have changed now that she's been freelancing longer.
How To Create A Money-Making Online Course - Forbes
This isn't about instructional design--it's for SMEs who want to create courses on Udemy to share their expertise. I like the comparison used that creating a 2-3 hour online course takes about as much time as writing a book; that's a good metaphor, at least for an audience of experts with knowledge to sell.
Expert Tips for Writing Great E-Learning Conference Proposals
How to write proposals with a better chance of being accepted
3 quick tips for strong scenarios
Tips from Cathy Moore on writing scenarios:
- Put dialog in quotation marks.
- Ask, "Why aren't they doing it?"
- Branching? Start with the end in mind.
RELOAD Project
This is an older tool and doesn't look like it's being maintained anymore (the last news update is from 2008), but it appears to be able to repackage SCORM packages. Might be worth testing if you have SCORM packages created in software you don't otherwise have access to.
How to Fix E-Learning Course Content & Graphic Design
Tips for how to clean up e-learning design. This is mostly about visual design including picking images, fonts, color schemes, and using grids. A few tips on cleaning up content are included, but that topic could be a whole series of posts.
The State of Authoring Tools: Where We've Been, Where We're Going by Joe Ganci : Learning Solutions Magazine
Joe Ganci explains the history of e-learning tools from Plato to the current day.
Brian’s Must-Read Books | Train Like A Champion
Books on e-learning, visual design, training evaluation, learning research, presentation skills and change management. A brief summary is included for each book listed.
How to remove browser warning message in HTML 5... | Adobe Community
Suggestions on how to remove the browser warning message in Firefox for Captivate HTML5
Make Captivate HTML5 Work in Firefox
When Captivate publishes HTML5, it doesn't work in Firefox. Captivate exports only MP3 audio, and Firefox only plays OGGs. This post provides some tweaks for the Javascript to get rid of the error message and look for OGG versions of the file when needed. You have to create both versions of the audio files.
Freelance Advice Round-Up #1 – Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed
How Long Does eLearning Take to Develop?
An explanation of the variables affecting the time to create e-learning, including considerations of actual time versus elapsed time (i.e., how long you're sitting around waiting for the SME to get back to you).
Estimating Infographic – Write Spot
Time estimates for e-learning and technical documentation, including some breakdowns for creating storyboards and tips on how to adjust estimates for short e-learning. The infographic is available as one long graphic or a 4-page PDF.
I Came, I Saw, I Learned...: Adobe Captivate: Troubleshooting LMS Woes
Tips for troubleshooting Captivate with an LMS
How to Prepare Subject Matter Experts to Review Content
This is quite similar to my own approach. I don't have as much trouble with SMEs noting grammatical errors as this author, but setting expectations like this does help get more substantive and helpful feedback.
3 Ways to Take Your Freelance Instructional Design Full-Time – Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed
Tips from an ID two months after moving to full time as a freelancer. I do think a portfolio is critical, especially for those just starting in the field or changing from another career. Having an active online presence and continuous learning are also great tips.
Jennifer Valley: Free (or Cheaper) Tool and Resources for eLearning (February 2015)
Inexpensive or free tools and resources for animation, audio, graphics, course development, and more
Creating a Slider in Captivate 8 – An Experiment
Create a slider with rollovers and advanced actions in Cp8, similar to the Storyline 2 slider. Also includes the failed first attempt and explains why it didn't quite work as desired. Purchasing the Infosemantics slider component widget would be faster, but it's nice to see how it would be possible.
Women in the eLearning Field: Was Your Father a Programmer? by Mark Lassoff : Learning Solutions Magazine
Issues of gender discrimination in the e-learning field (and tech as a whole)
The 8 Best Free Moodle Plugins for Corporate Trainers - Capterra Blog
Customized reporting, integration with WebEx or Adobe Connect, gamification, Tin Can, and more.
Writing better e learning scripts
Presentation by Cammy Bean on writing better e-learning scripts
My 3-Step Formula for Finding Work as a Freelancer | Jackie Van Nice
- Be Irresistible
- Be Discoverable
- Be Involved
Top 7 Benefits of Scenario-Based Training Infographic - e-Learning Infographicse-Learning Infographics
This is an infoposter rather than a true infographic, but it's a nice visual list of benefits of scenario-based training
E-Learning Estimates Made Easy: Start With a Blueprint
Ideas for more accurate estimates for e-learning by meeting with stakeholders and creating a content map
5 Tips for Finding New E-Learning Clients and Projects - E-Learning Heroes
Understand your customers, network, reach out, promote your portfolio, and enhance your digital presence: 5 tips for finding clients
Storyboarding Branched Scenarios - ThinkingKap
This is something I've struggled with--a good method for storyboarding branching scenarios. I've used several different Word and PowerPoint templates in the past, none of which have quite worked the way I wanted. I can write the branching in a linear document without much trouble (I once drafted one longhand in a notebook), but it makes my SMEs brains explode to try to follow them. I've seen recommendations for Twine in the past, and this explains in more detail how it works as a storyboarding tool.
How I Built This Branched E-Learning Scenario - E-Learning Heroes
Nicole Legault explains how she built a branching scenario in Storyline 2 in about 6 hours. She explains her process for building and saving time, along with details on creating a progress meter and where she found images.
Zaption - Interact & Learn with Video Lessons
Add questions to videos so you can make them interactive and check for understanding or encourage reflection